Training outside (open to anyone and everyone)

Lia let out a long sigh as she walked out of the training center, her bag over her shoulders. Her trainer had worked her hard that day, and even though she was hoping to not be reaped—she had three years still—she knew she had to be prepared. Plus, her father believed that it was money worth spending for, money Lia thought could have gone towards better things like getting rid of her stepmother. But she took tasks very seriously, so each assignment her trainer threw at her, she did her best to complete.

The strain in her shoulders was starting to get old, and she took a moment to stretch out the tight sinews that held her neck. Crap, this is going to be hell tomorrow. It didn’t help that she had missed a few practices—with valid reason—and her trainer had thrown her back in right where she had left off. Guess I’ll have to remember not to skip so many days again, she thought to herself as she walked off the path to her home. She wasn’t quite ready to go home and see her stepmother yet, and as much as she loved being with the books, what she really wanted to do was just find a nice quiet place to stretch.

The remnants of rain were left on the ground as Lia took each step on the grass, her shoes getting wet with each step and the green grass clinging on to the sides. Already thinking about the lecture her stepmother would give her if she saw the mud on the bottom of her shoes, Lia rolled her eyes and powered forward. She could really do with a break—except there was already someone there. The resting scowl on her face turned into a grimace as she realized that if she wanted to relax, she was going to have to do it with company. She still couldn’t recognize the figure, but she didn’t anticipate it being someone she liked.

Her feelings were not abated as she approached the blond boy who looked her age. If she looked a bit closer at him, she would have recognized him from one of her classes, but she wasn’t in the mood to converse and she wanted him gone anyway. “What are you doing here?” she asked, with the sternest voice she could muster up. It was at times like this she wished she had a deeper voice that would ring out with power, but her voice box just didn’t give her what she wanted. Instead, her eyes spoke for her as they stared at the boy and took him in completely.

Muddied clothes meant that he had been outside while it was raining, most likely running around in the mud. A good physique meant that he was trained, but that was to be expected from any teenager in the Capitol unless they were sickly or born with a disability. Several scars were obvious, pale against the slightly darker color of his skin, but Lia was certain that there would be more—anyone who looked like they had gone through training was bound to have more. And finally a relaxed grin on his face completed his look and made Lia want to drive him out even more.

“Christopher, right? Are you using this space? Because if you don’t mind, I’d really like to use it now.” She kept her stormy blue eyes trained on him, hoping that was enough to give him the message. What was she going to do if he said no?

Lia raised an eyebrow as he corrected her with what looked like a snarl. Looks like someone’s a little sensitive… She couldn’t care less, though; as far as she knew, he might be in her class and of course the teachers were going to say his full name, even if he kept correcting him like he just did to her. She thought the irritation would be enough to drive him away, but the grin on his face reappeared and a different light came to his eyes, one that Lia did not care to know about.

He then proposed a challenge with the reward being the space. Instinctively, she wanted to say bring it on, but she didn’t like that grin on his face. She had seen boys like this at the same training center she went to—boys who thought they were all that and could get a girl by showing off their body and flashy grin. She grimaced at the thought of having run into another of that kind. Her frame was rigid as he circled around her, as if he was examining her. She was tempted to walk away as her stepmother was probably better company than him, but again, that challenge was at the back of her mind.

An exasperated sigh escaped as she turned to face the boy. She had to look up, the height difference making her feel slightly self-conscious, but her eyes remained fortified as she spoke to him. “Alright, Topher,” she responded, emphasizing his preferred name. “I can do with a little game. What do you propose?” She took the time to wait for his response by looking him over again, but this time as a competitor. Beating him with knives would be easy, but hand-to-hand combat would definitely be a challenge for her. He didn’t seem much taller than her, but he also had more muscle mass that could easily overpower her smaller frame. As he was unarmed, she could only predict that he was going to suggest a hand-to-hand combat.

Or maybe he wasn’t looking to use brawn. Then Lia would have been at a major disadvantage because she had no idea what to expect. Grimacing, she started to regret her decision to “play the game.” She crossed her arms and continued to stare at him. How had he not gotten the message from her body language? Were all boys seriously that daft? "I hope you don't spend too much time thinking about it. I would hate for you to lose what little brain cells you must already have." Why was she even trying to taunt him? Cool it, Lia. You want him gone, not provoked.

She stared at him as he brought up the “favorite time of year”. There was no way he was speaking for her—the last thing she wanted was to fall prey to the Capitolites in that godawful arena. Judging by how enthusiastic he was though, she assumed that he was the type of Career who would fight to volunteer for the spot. Lia never really liked those guys as they always seemed brutish and more concerned with their muscle mass and skills than how to live in reality. She had seen enough “has been”s floating around District Two to know what that mindset could do.

Her eyes did not change expression as he continued. Even the next part of his proposal seemed dumb and terribly unspecific. There were many ways to test one’s stamina, and she really hoped he would clarify sometime soon before she was too fed up. The idea of being the one to turn her back to a challenge was horrifying, but she was just so tempted. Thankfully, he collected himself and proposed an actual challenge. She was only given a few seconds to think about the challenge before Topher moved on to the stakes.

Lia had really hated when he called her a “pretty little lady”—it sounded like something old grandpas would call her—but a moment of rage flashed on her face as he said what would happen if he beat her. I absolutely will not go on a date with this idiot. The last thing I want to do is see his dumb face. But she had already said okay, so she was going to have to beat him. Throwing her bag on the ground, she nodded, agreeing to the terms. “You go first then.” She gestured at the tree branch, hoping she could wipe that condescending grin off his face.

She turned her attention to the branches. They looked strong and she was light enough that pulling her weight up wouldn’t be a problem. Plus, arm workouts were her specialty as she had trained her muscles to be flexible to accommodate the different throws she would have to do. The only problem was he looked like he had been working on his arm strength as well. At that point, it was a matter of who could outlast the other. A surge of confidence reached her face as she gave him a small, but contained smile. “You scared? I would hate to know what would happen to your ego if a ‘pretty little lady’ beat you.”

Lia rolled her eyes—something that seemed to be happening at a high frequency around this boy—as he took off his shirt. He was just doing pull-ups, hardly a reason to feel like he didn’t need a shirt unless he was trying to show-off. It just made Lia even more irritated, but she held her tongue as he walked up to the tree and went up to another branch after he had touched the ground already. She didn’t believe him when he said it was due to the branch, but what type of competition was zero? She gave him a little nod, acknowledging that the previous attempt didn’t count.

She counted in her mind, hoping he would fall at around thirty. On a good day, that was the best she could do, but she also had adrenaline and a ridiculously competitive edge on her side so she believed in a buffer. Words started coming out of his mouth again and Lia couldn’t help but retort. “Save it for a different girl. I’m sure she would appreciate it.” Her words didn’t seem to hinder him though as he continued with the pull-ups.

That didn’t mean he was slowing down, though. She could see the strain in his body as he hit the high thirties and the redness was spreading from near his neck and shoulders and down his backside. Any more strain and he was going to fall off the branch and break a bone in his body—or at least she hoped. He continued past forty though, and Lia bit her lip with concern. She really needed luck and whatever strength she had to beat him…but she was going to do it. Never back down from a challenge. “Forty-three? Fine.”

She placed her hands on the branch, adjusting the position to account for her size. It was all math but also part instinct, practice from when her coach had made her do sets of pull-ups for warm-up. She pulled herself up, the muscles in her arms welcoming the familiar strain before she slowly moved down, careful not to let gravity get the best of her. The next ten pull-ups seemed effort-less, like habit, as she counted in her mind and hoped she could do it again at least four more times. That was all she needed.

But her arms were still weak from missing several training sessions and the soreness she was certain would come the next day was acting on her muscles. The thirtieth pull-up felt more difficult, she became more aware of her body weight, and her fingers were starting to lose their grasp. Crap, I still have thirteen more. She grunted as she changed her body position to account for the new strain, the shifting taking away from some of her energy reserve. It wasn’t enough though as she came crashing on the ground at thirty-six, three short of her personal best. “Crap,” she muttered to herself as she remained flat with her back on the ground. If only she could roll away and pretend that it didn’t happen.

Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself off the ground and stared at him. She wasn’t a sore loser…even if she wanted to punch that grin off his face. “You beat me.”

She didn’t like him. That much was certain as she watched him bow. What have I gotten myself into? Why couldn’t it just be throwing knives or something else? Dammit. She barely acknowledged him as he brought up what she owed him, her eyes looking elsewhere and her head slightly bobbing up and down. She didn’t like that tone. She didn’t like that smile. But now she was going to have to put up with it for one more moment. Hopefully, that date would be the last time she saw him. Maybe if I just act as horrendously as possible, he’ll go away.

Grimacing, she stared at the hand that was outstretched towards her and at the smile that was still on his face. He didn’t stop talking though, as he proposed they get “cleaned up” for the date. What an idiot. If I was in his position, I wouldn’t even give myself the chance to run away. Lia raised her eyebrows as he promised her that he wouldn’t be cheesy—was he aware that he was already being cheesy?—and the scowl reappeared as he asked about her name. Affirming his question only meant that he would know more about her, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Before she could respond, the outstretched hand took her hand as he brought it to his lips, kissing the hand. A look of horror crossed her face before Lia resumed her indifference and she pulled her hand away. “How do you know I won’t decide to not show up? It doesn’t seem like you know anything about me.” She went over to her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Her arms were still hurting from the little competition, but she tried to make it look as effortless as possible. The last thing she wanted was to appear weak. Walking back over to where Topher was standing, she maintained eye contact. “So you can go get cleaned up, and I may or may not be back here whenever an hour or two is for you.” A small smile crept up to her lips. “And yeah, it’s Lia.”

Lia eyed him warily as he said what seemed like a threat. The last thing she ever wanted was a boy to be on her doorstep and talking to her father and stepmother, but especially her stepmother. She had to admit it to him: he knew how to play the game. The corner of her mouth twitched at the thought of being on the losing side of this exchange, but she nodded, acknowledging that she had better be there when he said she should.

Finally, it seemed like he had read her because he made a comment on her apparent indifference. He started pleading with her and even promised that if she didn’t like the date, she could punch him, an offer she was more than willing to take. A touch of amusement reached her face as she thought about how he was going to walk away from the date with a broken nose. It wasn’t so much that she was difficult to please, but she never really liked dates to begin with and she couldn’t see why this one would be any different. “You sure you want to put your pretty nose up for stake? I would hate for you to have your friends ask who did that to you.”

She didn’t really know why she was using so much snark, but she wasn’t going to apologize. All she wanted was to relax and stretch out her muscles, not end up going on a date. What she couldn’t understand was why he was trying to push it this much. Lia had already made it clear to him that she was doing this reluctantly, and despite his acknowledgment, he kept insisting. “Just a word of advice, if you don’t want to end the date prematurely, stop using adjectives in front of my name or in reference to me. I’m Lia, that’s it.”

“I’ll meet you here in two hours,” she said reluctantly. “And please don’t make a big deal out of this. If you’re trying to impress me—which I don’t even know why—start small. I can at least appreciate that much.”

A klutz? Was admitting that to her supposed to mean something? It didn’t seem like Lia had much of a choice on spending time with him. Why was she going to care if he could barely stand on his own two feet. She nodded in quick acknowledgement. “Alright, two hours. Don’t you even dare come near my house.” A touch of amusement reached her lips as he walked away quickly with what looked like a big smile. She really didn’t understand why he was so excited, but she shrugged and made her way back to her home.

Her stepmother was already on top of her the minute she opened the door. Doesn’t she have children to take care of? Ugh. Her step-brother Devon had already moved out of the house—lucky him—but there were still two younger children running around. Lia tried to avoid her younger brothers and stepmother as much as possible, yet they still managed to find a way to bother her. It was the most annoying part of being home. Professing she was tired, she went upstairs so she could clean up and change.

She wished she could talk to her father about this. With his bright eyes and large smile, he probably would have teased her but at least he would have said something that would make her feel better. But he was busy at work and he wouldn’t get back until much later. Hastily, she scribbled on a piece of paper saying she was going out and not to worry if she still wasn’t back when he came back. Grinning to herself, she attached another note saying if she wasn’t back by bedtime that he should search for her and beat up the idiot who had held her out for so long. After leaving the note somewhere only her father would see, she took a quick, warm shower.

Then came the hardest part: figuring out what to wear. If she had any choice, she would have dressed sloppily, hoping it would put him off. But as much as she enjoyed the thought of wearing the laziest clothes possible, she had enough decency to not do it. Sighing, she glanced at the time and realized that she still had extra time. Frustrated, she took off early, further ignoring her stepmother’s constant pestering. “Yeah, yeah, I’m going out. No, I won’t tell you about it. Yeah, Dad knows about it. Okay, bye.”

Rolling her eyes, she made her way back to the spot. She looked around to make sure that he wasn’t there and then made her way around the tree so she could rest her head. This is what I needed… With her eyes closed, time passed by until she heard approaching footsteps. Not really caring that it could have been an attacker, she casually stood up and turned around—to see Topher standing there. Letting out a loud sigh, she spoke up. “I’m right here. So what did you have planned?” She looked him up and down. “You better not have brought anything but yourself. Remember, I reserve the right to punch you in the face.”