Maple Ridge

Chapter 37

Fiona Anderson

Why does dad have to be like this? Why can't he just accept what I am doing? Why can't he support me like he supported mom? I mean, I get it, mom didn't end up nicely due to it but all I am trying to do is get justice for her. Something he didn't do, and now he kicks me out when I am.

All these thoughts run through my head, making me sad and a little angry at the same time as I unpack in my dorm right now.

I arrived at the agency yesterday and me being the lazy person I am, didn't unpack yesterday itself, and now here I am, doing it at five in the morning, assuming that no one would trouble me at a time like this, when suddenly I hear a knock at the door, surprising me.

I quickly run to the door and open it to find a short girl with light brown skin standing in front of me. I notice that she has long dark brown hair that is tied into a braid as she stands there giving me a big smile.

As soon as I open the door, she extends her hand for a handshake and says, "Hi, I am Ara Mehra, I am going to be training with you from now on," and I hear a heavy accent to her voice.

I shake her hand with a small smile and introduce myself before asking, "What are you doing here at five in the morning?"

"Oh wait, didn't you know? Our training starts today in like ten minutes, you should hurry if you want to reach on time."

"What? From today?" I ask her in surprise.

"Yeah, now go, get ready, quickly!" she tells me, urging me to hurry.

I quickly take out my workout clothes that I had just bought the day before yesterday, and change into them, glad that I had already been awake, and did not have to be woken up by that girl.

I rush out of my dorm, not expecting to find A- What was her name? Oh yes, Ara, waiting for me in the hallway, but I am glad that she is, because I have no idea where the training area is.

"So, are you from around here?" she asks as we start walking, and I nod my head.

"Yeah, I live nearby actually." I say, then asking, "What about you? And are you a recruit too?"

"Oh, I study in the community college here, but I am from India. And yes, I am a recruit too," she tells me, her voice heavy with an accent, which I now know is Indian.

She leads me through the halls and I do my best to remember the way that I came, when we stop in front of two grey metal doors. Ara walks forward and pushes them open, letting us into what I see is a very large area, with everything including a weight training area, several machines that I don't know the use of, a very big obstacle course that I know I am going to dread, and a large matted area where many people are fighting.

As soon as we enter the area, several people look up at us and some even give cheers, making me embarrassed to be standing there in the middle of everybody.

In a matter of seconds, a large muscly man walks up to us and introduces himself as Martin, our trainer for the next six months. To be honest, he looks a little intimidating, but I guess I will have to get used to that.

He leads the two of us out of the training area and out a door opposite the one that we had just come through, leading us out into what I see is a very big running track.

Martin suddenly stops, making Ara bump into him and give a giggle where he just grunts, motioning us to go forward. We both look at him with confusion in our eyes, not knowing what to do.

"What are you both looking at, go, start your jogging." He basically shouts at us, making us flinch and rush ahead of him and onto the running track.