Guity until proven innocent by Cama seeney, Monique x (howl and other poems .TXT) 📖

of that there was a bell after a hundred meter stretch. The bars didn’t look all that stable. I sighed.

 

‘You will run in fives, the last of the bleep test shall run first. Paul, Lincoln, Rose, Ellie and Nathen you’re up first.’ Ellie was tall and muscular as was her male twin, the both had fiery red hair and little freckles. I lined up and prepared to run. ‘Three, two and one!’ She called. I sprinted to the base of the tires, there was a live of ten. I had done this before for football, I wasn’t as fast as Nathen but I was quick. He was a little taller than me. I sprinted to the next obstacle. The climbing wall, I jumped and landed a little under three quarters of the way up. I pulled my weight up the wall not looking down. Air escaped my lungs in short rapid bursts, within twenty seconds I was nearing the top. Two more pulls and I was there.

 

I stood on the top of the wavering wall, I leaped keeping my arms out ahead of me. I caught it, my hands stung from throwing myself on the beam but it was okay. I saw Lincoln and felt his weight as he jumped beside me, quickly I started putting one arm before the other shifting my weight and bars. He was two ahead of me. There were three thick ropes to climb down on. I quickly jumped on mine, and doing the hand under hand technique I climbed down well until I slid a little and nearly fell, my hands burned.

 

I sighed as I came a close second.

 

‘Sucks being tall Paul muttered nodding towards Lincoln’s grumpy face. ‘Right, Paul nine minutes thirty seven seconds. Rose – forty seconds. Lincoln 43. Ellie 47 and Nathen 50.’ She told us smiling happily. ‘You beat most of the other class. Work with your partners – by the end of the week I want a flat 9 minutes. I nodded and waited until the rest of the people had finished. ‘Rose.’ The teacher called as I stood there staring at the obstacle course. ‘I can see that you’re mentally focused and ready to be a good athlete, but you’re not as strong physically as you should be. Because you’re already beating most of your class we’ve prepared a tutor for you.

 

‘He expects you in the gym at six and you may leave to dress and eat at seven. After classes you will continue a two hour training session with your trainer – you will then go for lunch as normal at seven.’ I nodded and smiled secretly though I wanted to cry – I hurt enough.

 

Chapter twelve

 When did three plus sleep equal two more hours of slave driving?

 

No, that is not accurate math. I sighed and stood there alone feeling like an idiot. I looked down at my slightly burnt hands with a little concern but they weren’t too bad. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me, I turned around and there stood Lincoln in a stupid grey sweater. ‘No, I am not getting up at six to see your stupid face Lincoln! I’m not training with you doubly! Can’t you just kill me?’ I sighed and looked down at my hands again.

 

The Lincoln took down his hood and revealed a much more tanned, bigger version of the original. ‘Ah my dearest half-brother, how long you known him – two minutes?’ He asked chuckling. ‘I’m cam.’ He told me holding out his hand, I went to shake his hand before he turned the skin of my hand over. ‘Does it hurt much?’ He asked already grabbing a thin bandage from his bag and wrapped it around my hand and then the second. ‘Not as much as you’d think. Can you show me how to climb properly?’ I asked a little anxious. ‘Sure – from what I hear you’ve done enough cardio and core strengthening today anyway. Right, can you start from the wall and stop at the end of the rope?’ He asked. I nodded and walked over to the wall, my legs and shoes were covered in mud but at least I didn’t have trousers on that would have been awfully heavy.

 

‘Go!’ He shouted once I’d just passed the tires. I sprinted forward, putting my foot on the bottom foot grip – I’d watched so many other people do it after my run. It seemed easier too, I didn’t want to splat into the wall. I bent my knees springing myself into the air, I grabbed one of the hand grips and pulled my body up to the next step. I did this until I reached the top of the wall. Where I sprang forward and jumped onto the metal pole, I quickly placed one hand on either side to stop myself from falling.

 

After swinging like a chimp I jumped onto the rope and let myself down a little bit by a little bit. ‘Use your feet as breaks of you’ll slip. I nodded and jumped down after I hit the halfway point. ‘Right, it’s all good that you’re okay with heights but you need to learn to like the ropes because you can’t always avoid them. Right, what else do you suck at?’ He asked. ‘Pull-ups, push-ups’ I listed off. ‘Sit-ups?’ he asked curious. ‘I can do one fifty.’ I told him proudly. ‘That’s good so your cores strong. Okay, we need to work on your pure muscle and you diet.’ He said making a mental list. ‘Right well let’s go to the ocean.’ He told me grinning like a devil. I looked at him like what? ‘Come on it’s only a mile run – should take around 5 – 6 minutes if you get a move on, trust me you want to be warm for this.’ I groaned and moved my tired legs in the direction of the salt water.

 

He was right it wasn’t all that bad. ‘I want you to lie in the on the shore of the water and do a plank.’ A plank? Easy. I led down and quickly put my elbows flat on the sand with my fingers laced together. ‘Get that ass down!’ He shouted just before a wave crashed into me, leaving me a heap on the ground. I nodded and got back into position. The cold water bit and every single part of me, holding my breath I held the plank as the water rushed by me. ‘Good you’ve gone ten seconds. Try and reach thirty.’ He called out to me smiling. My whole body shook with the wind and the water. With the strain and the insanity. How had I lasted this long?

 

‘Thirty, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.’ Splash! I fell. ‘Okay this time you know you can do it. This time you’re already wet. I want you to scream out the numbers one by one. I nodded once and held myself in the plank position once again. ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5...’ I held my breath as the water splashed over me. ‘No scream into the water. Don’t let it know your fear.’ This time I did as he said. ‘6, 7, 8, 9.’ Splash. ‘TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE!’ I screamed into the water as it flooded everything around me. I gasped and continued. ’10, 11, 12, 13.’ The water came once again. ‘FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN, SIXEEN.’ I gasped again and continued. Numbers that all that was on my mind. Not the cold. Not the wind or even breathing, I did that naturally. ’17, 18, 19, 20.’ The water once again came for me. This was a big wave but I wasn’t scared. They were just numbers. ‘TWENTY ONE, TWENTY TWO, TWENTY THREE, TWENTY FOUR, TWENTY FIVE.’ I gasped in air again, I could trust my body I knew I could.

 

Two minutes later and I was still screaming into the ocean. ‘Stand up.’ I did almost immediately, I noticed my clothes were clean. ‘Very good, you have a very strong will Rose, we can work with that.’ He said smiling. ‘This time I want you to burpees into the water. Between each burpee I want a push up. Hold your breath going under – exhale on the jump up and inhale on the jump down.’ I shrugged and jumped into the air, I no longer felt cold. I was burning with adrenaline, with cold, with fight. I had never felt more alive.

 

I jumped it the air, releasing the air in my lungs. Bending down I filled them again. I held my breath as I plummeted to the ground. I exhaled again whilst jumping again and inhaled on the way down. I held my breath as the water pushed me down to the bottom. I pushed myself back up and jumped up. I inhaled and jumped down to plummet again.

 

Fifteen later he stopped me. ‘That’s good. You can stop. I need you now to do a push up under the water. Go down when there’s no water and burst up when there is water.’ I looked down at my body surprised, I wasn’t shivering. I did as he said holding the down position, until the water washed over me. Up, breathe. Down, hold. Up, breathe. Down, hold. Up, breathe. Down, hold. Up, breathe. Down, hold. Up, breathe. Down, hold.

 

‘Come on kid I think you’ve had enough.’ He called as my body finally started shaking. I nodded and jumped up, running out of the water I started doing jumping jacks, a jump squat and then a burpee. I stopped on the third of each exhausted. ‘What next?’ I asked, my adrenaline levels were so high right now it was insane. ‘For one we need you to get dry, its half an hour till lunch. I’ve got what I need from you today anyway. I need to go talk to the chef about your dietary requirements. Any allergies?’ he asked as I jogged on the spot. ‘Erm, I think. Yes Gluten and citric acid.’ I said shivering violently. We started running back, I felt a little better but not much. ‘Shower in cold water, slowly rise the temp. Don’t go boiling straight out or you’ll burn yourself.’ He told me jogging off towards the mess hall. I jogged over to the dorm house, not able to run any faster – I bumped into Dyson.

 

‘Holy shit what happened to you?’ He asked as I passed him on the stair cases inside. ‘Tra-ani-ning’ I stuttered. ‘Jeez you got yourself one tough ass trainer.’ He sated as he passed me on the stairs. I laughed as I ran up the first set of stairs (signing in) and then the second. I ran into my bedroom without any more encounters and turn the shower on cold. I jumped right in with my clothes on, slowly turning up the heat I slowly felt normal again.