final round - lrh

fourty-one.

Feeling exhausted, I place my food down on the table and let out a loud sigh, grabbing Michael's attention immediately. He looks up from his own food with raised eyebrows, clearly not expecting me or the noise that came from me.

"Well good morning to you," he says, regardless of the fact that it's dinner time and I want nothing more than to just pass out and go to bed.

I had spent all day working on shooting and I'm exhausted. In fact, I wouldn't put it past me to just fall asleep right here, right now, on this table. I hardly got a second to breathe or take a break as Major Hood and Luke are definitely taking advantage of every second they can get with me. 

Obviously, I'm incredibly appreciative that they're so ready to train me to my best ability but it's definitely taking a toll on my body. 

Sure, I've been improving slowly but surely but I'm still not there yet. There's still a lot of work to be done and that's incredibly evident. This is enough to exhaust me and make me want to do nothing more than pass out and go to sleep.

Major Hood and Luke definitely don't have much sympathy for me as they've been pushing me to my limits and making sure I'm giving it my absolute all at all times. I've tried to do just this but my body is practically giving up on me.

"I could fall asleep right here," I say, bending my arm on the table and resting my cheek against my hand. I might as well take advantage of this moment before Luke comes into the cafeteria and demands for me to start eating.

Never would he ever let me get away with taking a nap during mealtime.

"Please don't," Michael says, taking a sip from his water. "I don't know what I would do if I had to sit here and talk to myself."

I can't help but laugh at this as I sit up from my spot, not wanting to get caught in such a lazy position. Tiredness continues to overwhelm me, nonetheless, as my eyes drift off towards anything that isn't the food in front of me.

I don't even want to think about touching it right now.

"Word on the street is Damien paid a visit today?" Michael asks me with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't remind me," I say, dramatically rolling my eyes. "I've never wanted to hurt someone as much as I want to hurt him."

Damien is the epitome of an asshole and if I could beat his ass, I certainly would. He's pleasured by everyone else's suffering and seems to only want to make my life a living hell. The same applies for Carter Hewson.

I can't imagine what Declan would think if he knew the truth of his once friend. It's absolutely appalling that someone I grew up with would be so willing to help contribute to something that could easily be the reason that I don't make it out of the final round. 

I obviously would never dream of doing that to someone who I know so personally. Especially after the experience, we shared at my graduation party; the experience I wish so desperately that I could take back. 

"What happened?" Michael asks me.

"He found out I'm Declan's sister," I say, cringing at the memory as I know more than anyone that this is absolutely the worst-case scenario. Michael's eyes widen, clearly just as surprised as I had been. "They took the letter and brought it back to me but unfortunately, it revealed the biggest secret of mine."

"They had the letter?" Michael asks, bewildered by the thought.

Nodding my head, I feel anger bubble inside of me at the memory of them carelessly tossing it on the ground as it's clear they have no idea how much that letter means to me. Hell, if they did know, they certainly didn't care.