I'm running ten miles her hour on Warner's treadmill. Half of us are using the equipment, the other half is working on their abilities with Juliette and Warner.
Alia is next to me on another treadmill, James is with Juliette and Kenji.
I curiously glance at her miles.
She's running more than me, she's at 12.
I press the addition button and add five miles. My legs move faster and my breathing becomes heavier.
I notice Alia's glance at my miles.
She raises hers to 17.
Damn Adam, you're probably three times her size and she's kicking your ass.
I raise mine to 25 and nearly trip over my feet but catch my balance.
Alia tries shaking her thick hair out of her face and raises her miles, though I'm running too fast to notice but I'm guessing the same speed as me.
My own hair is getting in the way as it grows damp from sweat.
I comb it back with my fingers and struggle to keep up with the treadmill as I raise it to 35.
Alia does the same, almost as if it isn't bothering her to do so.
"Who do you think will give up first?" Lily asks as she and Winston walk up to us.
"Adam for sure" he winks.
"So now its a competition?" I say and look over at Alia.
" ...you started it" she simply claims.
"What are we doing?" Ian and Brendon join.
"Rooting for whose faster" Winston replies.
"Damn. A little thing like Alia keeping up with a giant like Adam? Looks like we've had her underestimated" Ian chuckles.
I can almost sense Alia shooting Ian looks of disapproval.
She shakes her hair away again, eventually taking the risk to tie her half up/half down do into one big ponytail while simultaneously running almost 40 miles per hour.
She fails, gasping as she slips and falls on her back.
I pause my treadmill and I'm the first to reach her.
"Holy shit, Ali, are you okay?" Brendan asks.
I kneel to Alia's side, trying desperately to hold back my smirk of victory. She glares at me and opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out.
"Get the wind knocked out of you?" I question.
"I'll get you some water" Castle says.
"What happened?" Kenji asks as the other half hurries over to us.
"Alia fell" Winston explains.
"How?" Warner asks.
"Just a friendly competition gone wrong, you're okay though, right Ali?" Ian says.
She nods as I help her up.
She immediately blushes after realizing everyone's attention is towards her.
"Here" Castle says, handing Alia water. "Drink slowly".
"Is your back okay?" I ask Alia, gently pressing my fingers to her spine and she winces, causing the water she's drinking escape her lips.
"I'll get an ice pack" Warner says.
Alia turns to me.
" ...what happened?" she silently asks. Her eyes are filled with terror, warning me the attention is getting to her in a humiliating way.
" ....you're hair got in your face" I explain. "Do you happen to be into braids?".
Everyone goes back to training. Warner hands Alia the ice pack and she sits on a bench as I stand behind her, gathering her hair in my hands.
"Got your pencil with you by chance?" I ask.
She nods and hands me her pencil from her notebook.
I loosen her half up ponytail, taking the hairband out.
I take a comb and gently untangle her hair as I brush through it. I then run the pencil down the center of her scalp.
" ....what are you...um doing?" Alia questions. "I-I mean with my hair".
"French braiding" I answer. "You have a lot of hair and it gets in the way of your training, just thought this would help".
She nods.
"Don't move" I warn.
Once I've parted her ombre silk hair, I slowly begin to weave strands together.
Her hair is so soft, the light brown color reminds me of my mother's.
Occasionally, my skin brushes against Alia's. Whether its my fingers on her forehead or my arms on her shoulders.
The feeling is familiar, I have to stop myself from automatically turning on my defense ability.
I was never scared of Juliette's touch, I got used to trying to negate her ability whenever I touched her, to a point where it hardly bothered me anymore.
Not having to expect a deadly touch every time our skin came in contact is shamingly almost....nice.
I remember once telling her during one of our earlier breakups that there would never be anyone else for me, that I'd never want anyone else either.
How could I have changed that way of reasoning in a matter of weeks?
I glance up, noticing Juliette pulling up the gloves on her arms in caution.
I look away before she catches my stare.
Am I over Juliette?
I can't get over the fact that just a few weeks ago, I was willing to give up absolutely anything to be with her again.
Now I nearly can't stand the sappy thought.
I finish Alia's first braid and place it over her shoulder, where it reaches as low as her ribs.
I had torn her hairband into two pieces and tied one of them at the end of her braid in a tight knot.
"Where'd you learn how to braid?" Alia softly questions.
I chuckle a little at the memory.
"My mom insisted i joined boy scouts when I was younger, we learned a shit load about ropes and tying and weaving. I used to practice on her hair, some of the girls at school would pay me to braid theirs too" I explain.
Silence.
"So who's your favorite artist?" I suddenly ask.
She hesitates to answer.
"Monet" she quietly answers. "I wanna learn to draw landscapes like his".
" ...never seen his work" I smile. "But I've seen yours. You know how to can draw anything".
I don't even have to look at her face to know she's blushing.
When I don't think she'll say anything else, a few minutes later, she surprisingly does.
"After we win, I wanna try to paint....maybe I'll paint New York...I heard its the last standing city" she says.
" ...if we win" I correct her.
I finish her second braid, tying the second hairband piece at the end of her braid in a tight knot, and place it over her opposite shoulder.
"That should....help" I say as she glances into a mirror.
She smiles, blushes, and looks down at her hands.
"Um...thanks" Alia says.
I hand her back her pencil.
She looks nice. I always thought she looked pretty, she had a sweet-innocent look to her.
But also a mysterious one.
She flushes at the realization of my stare on her face, panicks a little even.
" ....try not to fall again" I tell her before walking away.
