HALO, Lorraine C [the giving tree read aloud txt] 📗

need to act like some hero with me. Plus I wouldn’t want to raise suspicion’, he raised an eyebrow at that, ‘You better explain yourself young lady’ smirking back,’ ‘I meant well you know we wouldn’t want anyone thinking you’re actually nice or something, God forbid. I’ve kinda noticed that your behaviour towards me is out of character. It seems to shock everyone else too.’ He looked surprised, ‘Really I just thought I was more of a lone ranger.’

‘Well yeah lonelier than you’d first imagined, even Rose was onto me before like I’d broken some sort of unspoken taboo.’ He looked perplexed ‘Rose? As in Rose Lyman?’ As Lynn nodded he looked more troubled than she’d expected. ‘Well look I’ve got to go’, she jerked her thumb towards the self-defence class, before he could answer, someone called him, ‘Taylor! You’re late for training, pick up those pins, and make your way over here!’ he turned round to look at the burly coach, Lynn thought it was a man at first but she realised it was the woman standing next to the burly coach that had shouted at him. He shrugged his shoulders at her surprised face, ‘Yeah I know, unexpected but she’s awesome. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you later, yeah?’ confident he strode away before Lynn could give him an answer. And he ran to catch up with the beautiful young blonde coach, who patted him on the back as he caught up.

 

Entering the gym, she could hear the quick squeaks of rubber soles on the linoleum floor. ‘Come on ladies! Pick those pins up!’ Lynn made her way to the burly male coach currently shouting instructions at the group of girls who were half-heartedly warming up in their little separate groups. The coach noticed her and blew his whistle, ‘Okay ladies stretch it off, and we’ll begin in a minute!’ Turning to me, he looked Lynn up and down, ‘You must be Miss Smyth. Good I’m Mr Lyons your Physical training coach, stay on my good side and you’ll be fine. My aim is to make you the best tactical field agent you can be. Go change.’

‘Uhhh...’, nodding she began to walk towards the changing rooms, ‘And Miss Smyth..?’ turning around, ‘Yes?’ she answered unsurely, ‘Never be late again.’ With that he turned around and continued barking orders as if nothing had happened. As Lynn made her way to the changing rooms, one of Rose’s clones caught her eye and glared at her. Something about the way she glowered at her made Lynn shiver and quicken her step towards the back of the gym where the changing rooms were. It wasn’t like any standard clinical looking gym in that she’d been in before. It was sleek and modern, from what she could see of the upper deck all the machinery was the latest state of the art training equipment but no matter how many air fresheners and bleach the cleaners used, that distinct school gym smell would always be there. Lynn walked along the rows of pegs and tried to find an empty one, furthest away from all the other huddles of coats and clothes. She hooked her bag onto an empty peg and changed into gray sweats and a white top. Luckily Lynn had never been one of those kids who seemed to have a target on them that made the other kids hide their clothes while they were out, but with Rose and her clones around, Lynn wasn’t going to take any chances at all. She quickly stuffed her clothes into the bag and put it onto the peg too. Yes, one never quite escaped the fears you learnt of gyms from high school.

 

‘Come on Ladies! Pick those pins up!’ it felt like déjà vu as she stepped out into the gym, and Coach Lyons was still barking the same commands. Lynn felt a slight chill down her spine. Running up and down across the linoleum gym, the girls were engaged in a vicious game of sparring. Twenty pairs of legs thundered across the floor. She saw Rose skilfully sparring with another girl and she looked like she was winning. Lynn wasn’t surprised. There was a sharp crack and a whistle was blown. Rose had just hit the poor girl a bit too hard and she was now on the floor in a ball. Lynn was sure that wasn’t allowed, she swallowed as the girl limped past her towards the bench on the sidelines, Rose and her clones high fived as another point was added to the electronic scoreboard. At that moment Coach Lyons spotted her and motioned her over. ‘Smyth you ever done a class like this before? Good.’ Before she could answer him he shoved her onto the playing court towards Rose. In that moment Lynn learnt Lyons never waited for answers. Rose sneered at her as she reluctantly stood in a space and hoped she could blag her way through it. The whistle blew and there was a flurry of movements around her, sneakers pounding like heartbeats. ‘It’s on!’ Rose sneered, instead of hitting her though Lynn dodged out of the way. There was an echo of tutting as Roses puppies looked on in confusion. Clearly Rose losing wasn’t a welcome idea. Lynn unapologetically waved at them. The coach looked slightly surprise. Rose simply sneered at her. This whole ‘new girl being crap at sports’ act was starting to piss her off. And what was up with the coach and his perpetual ‘come on ladies!’ chant, it was also starting to irritate her.

 

Imprint

Publication Date: 01-23-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To my Twin