Free Fall

Chapter 2 - Me, Myself, and Him?

"Ava?" Ry asked me with concern, seeing me watch the officer walk away. I shake my head and turn back to him.

"It's nothing, Ry, let's go." I take his hand and give him a rare smile. He looked surprised then pleased. Together, we walked to the training center.

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"Down. Twenty four! Down. Twenty five! Alright sit on your bottoms and stretch out your legs!" The instructor screamed. I roll over from push up position with a groan, flicking my purple ponytail over my shoulder. The other girls in the room turned over for stretches. My shirt was soaked with sweat and I felt like I had just showered in disgusting water. I stretched out my legs and arms, the soreness was relived by the stretches.

"Instructor Lia just loves to give us a lot of work, doesn't she?" My friend, Marie, asked. I stretch up and reply,

"Ugh. I know right." Suddenly, I find myself on the floor. My head throbs with pain.

"What is that you said, midget?" Instructor Lia screeched in my ear. "You want to run 10 miles around the track? Well I don't want to stop you! Get off your butt and go!" I groan and stand, my legs protesting. I exit the training room out to the back field where the track was. I saw Instructor Lia watching me and I stood at the start of the track. A loud gunshot signalled my start and I grab my gun from my belt. I begin running down the track and monsters spawn. They attack me and I shoot them down. This wonderful exercise was Instructor Lia's favorite. It made us "experience true danger" as she said. I take a running jump and pull out my swords to slash down at a chimera. My feet hit thin air. There was no ground. I fell.

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I wake to someone kissing me, and of course, my impulse is to knee them in the balls and shove them backwards.

"What the freak?" I exclaim, sitting up to glare at my offender. Of course, when I had a good look of him, I only had three words to describe him. He. Was. Hot. Quickly, I erase the thought from my mind. I had a boyfriend and this guy was just molesting me a few seconds ago. The hot guy was cowered over in pain, my work of course. I jump to my feet. "Who the hell are you?" I scream, reaching for my gun. When I couldn't find it I screamed, "What did you do to my weapons?"

"Relax, hun." The hot guy said. OMG he called me hun. No no. Bad Ava. You have Ry. "I didn't mean any harm." I put my hands on my hips.

"Um, NO HARM? Why were you kissing me?" My face was bright red, I knew it. He shrugged and sat cross legged on the ground.

"Can't a guy kiss a hot girl?" He said matter of factly. At this point, I was sure my face was the brightest red that ever existed.

"NO! Of course you can't! I'm TAKEN!" I huffed. I look around. I was nowhere near the training center track. Actually, I wasn't anywhere I knew. "Where am I?! Who are you?"

"I am Aaron Bedowlski, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." The hot guy, now introduced as Aaron, said. "And you are?"

"I am pissed that you abducted me and were probably going to RAPE me if I hadn't woken up when I did. Do you have a habit of taking advantage of unconscious girls?" I cross my arms and take a few steps back. He stood and walked over to me with a smirk. Slowly, I back away.

"Don't lie, hun. You're attracted to me." He purred. I back up faster and being the klutz i am, I trip and fall backwards. Aaron caught me and pulled me up so that our faces were inches apart. My heart began to beat more quickly and my breath was cut short. He leaned in closer until our lips were a centimeter apart. Then, he pulled away and laughed. "Did you think I would actually kiss you?" He laughed mockingly. I pull away and slap him across the face.

"You bastard! I have a boyfriend! Now where am I? Tell me now or else I'll slit your throat!" He smiled smugly.

"With what, my dear?" He purred. The sound of his voice made my insides melt. I hated myself for that. I had an effing boyfriend!

"Agh! Just give me my weapons back and get me back to where I was!"

"As you wish, my dear." he said, walking up to me. I was nervous but stood firm. Aaron brushed the hair from my forehead and kissed it. My vision began to black over. "Goodbye... Avanna..." I heard him say before I fell completely unconscious.

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I open my eyes to see a white ceiling and white blankets. I look to the side and see Ryan sitting beside my bed, holding one of my hands. When he saw that I was awake, he exclaimed,

"Ava! Oh thank God you're awake. I thought that maybe death was real for a second!" He gripped my hand tightly.

"I'm fine, Ry, I'm sorry for worrying you." I say, smiling. He bent down and kissed me softly. Was it bad that I didn't feel anything? His kiss was soft and kind, full of affection, but I couldn't feel anything. I was probably numbed from that horrible dream I had.

'I thought I had lost you." He whispered, after pulling away. I blushed.

"Alright lovebirds. Break it up." A cold voice said. I look to see Instructor Lia walk in with a clipboard, her red hair up in a ponytail and her eyebrows furrowed. She set my gun and swords down onto the bedside table. "Are you alright, Avanna?" She asked. I was surprised to hear that she knew my name and was even more surprised to hear her asking about my welfare.

"What happened?" I asked. Please don't say that I disappeared to a different place and got hit on by this hot guy.

"You fainted from unknown reasons." Instructor Lia said in a clipped voice. "You are to be sent home for 3 days of bed rest." Great. Time for another long lecture from my mother about my delicate form and how being an explorer wasn't right for me. Ryan, knowing what I was thinking, looked at me with pity.

"Alright." I sigh. Instructor Lia raised an eyebrow.

"No resistance?" She asked. I shake my head. She nodded with approval. "Whatever happened to you while you were unconscious did you well. You may go now." Ryan stood.

"I'll take her home." He said, and picked me up bridal style.

"Ry! What did I say about PDA?" I protest. He looked at me with a look of disbelief. He looked hurt, truly hurt. Guilt coursed through me. I peck him on the cheek. "Just kidding." I say. He smiled at me and my guilt multiplied by thousands.