The Red Room

𝕋𝔼ℕ

Morgan and I became inseparable. No one could tear us away from each other. The girls were very excited when I told them.

"You must be magical!" Marie exclaimed. "You just showed up here and knocked him right off his feet!"

Morgan and I did homework together, worked out together, walked to and from school together, spent the whole day at school with each other, and of course we spent football practice with each other. Madame was very pleased to hear that I was finding it difficult to arrange meetings with her around my busy schedule with Morgan.

On a day like the rest, we were just sitting at the bar in the kitchen doing homework when he suddenly burst out, "Iz, are you a Christian?"

"Christianity? Like the religion?" I asked, I'm not going to lie, he caught me by surprise, I did not read him as the religious type.

"Yeah."

"I have heard of it, but no, I do not practice it."

"Oh, well, what do you practice?" He sort of looked nervous.

"I have never really thought about a religion." I wrote something down on my paper.

"Oh, cool, cool. It's just there's this camp, and we get out of school for it. It's a week long, it's for my church. It's a church camp, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." He stumbled through his words. "I talked to my youth paster and he told me to ask you."

"Sure, sounds fun." I shrugged. I couldn't have him away from me for a whole week, Madame would kill me.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah." I flashed him a smile and went back to work.

After about five minuets my phone started going off. It was a FaceTime call from Madame.

"Who's that?" Morgan asked, popping a chip into his mouth (we always had snacks).

"Just my old training coach from Russia." I waved it off.

"Shouldn't you answer?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." I laughed nervously.

I clicked answer. As soon as it connected I said, "Hello, Madame. This is my boyfriend Morgan Park." She looked angry at first that I had spoken out of turn, but then realized the situation.

"Oh, hello Morgan. Hello Izabella."

"Hey." Morgan said with a mouth full of chips. I internally facepalmed.

"Yes, I called to ask you about your progress." Madame folded her hands.

"What kind of progress?" Morgan couldn't seem to swallow those chips.

"With my exercise training, Morgan." I said like it should be obvious.

"This old lady taught you to run 30 miles?" He asked.

Madame was outraged, so was I. "Morgan, I swear, if you do not stop chewing those chips in my ear I am going to push you off of that chair."

He laughed and chewed closer to my ear, "What? Like this?" So I did what I promised and pushed him off his chair, he fell to the ground laughing.

While he was down the I gave Madame the 'I'm so sorry' look.

"Yes, Madame. I have been making excellent progress." I smiled.

"I can see that." She sort of glared.

On the floor Morgan started choking. "Cho-king." He gasped.

I slammed my foot into his rib cage and the chips came flying out of his mouth. "That's disgusting." I scrunched up my nose.

"Is this a bad time, Miss Izabella?" Madame asked, irritated.

"Yes, quite. Sorry Madame." I winced.

She growled her lion growl and turned off the call. Why was Morgan such an idiot? If he knew what that women had done to countless of my sisters, how she tortured me, he would be running away screaming.

"Why do you have to be such an idiot?" I yelled at him.

"Yes, don't worry, I'm fine." He stood up as he held his rib cage. Sarcasm.

"I'm serious. That woman is very important, and you went on calling her old!" I was furious. He made a fool out of me in front of the person I have been trying to impress my whole life. Ever since I knew existence I've had one goal: I want that woman to think highly of me. That's how a person graduates with their body still being alive. Here he was, making me look like an idiot.

"I'm sorry." He actually looked really ashamed. "I didn't mean to cause any harm. Please, please don't be mad at me. I love you."

That boy could get me to forgive anything when he says that. I cupped his face in my hands. "It's okay, I suppose. Just, don't do it again."

He shook his head rapidly, "I won't, I promise."

"Good." I got up from my chair and kissed him. Then I hugged him and he just held me there. I hated this new life because I loved it so much. How was I ever supposed to go back to the Red Room after living this glorious life? In all honesty I had given up on my usual training to adjust to Morgan. I promised my self I would start again, I couldn't be behind everyone else when I got back, not if I was going to graduate, not if I was going to survive.

"How long are you going to hold that?" Morgan asked as he was laying on his back on the floor of my gym.

"As long as it takes." I said through gritted teeth. I was holding the pirouette position to practice again. I had already fallen once and it had only been an hour, I was really worried.

"Well how long will that be?" He rubbed his face with his hands.

"All day."

"Well, I might as well do it with you." He stood up and attempted a pirouette. He did a very bad one for about half a second before falling on his butt.

I laughed, "I'm sure you would, if you could."

"How are you doing that?" He asked as he gave another failed attempt.

"Well, I am extreme."

"Oh yeah? Well can extreme handle this?" He attempted to tackle me to the ground but failed as he bounced right off of me. "How?" He got up from where he had fallen on the ground and circled me. "Like, really. I don't understand."

"I've trained my entire life." I smirked before saying "Watch this." I came down from my my pirouette and took a knife from the little table next to the target. I backed up to the opposite wall, (about thirty or forty feet away from it).

I studied the knife and found the exact position to hold it. I then held it up and flung it at the target. As expected, it hit straight in the middle.

"Alright, that's it. I'm officially terrified." He laughed.

I laughed too.