Leap Before You Think

Chapter 10

Why do people tell you to have a positive attitude but then the universe gives you all the reasons in the the world to have a negative one?

That is the question that is on my mind when I wake up. I roll over and see Piper still under her sheets, well at least she's half under them. I sit up and rub the sleep away from my eyes. As I do this I catch a glimpse of something white and then realize that it's just the bandages on my arms. I get out of bed, slowly walk over to my dresser, and grab out an outfit for the day. I walk out of my room and to the bathroom where I take a quick shower and change. When I get back to my room Piper is still fast asleep. I walk over to her and shake her till she wakes up.

She stares at me angrily, "What?"

"It's time to get up."

"It's five a.m. on a Saturday."

"And we have training get up and get dressed."

"Ugh!"

I laugh and walk away from her grabbing my weekend bag. I check that everything that I could need is in there, some snacks, small weapons, a fire starter, ect., and then I look over at Piper. She's still in bed trying to go back to sleep. I walk over to her and yank her out of bed. She of course protests and tries to punch me but I catch her fist and tell her to get ready for the day. I don't have time for games right now. She gets out of bed and at a sloth's speed she walks over to her dresser and grabs out an outfit, at the same speed she walks out of our room to head to the bathroom. It seems like forever but she returns dressed in leggings, a denim tank top, and black sneakers, I tell her that she should do something about the rat nest on her head and she mumbles something like, "I was just about to do that." and walks back out of our room with a brush. When she returns, for the second time, I throw a bag at her that is filled with anything she might need.

"Let's go, sunshine," I say as I walk out of the room her trailing behind me.

When we get to the pickup point Judah and Jackson are glaring at each other with fists raised. Jackson takes a swing and misses Judah who dodges it at the last second. When Judah is about to side-swipe Jackson to the ground, I run up to them and stand between them pushing Jackson away from Judah.

"What the heck are you doing!"

"What's it look like?" Judah asks sarcastically.

"It looks like you are being stupid" I pause then add, "Again."

"I hate you sometimes."

"Ooh, ouch," Piper interjects.

I roll my I don't care what he says. His words don't hurt me. Nothing he ever says will hurt as much as when he told me that we couldn't speak. Out of anger or annoyance, he has said that he hates me many times. He is still grieving and I am too so I understand. Still, anger bubbles up inside me.

"Oh yeah. Hate this."

I try to punch him in the arm but he stops me just like I did to Piper earlier. I laugh and he looks at me confused. I would look at myself confused too if I didn't know why I had laughed. In his confusion, his grip on my fist loosens and I pull away, I then double back and punch him in the arm.

"That was a dirty trick." He says rubbing his arm, I'm sure he's fine.

"A trick that you would do I you had thought about."

He rolls his eyes just as the plane lands in front of us. The four of us walk onto the plane and then are seated. A blindfold is placed over our eyes and a gas mask is over our mouths. I feel the plane take flight and then the knock-out gas fills my mask, I breathe it in and blackout. Like I've been doing since I was twelve years old.