Colors

Septem

Pulchra just stared at me.

"You just killed Cunnus Possessorem, and all you're worried about is that people will know it's you? God, Ventus, you're more of a freaking lunatic than I thought," she said, rubbing her temples.

"Give her a break, Pulchra, she's just overwhelmed," Captiosus said. I jumped a little, stunned that he was coming to my defense.

"Captiosus, she's barely thirteen!"

"Well, so are you!"

Pulchra brushed past me and stormed out of the living space. I parted my lips, but no sound came out. Captiosus shook his head and walked into the doorway for his bedroom. Before he closed the door, he turned to me.

"Don't worry about it," he said. I nodded, not quite sure of what he meant. Before he could turn back around, I had already disappeared into my bedroom. I settled into the top bunk and drifted into a heart-racing dream.

-

The next morning, I awoke to arms shaking me. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, and saw Captiosus in front of me.

"Wake up, V," Captiosus said. I nodded.

"Is Pulchra back?" I asked, shaking the covers off of me. Captiosus shook his head.

"Nope. But she'll come back, she always does. I hope," he added, smiling. "I think your classes start soon, you'd better get going."

"Thanks."

Captiosus jumped down from the bunk, and I climbed down the ladder. He led me into the kitchen, where something was sizzling on a pan.

"What is that smell?" I asked. "It's so..."

"Dreamy? Yeah, yeah. It's called bacon, try some," Captiosus told me, a smile playing at his lips. He set me down some bacon on a plate. I tore off a piece and popped it into my mouth.

"This is incredible," I said, as I shoved my mouth with more. "Mmm, this is so good!"

After I finished, I headed back to my room to get dressed. Dux Disciplina gave me some clothes, I remembered, so I scavenged through the closets and drawers until I settled on a black V-neck T-shirt and shiny black leggings, plus some lace-up boots and a digital watch. I tied my hair back and exited my bedroom. Before I left, however, there was a question I wanted to ask Captiosus. He said that we were going to the same building, so he left with me and we began to talk on the way.

"What time does this end today?" I asked.

"11.30, then a lunch break, then it starts again at 1.30 and ends at 5. Is that your major, super-important question?" 

"No, actually... I was wondering if you knew anyone by the name of Ben...hmm, I think he told me his last name was Inhu...he's a 'newbie' leader. His real name is Benignus."

"Yeah, I know the kid. Real insincere, he is, doesn't mean a word he says. Not at all genuine, but he's otherwise pretty good at what he does. Lady magnet too, he is. Why'd ya ask?"

"Oh... no reason. He was my leader dude for the Black thing." I smiled at myself. I thought I was finally getting the hang of Black slang. Looking back, I realize how stupid I sounded.

"Naw, there's gotta be some reason. Something more than that."

"He tried to have sex with me." I blurted. Captiosus stopped.

"He what?"

"Yeah. Asked me out afterwards."

"So what happened?"

"I got away from him, luckily, because I don't want anything like that to happen to me anytime soon. We ended up sleeping together. I told him 'yes,' that I'd go out with him. What a stupid mistake."

"Hell yeah." Captiosus turned to me, and I realized we were here. "Don't you go trusting that kid, do you you here me?" I nodded. "Go left. I'll see you at the Quarters, at 11.45." I paused and looked at where we were. It was a building identical to the Sleeping Quarters, but taller. I swallowed and opened the doors, stepping cautiously inside. Once inside, you were greeted with two doors. I went left, as Captiosus told me to, and started walking down a dimly-lit hallway. The floors creaked as I went across, and I didn't see anybody anywhere. At last, however, I finally reached the door. I took a deep breath, turned the handle, and stepped inside.

It was obstacle course, if that's what it's called. The platform started high up, where two ladders hung from the ceiling. Once you climbed down the ladders, with one foot on each, you crossed a narrow beam, then monkey bars. Then, you lifted three dumbbells onto stands, and their combined weight made a thick rope fall. You climbed to the top of that rope in under seven and a half minutes (or else the dumbbells would be released and you'd fall from the rope). At the top was a zip line platform, that led to a workout section. There were treadmills, bicycles, weights, mats, stair climbers, and punching bags. I gulped and approached the platform, in which you climbed up a ladder of metal rungs. I assumed I should be going up there, and I saw other people on the obstacle course, so I figured I was supposed to be there. There was a sign by the ladder that read: OBSTACLE COURSE: EASY. Easy? This was the easy course? I braced myself and quickly climbed up the ladder. 

At the top, I made the horrible mistake of glancing down, and my palms began to sweat. I reached over the side and grabbed one of the ladders, not realizing someone was still going down. They nearly lost their balance and began yelling profanities at me, so I jumped back and made sure to wait until the person was far off when I grabbed the ladders. I took hold of one and put both feet on it, then grabbed hold of the other right next to it and put one of my feet on that one. Now for the tricky part: going down. I started descending, at first at a slow pace, but then I began to get the hang of it and finished. I landed on a platform and prepared myself for the beam, wishing that I could improve my terrible balance. I crossed, luckily, and glanced up at the monkey bars. There were mats below for if you fell, as well as for the beam I'd just crossed and some of the other obstacles, and a blue scanner just above that and to the sides, to track if you fell or decided to go around. I jumped up and grabbed hold of the first bar, and moved one of my hands forward. Then I moved my other hand forward, and continued on until there were two bars left. Suddenly, one of my fingers slipped, and I was holding myself up with one hand. I raised my hand up and finished the bars, luckily. Once I reached the end, I breathed a sigh of relief. I then hurried to the dumbbells, which I lifted onto the stands fairly easily. It wasn't the dumbbells I was worried about, however. It was climbing up the puny ladder that absolutely terrified me. I gripped the ladder and pulled myself up, and slowly began inching upwards. I'd move my feet, then my hands. Feet then hands. Feet then hands. I reached the top and hurried onto the platform, hoping that I wouldn't run out of time at the last second. I checked the small clock on the stand before it reset. Seven minutes and fifteen seconds. Wow, do I suck at this.

I grabbed hold of the handles and sat on the seat, and was pushed off by a professional Black trainer. I tried not to scream, since I was so afraid of falling off. Once I landed, I scurried over to the workout section. I stepped onto a free treadmill and set the speed, and began running to take my mind off of everything. I saw a note at the bottom, explaining that you had to do ten minutes on the stair climber, elliptical, and treadmill at a minimum speed of 4. Then, you had to do 400 reps of whatever you pleased on the yoga mats, followed by lifting at least 5 pound weights for ten minutes straight. Oh goodness.

This was going to be a lot different than I had originally expected.