The Prince's Guard

Chapter One - Cat and Mouse

I never would have thought that training at the most prestigious camp in the country would include learning how to use an umbrella as a weapon, but here we are. Haddy is on the platform with three other girls. Surrounding them are various objects, each of which the girls have to grab and use to fight each other. Haddy got an umbrella and Sutton got a pillow. The other girls had a hardcover book and a lamp.
The book was useless; although hard, you had to get close to use it, and the lamp was too heavy to swing with. That left the fight between Haddy and Sutton. The umbrella was good because it was sturdy and gave distance, but the pillow was great for defense. Every time Haddy swung or went to stab, Sutton would easily block it.
The fight has been going on for almost ten minutes now, and I can tell Haddy is getting tired. The whole match she has had to do all the chasing and attacking. It's obvious, though, that's what Sutton wanted. Haddy swings for Sutton's head with the umbrella, but instead of blocking it with the pillow, she ducks. Sutton drops her pillow, and her leg sweeps Haddy. Haddy tries to step back and dodge it but is a second too slow. A loud thud echoes across the room as she falls backwards. All the girls gasp while watching Sutton as she rushes at Haddy and kicks her in the side of the stomach.
She starts to go for another kick when Rita shouts out, "Stop!" The room falls silent as she walks out onto the platform, and Sutton smirks as she gets closer. "Winner!" Rita announces while pulling Sutton's arm up in the air.
Sutton jumps up with joy while her friends sprint over to the platform and confine her in a hug. It takes all the willpower in me to not roll my eyes at them. I take the high road and clap along with the other girls for her, slowly making my way over to Haddy.
She lays on the ground with her blonde hair just barely in its ponytail. Her eyes move from staring at the ceiling to looking up at me.
I give her a half-smile. "You okay?" I reach my arm out to help her up. "No bruised ribs?"
She chuckles slightly and grabs onto my hand. "Just a bruised ego." She huffs. "I hate losing to her."
"I think at this point everyone does." I roll my eyes. She nods at me, and we both walk behind the rest of the girls toward the locker room.
"I reckon you could have beaten her at that though," Haddy raises her voice as we walk through the door. All the girls are laughing and gossiping while changing out of their workout clothes. We both walk to our lockers, which are beside each other. She swings her door open and looks at me. "She does use your trademark like all the time now."
I sigh and open my locker. "It's not my trademark; we all got the same training." My locker is basically empty inside. I only have one more week at training camp, so I've taken most things out. The only things left are an extra workout set and a sweatshirt.
The sweatshirt was a birthday gift from my little brother. It's not a fancy brand or anything; the color isn't that cute either, but he was super excited to give it to me because every morning I would go for a run no matter the weather. He gave it to me so I would have something to keep me warm. Although I'm going to miss living in a big city like Plario City and training with the girls every day, I miss him and my mum even more.
Haddy slams her locker shut, breaking my train of thoughts. She gives me a hard glare and a frown. "You've been playing cat and mouse since day one, and no one plays mouse better than you. Not even the oh-so-perfect Sutton."
I can't help but laugh at her. While her compliments are nice and I know Sutton copied my tactics, it means nothing. Being the fastest person here is awesome, but when Sutton is better at just about everything else, what's the point?
I look at her hands and see she has an outfit and a makeup bag. I furrow my eyebrows a bit. "Are you showering here? Aren't you going back to the dorms?"
"Nah," she says. "My mum is gonna pick me up in half an hour. Gotta have dinner with the family."
"Lucky you. I'll get to eat the cafeteria slop yet again. Except for tonight, I'll be eating it by myself." I shoot her a dirty look, which only makes her smile.
"Just wait for tomorrow night, oh I'm sure the palace will be serving the best." Just as she finishes her sentence, her phone chimes. She doesn't bother looking at it and instead just sighs. "I gotta shower. I'll come to your dorm around 12 tomorrow to get ready?"
"Yeah, no worries," I say. She smiles and begins to walk over towards the showers. "Have fun with ya family!" I shout at her, biting back a smile.
"Time of my life!" she yells back. I giggle at her reply and pick my gym bag up, leaving the gym and heading towards my dorm room.