Wretched Power | 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 (BOOK ONE)

| CHAPTER FIVE |

After lunch, the seventh-graders assembled in the gymnasium for the required physical education class. None of them thought they'd make it through the repetitive laps around the gymnasium, stopping to check their pulse, and then jogging again. But by the end of the period, they had surprised themselves and survived yet another insufferable teacher. 

     "I'm dying!" Pitts gasped for air as he walked beside Lana and Meeks who both had their hands on their backs, catching their breaths. 

     "It's good for you, Pitts." Meeks breathed out. 

     "It's torture. That guy should head a military school. I could go for a big feast right about now." 

     Lana smiled. "What, and miss the infamous Welton Mystery Meat? Come one, Pitts." She softly slapped his shoulder. The two boys entered the showers as Lana slowed her steps, staring at the door that swung in her face. She took a few steps back, pressed herself against the wall, slid down and waited. 

     She had to do this before she was able to get changed in the sports kit the school provided her with, although she had to pin the elastic waistband of the shorts to fit her and tuck her shirt in so it didn't cover her shorts. She understood the rule of her not being able to shower while the boys were in there and had to wait, but why couldn't she go first? There were more than twenty-five boys in there all running around like headless chickens and she was one girl. She'd be in and out in fifteen minutes. 

     She sat on the floor and waited, keeping herself occupied by tracing the stripes on her shorts. 

     Once the final boy left -- after God knows how long -- Lana took her estimated fifteen minutes in the shower and got dressed back in her school uniform. She gathered up her books in her arm, pressed them against her lap, and tied up her shoe before she clutched everything to her chest and began walking back to her dorm. 

     In the distance, Lana admired the fiery-red sun sinking behind the green perimeter of trees that enclosed the sprawling campus. She couldn't help but feel like a daisy in a dandelion field. When entering the entrance to the dormitories, she smiled at a few boys that had briefly spoken to her in class but hadn't introduced themselves. She walked into her room and quickly closed the door. She placed her books on the desk, shrugged her bag from her shoulder, and sat down at her desk, determined to get as much work done as she could so she, Meeks, and Pitts could strictly focus on acing Latin. 

     She emptied her bag on her desk and grabbed the appropriate notebook, textbook, and utensil before she began reading the first chapter of her chemistry book, being sure to underline everything that she thought would be important and then brain-dump everything she could remember after reading each page. 

     After she had worked through the first chapter of chemistry and brain-dumped everything she could remember on a piece of paper (planning to write it a lot neater later), she started on the mathematics worksheet, stopped for dinner, and then walked back to her dorm room with Meeks and Pitts beside her. She gathered the needed things and then accompanied them to their dorm room. 

     She closed the door behind her and watched as Meeks and Pitts both removed their blazers and grabbed their books, dropping them to the floor before grabbing their pillows and seating themselves in front of their books. Lana joined them, liking the idea of using the accessible floor rather than two small desks. 

     After about an hour of working through what they had learnt in the lesson, Meeks was testing Pitts while Lana was reading through her notes. Her blazer had founds its way over a chair and her tie was loosely around her neck while Pitts discarded of it completely, Meeks still kept himself looking reasonably formal.