Later that afternoon, I make my way to the main entrance to meet Niall. I’ve once again borrowed clothes from Alex. My heart pounds against my rib cage thanks to my over active imagination. Logically I know that I have no reason to be nervous. I need to take these lessons if I want to stay with the Rebels and make a difference but for some reason taking them with Niall makes me nervous.
I suppose I’m afraid to mess up, maybe I’m a lot weaker than I should be, maybe I’m utterly useless, maybe he’s going to make me run. My biggest fear that I know will have to face is my appearance… My face turning bright red is a huge downside that makes me rather resemble a freshly washed tomato.
I’m pulled from my paranoid thoughts by a tap on the shoulder from none other than Mr. Horan himself beckoning me towards the lift.
“Where are we going?” I ask him curiously.
“Well, there isn’t a gym in this building, but there is an abandoned one a few blocks from here. I figure we’ll take one of the cars there because you’ll probably be too tired to walk back.” He tells me with a wink.
How reassuring.
****
When we get to the gym, the outside is just like everywhere else. New and old graffiti paintings litter the side. There is a sign that was once squeaky clean and proud now hanging on its hinges with some letters picked off. I assume it once said ‘King Fitness’ but now says ‘ing itnes’.
I hope that the inside of the gym is much better than the outer appearance. As we’re walking inside, Niall informs that majority of the graffiti belongs to Zayn who comes here to release his creative energy since he’s prohibited from spraying his bedroom walls.
The gym lobby certainly isn’t promising. The turn stiles are rusted and are no longer moving, the pool has been drained and the front desk is covered by a thick film of dust. The windows too have been attacked by dust, now they serve more as opaque reminders of what used to be there. There are a few filtering light in from small places that have been broken. The soft sunbeams of the afternoon sun illuminate dusk particles floating through the air, making them almost sparkle and cast an orange glow.
Niall leads me to a staircase that has been partly broken away and cracked. Carefully navigating my way up them, I shiver slightly from the cold atmosphere.
“Don’t worry, it gets better upstairs. We didn’t have any need for the lower level so we left it to go to waste. It’s a great repellent for any Royal Guards who have their suspicions about the place.” He tells me
When we reach the second story, I can tell what he’s talking about. Although the windows are boarded up and broken, there are functioning lights that he turns on with a flick of a switch. State of the art equipment is lined up against the wall and packed away. The walls and floors are clean and free of Zayn’s graffiti.
“First we’ll just warm up, don’t want you pulling any muscles just yet.”
“Yeah… thanks.”
Niall shows me a few simple warm ups with aerobics, telling me to rather do a dynamic stretch than a static or else I could injure myself. I have no idea what either one is, so I just nod along hoping he just allows me to copy him.
Once the warm ups are finished, he leads me to one of three treadmills and shows me how to work it.
“Right, we’re going to start off easy with a run of about two kilometres and then-”
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Royals and Rebels
Fanfiction"They say we are what we are, but we don't have to be" Where rebels do what rebels do and a princess does what princesses don't do
