The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (20 page)

I sat down on the edge of her bed, careful not to spill any of my water on her comforter as I tried to reassure her. “Why would you think I wouldn’t come back, you silly goose? I was just thirsty and went to get some water. See?” I held up my purple plastic cup so she could see how full it was. “Go back to sleep, sweetie. I’m sorry you were worried about me but don’t be afraid. I’ll
always
come back, okay?” I set my cup on her nightstand in order to tuck her comforter around her shoulders. She smiled briefly in contentment as her eyelids drifted shut.

Picking up my cup, I swallowed another few gulps of water as I walked to my dresser and carefully set my cup on top of the ceramic tile beside my jewelry box that served as a coaster. I brushed my fingertips gently around the edge of it with fondness, remembering the fun time I had painting it with friends from my high school days. We had gone to one of those ceramic painting places and had all decided to paint tile coasters just for the heck of it. I had designed my name using a deep, rich red in the middle of my coaster with a fancy elaborate script. In the same script but tinier, I used black paint to delicately write my last name “Tyler” in a continuous loop to form a border along all four edges. Four little red hearts decorated the corners of the tile. I didn’t consider myself to be overly artistic but I
was
extremely proud of this one solo piece of art I created. A warmth flooded my chest as I appreciated how great it felt to be surrounded by my favorite things and my most prized possessions. I sighed in happiness before heading back over to Kyrie’s lamp to turn it off, plunging the room back into darkness. Sliding off my bunny slippers, I crawled back into bed and snuggled beneath my duvet. Inhaling the clean scent of the fabric softener on my sheets, I felt myself relax completely. I was asleep again before I knew what hit me.

The shuffling noise of Kyrie performing her morning ablutions is what woke me up the next morning. I was thankful for the unintentional wake-up call, because I probably would’ve kept on sleeping if I had the choice. Snuggling in my bed was a favorite pastime of mine after all. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was already 7:15am. I jumped out of bed and started rummaging around in my dresser for my old workout uniform of sweatpants and a tank top. I couldn’t wait until my new exercise clothes arrived. I swear, I wasn’t trying to impress anyone…but sweats made me feel frumpy and unattractive. Not only that, the sweatpants were baggy and probably did
not
help with the aerial moves I did with the A-frame balance bar. I was hoping we’d get a chance to work with it today since it was one of the first things I practiced on when I realized I could jump higher and farther.

The bathroom door swung open and out skipped Kyrie, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. When she saw that I was awake, she squealed happily and said, “Yay! We’re all going to be working out in the Gym together! It’s so exciting!”

Internally, I wondered what Kyrie was so happy about. According to yesterday’s meeting with the sergeants, the other participants were going to be worked harder this week than they ever had thus far. There was bound to be some griping and moaning within their ranks. Maybe Kyrie wasn’t aware of this yet. Not wanting to burst her bubble, I kept the knowledge to myself.
I hope you like to exercise, Kyrie!

Darting for the vacated bathroom, I called, “Wait for me! We’ll go to breakfast together, okay?”

“Sure!” Kyrie started making her bed, as she waited for me to finish my morning routine.

My hair was a tangled mess, but it didn’t matter since a hot shower was always part of my wake-up routine. Even though I knew that I was only going to be drenched with sweat within a few hours… I never felt ready to tackle the day unless I was fresh and clean. When I got out of the shower, I twisted my damp hair up into a tight bun on the top of my head, making sure that it was really secure so my hair wouldn’t get loose and cause problems while I was working out. After brushing my teeth and applying lip balm, I was all ready to go.

I sat on the end of my bed to put on my socks and yank on sneakers. I grinned at Kyrie as I was lacing up. She was sitting on the side of her bed, swinging her legs while flashing her dimples at me. Her good mood was contagious, and I chuckled as I snatched the empty purple cup from my dresser. Eyeing her outfit as we both headed out, I saw that she was wearing black sweatpants and a pink t-shirt.
Hmmm…. I wonder how much pink she has in her wardrobe?
Her hair was separated into two buns on either side of the back of her head. Very cute. Slinging my arm around her shoulders as we walked down the hall, I glanced down at the top of her head and noticed again how short she was. I began to speculate if she would sprout up in height the way Sam did if she agreed to have her next DNA shot.

Turning the corner, I took a deep fortifying breath before we made our entrance into the Mess Hall. I heard the chattering of voices fall to hushed whispers as we worked our way to the buffet table located along the back wall. Naturally, we had to pass by every single table in order to reach the food. To my dismay, I saw that we were the last to arrive, so I made a mental note to make sure I woke up
extra early
the following morning. I frowned slightly as my gaze flicked from one table to another and briefly skimmed all the faces that were turned my way. At the mini barracks, I had grown used to the penetrating stare of Sergeant Ramsey, but I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to being subjected to the intense scrutiny of 10 new people. Even though I possessed a certain amount of self-confidence, unlike other girls, I did
not
enjoy being the center of attention.

My gaze was caught and held by a blond haired guy sitting alone at one of the tables. He was distanced apart from the majority of the group and was leaning back in his chair as he stared at me with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His expression was almost…angry. I forced my attention away from him as I wondered what the hell his problem was. As I casually scanned the crowd, my eyes fell upon a girl on the opposite side of the room whose expression was nearly the mirror image of the blonde haired guy. She had dark eyes, dark skin, a mass of dark curly hair, and a dark expression to match.
Yeowch! What the hell?! Well, I guess I know who belongs to the “Anti-Teagan Club”.

Quickly, I averted my gaze and saw Logan, Cassidy, and Gabe from the night before. They were sitting at the same exact table, in the same exact order as they had been several hours prior. It was almost as if they had never left. As their eyes met mine, they each smiled and waved enthusiastically at me, causing Kyrie to turn to me in question. “I’ll tell you later,” I whispered to her as I continued dragging her along beside me.

To my relief, I saw Sam waving at the last table closest to the food. By the look of things, he and Gideon were already finished with eating breakfast. I smiled at them, instantly feeling better as I took in their grinning faces. They both looked amused as they watched us approach.

“Way to make an entrance, Teagan,” Gideon smirked at me before turning his attention to Kyrie. “Good morning Kyrie. You two need to hurry! You only have 20 minutes to eat before we’re supposed to meet “The Ram”,” I nodded and tugged Kyrie with me to grab a couple of plates and see what Amos had to offer. I loaded up my plate with two hard boiled eggs, some turkey bacon, a few slices of melon, and a banana. Refilling my purple cup with water, I took everything back to the table and started to dig in, trying to ignore the fact that nearly everyone was still staring at me.
G’ah!! What is up with that!?
I didn’t like it one bit.

As I bit viciously into my bacon, I looked over Gideon’s shoulder at the dark haired girl sitting all alone at the next table. Her back was to us, but I recognized her posture. Marisol. I waited until Kyrie finally joined our table and plunked herself down into the spot next to me before asking her, “Why don’t you go invite Marisol to come join us? We still haven’t officially met yet.”

Kyrie’s look was guarded as she shook her head and said, “I can’t. She’s shy. She’ll introduce herself when she’s ready. We can’t push her. Nurse Jamie said to give her time.”

I nodded my head in understanding as I considered her words. Shoving half a hard-boiled egg in my mouth, I felt my eyes bugging out as I noticed what was on Kyrie’s plate. Casting furtive looks at the guys, I saw they were both staring at her plate too. As I swallowed my egg, I cleared my throat and pointed out, “Sweetie, that’s not breakfast…that’s half a bakery!” Loaded on her plate was a little donut with pink frosting, a little donut with purple frosting, a large cinnamon roll oozing with white frosting, and a large croissant. To round out her breakfast was a tall glass of orange juice.

Defensively, Kyrie’s bottom lip stuck out in a little pout as she explained, “Some people enjoy savory things for breakfast. Other people like sweet things for breakfast. I’m one of those people that needs sugar to start my day.”

Now I knew where all her energy came from. I winced, realizing she was about to eat sugar on top of sugar. “Okay, but do you think you can scarf all that down in 15 minutes?”

She nodded enthusiastically as she picked up the pink donut and got to work.

Gideon crossed his arms over his chest as he declared, “This I’ve gotta see.” He was clearly doubtful, and I had to nod my head in agreement as Sam and I turned to watch Kyrie eat. The corners of Kyrie’s mouth quirked as she noticed she was the center of our attention, and I saw a determined look enter her eyes as she continued eating her pastries. She was on a mission to prove us wrong. Both donuts now gone, she picked up her fork to dig into her cinnamon roll. Five minutes and two sips of orange juice later, her cinnamon roll was demolished. I had already finished my food and was worried about the croissant possibly coming back up later. She had
no
idea about the type of workout she was going to get later in the Gym.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that several of the others had crept closer to our table, clearly curious about what we were doing. A minute after that, I saw the arrival of the sergeants as they came up behind them, and just that quickly a crowd had formed. Catching my eye, Sergeant Ramsey held up seven fingers indicating we had 7 minutes left, and I gave him a slight nod of my head in understanding. I rested my chin on my fist as I watched Kyrie go to town on her croissant. I was slightly mollified when I saw a little bit of egg and ham peeking out between the flaky layers. Whether she knew it or not, her body would need the protein in a few hours. Nervously, I waggled my left eyebrow at Gideon and Sam as I felt my lips spreading into a smile of anticipation.

When she finished with three minutes to spare, I grabbed her left hand with my right one and raised her arm victoriously in the air. “Woooo! Behold the Pastry Champion! Yay Kyrie! She’s so small…where does it all go? It’s a mystery!”

Gideon and Sam both laughed but admiration was apparent in their eyes as they gazed at Kyrie in wonder. “She’s like a Mini-Teagan in training!” Gideon laughed at his own joke as we heard resounding chuckles all around us. I was shocked when I saw the blond haired guy on the outskirts of the crowd. A
very
slight grin decorated his mouth as he looked at Kyrie. Good to know he doesn’t hate
everybody
.

“Alright, play time’s over!” Sergeant Flynn announced to the entire group. “Everyone report to the Gym! Now!”

We all stood up to put our trays away and I followed Sam and Gideon to where Sergeant Ramsey waited by the glass doors. I was excited to get started because yesterday I hadn’t done any exercise at all, so today I was ready to get sweaty. Besides that, I was finally going to find out where the Gym was located. As weird as it sounds, the Gym symbolized a place of comfort for me. Sergeant Ramsey had us fall back and wait until we were the last group to leave the Mess Hall, and then we exited the building and turned left. About fifty feet away was the Gym, and I saw that it wasn’t connected to anything else. From the outside it looked enormous and just a wee bit intimidating.

As we entered the building I saw that the other sergeants had their units all spread out on one side of the Gym. It looked as if they had stations set up for different exercises. All along the back wall, every single piece of exercise equipment known to man was lined up for our use. I saw barbells, kettle bells, medicine balls, Swiss balls, and there was even a large plastic bin holding brand-new unopened packages of boxing gloves. Glancing around the room excitedly, I saw a few punching bags hanging from the ceiling in one of the very far corners. On the West side of the Gym was a rock-climbing wall! I grinned at the guys and gave them high-fives of happiness at all the new “toys” we’d get to play with. The entire back wall behind the row of exercise equipment was made up of a large floor to ceiling mirror. Staring at it in amazement, I figured it must’ve recently been cleaned because it was
spotless
and showed us our reflections with perfect clarity. I smiled at Sam thinking he’d probably be itching to do aerobic dance workouts in this Gym just for the mirror alone.

Sergeant Ramsey led us to the opposite side of the mammoth Gym away from everybody else. Our half alone was easily triple the size of our pitiful little gym at the smaller barracks. I saw that the floor on this side was lightly padded and our shoes sank a little into the mats as we stopped in the middle of our new exercise arena. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that this building was easily the size of a football field and a half.
Gargantuan!!
I quirked an eyebrow at Sergeant Ramsey. “You’ve been holding out on us, old man.” I jumped up and down in place, shifting my weight from one foot to the other as I rotated my shoulders in a few quick warm-up moves. Wind-milling my arms, I smiled and said, “What are we waiting for? Let’s do this!” I was in love with this building and felt completely in my zone.

The Sarge smiled as he gestured to the high ceiling where I saw that metal tracks had been built in. “Those tracks are so that we can manipulate how far away from the wall we can move the ropes.” Confused when I didn’t immediately see any ropes, I twisted to look behind me and saw six thick ropes resting along the back mirror.
Wow!
I was practically chomping at the bit to get started but the Sarge held his arm out to stop me when I began heading in the direction of the ropes. “The first exercise we’re doing today is high jumping, not distance jumping.” The three of us followed him when he began walking to the North wall and I saw that there were six thick, metal rings dangling from the ceiling by chains. Each metal ring was about the circumference of a dinner plate and they were spaced about ten feet apart from one another.