"I find my mind is always sharper if I start my day with an exercise routine. After all, we spend so much time sitting in chairs and that can really take a toll on the body. Winning money isn't worth losing your health."
------------
As the elevator doors opened, Ellie still had her eyes closed.
"This is your floor, you should go," Joey said.
She opened her eyes to see he had already pulled back and was holding the door open. She was a bit confused but eventually stepped out of the elevator. She looked back at Joey, blushing. "By, bye..."
He held his hand up in a goodbye gesture, smiling as the doors closed.
She turned around and walked to her room while gazing at the ground. Half a minute later, she realized she went in the wrong direction and turned around. Her mind was so chaotic right now. Despite seeming so outgoing, due to her sheltered upbringing, Leena had never kissed someone before.
She made her way into her room and laid down on the bed. Shutting her eyes, she waded in the memory of that feeling.
...
Joey was on the way to his room. 'I guess that's another use of this special ability...' With his empathic ability that he was beginning to gain control of, Joey was able to feel Leena's emotions, what she liked and didn't like, and more or less what she was thinking. He chuckled. 'Could I be considered a villain now for seducing young maidens with my dark arts?' He thought about it for a few moments, then displayed an evil grin. 'Who cares. It's not cheating if you don't get caught.' An evil sorcerer was born.
He entered the room and noticed he was alone. Anwar was still playing downstairs with everyone else. Yawning, he collapsed face down on his bed and surrendered to restful sleep.
...
As the sun came up through the windows, Joey's eyelids began to shake. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. 'There's really no better way to wake up than naturally with the sunlig—.'
*SPLASH*
He was drenched from head to toe. "WTF!" He jumped out of bed and saw Amy holding a bucket. Anwar stood behind her with his head down, also completely wet.
"This is your morning wake up call. Don't worry, it's on the house," Amy greeted with a bright smile.
"I was already waking up!" Joey yelled.
"Couldn't let you snooze. This is scientifically proven to be the best alarm clock, and it's important to get water in the morning," she explained.
"Water? Then why did you douse me in GATORADE?!?"
"...Electrolytes," she answered.
...
Joey had enough of this nonsense and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Amy yelled through the door, "We're all meeting in the lobby in 20 minutes for morning training! If you don't come...I'll endddd youuuuu." Her last threat terminated in a song-like melody.
Joey shivered when thinking about what "Training" she had in mind. 'Knowing her...it'll be a ninja manual.' He turned the water pressure up. As he stood there with his arms against the wall, his head down, and the water pouring down his face...even he didn't know if he was crying...
...
As Joey approached the lobby, he saw all the familiar faces. Everyone was dressed in workout clothes. Joey was in the middle of lifting his left foot to step forward and greet everyone. Then he saw it...
Pedro was wearing the tights of a pro wrestler. The bottom was in the shape of a speedo or bikini.
Midstep, Joey promptly spun in a full 180, hoping no one noticed him and he could escape. Unfortunately, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He winced and unwillingly turned around.
"So glad you could make it." Amy smiled from ear to ear.
Everyone went outside and grouped together as they waited to hear the details of Hitler's...no, Amy's exercise routine. Joey noticed Anwar looked unwilling as he stared at something in his hand. Then he gritted his teeth and his eyes became determined as he put it in his pocket, like he made a solemn vow. Joey thought he recognized what that item was and his face became horrified, '...Was that a cyanide capsule?'
...
After Amy explained the workout, everyone breathed sighs of relief. They were just going to do a simple 1 mile run, then some jumping jacks and pushups. Pedro was actually already sweating from nervousness. Andrew was taking bets on how long Pedro could hold out.
Amy explained her program. "I wanted to go with standard Spartan training, but when I showed it to my lawyer, he said he would have to raise his fees by 500%. So we're going to start with this." People had different responses to that.
'Why does she have a lawyer at her age?'
'Thank god she has a lawyer at her age...'
As they ran around the road on the outside of the hotel, Joey felt like he was being watched. He looked over his shoulder and discovered Ellie. When she realized she'd been caught, she randomly looked around in all directions like she was searching for butterflies. Joey chuckled and ran a bit slower to match pace with her.
As they ran side by side, he closely looked at her. Her blue hair was tied in a ponytail. She had on bright white sneakers under light blue running shorts which covered only the top of her thighs, exposing her smooth legs. Above that, she only wore a matching light blue athletic bra. Joey didn't know this, but it took her 20 minutes to pick out this sports outfit that morning, even though she only had 2 to choose from.
"Sleep well?" He asked.
She nodded as her cheeks became red. In truth, she had a hard time sleeping because all she could think about was that time in the elevator. She even didn't play again when she went back downstairs because her mind was too distracted.
"What's the deal with this training? We play poker, not football..." Joey shook his head.
"...I think it's good actually," Ellie replied.
"How so?"
"A healthy body creates a healthy mind. That's what my dad always used to say..." She almost smiled, before becoming slightly sad again. "...It's true though. Working out increases your body's blood circulation, including to the brain, which improves its efficiency. Many successful people have regular exercise routines and that's one of the reasons," she explained.
"Hmmm, what she said makes sense." Joey thought about it. "I should probably start implementing an exercise routine..." While he was considering that, Ellie kept sneaking glances at him...The corners of her lips arched slightly upwards.
"Do you want to get coffee later today?" Joey asked.
"...Sure!" Ellie replied as her heartbeat sped up.
...
The group eventually finished their training and went inside to get breakfast. After eating, everyone agreed they would briefly go to their rooms and then meet by the pool. Joey couldn't remember the last time he'd been to a pool so he was actually looking forward to it.
Sometime later, he was walking to the pool area. Upon arrival, he saw a bright obtuse, circular pool surrounded by sunbeds. Light poured in everywhere from large floor to ceiling windows. He looked around for his group, but the area was packed with people. As he searched, he noticed there was one area of the pool that seemed very empty. People formed a circle around something like a dead zone. As he approached, he got a better view of what was in the center of that circle.
It was just a man in sunglasses innocently holding a pool float. No...it was Pedro with a life-sized female blow-up doll.
"Joey! Over here!" He waved and shouted.
Joey disappeared into the crowd.