Sparks To A Flame

|4| The Boy Next Door

It's been slow for a few days. No new missions or suspicious updates have been reported so far, well, not reported to me at least. It's pretty obvious why. Anyone could easily guess just by looking at the conspicuous wound bulging through the white patch slapped on my forehead. I've been taking it slow for those days ever since my injury. Thankfully, I got all of my belongings back the day after the incident but, I never knew what the cops did with the other half of my money. Probably kept it? Anyway, Coach Jackson finally convinced me to take those yoga lessons with him...

"It's either that or you have to stay at your dorm. Resting," he emphasized.

"Alright, alright, I'll try it. But if I strain a muscle again, you will have a taser in your ass..." I took a seat on the blue vinyl mat next to his.

"You need to control that." he crossed his bulky arms at me, giving me that look of disapproval.

"Control what?"

"Your mouth. Unlike me, others could get offended and could get you in real trouble, just saying." he began the first stretch by standing straight then slowly reaching down to touch his toes.

I stood up and copied his actions. "Let them cry. They shouldn't be here if they're too sensitive and weak to handle it. Sadly there's a lot of them like that here."

"Well, you gotta remember that you're working with other human beings... People have feelings. Plus, a lot of our members are much younger than before, give 'em time to mature before you judge."

I eyed him and followed his next stretch. "Like you...?"

He laughed, "What? I'm almost 30... Keep your legs straight."

I straightened my posture for him. "You're turning 30 in what? 4 years? But whatever, you're different, you're the kind of annoying I can tolerate."

He moved into a downward dog. "Really... Well, that's relieving considering the fact that I have to tolerate you. Oh, and that unfiltered junkyard you call a mouth."

"Please, I don't cause you any trouble..." I followed his motion as he moved back up, wobbling a little with my attempt to imitate his flawless posture.

He shook his head, clearly denying that. "You need help?" he asked as he stood on his feet, not waiting for my answer. He kept me steady by placing his hands on either side of my hips with a gentle but firm grip. "Finally found something you're not good at..." he chuckled.

"What do you expect? I hadn't taken any yoga classes for more than a year."

"Yet, you're surprisingly flexible during obstacles or active missions." he moved his hand down to my leg, lifting it up to stretch behind me for the next pose.

"Well, yoga is stupid. I actually enjoy the obstacles at boot camp." I was interrupted when my phone suddenly vibrated on my mat.

I pushed Coach's hands away so I can pick up the phone. It was from Simon.

I tapped the call button immediately, "What's up." I answered.

"I have some news for you. Come meet me in my office."

My insides felt a slight flutter of joy that was enough to get me hyped. Finally, some excitement to anticipate over... "On my way." I hung up then looked up at Coach with a point of a finger, "Class is dismissed."

He held his hand out to me with a nonchalant nod. Taking his hand, I pulled myself up as he said, "You were serious about hating this... He didn't call for another mission, did he? Because you're not supposed to be scheduled for one yet."