LEO AUREUM

Chapter 8

I hoped that somehow, River was not in any of my combat classes. Coupled with the fact that I was not allowed to participate in actual physical activities; I did not want to be close to someone who made me feel so many things at once.

I popped an aspirin and changed into a pair of black breathable joggers and a body hugging black shirt with the academy patch where the breast pocket should have been. I looked at the sleeve where my stripes would have been and sighed. Since we were working on self defense, it was required that we dressed as lightly as possible. I removed my combat boots, slipped on a pair of trainers and went for the class.

The self defense class was held in the gym. My presence was not compulsory owing to the fact that I was not allowed to participate but I never was absent from a class.

I missed it. I missed not feeling the helplessness I usually feel in life. The mat and the field were the only places I was truly allowed to fight.

I was punished in such a way that it looked like my being in the academy was a privilege; while depriving me from the things that actually made the academy, the academy.

They turned me into a literal wall flower. The ivies that were creeping on the wall were even doing more than I was doing at the academy.

I do not mean just physically but on the mat, your parent's military status or padded bank account did not matter when your butt was on the floor.

The mat was the only place in the strangest sense where everyone was truly equal. The mat did what our plain black uniformed shirts failed to do. The mat stripped us off all the external things that we thought mattered the most. The mat made us focus on the internal; what we were made of, rather than what we presented ourselves to be.

On the mat, I was just another cadet not a traitor or cariot. My punches mattered more than my history and my footing more than the names that followed me.

The mat and the field were the only places where I could truly be. Of all the things that they did to me, this was the cruelest.

I entered the gym. My rankmates were already warming up and stretching. I proceeded to my usual seat in the bleachers, definitely not searching for a certain olive skinned brunette.

I think he saw me before I saw him because immediately I looked up, his eyes met mine. I quickly looked away. He needed to know that I was still not over what he said.

Yeah, it is so easy to stand up to someone you barely know because of a single careless remark but when it comes to people who have cut you down consistently, you turn into a coward.

My subconscious was simultaneously my worst enemy and my best friend.

“Alright get in line, cadets!” Colonel Amanda yelled. I liked Colonel Amanda, a lot. Her primary goal was to get cadets into the best shape to be able to defend themselves.

She did not let her sole aim be defeated and was not concerned with academy politics. She was even willing to let me spar after the ban; until, she got a direct order from the house to do no such thing.

My rankmates lined up.

“As we know, this is Cadet Solaris' first class and so he gets to sit this one out if he wants to.”

Colonel Amanda looked at him, waiting for a reply. He looked at where I was seated on the bleachers, then towards the sparring mat, back to the bleachers and nodded at Colonel Amanda.

The rest of you, warm up in pairs as I assign who you would spar with.”

River then walked towards the bleachers and sat directly beside me. He smelled like clean linen, rain-soaked cedar and something warm I couldn't quite place. It was annoyingly comforting. The kind of scent that lingered in the air long after he had walked away, making it impossible to pretend I had not noticed him.

“How is your face? How do you feel?” River asked, with something akin to genuine concern on his face.

I narrowed my eyes, why did he care?

“Worse now that you are here.”

His lip twitched.

“You wound me, carrot.”

He smirked. That was one good-looking smirk.

“Wait, carrot?”

“Yeah, you remind me of a fresh carrot.”

I looked at him as I waited for him to continue.

“You know; smooth, unblemished skin and incredibly sweet when you get to know it.” River continued, wiggling his eyebrows.

“When you get to know the carrot?” I was nonplussed.

“Yes, when you get to know the carrot,” The smirk was back in full swing.

That was when I realised.

“I think you meant cariot, you know; like Judas Iscariot,” It hurt that I had to repeat the name that was used to remind me of my place.

“No, definitely not. Carrot suits you better, don't you think?”

I did not answer because I was too busy blushing. Who knew that being compared to a vegetable could have been so flattering.

We sat down in silence for a few minutes as Colonel Amanda began to call out the spar matches.

“You don't look half as bad as I thought you would.” River started.

“Gee, thanks. Just the thing a girl wants to hear.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else but was cut short; however, when a level 1 cadet came into the gym, relaying that she had a message from the House.

I do not know what the note said but the content of it made her, I daresay, happier than usual.

She dismissed the level 1 and continued pairing up sparring partners.

“And for the last and final sparring pair; Cadet Alexander and Cadet Ramirez, square up.”

All the time I had spent with my rankmates, I had never known there was another Cadet Alexander.

I saw Colonel Amanda look up at me like she was waiting for me.

There is no other Cadet Alexander.