The Elites

↭ Chapter 5.0 ↭

"I could ask you the same thing" replied Axton, my eyes having now adjusted to the brightness of the room that contrasted greatly to the darkness of the corridor.

As my eyes roamed the room they focused on Axton, who seemed to be carrying out some form of exercise using the several weights that lined the back wall of the gym that was completely covered by mirrors making the room seem even bigger than it already was. The school had 2 gyms in total - one solely dedicated and only accessed by those who were on various different sporting teams and the other being the one I was currently in that was accessible by everyone else.

The gyms were fairly large due to the sheer amount of students on campus and therefore the need for lots of equipment; it was, however, only available to students over the ages of 16 unless once again they were on a sports team in which case they were subject to different timetables and specific routines.

I ignored Axton, not in the mood to carry a conversation and began walking towards the treadmills in order to carry out the exercises I planned in hopes of tiring myself out. I shoved my earphones in, which I had grabbed from underneath my pillow before leaving the room, and began walking at a pace which I increased after every few minutes until I was sprinting. My thighs and calves began burning, my heartbeat drumming in my ears almost matching the beat of the music that was blaring through my earphones.

Running was something I always relied on, whether that be to help me fall asleep at night or to help relieve stress. My heartbeats and my legs pulsing were the only things I was focussed on, posing as a perfect distraction from whatever thoughts were running through my mind. At this moment in time, there wasn't anything in particular stressing me out or causing me to not sleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes or allowed my mind to wander, different scenarios and deadlines would suddenly flood my mind preventing me from being able to relax.

Ok Lia, relax, calm down. In through your nose, out through your mouth. In through your nose - oh my god I haven't even started the essay due for Friday - out through your mouth - and I have the date with Roman on Friday too. Wait, was the French presentation next week? I can't remember, no one in my group has said anything, ugh I wish I could've - OUCH.

My thoughts came to a sudden halt, as I lost my footing on the treadmill and slipped, my chin hitting it causing my lip to cut into my bottom lip. I squinted my eyes in pain as my legs were still burning from running for I don't even remember how long, and now my busted lip too.

"Is this going to become a routine thing? You tripping whenever you see me?" I looked up to see Axton watching me, with his eyebrows raised as if actually waiting for me to answer his question.

"Shut up and help me up." I replied, rolling my eyes out and sticking my hand out for him to help pull me up. I could feel my lip starting to swell, making me silently pray it didn't bruise. He grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me to my feet, before helping me regain my balance after running for so long.

"You're going to need some ice for that if you don't want it to look any worse than it already does." said Axton as he grimaced, inspecting my lip now that I was at eye level. "Come on, I've got some in my room, Im sure you've done enough in the gym now"

I trailed behind him as he led the way out of the gym, not replying as I could feel myself tearing up. I didn't trust my voice not to waver if I spoke. Call me a baby, but it really hurt and my pain threshold isn't the highest I must admit. The metallic taste of blood coated my mouth making me cringe at the taste. I swiped the back of my hand across my forehead get rid of the sweat that had accumulated due to my run.

"Won't security catch us. We're out way past lights out and I'll be a girl in the boys dorms. That's 2 strikes." I said, slowly coming to halt as I thought about how going to Axton's room might actually be a bad decision.