I still couldn't believe that I had actually received my very first detention.
This is what you get for associating yourself with meddlesome people. Can you see those kids looking at you asking themselves how a nobody managed to get herself mixed with the likes of them?
I sighed and stopped running. A fourteen-kilometer jog with a tire as big as this is probably the worst detention anyone can receive so far. And I know pretty well why I had received detention as extreme as this.
"Two laps!" Loki yelled happily. "I'd be skipping Laws and Outlaws with this!"
"Shut up, nuthead!" Bee snarled, who's now standing beside Meow. "It's our fault why Meow's suffering something like this in her very first detention."
"Why? Detentions are fun!" Loki said.
"Well, not all of us is a mentally challenged nuthead like you, dumbass. Turd!" she yelled. And she can't even get her curses right. "This couldn't have been this severe if---"
"Hey, Ace!" Loki called and ran after him. Loki left them behind. Alligator was the only one responsible and driven enough to finish this detention as fast as possible. And he's running kilometers away from them.
"I can't believe Loki managed to land an attack on Ace like that," Bee said. Meow was wondering the same thing. And aside from that ---
"Why are you talking to me, Bee?" I asked and ignored Bee's snort.
"Actually, it was Loki who wants to befriend you," Bee said, and Meow grunted at the absurd honesty Bee is currently showing her. "To be even more honest, you are the most normal kid around. You don't suck, but you don't excel either."
"Thanks," I said, and part of me felt relieved that my effort not to stand out was paying off, not that it was difficult or anything.
"Loki said that there's something the way the officials look at you that caught his attention," Bee said, and Meow bit her lip at the coldness of her voice. "You see, I dream of being the very first female general the country has ever had. A little competition such as fighting kids who don't have dreams as big as mine won't hurt me."
I nodded. "So? Why are you telling me this?"
Bee chuckled. "I have no idea."
Bee and I watched him struggle to maintain his pace. Bee shook her head and said. "Alligator's something, isn't he?"
"Er," I didn't know what to say.
"He's the epitome of hard work, you know," Bee ran faster. Meow decided to escort her. "He doesn't dream to be anything at all. I asked him once why he's working so hard; he just answered that he needs the money once he graduates."
"The million reward for the top ten kids who can finish this military training?" I asked. Even that caught my attention. She had never thought of the money before.
"Yes," Bee grinned. I can see her flash a smile. "He is the only one I know who had the reason like that."
"You asked him something really personal," I said. I don't know why, but talking to her feels like the most normal thing to do, knowing that Bee was only a stranger yesterday.
"I joined this bizarre camp as my first step to being a general. Gator wants the money. Loki there said he wanted to be the serious type, so he joined. Ace once yelled to the lieutenant that his biggest dream now is to kill her. Well, that's right after she gave him the gardening detention."
Kill huh.
"How about you?" she grinned. I stopped running when she blocked her path. And based on the way she's standing, she's going to hear why, even if she had to force it out of my mouth.
"Er..."
`"Tell me," she said. It was more like a command than an invitation. I cleared my throat, unsure what to do. She was never Bee's partner in their sparring classes, but she knows that no one else aside from Loki got the better of her. It was the exact reason why she was hanging out with him now. Loki had managed to get recognized by her. Alligator and Loki are the only ones under Bee's friend register.
"You are being very pushy, Bee," I said. "I don't want to end up on another detention."
Bee's eyes narrowed. It appears she didn't like waiting. She let go of the tire in tow, and I did the same. Of course, I could just lie to her, but I can't think of anything credible at the moment.
"Perhaps, if I could just show Loki how weak you are, he'll stop bothering himself with you," she said, and Meow frowned. Bee probably comprehended her reaction due to her supposed insult, but she has no idea that I was enthralled by the idea.
I will be left alone in peace if I don't fight back.
"Why did you join this Camp, Meow?" Bee asked. "Tell me, and this is over."
But when Bee lifted her tire up, Meow knew that she would get not just scratches from her. And so she jumped back as smoothly as a cat would when she threw the black thing at her.
---
I ran towards the nearest uniformed soldier I could see and asked them to get rid of Bee for me. Bee was scolded, and I was relieved from the detention.
Lucky.
All the five hundred students, after a roll call, assembled in ten lines in the middle of the field. Private Diaz stood up in front of us wearing what looked like swimming trunks and a white shirt.
"Good morning," he greeted, and all of us gave him a good morning response.
"Today, we will conduct no running activities. Today I will teach you how to swim and later, how to fight underwater," he paused and took out a remote. He pressed a series of buttons, and the ground shook. A couple of seconds later, the field was split in half and revealed underground Olympic size pools.
Wow. Just wow. And there are five.
The kids screamed, delighted. We went straight to the locker rooms on the other side of the field. I searched for my locker and found my swimming gear inside. The girls started stripping right there and then. The boy's locker room is a couple of meters away.
"These are wet suits and look," Minnie appeared before me. "Fins!"
"And goggles," said I. "I don't like the looks of this. How deep do you think are those pools?"
"I don't know, but who cares?" she said and started walking away. I followed her out.
I care. Because I have no idea how to swim.
----
We were divided into five, and I was separated with Minnie. Because of this, I became even more nervous. I took a peek at the pool, and it looks really deep.
"God," I prayed and bowed my head solemnly." I don't want to do this. Am I going to die today?"
"You're not," whispered someone. I turned around and found Private Diaz standing behind me. I gasped.
"Er," I looked away.
"All those who don't know how to swim, please move over to this side of the pool," he thundered, and I quickly stepped away from the pool.
After a couple of minutes, I realized my mistake right away. I was the only one who broadcasted I'm no swimmer.
"This pool is ten feet deep," he announced. "It'll be unwise for those who don't know how to swim to get stubborn on me."
Silence.
Private Diaz shrugged and asked them all to start warming up. All of them quickly jumped into the pool and started swimming. I stood there and watched them enjoy the water.
A pretty girl walked beside me and stood there. I know her. Bee, yesterday's pain in the ass. I don't know how to swim either," she told Private Diaz and looked away.
Private Diaz just looked at her and waved at us to follow him. We were brought to the next pool. I saw Minnie waving at me.
"Is there anyone here who doesn't know how to swim?" he called out. "Please come over here. I don't want to have anyone drowning today."
To my amazement, Ace walked forward. He was frowning at me. Loki raised a hand in the air.
"I object!" he shouted.
"What do you mean you object?" asked Private Diaz, and some of the kids laughed.
"Ace is lying! Liar liar pants on fire!" he chanted and ran to blab at us. "He knows how to swim! I'm sure he does!"
Oh, come on.
"I don't know how to swim, idiot," he said and stuck out a tongue at Loki when the Private wasn't looking.
"Ugh," Bee murmured. "Kids."
We're all kids. I thought.
In the end, Loki decided he didn't know how to swim either, and two more kids went with us. By the time the Private had fished out the kids who didn't know how to swim, I had realized there were a few.
Nine.
We were asked to jump to the side of the pool and hold on to the edges. Well, I can do that.
Then we were told to start kicking. I remembered how swimmers kick their feet, and so I did.
Next, we were asked to submerge our heads into the water. Tricky, but still, I managed. I'd been in that state for a while. I lifted my head for some air, and just when I was about to dip in. I watched as the Private took both my hands and threw me away from the edge.
My eyes flung open as I sunk deeper into the pool. The air in my lungs wants release, but instinct says I can't, else I'll die.
I closed my eyes, and I kicked. To make matters worse, when I opened my eyes, I didn't know where was up and down anymore. This pool must be more than ten feet. It's so dark in here.
Damn. This is it, huh.
"...Let go!"
"... She's drowning. Let go of me!"
Ace, huh, the schmuck who likes acting like a jerk.
Then I turned and saw something shimmering in front of me. I kicked my foot. It's the sun!
I started kicking my way up. I hope I have made it. The seconds are dragging this out. Finally, I resurfaced and immediately gasped for breath. I don't care about air, water, and all anymore as long as there's some air on it. I managed to find my way out.
Just as I was sinking again, I heard a weak splash, and I found something to grab hold of. I saw Ace in front of me, and I caught on tight.
"Calm down, Selena," he said as I panicked. "Hey! We're going to sink if you don't blurb-- blurb. Selena, what the fuck?"
I can't calm down. I am also aware that I am now dragging him down with me. Screw calming down. I just can't. I can't protect myself from the water!
I can't kill water. How can I defend myself from formless water?!
Ace grabbed my legs and held them around his waist. I opened my eyes when this time, he took my arms and put them on his shoulder. Now I'm calm. I'm not sinking anymore!
"As much as I want to grab you by the hair to save us both, which is in this situation, the right thing to do, I won't. I decided I should save you from any more unpleasantness."
And he swam away to safety.