Tyler could still feel the throbbing pain from where the knife had once been, coursing through his body, but he still attempted to pull himself out of bed and throw on his uniform.
"Crap!" He thought, "What will I say when my teachers ask why I haven't been in school? I can hardly remember what happened, let alone make it sound believable!" He shrugged his shoulders and put on his white shirt and black blazer. He looked over at the robes he had been given the day before. Then, knowing he couldn't take it with him to school, he decided to wear it for fun in the mirror; approaching the smudged glass, he gazed into his reflection, astonished by how well it fit! The robes themselves have coloured dark blue and dark red. The fabric was made from leather and reached just below his knees; the ends turned into a sharp triangle. The wrists had small cufflinks, holding the folded arms in place, whilst the chest folded outwards, with a unique pattern that made Tyler think of scorched wood.
As he began to remove his robes, he heard a knock from the front door; throwing his robes onto his bed, he cautiously walked to the front door before slowly opening it. To his surprise. he was greeted by Roxy, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
"Can I come in?" She asked sheepishly.
"Of course!" Tyler replied, gesturing into the house, "What's on your mind?"
"You need to go." Roxy stated bluntly, her arms flailing about in a frenzy, "Forget me, forget your friends, just get out of here, Tyler."
"Why? What's going on, Roxy?" Tyler was worried, unsure if he wanted to know the reason.
"You don't know what you are getting into. The Hunters, it's not a nice place to be. Not a good place to join. The Grand Master wasn't joking when he said they kill those who find out about it. Tyler, you truly don't know what you're getting into."
"But you'll be there with me, right? If I stay?"
"Of course, I will, but that's not my point. My point is, you don't want to be here! You deserve a life outside of what I've endured."
"What aren't you telling me, Roxy" Tyler's voice changed, and Roxy could tell he was annoyed; she tried to change the subject.
"Have you tried on your robes yet?" She asked.
Tyler didn't respond but grabbed his bag before heading to the front door, ready to leave. Roxy reached for Tyler's hoodie and threw it at him.
"What was that for?" He asked.
"You may start your training tonight, but on the off chance the Reapers return for seconds, you'll need something to cover your face. So keep it in your bag." As she said this, she walked past Tyler and lightly punched his shoulder.
The two walked together to Diamond High School, laughing and chatting, almost as if nothing had happened just minutes ago between them.
Standing at the gates to the school were Danni, William and Thomas discussing their evenings as they usually would. Thomas stared at Tyler as he and Roxy crossed the road to join their friends.
"How is he?" Thomas asked, a slight hint of worry in his voice.
"What do you mean?" Danni questioned; Tyler and Roxy looked just as confused too.
"I noticed when you were walking, Tyler, that you were holding your side and tensing your face, plus you've both been off for three days, and the teachers didn't know why. So putting two together, I got that Tyler was either kidnapped by Roxy or he had hurt himself, and the new besties couldn't be separated." Thomas chuckled as he said this, causing William to join in.
"You guys didn't think to ask?" Tyler exclaimed, slightly hurt that his friends didn't seem to care about him.
"Well, Robert posed the theory that you guys were getting it on... and wanted to have a few days to yourself if you catch my drift," William explained, causing the group to laugh hysterically.
"Ignoring the children, I do hope you are okay, Tyler. How was your coffee date?"
Roxy spoke, knowing Tyler was embarrassed by his friends, "We had a wonderful time. He took me to a beautiful view where we watched the sun go down. It was a nice night. I've never had the chance to experience something like that before."
"You've never seen the sunset before?" William asked.
"Not the sun setting silly, a whole night of excitement!"
Danni could see that Tyler wanted to speak and turned to him, asking abruptly: "So, are you two a thing yet?"
Tyler turned red with embarrassment, "Surely it's a little too early to say."
"Maybe," Danni began, "but seeing how close you two were on Monday, the very first day you met her, and then to both disappear the next few days, surely something has to be going on!"
William chimed in, "It is a little suspicious, but I agree with Tyler. It's a little too early for them." As he finished his sentence, the bell rang for the start of the day. Roxy had P.E first with Danni and Thomas, whereas William and Tyler both had English. The group agreed to meet in their usual spot for their break and left in their respected groups.
"I'm not looking forward to this. I heard from Carly that it would be the sports day preparations. That means track running and long jumping." Danni told her voice, growing sadder.
"I'm guessing you guys aren't really into your sports day here?" Roxy asked.
"It's not exactly that we don't like it," Thomas began, "it's more the fact we don't get the choice to do it. We all have to do at least two sports, and the popular people will go for the easier, more fun ones like dodgeball, so the rest of us are stuck with track and long jump."
Roxy loved the race track and the sandpits and tried to hide her excitement as they reached the changing rooms and changed into their sports gear.
Looking upon the track field, Roxy couldn't contain herself and began to jump up and down on the spot like a child, knowing she would fit perfectly into the lesson, before walking to be briefed by the teacher, Mr Rain, what the lesson plan was.
"Okay, everyone, I will be taking individual times for each of you on the track today to see how much you have improved since last year. The idea is, I'm going to split you into pairs, one of you times, the other runs, and your time will be recorded. Hopefully, it will be an improvement. As this is a simple task you've done many times before, I won't go into much more detail." Mr Rain turned his attention to Roxy, "Roxanne, as you are the new student, you won't have a record to beat. Therefore, I'll be your partner. Before I split all of you up, make sure you stretch and pace yourself. This isn't a race, but you don't want to wear yourself out before reaching 400m. As it's 1600m, you will go around the track four times. Any questions?"
The class fell silent, wanting to get on with the class as the sooner they started, the sooner they would be done. Mr Rain set them off into pairs before pulling Roxy to the starting line. "I'm ready when you are, Roxanne."
"I prefer Roxy, if that's okay?" Mr Rain nodded, "Ready when you are, Roxy."
Standing at the starting line, Roxy began to stretch, extending her leg above her head and her arms behind her back. She took point, lowering herself into a start position, slowing her breathing and focusing on the task. Mr Rain shouted "Go!" and Roxy set off sprinting across the track, overtaking even the fastest of students in her class.
From across the field, she could hear the teacher yelling at her to pace herself, but she chose to ignore him. Lap one complete, then two, then three; with each lap, Mr Rain yelled more and more, telling her to slow down and pace herself before she got hurt; however, realising she wouldn't listen, he gave up and continued watching in amazement as Roxy cleared the final lap in record time.
She ran towards Mr Rain, finally slowing down to a light jog, expecting to be shouted at for ignoring his commands, but instead, he was looking at the stopwatch, staring almost. Then, raising his head, Mr Rain whispered, "4 minutes 30 seconds. How did you do it?"
"I've been running from a young age. So it's been a lot of practice for me." Roxy explained before walking away to join Danni and Thomas, who had both watched her run the track before Mr Rain could ask more questions.
"Is everything okay?" Roxy questioned, looking at both Danni and Thomas' shocked faces.
"You demolished that! Are you some sort of super-soldier? Like Captain America?" Thomas asked. Roxy laughed before ushering Danni to take her run;
Danni walked to the starting point to begin her run, with Thomas timing her, leaving Roxy to sit on the cut grass. She laid down and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds float by, letting herself relax, and her mind drift. However, whenever her eyes closed, her mind drifted to Tyler - his voice, his laugh, all his best features, but no matter what, she couldn't shake the fear of what was to come. Tyler's training started tonight, and not knowing how he would respond or even if she would be there with him terrified her. The best she could do was push it to the back of her mind and carry on with the rest of the lesson before preparing Tyler for what was yet to come later that day.
"I just pray he will be ready." So Roxy thought to herself, dread filling her entire body like an ocean.