Chapter Five: First Day of Class

Greg was up again at midnight. Working night shifts really messed up with life sometimes, such as now. By the time he became accustomed to sleeping at night, the convention would be over, then he would have to get used to sleeping during the day once again.

Sara, on the other hand, was fast asleep. It still bothered him. Sara shouldn't be that tired, but then again, if she wasn't sleeping during the day, maybe her hours were starting to catch up with her.

Greg watched her sleep for a minute before heading off to the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of cereal, digging in the small fridge for the milk. They had spent a better part of an hour the night before picking up all sorts of food. They had resorted mainly to precooked meals, as well as boxed meals. The two had argued briefly about getting meat, since Sara didn't eat it anymore, she claimed it was a waste of their budget money. However, Greg refused to become a vegetarian for three weeks.

Greg had finally won the argument, even if Sara had called it a compromise. Each of them would cook for themselves, and Greg had promised to clean up after himself, so that she wasn't left handling any meat.

It was ten to four when the alarm went off. The skies were still dark, but their class would begin in roughly an hour. Greg looked up from the book he was reading, waiting for Sara to turn the alarm off, but after a few minutes it was clear she wasn't moving.

Letting out a sigh, Greg closed his book, making sure to mark his place, and climbed off the couch. Even with the lamp on, it was hard to figure out how to turn the diminutive machine off. He managed after a moment, turning to Sara soon afterwards, shaking her gently.

"Sara, wake up," he called, shaking her some more. She let out sigh, muttering something that sounded like 'go away' as she rolled from her left side to her right, pulling the covers up under her chin.

Greg rolled his eyes, shaking her once again. "Time to get up Sara," he said, feeling a little sorry that she was so tired.

"Leave me alone," she muttered, not moving this time.

"Sara, we have a class to get to," Greg reminded her.

"I'm not going," she said flatly, "now, let me sleep."

Greg straightened up, sighing as he ran a hand across his face. Smiling he moved to the foot of the bed, grabbing the end of the covers in his hands.

"You decent?" he asked her. She only nodded, but it was all he needed. In one quick motion he yanked the covers off her, wadding them into a ball and pitching them across the room onto the couch.

"Greg!" she cried, drawing her body into a fetal position as the cold morning air settled around her.

"Time to get up," he told her again, still smiling.

"It's freezing! Give them back!"

"Get some clothes on then," he told her, making his way back towards the couch.

"I do have clothes on genius," she grumbled sourly.

"Get up," he told her again, picking up his book again.

"I'm not going," she argued, "I don't need to go," she ranted more to herself than she did Greg.

"Fine, freeze, doesn't bother me."

Letting out a curse, Sara finally sat up, rubbing her arms as she shivered. They didn't keep the fire going during the night, for safety reasons obviously. It couldn't have been warmer than forty in there.

"There," she stated coldly, "happy now?"

Greg didn't answer her, just kept on reading as she collected her clothes and entered the bathroom, nearly slamming the door behind her. By the time she came back out it there class was ready to start in only ten minutes, and Sara hadn't even eaten yet. Greg calmly urged and prodded her to eat quickly, but she ignored his hints as she finished, washing her bowl and leaving it in the drain rack.

Greg was standing next to the door, holding the flashlights as Sara finally pulled her coat on. He handed one to her, the sun wouldn't be up for at least another hour. "We're going to be late," he told her, checking the time. "Class starts in three minutes."

"Big deal," Sara muttered, still angry at him for earlier, and seriously craving a cup of coffee. The class would surely have some, but from her past experiences, it was never good.

Greg followed behind her, making sure the cabin was indeed locked. The building was roughly a ten minute walk, and by the time they arrived, class had indeed begun. They slipped inside as quiet as possible, but still drew the attention of the other 13 people in the room, as well as the instructor. Taking a seat in the back, Greg and Sara could only listen until a second instructor provided them with paper and pens for note taking. Greg jotted down as much as he could remember, but it was difficult. They didn't break until 10 that morning, and Greg had little more than twenty full pages of notes. Most of the stuff he knew already, but since they were 'required' to take notes, he had little choice. It felt like high school all over again.

He had one teacher that loved notes. Day after day, for weeks at a time, all they would do every day, is take notes. Then they would have a test over all the notes they took. In this case, the notes were turned in, for the instructor to review, making sure that everyone was getting the gist of the idea. Greg supposed for a trainee, this was possibly a once in a life time chance. However if this chance had come up while he was training, he would have flat out refused the offer.

Sara had less then he did, making him wonder if he was perhaps overdoing it, but then again, Sara was probably not putting her full effort in. Greg didn't blame her, if this was his third time doing this, he wouldn't put in full effort either.

The break only lasted ten minutes, enough time to stretch and grab a snack, before starting all over again. At two they split for an hour for lunch. The food wasn't bad, but in Sara's case, everything was meat except a handful of carrots, which she nibbled on after everyone else had taken their food.

The two didn't speak during this time, Greg figured Sara was still mad at him, and he didn't mind too much, his brain felt like mush and he wouldn't be surprised if it fell out of his head onto his lunch plate. He didn't even finish, feeling somewhat guilty that Sara hadn't anything to eat besides rabbit food, but then again that's what she ate most of the time, so it didn't really make any difference, right?

Class ended promptly at six, without another break. Greg was beginning to see why Sara hadn't wanted to come, and why Warrick had been pitying him earlier. They returned to the cabin, to weary to do really anything else, plus the fact the town practically died around five thirty save for a single restaurant and the small hospital that was no larger than the cabins themselves.

Sara began fixing herself dinner as soon as they were inside. Greg lit the fire before lying down on the couch, fighting off a yawn as he closed his eyes. He was starting to feel the strain of not sleeping during the night, and the class had been more than tiring.

He was nearly asleep when something was set on his stomach, promptly awakening him. Greg opened his eyes to see Sara pushing a bowl towards him.

"Here," she told him, making sure he had a good enough hold on it before letting go.

"What is it?" Greg asked, somewhat surprised.

"Cream of mushroom," she said simply, taking a seat in the chair. "You need to eat, you barely had anything at lunch."

Greg shook his head lightly, "I'm not that hungry," he lied. He was, in fact, starving, but cream of mushroom soup didn't sound all that appetizing.

"Don't make me waste perfectly good food," she warned him.

With a sigh, Greg sat up a little, taking a few small bites. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. They said little more as they ate; Sara took the bowl away as Greg finished before he had a chance to get up.

"Get some rest," she told him, "you look exhausted."

"May I remind you that you are the one who wouldn't get up this morning."

"May I remind you that I'm in charge," she said simply, washing the bowls up.

Greg shook his head, but couldn't complain, he was too tired. Moving over to the fire, he was chased away by Sara.

"I'll take care of that," she shooed him away, "Get some sleep."

"Sara, we don't even have a class tomorrow," he complained, beginning to feel very much like a young child.

"Go," she said, pointing towards the beds.

Greg grumbled, grabbing his sleepwear before entering the bathroom. "Yes honey," he called sarcastically.

He could hear her answer in an equal tone as he shut the door behind him. "Sure thing sweetie."

TBC