The Grothlins

Chapter XI - The Dinner

The very moment Rem and Marybeth reached the living room, she let her body fell into one of the beanbags. Despite he was still sweating, he also lay on the large sofa and closed his eyes.

"Should we wait for them or we should take a bath now?" asked Marybeth.

"I think we should wait for them," Rem answered. "It'll be more fun if you have someone to talk to when taking a bath."

"Alright," said Marybeth.

Then silence for a few minutes.

"I've been having hard times with the knives," said Marybeth who was already kneeling down and talking right in front of Rem's face. "How about you?"

Rem opened his eyes and felt a little awkward seeing Marybeth's face closer to him. He backed off a little to get out of the awkwardness.

"Me too! Marybeth," said Rem. "Sir Alvarez told me that knife throwing takes time. When our teachers told us that we did great, then we did great. Don't be down Marybeth," Rem added in an attempt to boost her confidence.

"But, none of them told me that I did great. They only told me that I'll learn it someday," said Marybeth who was obviously upset about it.

Rem felt a little dumb as his attempts of making Marybeth feel a little better failed. So, he sat on the couch.

"Don't be too overly dramatic. It's only our first day," said Rem while hitting Marybeth with a pillow.

Marybeth smiled and threw a bean bag at his face. Rem responded by hitting her back. They never knew they were already fooling with each other.

"Lovers!" one man said disturbing them from their playtime. They looked it was Randolph along with smiling Tatiana and Dreyford.

"You two indeed are lovers," Dreyford added while carrying a glass of water.

"I think the kids are getting warmed up," said Tatiana. "So, how's training?"

"We are just having some good times as the training is quite hard," said Rem that was instantly seconded by Marybeth by saying: "and tiring!"

"Well, anyway while walking back here, we've lost our body heat," said Tatiana. "And obviously, you too. So, let's go and take a shower."

Marybeth and Rem stood.

Randolph, Dreyford, and Rem occupied the first three cubicles of the bathroom and started showering.

"You like her, don't you?" Rem heard and it was Dreyford looking and smirking at him. "There's nothing wrong with it, we just wanted to know!"

Rem tightened his lips obviously, doesn't want to answer.

"Come on Rem," added Randolph. "It's obvious. You are like Dreyford looking at Tatiana."

"No! It's actually you who likes Tatiana," Dreyford insists.

"Tatiana is beautiful, but none of us wanted her," said Dreyford. "She's like 'Xena: The Warrior Princess'."

"Rem, again, do you like Marybeth?" Randolph asked with stress.

"Well, we saw each other first in the medical area and I liked her eyes," said Rem.

"Wooooooah!" said the two in a choreographed manner.

Rem felt a little awkward.

"The two of you are together for quite some time," said Randolph. "You guys will be together for long even after we left."

Rem looked at Randolph smiling. However, he was bothered by what he said that anytime soon, they will be leaving and then what? What's next? He doesn't have any ideas and doesn't want to think of it.

The three finished showering and went straight the locker room. They changed clothes and headed to the dining table for the dinner. A few minutes after, Tatiana and Marybeth arrived.

Just like their lunch, there were servers who gave them their meals. When Rem opened his plate cover, he saw two pieces of chicken legs, buttered vegetables, and two hard-boiled eggs. The glasses in front of him were filled with water and soya milk.

Randolph informed Rem and Marybeth that they are all required to consume the water and soya milk.

Rem asked the server if what are the drinks, he said it was iced tea from moringa, fresh wild berries juice, pandan extracts, ginger, and honey. When he asked if that's the only option, he nodded. He doesn't like the sound, but he still wanted to taste it.

When Rem sipped, his eyes widened as it was one of the best iced tea he had. The combination of the fruits and vegetables exploded in his mouth. He immediately finished his glass and asked the server to fill it again.

"You liked it don't you," said the server. "This is the best-tasting refreshments ever, plus this contains vitamins and minerals for your training. It has protein, iron, calcium and much more."

Rem smiled and continued drinking. He didn't finish his entire meal because he was already full by just drinking the tea. His tummy ached. He also found hard times walking to the living room.

According to Tatiana, all of them should stay in the living room for about two hours before going to bed. As usual, the three were fooling around and kept on talking about the training outside the dome. The two younger trainees were out of place.

"That tea was amazing," said Rem to Marybeth in order to keep themselves busy. "It's the best tea I ever had."

"Yeah! I noticed it. You drank about five glasses," Marybeth replied with a smile. "Me, I don't like the meal. I hate it, it's quite a few."

Rem and Marybeth turned into different topics like their frustrations in the training. They also talked about their mentors like Jonathan and Alvarez that created a conversation with full of laugh.

*****

Their escorts noted that they should be going to bed. Rem obliged. None of them said a word and just walked outside the living room. After they reached the dormitory, all of them said their good nights and entered their corresponding rooms.

As Rem entered his room, that was the moment that he felt weak and drained for the whole day of training. He prayed and lay on his bed. He immediately fell asleep.