MAX – "fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up." – Veronica Roth

Bam! My punch lands squarely into the punching bag. Sweat drips down my forehead. I reach for my water bottle and take long gulps. I grimace at the purple bruises forming on my hands. As I walk back to the dorm room, I undo my box braided hair from its tight ponytail and shake it out, the purple streaks landing neatly on my shoulders. I wonder how different things would be if I were born into a different universe if I would still be like I am. Probably not.

I live in Rosaland, or as most people call it, the ruthless universe. We're not that ruthless, not really, we're just tough and we like to take risks is all. The other main universes are boring, they wouldn't understand.

They are spread out across the galaxies; most don't even know there's other life out there. For instance, Earth has absolutely no clue. Bunch of dummies. Anyways, Rosaland has only one official rule: revenge is always necessary. Of course, there are unspoken rules, like don't be a coward, don't back down, don't have any weaknesses and don't have fear, there's more but you get the gist.

I change into a flannel shirt and some ripped jeans; I fold them over a few times to fit my 5ft frame. I hear my brother, Jake, call me from the boy's dormitory. The school most Rosaland residents go to is a huge boarding school. The classes are mainly filled with combat training and tactical thinking. My future job has already been decided by my trainers, I'll be a bodyguard. I still laugh at the stupid faces of those stupid girls when they found out I got a better job than them. Well, I don't officially know if I'll get it yet, I still need to pass training, but still.

"MAXIE! come here!" my brother yells again; I huff and glide over to him.

"What?" I ask,

"Wanna train?" he grins, I roll my eyes but take the patched up boxing gloves anyways. It can't hurt to do a couple more hours.

After the training session, I'm exhausted. I gobble down a couple plates of food before heading to the showers. I'm about to change into some pjs when my best friends, Luke, Jerry and Mike, pop their heads around the door. I look up to see the group of them grinning,

"hey Max, want to come to the party?" Mike grins, I can't help but grin too. I change in record time and fly through the door.

I've always found I get on better with boys, the other girls are just so bitchy.

We run along the outdoor platform; the wind icy cold. The train starts catching us up and one by one we grab onto an open door and swing ourselves in. I hit the floor hard and roll over laughing.

"Hey Maxie, happy birthday!" shouts Jake, I laugh as he pulls out a slightly squashed cake from behind his back. I don't even know how he carried it all this way. The icing is almost unrecognisable, I think it says 17 but I can't really tell. I shove the whole cake into Jakes face - he gawps but fires back. Soon the whole carriage is splattered with cake. Jake and the boys finish the night with a loud chorus of the 'happy birthday song'. It's been a tradition to do this since I was 11. I'm reminded of how much like a father and best friend it is. Not to get mushy or anything.

Once we get back, I lie in my dorm bed, between two of the cattiest girls I've ever met. I think about next week, the annual meet up where the six main universes join together for a week of 'fun and learning'.

I groan just thinking about having to put with them the others, the goodie two shoes, the smart asses, the overly honest ones, the snobs and the downright evil ones. I have to spend a whole week bunking with the MOST annoying goodie goodie I have EVER heard of, I mean really, they couldn't have chosen a worse person for me to spend any amount of time with. I'll be surprised if she lasts that long. For next week everyone was required to do some letter about ourselves, I only wrote a few lines, but this girl did NOT get the message. It said her hobbies are 'helping others, spending time at an elderly home and not being vain,' I mean, really? Is 'not being vain' even a hobby?! And she signed it with a heart. And that's not even the worst part! I have to share with five other people!

I sigh and turn over, I close my eyes and let sleep take me.