Page 36 of Supernova

“I think I’ll manage without all the brooding and sarcasm,” I fired back.

The others laughed at our bickering.

Kitana turned to me. “Honestly girl, you’ll be so fine. Just remember everything you’ve learnt and don’t let her distract you. Stay focused and alert and you’ll get through it.”

“Thanks, Kit,” I replied, offering her a dull smile that was all I could muster. If anything, I felt more nervous now than I did before.

???

The rest of the morning activities went painfully slow. I was distracted during our gym session and boxing. I tried to run on the treadmill, rather than attempt to workout legs or upper body and tire out my muscles. I hoped the runner’s high I’d usually get would help clear my mind. But I could feel Sienna’s eyes burning a hole through the back of my head, making the adrenaline feel more like anxiety.

Apart from a few bitchy run ins around the compound, I had little contact with her. I knew she didn’t like me, she’d made that abundantly obvious. But so far I’d mostly been protected by my bubble of friends and she’d kept her distance, save for a few childish shoves and mumbled insults under her breath. Her favourite words to mutter so far had been ‘mundane’, ‘wannabe’ and ‘fake’ with the occasional ‘watch it, bitch’. Creative, I know. Her minions parroting her had been the icing on the cake.

But thankfully there had been nothing more serious than that. No cafeteria food fights, dye in the shampoo bottles or stolen clothing in the bathrooms. And trust me, I’d waited for it. Clearly I watched too much TV.

I guess the Gray Knights were a little more mature than that. After all, we were all on the same team, whether she liked it or not.

Personally, I understood why she didn’t like me; I was new and I was supposedly a threat to a possible future she may have with Griffin. I was messing up the status quo or whatever. Before, when I wasn’t interested in getting involved in anything with him, I found it harder to understand. But now? Now I got it. What I didn’t get was that if Griffin had ended things with her earlier, before I’d even arrived, and had made it clear he didn’t want to be with her, why was she still taking it out on me? Couldn’t girls just not be bitchy and childish? Not tear each other down because of a silly boy? And a boy I wasn’t even with, mind you. I hated that I needed to watch my back because of this.

Maybe I needed to have a one-on-one chat with her. But what would I even say:

‘Hey Sienna, please don’t hate me. Me and Griffin are nothing, even though I maybe like him and he maybe likes me but we aren’t doing anything about it since I just broke up with my werewolf boyfriend because he killed someone, and yet I can’t get over him but also I don’t know if Griffin actually likes me or if I’m crazy.’

Yeah, that would go down well.

I couldn’t tell her she could have Griffin and I didn’t want him either. Because truth be told, I did want him, at least at some point. And lying to her would be even worse. But also, everyone had told me he didn’t want her and had made that clear. And yet she wouldn’t back off and felt some claim towards him that was not reciprocated. So really, this was on her. Right?

Ahhh, I hated girl drama. And now I was probably going to get my ass handed to me because of it. Stupid Griffin. Stupid sexy, irresistible Griffin. This was all his fault.

Speaking of the devil, I caught him watching me a few times and I could have sworn there was a hint of concern in his eyes. I tried not to hold his stare, choosing instead to be mad at him and not overthink that he may or may not care for me.

By the time the Tangle commenced, I was so over my overthinking.

Done. Fin. The end.

I had to put it aside. It was time to turn on the bad bitch energy and get this show on the road. I put on my serious face and rolled up my sleeves—not literally, I was in leggings and a sports bra, but metaphorically.

Thea strode in, looking as cold, regal and intimidating as ever. Griffin ambled to her side, hands in his pockets as he watched on in silence, letting his mother take command.

“Alright Knights, two lines facing me.” Her voice was icey and authoritative.

Occasionally the sparring zone had a few smaller mats scattered around for spectated matches between pairs, and other times several were bundled together to cushion the entire area for when we all individually roamed and sparred with our chosen partner. Now it was set up like the latter. I shuffled into the nearest spot. Thankfully, Kit took the spot opposite me and others crowded around, leaving Sienna closer to the end. If one side of the line moved forward like I guessed it would, there was a chance I wouldn’t make it to her before the Tangle finished.

“Today you will spar with as many partners as possible within the two hour combat training period. Each rumble will go for ten minutes until you hear the bell ring, when you will line up again and move to your next partner. Is everybody ready?” I swear her silver eyes pierced into me as she said it.

We all knew our required response and sang it out like a church choir. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Let’s Tangle.” She nodded at one of the other officials, a handsome older male who was in his forties and had greying brown hair, slight stubble and brown eyes that were hauntedly wise but also gentle—Colonel Lennox. Out of all the leaders, the second in charge was by far my favourite. Apart from Griffin of course. The Colonel knew when to be serious but also when to laugh. He had on his serious persona now as he rang the bell, signalling the first fight.

Being with Kit, it went smoothly. She challenged me in the best way and although she was hard to keep up with, I always managed to cope.

When we lined up again, I was alarmed to see Thea motion for the back warrior of the opposite line to move to the front position, shuffling the rest of them backward rather than forward like I had hoped. Looks like there was no avoiding it; I had about two more partners before I’d spar Sienna.

Fuck.

My eyes shot to Griffin who was watching me intently. He gave me a subtle nod that told me I’d be okay. And that was all the encouragement I needed.

The next two matches flew by with me mostly on autopilot. I fared well, using everything I’d learnt but also not giving them all my energy so I could preserve it for the one that would matter the most. Juliet, a quiet brunette girl who mostly kept to herself but was always friendly with me, had an agile fighting style with nimble and swift movements that after a few minutes, I was able to analyse and predict. Keeping up with her pace though was a little harder. Bret on the other hand was huge. Six foot four with wide brawny muscles, he had a short dark buzz cut and light blue eyes. Although at first look he was nothing but intimidating, I had enough encounters with him that I knew he was quite affable.

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