Species XD-63

Trainer

It was safe to say after that incident at the bonding meeting, Egris pride was damaged. He didn't once mention it that day or the following weekend. In fact, when Monday came around, he forgot it even happened. The only thing he wanted to mention was the female training programme.

Egris told Lola that his job on board when he wasn't training himself, was training others. And now that this new programme had sprung up, he and his fellow trainers would be leading it.

Great.

Lola had never liked exercise in any form, especially if it was training.

Training always meant Lola's muscles would be screaming, her lungs rasping and her forehead would be bathing in sweat. Hockey was the only game she could stand in P.E and the only thing she vaguely enjoyed. And compared to Egris, her body looked like a limp, soggy leaf. His physique made the greek gods jealous and the littering of scars scarred the strongest of souls. The last thing Lola ever wanted to do was train with someone like him.

"I'll take you to the gym. You'll be separated into groups with a team captain." He informed Lola while they were eating breakfast in the kitchen.

"Are you a team captain by any chance?"

"Of course. The best."

"Yeah right." She added sarcastically.

Egris didn't take sarcasm particularly well. Whether that was because he didn't understand it or was so cold he didn't accept it, Lola found it hard to filter out sarcasm.

"It'll be a hour-long session. I'm sure you can cope."

"You have no idea."

Egris shot one look at Lola from the top of the cereal bowl but didn't reply.

xxx

The gym turned out to be more of an indoor track. It was a large hall with a circuit ringing the gym equipment in the centre. The blue and black lanes caused Lola to involuntarily shiver and horrendous flashbacks of field P.E came back.

Lola couldn't run to save her life. She was slow, her stamina was non-existent and running too long caused her to cry. The track was never her forte but it seemed she had little choice. The other girls had all gathered by the front of the start, huddling in groups and gossiping. Egris left without any explanation so Lola hesitantly joined the others. Julie's friendly face popped out from the crowd and she jogged up to her.

"How are you?" She beamed, wrapping her arms around Lola's shoulder.

"Good. Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I am actually. You?"

"God no." Lola scoffed

From the corner of her eye, Lola caught Egris along with 3 other Xyon men. They all were built like units, muscles bulging from their shirts and shorts. They must've been the trainers, all joking and slapping each other's backs. Lola noticed how Egris stayed away from the joy and decided to glare at everyone instead. Not surprising then.

After spending a minute or so barking out crude jokes in their own language, the Xyon trainers marched up to the group of girls. The one who stood at the front had long, Prussian blue locks cut at his shoulders and dazzled everyone with a toothy grin.

"Okay, ladies! Today is our first lesson in training so we're going to put you into groups of 5. Does that sound good?"

There was a low murmur of agreements among the girls, no one truly excited.

"Amazing. So, I'm going to number you guys."

He started to move through the group, pointing at random girls and shooting out a number. He gave Lola a 3.

"Now can group ones go to Zuke, group twos are with me, group 3 Egris and groups 4 with Tyle."

Lola's heart sank to her toes when Egris stood forward. Her and 4 other girls whose names she hadn't been discovered yet, stood in front of him.

His eyes immediately met hers and a sick smile twisted his features.

This is going to be hell.

"Okay ladies," He started with the crispness of an army sergeant, "Let's start with laps."

Lola summoned the most evil, dirty glare she could and threw it at full force of Egris but he kept his monotone expression. Egris led them to the lanes and Lola took one in the middle, not wanting to be noticeable.

"I'll tell you when to stop." He called out to the girls from the sidelines.

A blow from the whistle around his neck kick-started the running. Lola didn't want to fall behind so she pushed herself to keep up with the others. Maybe it was her shorter legs or the lack of exercise recently, but Lola could feel herself slipping.

She kept her legs pumping until they completed a full lap. Egris was still watching, the whistle left untouched. She now was at the back of the group and struggling to keep up with their pace - they were just too fast for her. Another lap limped passed and Lola could feel a prickle start at the bridge of her nose. Next thing she knew, water was gathering in her eyes and she slipped even further behind. It was clear that her body wasn't made for this and her legs ached to such a point she felt like she would fall.

As they completed another half lap, Lola saw the girl closest to her wobble slightly before stumbling to the ground. He legs rolled onto Lola's lane causing her to fall over the girl and land face-first onto the track. She didn't make any attempt to move and welcomed the feeling of resting legs.

Lola knew someone was approaching, she could hear the heavy fall of feet. But she was so tired, the sensation of being lifted off the ground didn't bother her. Egris' face in front of hers didn't bother her. It was only when he forced her back to her feet and told her to carry on running, reality snapped.

"Fuck you." Lola spat before slumping back onto the floor.

edited