In the school gym.
Olivia walked in with a water bottle and a towel and placed them in a corner. She then took off her jacket and placed it on the coat holder.
"Woah!"
"My god she's good!"
A few gym enthusiastic students were scattered here and there. They "whispered" quite audibly seeing Olivia in the body-hugging high-neck black top. Her abs were clearly visible and so were her biceps. She was not overly buff but her upper body features were prominent enough. Those students felt jealous and admiration towards her body.
Olivia ignored their little screams and did some warm-ups. After that, she took off her shoes and trousers and kept them neatly on a stool nearby.
"Look at that!"
"Even her calves are toned."
"I want my thighs to look like hers!"
Another hushed murmuring rose.
Olivia landed on a clean split.
'It's so much more comfy doing stretches in leggings.' Olivia looked at her toes touching the ground. 'Mm. Should I take off my socks? Nah, It'll be too much work to put all that on later.'
After doing some simple stretching exercises she did some handstands and headstands. After that, she did a wall stretch and a few contortions.
"Woah!"
"Damn! She's so flexible!"
"That was just a perfect posture! Infinity out of ten!"
"Is she taking in disciples?"
"You can't even do a proper arch and you're thinking about her accepting the likes of you as her disciple? Dream on!" Everyone was squabbling amongst themselves.
'Hm. That's enough warm-up.'
She headed towards a rack and casually chose two weights from the stacks and picked up a handle from the side. Then she pressed a button to adjust the length of the handle and attached the weights. Then she started doing curls on both hands simultaneously.
She was completely oblivious to the tennis ball-like eyes and football-like mouths directed towards her.
'So for the past thirty minutes, all those wild stretches were just your warm-up? You're not going to take a break to catch your breath?' Everyone froze in their places in whatever posture they were in.
After some time someone suddenly noticed something. "Waiiit a minute. Do you notice those dumbbells?"
"Why? What's wrong with them?" Someone beside her asked.
"Tch, look closely! What do you see?"
The second person narrowed her eyes and focused on the dumbbells. Her eyes suddenly widened. She swiftly turned her head towards her friend and opened her mouth but no word came out.
"I.. is that what I... think..? Do you see the same?" She stuttered.
The other girl nodded in a daze.
"F*ck! That's the heaviest one here! Only the students practising for the weightlifting championship practice with those but that one's the most rarely used item on the rack! Even the coach herself told us to avoid using it! And she... she looks like it's a f*cking bundle of feathers!"
"I think she also picked it randomly." The girl who first pointed it out mumbled. Her eyes were glued to Olivia, especially her biceps which expanded and contracted periodically.
"Don't forget she has been doing this for quite some time too!" The boy who wanted to be Olivia's disciple said.
Meanwhile, the person who was the centre of all these discussions was in her own world. After doing some curls she started doing push-ups. And then some crunches. Again some stretching.
Two hours had passed.
At this point, the others simply sat on the ground thinking about life. Here they were trying so hard to become fit while this otherworldly being was doing one set of exercise after another without breaking a drop of sweat. Those who were present got accepted in Ketu because they excelled in physical activities but looking at Olivia they seemed to develop a new outlook on life.
'If we are said to be some of the best athletes in the country then what is this monster in front of us!' That was the only thought that ran through their heads.
After finishing forty pull-ups Olivia stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips.
"Hey, I think she's tired. Look she's squinting."
"Yes! Definitely! This time she must be tired. Look she's opening her mouth. She must be trying to gasp for air after doing so many exercises."
"Heh, of course, she'll be tired. How can someone not be after doing all that?"
Just as they thought Olivia would sit on a stool and take a break they saw...
"Haaaaa" Olivia opened her mouth wide stretched her arms upwards and bent a little backwards. She then sniffled a little.
All those people's smiles froze.
'Please tell me I saw wrong.'
"Did she just f*cking yawn?" A girl said with a blank face.
"Yes. Are you blind?" Another girl said.
"I'd be glad if that was the case." The former girl said.
"Well, I suppose it's not, unfortunately." Another girl said patting her shoulder.
"Dude, she's not tired." A girl said.
"Hm." A boy beside her said in a daze.
"She's bored after all that?" Another boy said with a stiff smile.
All of them subconsciously nodded their heads.
Koushik entered the gym with a towel, water bottle and headphones. He was surprised to see several students looking at someone with a dazed expression. He followed their line of sight and spotted Olivia who was busy yawning. He frowned in confusion.
'What are they looking at?'
He shrugged and proceeded to take off his jacket and trousers like Olivia did. Underneath he was also wearing a black top, leggings and socks. Except his top was not a high-neck one and did not have full sleeves.
In Ketu for the black top underneath students had three options high-neck full sleeves, high-neck short sleeves and just short sleeves. The rest of the black leggings, khaki jacket and trousers, brown belt and black laced long boots were common for all.
After doing some warm-ups and push-ups he went to the bench press.
Olivia massaged her neck and looked around.
'Is there anything more to do? Shall I go back?'
The bench press caught her eyes. It was also because they were in the farthest corner of the gym away from all those students who were trying to drill a hole through Olivia with their gazes.
Reaching there she spotted a familiar face.
"Hi." It was obviously Koushik who greeted her with his smiley face.
Olivia nodded and started bench pressing.
Koushik bench pressed for a while and decided to take a break. He turned his head to find Olivia still at it.
"Wow, you're so strong! You also have a good stamina." He placed his face on the cradle of his palms and said grinning.
"How else am I supposed to carry someone if he or she falls in a pit?" Olivia replied with a straight face.
Koushik nodded.
"Wait! Did you just joke with me?"
"Nope."
"No, you did."
"So what?"
"See? My vitality and youthfulness are rubbing off on you. And by the way, it was a terrible joke. Are you looking down on my strength?" Koushik crossed his hands.
"Yes," Olivia said nonchalantly.
"Hmph, I'll show you how strong I am."
Saying that Koushik put on some heavier weights and laid on the cushion.
Olivia sat up and watched him curiously.
Koushik attempted to lift the weight but realised it was too heavy. He was about to get up when he noticed Olivia looking at him. To save his face and prove his earlier words he tried harder to lift it. His face became red as cherries but he still refused to give up. Just when he thought he would have to give up the weight moved up. He was shocked and then beamed in happiness.
Just as he was about to show off his achievement his hands slipped. Koushik saw the barbell coming towards his face and in fright, he covered his face with his hands and screamed. But after several seconds nothing happened. Koushik opened one of his eyes and saw the barbell hovering over his face. Just a few inches above.
He blinked in confusion and looked around carefully only to find that a pair of eyes were staring at him.
"Are you trying to get injured?" Olivia said. Her voice was firm, calm and emotionless as usual. One of her hands was holding the barbell while the other one was on the other side of the cushion across Koushik.