Code Green , ᶜᵃʳᵐᵉⁿ ˢᵃⁿᵈᶦᵉᵍᵒ

CHAPTER FOUR

At class the following day, a newfound flood of courage filled my bones.

Lukas would want me to try my best. He would tell me that you can obtain no reward by resigning yourself to your assumed fate. Because fate- it is a very fickle thing.

I gripped the weapon- a sleek chunk of wood that resembled a sword in shape but the tip was blunt, so it couldn't do much harm.

I faced my assigned partner- a girl with short brown hair and bangs that brushed just over the lower part of her eyebrows. Her dark coffee bean eyes narrowed into slits as she took in her opponent- me.

Shadowsan, our instructor, watched from the sidelines, observing every student's fight.

I pressed the pads of my fingers deeper into the wood and fiercely pushed as much strength as I could into my swinging arm, the wood flying through the air under my clutch and squarely smacking into the girl's face. The last expression she made before crashing to the ground was a contorted scowl as she toppled under my might.

I smile lightly, skimming my nails over the brim of the wooden stick, grabbing the handle and swinging it to position to the ground in a way that was similar to that of a cane.

I leaned against it for one triumphant moment until I heard a few gruff coughs and then a clearing of the throat, as to try and catch someone's attention.

It took me a hot minute to realize that that someone was me this time.

I turn around on the tips of my toes and flick the wood in the direction of the person, sheepishly lowering it when I saw Shadowsan's face come into view. "Uh, sorry, instructor Shadowsan," I apologize with a nervous chuckle.

Why was I so awkward? I just loved that for me.

"You will be practicing against Black Sheep," he droned in his monotonous voice, his words articulated slowly and lacking any emotion or shaping.

He pointed towards the dark haired girl standing across the room, her arms folded rigidly over her chest as she stared ahead. A few bodies were knocked unconscious around her feet.

I gulped hesitantly. After that encounter a few days ago, I've been trying to avoid coming into any kind of contact with her so I wouldn't seem creepy. But first impressions matter and she'd remember that forever, so I could never take back what I did. It would lie in her web of memory forever, never to be untangled from the tangled trap.

Black Sheep's gaze shifted and I noticed she was now looking directly at me. Her expression loomed with half enrapture, probably at the likelihood of stumbling across me again, and a note of frustration. Probably because she just remembered what happened.

I flick my tongue around the cave of my mouth and nervously approach Black Sheep, my only thought being, Please don't let her hate me. My camouflage needs to stay intact, but I think I've already broken it.