I don’t look for Lucy. For once since getting here, I don’t want to see her. I know she's going to be happy with her test results. In fact I bet she discovered her gift right away. I bet she’s got a class and a job and everything now. I bet she won’t miss her old life one bit. I bet she won’t miss me.

I run through Catherine’s tour in my head. I don’t want to think. I don’t want to think about the exam or gifts or the explosion or Lucy or Silva or any of it. I stumble into a gym and look around, wondering how many kids were taught to fight here? No one here has muttered a word about yesterday. Is death more normal here? Is dying more common? Is killing?

I press open the doors, wondering about that man in the shades. Killing certainly didn’t seem to bother him. Is he like the rest of these people? Is he like me? Is he an enemy? Does he have anything to do with the attack yesterday?

Questions zip around my head. Too many questions. Too many thoughts. I’m so in my head that I don’t realize I’m not alone in the room.

“Aiden?”

I look up, seeing Nick and a few others sitting on the rubber mats. I frown.

“Nick? Are you following me?”

He snorts. “I was here first. How would that be possible?”

I look between him and the others in the group. There’s a girl with short red hair playing cards with a boy with warm, dark skin and dreads. They’re so involved in their game they don’t hear me come in. Sitting next to Nick is another girl, a shorter one, whose small height is exacerbated by Nick’s tall stature. She has Nick’s same olive skin and his eyes. But unlike him, her features are sharper, her frown permanently etched into her face. She is staring at the far end of the room, where mat is replaced with linoleum ground and targets are lined all the walls. A boy with brown hair and a Harvard sweatshirt is chewing on his lip, aiming a dart at a wooden target. When he lets go, the metal tip of the dart sinks into the middle flesh of the target with impeccable ease.

“What are you doing?” I ask. He shrugs.

“Training.” 

“Looks more like slacking off to me,” I chuckle.

“Hush, don’t say that too loud,” the girl with red hair says without looking up. “Zu will hear you and then we’ll all be mopping mats for a week. Swear that woman has the hearing of a bat.”

“What are you doing here?” Nick asks, ignoring her. I shrug. “Looking to punch something. Trying to get out of my head.” He grins at my words and gets to his feet.

“Want to spar?”

The girl beside him glares at him, though he pays her no mind. I narrow my eyes.

“Spar?”

“You’re really going to fight the newbie?” She asks. I can’t help but agree.

“Why not?” Nick retorts. “He’s cool. Relax, Emi. I’ve been waiting to burn off some steam anyway.”

“New kid’s going to need a cast tomorrow,” the kid with the darts remarked with a smirk. I roll my eyes.

“Why do you guys train anyways?” I ask, blatantly ignoring his remark.

“We’re in Class D.” Nick says. “We fight. Protect the Alloy.”

“Against what?” I ask. He cracks his knuckles and stretches an arm over his head. Only now do I notice how built he actually is.

“Leave the questions for history class. Do you want to fight or not?” He asks. A new fire burns in my chest, one I’ve been trying to suppress since I got here. All my frustration and confusion I let filter into anger.

“Of course I do.”

I stretch my back and my shoulders and stand across from Nick in the center of the mats. With a hair tie, I tie my hair up in a knot. My hair has grown out enough to do that now.

I look around the room. Now everyone is looking at us. 

“Want me to go easy on you, Aiden?” Nick asks. I scoff and plant my feet, raising my hands up to my chin. Ready to fight.

“Don’t you dare.”

He doesn’t wait. In the blink of an eye, he lunges toward me. I don’t have time to think, only react. His first punch is hard enough to send me flying. But I keep my feet planted. I take it.

I analyze his fighting stance. He clearly knows what he’s doing. I’ve never been up against an opponent this skilled at fighting before but that doesn’t matter. I can still get a good punch in. Even if I know I can’t beat him, I can at least do that. His next jab is aimed for my throat, a quick finisher to any fight. I duck out of the way just in time.

“All that bark and you want to finish the fight that fast?” I ask with a grin. I wait for an opening but he’s guarded. He doesn’t even flinch when I move. I can tell he’s reluctant to really hurt me, it’s why he wants to finish fast. I can use that to my advantage. I may look weak but I can take a punch. I may not be the best fighter but I sure as hell am a stubborn one.

His next hit is so fast I don’t have time to duck out of the way. He hits me right in the jaw, and I hit the ground hard. I groan, tasting blood in my mouth. I bring my hands to my face and my knees to my chest as he reels back for a kick. I can’t stay down.

I roll over and dodge his heel, pushing myself back on my feet. He’s got the obvious advantage. He’s almost a foot taller than me and he’s practically unmovable. Now that I mention it, he’s barely moved from his spot on the mat.

“What’s wrong, newbie?” He asks with a grin. “Running out of steam already?”

He’s trying to get me riled up. I know that. But it works. I growl, lunging for him. One punch, that’s all I need. He blocks them easily, grabbing hold of my wrist and twisting my arm violently. I clench back a scream and crumble to my knees. My vision gets blurry from pain. But I force myself back up.

“You're a stubborn kid, I’ll give you that. But you have too many openings. And you let your emotions control the outcome of the fight,” he tells me. He moves to kick my side and I block but he easily gets a hit on my face when my hands are down.

“Keep your hands up, Aiden!” He says. He’s fast enough to slip behind me and wrap an arm around my neck, putting me in a chokehold. I gasp, clawing at his iron grip. Remember Aiden, a voice echoes in my brain. If you can’t beat him in strength, beat him in skill.

I brought my elbow back and slammed him in the ribs. Nick was obviously not expecting it, given how he instantly dropped me. I scramble away, sucking air back in my lungs. Nick is already approaching but I dodge and aim for his knees. I’m not fast enough. He brings his leg up and slams his knee to my chest. I feel the air leave my body and fold in on myself. I see stars.

“Are you done?” Nick asks and I can’t answer. I’m gasping for air, clutching my sides. Get up, I tell myself. Get up. But my body won't listen to me. I can’t move. I can barely breathe. 

“Yeah,” I mumble quietly.

The fight is over in under two minutes. And I just made myself look like a fool in front of everyone. Nick looks down and extends a hand to me. I take it, feeling what’s left of my pride disintegrate. 

“Hey don’t beat yourself up,” he said, trying to console me. I turn away, not wanting to face my own weakness. “That was a pretty good hit you got in there. That’ll be a bruise for sure.” My whole body feels like a bruise.

“Yeah,” the redhead agrees. “The first spar I had with Nick didn’t last thirty seconds. I was out with the first hit.”

“Just means you’ll have to train with us more,” the tall man with dreads says. I look at him, surprised to see his genuine expression.

“Told you he’d be out cold,” the brown haired kid muttered with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Don’t be a dick, Jacob,” the red-haired girl scolded. She walked over to get a closer look at me. I brushed Nick off to stand on my own. I don’t want to seem weak to these people, not any more than I already appear to be.

“What’s your name, newbie?” She asks.

“Aiden.”

“Aiden. I’m Lexi. You know Nick already obviously. That’s Dante-” she points to the man with the dreads, “And that’s Emi-” she points to the girl beside Nick. “And that jerk over there is Jacob.”

“We were all thinking it,” Jacob said while turning back to the target with his darts. I made a mental note to keep my distance from him.

I shook my hair free of it’s tie and inspected my bruises in the mirror. My face still looks like it’s made of more bruise than flesh. I’m sure now it’ll look even worse in the morning. I sigh, run my hand through my hair.

“So Aiden,” Lexi asked with a glint in her eyes. “How good is your aim?”