Avilien

King of the school

Mr. Phillips lined up his class on the edge of the racing track in one long line, each student standing on the short cut grass. He started counting how many students had turned up with his finger as he walked down the line. With thin hair waving in the gentle breeze, he came across Brit and her pleasant smile. Taller than anyone else in the year and obviously not thirteen, Mr. Phillips took off his GTs to make sure Brit wasn't an augment.

"Ah, you must be the Brittaney the other teachers are talking about?" he asked, and Brit nodded her head.

Stroking his goatee, Mr. Phillips shrugged it off as a whatever. Other teachers were going on about the bubbly, smiling redhead that had been placed into Class 8-I, even though it was abundantly clear she belonged in year eleven or college. This was the girl Headmaster Mock had given special privileges to, and for no known reason. With more muscle than brains, Mr. Phillips dedicated himself to being a caring soul. Even if he did look like a silverback gorilla in a white vest, he would take each child under his wing and treat them fairly.

In Luke's world, P.E.was the most fun and friendly of all the classes because of Mr. Phillips. If exercise wasn't fun, then there was no point in it. Every lesson turned out different and Mr. Phillips had a whole day planned out for his young students. The first lesson would be the Boulder Dash assault course. Pairs of students would take turns running around the track as giant boulders chased them. Other objects, like swinging giant swords and pitfall traps, would try to hinder each student as they ran. The aim was to test each child's endurance, reflexes, and stamina, with the main goal being four laps around the four-hundred-metre track. Roughly a mile.

First up on the track were Emily and Hannah, two giddy schoolgirls with long brown hair plaited down to their lower backs. They often laughed at Luke and threw insults towards him, so Luke gained great pleasure in watching them fail to complete even one lap. Hannah stumbled into a pitfall filled with snakes and started to scream as the augments slithered over her while Emily tried to help and got mashed by the boulder, ending the girls' run. No harm ever came to anyone other than some bruised knees, as none of it was real, but through the GTs, it looked realistic enough to be believed.

Next up to the track was Luke. He had been sitting on the grass next to Brit as the other students sat in their own little groups, huddled around like it was a picnic. Mr. Phillips patted Luke on the shoulder and gave him a friendly smile as he looked over his war wounds.

"Do me proud, Luke. This should be a piece of cake for you," he said before getting his tablet out to start the exercise. He tried not to comment on the bruising on Luke's face as the last time he voiced an opinion in the school, he was almost fired.

Brit and Luke positioned themselves at the starting line, Luke ready to give it his all and sprint for his life as augmented trees and traps started to appear ahead of him. Brit poked and prodded the inside of her ear and looked to the sky instead as Mr. Phillips blew an old-fashioned whistle. She had seen what had happened to Emily and Hannah so when she heard the whistle, she chased after Luke.

Luke ducked and dodged swinging branches as they swung towards him on vines, and then he jumped over pools filled with alligators. There were more traps than he could remember, and definitely more traps than Emily and Hannah had to deal with. After leaping a pit filled with venomous black snakes that snapped and hissed, Luke realised Mr. Phillips must have placed him and Brit on a hard mode of Boulder Dash.

After they'd completed one lap, Mr. Phillips cheered for both Luke and Brit. He jumped up and down with crossed fingers. He was happy that Brit had done so well on the extreme setting. He had a point to prove to the P.E. exam board that some of his students were the best in the country. Never did he think Brit would prove to be so resilient, too. He felt bad for making her run the same course as Luke, but had no choice. He had a feeling Luke could complete the track only five percent of students managed—and he did.