Three Trials

Chapter One

I enter my final class, PE. GoE had greatly improved the physical education portion over the years, my parents loved the activities we executed in the rooms. Ashley, my best friend of 12 years, greets me with a lovely punch to my forearm. I return the gesture. Physical violence was approved by GoE since if we got in the Trials our bodies would be used to the pain of outside forces.
"Two more weeks till the Drawing!" Ashley squeals.
Every year, New Years day, 60 names are drawn for the Trials. There are three main trials that take place over the course of six months which are surviving without air for three whole minutes, no water for three days, or food for the entirety of three weeks. The rest of the time the Trials are a huge reality TV drama. No one from Big Horn County has ever gone to the trials. Which isn't surprising being the smallest population of all the county's in the GoE. Big Horn used to be in Wyoming, in the old country before chaos ensued and America became the Garden of Eden, a more simple time in history full of peace. It's in the Doctrines. Even when the old country was in full bloom, Big Horn had the smallest population numbers.
I smile back at her. Ashley's bright red hair was similar to her brothers. "I know. All the drama, it lasts me a year living here."
"Hey," She protests
"You're the bestest friend I could ever have but the rest of our class doesn't have much drama, especially compared to the Trials."
Ashley can't argue with that. She comes up with a pretty good Big Horn drama, low key as it is the drama is still well enough to entertain us for a while. "What about James?"
I immediately blush from embarasment of what Ashley was implying. James and I are just friends that have been training and working out together. I've been hanging out with James almost as much as I do with Ashley. She knows this but loves to bring it up to embarrass me. The rest of the 16 class believes that our workout is more than weights and running.
"What about James?" I asked.
"Come on!" She exclaimed. "Betty and Agatha have been claiming that he's getting guts to finally ask you out."
"There's no way he would ask his younger sister's who have never been on a date. Besides, we're just friends."
"No, but Betty is only a year younger us. And I know that Taki but seriously, jumping on each other isn't exactly what 'friends' do."
I roll my eyes at her. Rage, his nickname given by his mean look, yells at us to come around for the start of the two hour class period even though it should've started a good 10 minutes ago.
"Alright pipsqueaks, today we start the two-week challenge the Government has for us every year. The challenge this year is to become one of the top of the class. Since this is the last year all of you will be here."
"You say that every year to each 16 class. My sister graduated 18 and she told me not to believe you," Emerald says, she was one of the small town drama queens.
Rage says in his voice that is difficult to tell whether he is oozing with sarcasm or being dead serious. "That's because I had to give them hope. None of them were even decent enough. Your sister was the worst of the class like you."
Emerald attempted to laugh. She didn't know what else to do. Her cheeks are blushed red with embarrassment. The rest of the class laughs with a glee that usually comes with his comments. As long as you weren't on the receiving end. James nears me as the whole class of 15 talked to each other.
"Hey," James says to me, giving a body nudge to me.
"Hello James," Ashley nudges me on the other side.
"So..." James starts.
Rage chooses that moment to bring the class to order. We line up, all dressed up in the PE uniform. Shorter shorts and a short sleeve tee-shirt for girls. Basketball shorts, longer than knees, and a short sleeve tee-shirt for the guys. The first day is an obstacle course then followed by a circuit full of rigorous activities such as pushups, pull ups, sit ups, squats, and handstands. Put together they're very straining on the body but designed for growth in the muscle. My muscles never did like me.
The obstacle course consists of the wall climbing, army crawling, river swimming, rope jumping, and loads of tears. I finished in the time of 14:07, second best in the class. James got first, naturally, with a time of 13:59. Right after we start the circuit. I attempt to stay at pace with James, doing pretty well actually until we get the hour mark of class. It's really hard to keep up with the guy who runs 7 miles and 200 of body weight movements for a warm up. While we've been working out together he's brought it down a little for me but he still finishes the warmup long before me.
I decide to take a five minute break, we are only allowed one break per class and I've discovered that if you do one in the middle then you can recover for the last part of the class well enough to get something done. Ashley takes one too, we always take breaks together. The vintage Gatorade water holder sits in the middle of every PE room. The break begins as soon as you enter in the Gatorade box which holds an air conditioner and a timer telling you when to get out. I wait for Ashley to come up before entering the box.
"Has James challenged you yet?" She's covered in mud head to toe, the army crawl was always her least favorite.
A challenge on top of another challenge is very much how James and I work in our relationship. Raising each other to a higher standard and trying to out beat each other. For the six-month challenge James and I held a challenge that whoever got the most reps didn't have to pay for ice cream. I ended up paying for ice cream but it was alright by me. I was only 15 reps short of the free ice cream.
"We haven't exactly had time since we've actually been trying to do the two week challenge. Our breathing regularity is more important than another challenge."
Ashley rolls her eyes at me. She doesn't understand my need for out doing others and working out. "Fine, but I really want to know what it is this time. Like seriously, I might not understand it but it's like Big Horn's own reality TV."
I rolled my eyes. "Even so, I'd like to be in shape for when a camera starts showing up."
"Of course you would," She shoved me a little. We both chuckled at our strangeness.
Instead of returning to the gesture I go to the cooler and got some water to go down my very dry throat. She does the same. We sit for the remaining four minutes and enjoyed what little time we have left in here. James decides to come our last two minutes, which makes me more jumpy than staying pace with him.
'Round 40," He says. "T, I'll make you a deal. If you get there by the time I come back we can be buddies throughout the rest of the time."
He paused trying to decide whether or not he should add something else to the deal. In the end he doesn't decide to. It doesn't take me more than a second to agree to the deal. I was already on round 37 when I came in here. I smile knowing that he doesn't know that. As soon as the timer beeps I jog over and finish up my round so that I can keep pace with James the rest of the class!
James comes out as soon as I start my last set of 50 sit-ups. I rush through them as he comes closer. He almost seems to have slowed down his walk for me to finish. He stops right in front of me, I finish my very last sit-up. Afterwards I tell him that I was practically already done with the sit-up by the time he had come over. He agreed to it.
So, the thing about James is that he's a gorgeous could-be model and knows it too. This makes him one of those cocky, arrogant types who I normally don't want to mess around with bu he's a sweetheart at the same time too. Our families are on the same ranch and he always goes out of the way to help with the goat family.
James and I ended up with 60 rounds done. Rage is actually impressed and surprised, a very rare thing for the angry stout man to show. He is actually showing an emotion, Ashley comments on it. Which makes Rage go to his non-emotional state once again. The class is released to the showers at 15 till, every student is expected to take one so we are always presentable in case one of the GoE members come to our little tiny community. Which will never happen unless someone gets Drawn for the Trial.
After I finish showering I get dressed in my comfy jeans, plaid shirt, and my little rain drop necklace with Ashley. I run home to work on the little ranch that three families own, mine included. It's a Big Horn thing. The ranch runs cows, sheep, and goats. One for each family. My mom walks up the lane, her beautiful dark skin shining in the sunlight, with my horse Scotch
"Ready for work?" Mom asks.
"Always," I say.
We walk down to the pastures where all the animals are in during the winter. It's a beautiful sight. We connect our little trailer to the horses so we can get the hay and beet pulp buckets to feed the animals. The other two families offered to feed the animals but it's something that my mom and I do. It's our daily bonding. I don't know what I'd do without this tradition. My four siblings take up most of her time after and before school.
"How was school today?" Mom asks me.
I smile, throwing the hay from the trailer to the middle of the pasture for the horses. "It was pretty good. We started our two week challenge today."
Mom groaned. "They're still doing that stupid challenge. I hope that it's gotten better. They made us work too hard for something that no one in this county is ever going to do."
"We finished 60 rounds of the circuit and the obstacle course day 1. It was pretty tough, even James was struggling."
Mom knows about me and James. He's one of the families that works with the goats. "Wow, that must've been tough. Poor un-athletic people. It must've taken Ashley the whole class period."
Mom wasn't too fond of Ashley just because she was a red head who is best friends with a red head. Although, my hair is more like a dark auburn mixed in with brown. Plus, when Ashley was younger (six months ago) she accidentally let out a full herd of sheep. We still haven't really found them.
"Mooooom, she's not totally un-athletic. It only took her 40 minutes."
"Whereas you were under 20."
"How did you know that?"
"The Garden has every school call for exceptional times. 20 and under is exceptional."
"Who called you?" I'm interested now. Rarely does my mother get a call from my school.
"The president."
"What? W-w-w-w-why?" I am utterly confused.
"Under 15 is spectacular. He's coming to the school next week."
"Right before the Drawing?!" Astonishment comes across my face.
"He wants to see the faces that might have a better chance of getting chosen."
"I wouldn't be surprised if other counties had a whole bunch of fifteeners."
"One of three in the entire Garden. My baby girl."
Mom pinches my cheeks. I whack her hands away, full of embarrassment. I am not one for lots of physical contact, hugs are fine but anything more is a little much. Especially if the President is coming to see me and James. I sigh with the thought filling my mind.

A/N
So last year AshyLoo2 (creator of cover) and I (31_speen) started working on a story like this but then it got deleted. I wrote most of this chapter. And sorry about the actiony chapter.
xoxo.
Kajsa