To The Sun And Beyond

13. TRAINING

"HEY, SUNSPOT," MASON GREETED
As I walked into astronomy.

"Sunspot?" I asked, sitting down.

"Yea, I thought it was cute." He smiled, obviously proud he made up the little nickname.

"And you just decided to call me that, all on your own?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yep." He said, still smiling.

I just rolled my eyes at that boy.

Kayla tapped on my shoulder from behind, and when I turned around, she gave me a giant bear hug.

"Hey, Kayla!" I said, smiling and hugging her back.

Kayla let go, and smiled at me.

"So, I have question," She said, digging into her backpack. "Lemon yellow, or neon yellow?" She asked, holding two spools of the exact same color yellow yarn. I decided to humor her.

I pretended to think about it for a minute.

"Mmm... Lemon yellow." I replied.

Kayla looked at the yarn on her left, thinking it over.

"You're right," she nodded. "Lemon yellow really pops." And with that, she whirled around to her seat, turned to Fin, and chatted away.

I laughed to myself.

"Alright everyone," Mr. Thomas yelled as he walked out of the planetarium. "Now that you all know the truth, it's time to start your training." He clasped his hands together.

"Greaaat." Kanani said sarcastically, and rolled her eyes.

MR. THOMAS BEGAN THE TRAINING
With the basic punch. He had us beat a punching bag, to see how much work needed to be done. Of course, I was horrible, but James was a natural. His fists were flying like bullets during hunting season. I was insanely jealous.

"How does he do that?" I asked, sitting on the bleachers by the football feild, where we were training.

"I have no idea," Mason said, looking as amaized as I was. "I never thought of him as a person who knows how to punch."

"At least you can fling your fist," Kayla said. "All I can do is fruit punch."

Mason and I both eyed her, but she kept looking in James' direction.

"Alright, we need to stop being lazy bums," I began, standing up and facing my friends. "Fin's got more done than us."

I pulled each of them up, and we made our way to the targets, lined up in a row.

I closed my eyes, and put my hands together, in a recieving manner. I cleared my mind, and focused only on hitting the target. Sweat began to roll down my forehead, and my arms felt numb. I opened one of my eyes to see a little ball of fire appear in my hands, my amulet glowing a deep orange.

"Yes!" I screamed in accomplishment.

It was then that the fireball shrunk and dissapeared, leaving me as I began.

I groaned in defeat, and Kayla put her hand on my shoulder, gently pushing me away as she, too, closed her eyes and held her hands out.

A dark purple ball began growing in the center of her hands, and her amulet glowed deep purple. She opened her eyes, shooting the ball right through the bulls'-eye of the target, leaving a trail of smoke.

My jaw fell.

She turned around, striking a pose, a smile across her face.

"How was that?" She asked, innocently.