Unsung

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 "I can't wait for you to experience this!" McKayla said, a little hop in her step as our group made its way over to the parkour area of the gym.

My mouth went dry as I surveyed all the structures looming in front of us. There were so many walls and pipes and bars—in other words, places for me to fall from or into—it was like looking at a real life video game. Only, if you lost your life here, you didn't get another try.

I gave McKayla a look that said I didn't share her enthusiasm.

"It's actually pretty fun," Garrick said, surprising me as he sidled up on my right. "It almost doesn't even feel like training sometimes. Just like running around and playing."

"I don't know where you played growing up, but my playgrounds did not look like this," I said, frowning. "Did your parents let you run with scissors, too?"

"What? Yours didn't?" Garrick deadpanned.

"I'm with you, Kida," Sophia chimed in. "I could do without the jumpin' and danglin' and pouncin'. And those walls and bars wreak havoc on my hands. Sometimes they're so ravaged that I can't even put them together to pray."

I felt like praying right now. To keep from getting myself killed during class.

"You chicks are such girls sometimes," Ty said, hopping easily over a wall that was randomly set up in our path. It was waist high on me, but Ty treated it as if it weren't even there, lifting both his legs to the side and supporting his body with his right arm as he passed over it.

If that was the sort of thing we were going to be learning, then I was doomed for sure. Balancing on one arm? Yeah, fracking, right. I'd be lucky to get any part of myself over an obstacle, no matter how high it was.

McKayla cleared her throat. "As much as we appreciate your caveman-like show of chauvinism, I'd like to remind you that we are girls. And since this girl can kick your ass," she pointed to herself, "I would think better of how you address us girls in the future."

"No need to get feisty," Ty said, holding up his hands. "On second thought, I sort of like feisty."

"You know he wasn't talking about you, McKayla," Ris muttered. "It's those two he was making a jab at. And he wasn't exactly wrong."

Ris looked over at Sophia and me, unimpressed.

"Some people just don't realize when they're in over their heads," he added. "If you can't hang with the boys, maybe you should stop trying."

I wanted to say something, but couldn't seem to get the words out. Were they trying to push us out? Was this some sort of tough-love initiation process they put the girls through?

Worst of all, were they right?

"Not that I agree at all with what these two are saying about girls and their abilities," Austin interjected, stepping in between the four of us like a peacekeeper. Then he looked me straight in the eyes. "But if you're uncomfortable with this, you don't have to do it. There's nothing wrong with choosing not to put yourself at risk. You shouldn't be forced to do anything you don't want to do."

As he finished, I realized that he wasn't so much standing up for us as females, but more like, giving us permission to give up. Did he think we couldn't hack it? Didn't want us to get hurt? I couldn't decide if his concern was sweet or offensive.

"Don't be silly," McKayla said, blowing past Austin and severing the moment. "Kida's just nervous—which is totally fine, because she should be. I doubt she's ever climbed a tree, let alone the side of a wall. But that's about to change. And Sophia's—well, she's gotta get her priorities in check, that's all."

"I have my priorities in check," Sophia said, scowling. "I need my prayin' hands."

"Didn't you tell me once that you thought God wanted you to do this?" McKayla asked, stopping and turning to face Sophia.

"Well, yes," Sophia said, softly.

"And if God wants you to be a hero, then He must want you to go through training to gain the necessary skills to help others, right?" McKayla said.

"I suppose," Sophia stuttered as she answered, not totally understanding where McKayla was going with her line of questioning.

"Then you'd actually be going against God's will by not doing parkour," McKayla concluded, an eyebrow arched. "Do you want to go against God's will, Sophia?"

"Of course not," Sophia breathed, like it was the worst thing she could possibly think of happening.

"That's what I thought," McKayla said brightly as she turned and led us to the middle of the course. "See guys? The girls are just as ready to do this as you are. So, why don't you worry more about yourselves and less about us chicks. As you can see, we'll be just fine."

"You should be a lawyer," I said to her as she appeared by my side again.

"Not a big fan of the outfits," she said without missing a beat. "Too depressing."

I couldn't fight my smile. Sometimes it was really good having McKayla in your corner. Even if her logic often felt like manipulation and she was incapable of giving a straight out compliment, the girl knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. And that was something I could stand to learn from.

I lifted my chin in the air and addressed the others. "Yeah. I think I'm ready to try this parkour thing. Bring it on," I said, far more bravely than I felt.

As I took a step forward to join McKayla, a screamshot through the facility and we all turned to see someone fall from whatlooked like a makeshift apartment building at the end of the course—twenty feetin the air and down to the ground below.