𝐉𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 20

Sweat dripped off of Alora as she kicked the dummy mercilessly over and over again, not stopping to take any breaks. Her teeth were gritted as she threw her anger and frustration into every kick and punch she threw. Her fingers were cramping and her legs were tired but her mind was focused. She heard Silver dismiss class but chose to ignore it. Silver strolled up beside her watching closely.

"You're telegraphing your kicks," Silver said, his hands locked behind his back.

Alora stopped and looked at him for the first time out of the corner of her eye. She kicked the dummy again but tried to not telegraph it.

"No. You're thinking about it too much. Again," he ordered.

She kicked it again and again until he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"It's not gonna work if you're not focused," Silver said, tapping the side of her head. "Whatever's troubling you, don't let it mess you up. Again."

She sucked in a breath and thought of Robby's soft green eyes; she kicked the dummy hard. I'm leaving and I'm hoping you'll come with me. The words echoed in her mind as she kicked it again. She did a few more before she stopped, breathing heavily.

"Good," Silver nodded at the brown-haired girl. She bowed to him and he walked away back to his office. She headed straight to the snack bar where the boy working it immediately handed her a water bottle.

"You look like crap," Will said bluntly, eyeing the girl who was exhaustedly draped across the bar. Will was a blunt and shy person, not always very sure of himself but he was sweet and had good intentions. He was one of the few people Alora actually considered her friend.

"Thanks," Alora replied, sarcastically. Her smile quickly dropped as the pain started to set in. Thanks to adrenaline training didn't hurt as much anymore but once it began to fade, the pain came right back. She looked at her knuckles which were beginning to bruise and fading cuts from prior workouts.

"I didn't mean it like that," Will stuttered, making her breath out a laugh.

"I should go before it gets dark," Alora said, pushing herself off of the bar. Finlay was at home with a stomach bug so she had to walk home since she still, unfortunately, couldn't drive. Not legally anyway.

"I thought you were practicing," Will said, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah. Finlay still refuses to let me drive his car without him in it. Something about the time I accidentally backed his car into a telephone pole," she shrugged. "But his mom's taking me to the DMV soon and I will hopefully be gifted with my driver's license."

"Do you want a ride? My shift is basically up. I could take you if you want," he offered.

"No thanks. Consider this the last part of my workout," she gave him a tired grin.

"Alright. Have a good night, Alora," Will waved as she walked out of the dojo.

"See you tomorrow," she waved back. She sighed as she started walking towards Finlay's house. When her thoughts got too loud, she would break out into a sprint so the only thing she could hear was her shoes hitting the pavement and the rhythmic patterns of her breaths. She blocked out all the thoughts until she reached the driveway of the familiar house. She dug her key out of her pocket and opened the door to let herself into the house.

"Hey, M'eudail. How was practice?" Penelope asked from her lying position on the couch. Her eyes fluttered open and shut as if she was trying to keep herself awake.

"Good. How was work?" Alora questioned in reply.

"Oh, you know. Brought a man back from the dead, had to put down a child in a coma because she had gone brain dead," Penelope trailed off at the end of her sentence.