After lunch, I went to the school's locker rooms to get changed for gym. One of the things I had been most looking forward to my junior year was being done with gym. At Preston High, my old high school, we only needed gym our freshman and sophomore years. Argh!
At least Wellston had nicer changing rooms. Preston High's were at least a decade old since the last remodel and the corners had begun to show signs of mold and mildew. Plus, high school students are notoriously sweaty, and the janitors were few and far between, so the lockers had a truly pungent smell.
Here, the locker rooms had marble floors and stainless-steel cubbies for one's regular and gym uniforms. It also smelled like the clean linen scented Febreze, an odor-eliminating air freshener that the school must have bought in truck-loads since I'd smelled the same in the girls' bathrooms in the dorms and at the school. I changed quickly into my white t-shirt with Wellston crest, dark blue shorts, and black thigh-high socks in white sneakers. I checked the status of my hair, making sure that the daisies still looked fresh by activating my power and giving them another burst of life.
I then joined a couple of similarly dressed girls who had begun jogging towards the school's track. Once I got there, I began to do a couple of dynamic stretches which would serve to improve my range of motion and loosen up my muscles. I was not sure what gym class consisted of at Wellston but back at Preston gym classes was where we were allowed to show off our abilities and train with each other to improve them. Since Wellston seems to allow abilities at all times, given the number of fights and the lack of teacher interference, I was interested in seeing what they actually did during their physical exercise class.
After about five minutes of butt kicks, high knees, and leg swings, the gym teacher arrived. Mr. Bowman blew his whistle and waited for everyone to quiet down.
"It is a beautiful day today and we have a new student that I'd like to introduce. Eloise, please step forward."
Thanking Mr. Bowman profusely for drawing so much attention to me on my first day in gym class, I took a couple of determined steps towards him and away from the safety of the group with whom I had been clustered. Once I reached him, I turned on my heels and gave a friendly wave to the rest of the class.
"Why don't you show us a bit of your ability and then we'll begin?"
I activated my ability and pulled out another daisy from my hair. I twirled it around in my hand and then curved it around and behind my back so that when my hand reemerged a full bouquet of daisies had replaced the one daisy.
I heard a couple cleared throats and a few yawns. I had unquestionably not impressed anyone in this crowd. Mr. Bowman looked sternly down at me, trying to make me feel even smaller than I was by towering over me. It should not have been difficult since Mr. Bowman was at least seven feet tall compared to my measly five feet and a few inches.
"Rejoin your classmates!", he yelled.
"Now! Today I want to run a capture the flag exercise. I will be dividing all of you up into two teams. Arlo! You are captain of Team Amethyst! Cecile! You are captain of Team Coral!"
It seemed that Mr. Bowman only spoke in shouts, making his whistle superfluous and nothing but a trinket he sometimes waved around when he spoke. I waited, amongst the others, while Arlo and Cecile picked the members of each team.
All around me I heard sounds of disappointment that the other members of Wellston's turf war team, Remi and Blyke, were not here. There were whispers that past capture the flag exercises between them had resulted in complete destruction of the field and that was why Headmaster Vaughn had prohibited Mr. Bowman from having the whole turf war team in one gym class. The re-seeding of the athletic field had cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to repair.
Slowly, one by one the students' names around me were called until I was the last to be picked. Wow this day was just getting better and better! Since Arlo had taken the second to last kid, a boy with lavender hair covering one eye called Lin.
Cecile looked down her nose and said, "Eloise, you're on Team Coral. Let's go!"
Both teams then proceeded to jog to opposite ends of the football field and set up their respective colored flags. Cecile had us circle up and with our heads down she gave us our strategy.
"Now listen up because I'm only going to say this once. All the high and mid-tiers are going to press forward and try to get the flag. We are going to need all the strength we can get to fight past Arlo and his barrier, not to mention the other teams' high tiers. All the other low tiers will stay here and defend the flag. This way you will not get in the way of our offensive. Have I made myself clear?!"
Everyone nodded and gave approval sounds, except me.
"Cecile, have you thought about something stealthier? What about using a distraction?"
With a deathly glare, Cecile grabs me by the collar of my t-shirt and pulls me close.
"Did I ask for your opinion? No?! Then keep it to yourself, little Miss New Girl!"
She lets go of my t-shirt and together with the next highest tier in the team, a girl named Meilie, proceeds to go to the front line and get ready for the start of the game.
When Mr. Bowman gives three short bursts, three long burst and finally three short bursts of his whistle, the game begins.