5 TOO EASY, HUH?

"Ay! That's mine, you idiot!"

"Well you have my cloak!!"

"Ouch, that was my foot!"

I sigh as I change into a clean set of clothes, black pants and a slim comfy dark gray shirt. Everyone has the same two outfits, one black and one gray. I braid back my hair, brush my teeth, and leave the A-2 girls dormitory first without bothering to wait for the others.

I sit by Kookie at the meal table in the back as usual, my mood slightly sour. "Ugh," I grumble, pouring way too much sauce on the baked dough without realizing at first, "the girls in my dormitory are throwing a fit and it's chaos in there. Except Liesl," I muse, "I mean, she's a saint. She slept through it all."

"Mmm." Kookie licks his lips and reaches for another serving. I frown. Nowadays, Kookie just about inhales his food.

I eye his plate. Meat, potatoes, bread. No vegetables. I scoff and steal a slice of roast beef.

"Hey!" Kookie glares daggers at me while I chew it slowly and deliberately in front of him. I pour an assortment of veggies onto his plate.

"Hey back," I retort. "If you want to be taller than me, you're gonna have to eat something else than cows and potatoes."

"What're cows?" someone asks beside us, with a mouthful of food and wide curious eyes.

"Nothing," I say quickly. Kookie and I are the only ones weird enough to read about previous planets' histories in old books in the dustiest corner of the library, and we learned that the name 'roast beef' comes from this huge extinct black and white animal that also gave 'milk'. Now, most foods that aren't grown with soil are made in labs.

It's all really interesting, though. I don't understand why classes barely cover that stuff.

Speaking of classes... I gasp and water floods my mouth, then I cough while setting down my glass of water. Still coughing, I scan the cafeteria for the six popular boys from Andromeda 83, especially Jimin.

'Just follow the girls...' I think to myself, and sure enough, I see a lot of girls surrounding the six boys, trying to get their attention.

It looks like Jimin is laughing at something with Hoseok, the boy with the shining happy aura, and Jimin is totally ignoring all the other girls! Happiness bursts in my chest and I finish breakfast with a big smile.

I really hope I have at least one class with Jimin...

After meal-time we have plenty of time before our first class. I have Safety and Defense 4 as my first class, where you learn how to defend yourself, how to survive with the simplest things, and by Safety and Defense 5 we'll be able to navigate simple capsules outside of the ship and even float in space in a suit for a bit. It's one of my favorite classes.

After a half hour of discussing the computer, teasing and arguing with Kookie, he goes to the opposite side of the ship to Biochemistry 6 and I head to Safety and Defense 4. As the usual class fills in, about twenty teenagers with me as the youngest and the oldest is 22, my heart sinks as class starts without Jimin. I guess I won't have this class with him. There's two new girls from Andromeda 83, and they're quiet and calculating, taking in the room with one sweeping glance.

All the people on Andromeda 83 seem fun enough, but they all have this chilling side of seriousness and a deathly calamity. I shiver as one of the new Andromeda girls looks at me, her eyes narrowing.

The room we are in is a huge spacious tall room, one wall jagged and bumpy, used for climbing. Another wall, twice as wide as the climbing one, has bull's eye targets and old battered dummies for combat. On the opposite side in the corner is a sectioned off room, where inside you make quick antidotes for basic poisons and stop intense bleeding in a simulated situation. Bright fluorescent lights beam down at us from the ceiling, flooding the place with a white glow. But strangely, they're suddenly shut down, so now it's a smoky gray dark.

"Night version," Vicky calls out, and several students whoop and cheer.

We gather in a circle and everyone stares at Vicky, waiting for her commands. Vicky is our adult for this class, and she's the expert in combat. "Alright," she starts, her voice as smooth as water, "today we'll train in the dark. Always good to be prepared, eh? We'll start warming up with some knife throwing."

Yesss. Knives are my specialty.

... Not that I like stabbing people or anything. I'm not evil, I'm just good with handling knives.

Vicky frowns as everyone moves to a target. "Looks like we're missing someone..."

Footsteps echo in the huge room. A boy runs in, panting and slightly sweaty.

"Ahh, here you are!" Vicky exclaims. My heart leaps into my throat.

Jimin bends down to rest his hands on his thighs, catching his breath. In the foggy dark, his skin is milky pale and his hair dark as shadows. "Whoo," Jimin exhales. "So sorry I'm late. Got lost on my way here..."

"No problem," Vicky says. "Here, take a target. We're warming up with knife throwing."

My heart hammers when he chooses the target next to me. I blink rapidly, trying to focus on my target thirty feet away. I can barely see the bull's eye in the groggy dark. But it feels like my body's flooded with strong waves, my head pulsing too quickly...

'Focus,' I scream internally. I will NOT make a fool of myself right next to Jimin.

I throw my knife and relief pours over me when I see that I hit the inner circle. I know I can do better, but at least I didn't embarrass myself. When I glance over to Jimin, his eyes are totally focused and sharp, and he throws his knife so fast it's a slight blur, with so much force, and the blade digs itself into the very center. Everyone stops to stare at Jimin's target and the knife at dead center.

Jimin sees me staring at him, and he grins.

"Well done, Jimin!" Vicky exclaims. "Now I know how far you're--"

One of the Andromeda girls laughs harshly. She has long sleek black hair and sharp cheekbones. She throws her knife and it zips to the center so fast. The second Andromeda girl, with fiery red hair and a sprinkle of freckles over her nose, throws two knives with both hands and they hit dead center, too.

My mouth goes dry. What in the world--

"Well," Vicky says, arching her eyebrows. "That's nice, but this isn't a competition, you know. Ten more throws, everyone, and we'll move onto hand-to-hand combat."

I push myself to throw as fast as the Andromeda girls. The first few I get the inner circle, but by my tenth throw, I throw it as fast and it hits dead center. I smile, proud of myself.

"That's very good," Jimin comments. I blush, but thankfully the cool darkness hides it.

"Everyone, split into pairs of two! Let's move to the mats." We move to the center, and there's enough room for twenty people to practice with fifteen feet of extra space around them. Someone touches my arm, and I spin around to see Jimin nod at me with his brows raised in question, and I nod back. I blush, dang it, and follow him to a space on the mats.

Everyone takes off their boots when we go onto the mats.

We crouch into a fighting stance. Jimin's gaze is steady and staring into mine, and I try my best not to avert my eyes.

"START!"

Jimin lunges towards me with incredible speed, and I barely side step him. I throw my legs into the air, kicking the backs his knees with both of my pointed feet, and touch the ground with my fingertips to regain balance. He barely stumbles before dropping to the ground and spinning his legs at me. He catches my ankle and I fall hard on my back. He rolls on top of me and gives me a devilish grin inches away from me. Everything else is dark, but with him so close I can clearly see his face, his full lips, straight nose, dark marble eyes and straight dark eyebrows. His warm refreshing scent wafts up my nostrils, like calming scented candles that makes me want to breathe it forever. My eyes widen as he leans even closer to me, his hair falling slightly over his face.

"Too easy, huh?" His eyes dance with amusement.

I scowl, even though every inch of my skin is prickling with fire and excitement. I hook my leg on his torso and force him to fall back, and I take this small opportunity to flip him onto his back over my shoulder. But I barely manage to do it, even with momentum because dang he's heavy.

I stand over him and he lies on the ground, still smirking up at me. What the heck!? I jump onto him and swing him over so he lies on his stomach, and I pin him on the ground with his arms behind his back and my knees pinning his legs down. But something's off-- he doesn't seem to be trying as hard.

"C'mon," I growl into his ear, "don't hold back."

"Oh really?" He grins at me, laughter in his eyes, and I realize what he's thinking in his perverted mind. I flush deeply and he takes in my flustered state, and uses this to easily push me back, and he swings me up over his shoulder.

I gasp, and kick his chest and pound on his back. "Let me go!!"

Upside down, I see Vicky jogging towards us. "Alright, alright," she chides lightly, "that's enough. Let the poor girl down." He drops me onto the mats and I roll over into a crouch, glowering at Jimin. Vicky laughs. "Emma's a great fighter, but she seems to be distracted by you a bit."

A weird sound escapes my throat. My eyes widen and I see Jimin laughing. I inhale sharply and my breath hitches. Blood roars in my ears and I brush past Vicky, stomping towards the locker rooms.

"Where you going?" I hear Jimin call out behind me.

"To drink water," I snap over my shoulder. At the girls' locker room, light floods my eyes as I take out my braid and claw my hands through my hair and let out a shriek of frustration.

Aaargh, that infuriating Jimin! What was Vicky doing, just adding onto him!?

As I lay against a cool hard wall, I frown at my hands. I thought Jimin was this sweet, caring boy. But no, he's just playing with me. Thinks he's sooo above me.

But still, I can't help slow down my racing heart when I think of how he stared deeply into my eyes, how close he was to me...

Ugh, I'm helpless...