Many different forms of gym

Kai chased Logan down the hallways.

Although he claimed to want to hang out with Ky, he seemed to be doing a very good job of maintaining a fair distance from him.

After a short trek down the hallways, Logan came to a stop before the metal doors leading into the wrestling room.

Kai could hear the pitter patter of shoes hitting the floor as the students warmed up.

He could practically feel the aura of firm motivation coming from the students in the gym down below.

His stomach growled in protest.

"Cmon, Ky, you promised to stop skipping meals after you nearly passed out at that game last year!"

"I just forgot to eat lunch."

Logan seemed taken aback by his answer for some reason. Was his acting poor enough to hint that something was off?

Logan blinked.

"I'm sure you'll feel better once we're having a go of it. Cmon, let's get to it!"

Kai followed Logan into the wrestling room. At the end of the locker-filled hallway, he paused to get his bearings.

On the right, there was a padded wall with some punching bags shoved up against it. On the back wall, towards the right, there was a door that led to a stairwell. On the left, instead of a wall, there was a thick railing. The opening above was covered by wire mesh, and the slits under the bar were covered by another foam mat.

The opening looked out onto the gym below. Pop music thumped and thudded as the girls dance class began to warm up.

"Alright, brotha, let's get to this. We can watch them dance once we've worked up a sweat."

Logan dragged two punching bags away from the walls, and then tossed Kai a pair of boxing gloves.

Kai watched Logan punch his bag a few times as he strapped on the gloves, before beginning to do the same.

}THYAK{

}THUID{

}THWK{

The rhythmic thudding of the punches filled the room. Kai let himself savor the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He felt his mind begin to wander as he honed in on the punching bag. Sounds, smells, and sights began to fade away until there was only him and the bag.

Kai thought. He thought many things. He wondered of his origins, of his time in the great blackness. He questioned his presence, his realness on this 'Earth' he had found. Kai pondered his future, unsure of why he continued living Kyle's life.

By the time he was out of breath, Kai realized he had questions. And he was determined to start seeking some answers.

Kai had headed towards the railing to grab himself a sip of water. However, his body seemed to move sluggishly. No, not sluggishly… it was as if Kai's spirit were trying to separate from his body.

He gripped the fountain hard, his knuckles turning white, when his stomach rumbled once again.

"Okay, that's it. After school we're getting some burgers."

Kai nearly missed Logan's offer as his head swam. Water from the fountain was still splashing against his upper lip.

'Pull yourself together, Kai, pull it together…'

Suddenly, his head and vision cleared.

As he stepped back and wiped the excess water off his chin, Logan's now-familiar hand clasped his shoulder once again as he was steered towards the railing.

"Kyle… I know breaking up with Becca has been hard, but look at them. There's so many fish in the sea."

Kai stared straight ahead, doing his best to hide his annoyance.

'I've just gotta wait out the cliched emotional talk again.'

"There's so many other girls."

Kai watched as the dancers lined up, ready to start their set.

"Quite honestly, I never thought once that Becca was the one for you."

He watched as they spun, zigged, zagged, and leapt across the floor in unison.

"Becca isn't even the prettiest girl in the school."

Kai's focus wavered. He wasn't sure what tipped him off, but he somehow knew Logan didn't believe that last statement one bit.

However, when Logan paused to let him speak, Kai just nodded.

"You will find another girl, and she will be better for you than Becca. She may have been pretty, but she was manipulative. You just… didn't want to see it."

Thankfully, the bell rang. Hoping to permanently end this conversation, he looked Logan dead in the eyes.

"You're a good friend, Logan."

Carefully removing the hand from his shoulder, Kai gathered up his bags and left.

~~~~

6th hour was uneventful. Mrs. Delaney took a minute to check in on Kai after the events of last friday, but left him alone after that.

Despite the pain of listening to "1984" be broken down into half-assed metaphors and half-truths, he much preferred that to faking a conversation with someone he was supposed to know.

Somehow, listening to the teacher discuss the foreign world was comfortingly familiar.

By the end of the class, Kai was in a slightly better mood.

That better mood did not last long.

Kai felt his heart drop as he walked into gym class and spotted Logan next to his locker.

'I swear to the corps' above, if I need to listen to that whole lovey dovey speech one more time…'

Thankfully he was spared when the coach blew his whistle. Kai found the way his cheeks puffed to be quite amusing.

The game of the day was dodgeball. Teams were chosen by names being drawn from a bucket.

One by one, students were assigned to either the left or right side of the gym.

Kai let out a sigh of relief when he was pitted against Logan.

However, that was not the blessing he had originally assumed it to be. Logan was a football player, and he could throw a ball almost as well as Kyle pre-possession.

Not 20 seconds into the game, Kai had the wind pushed out of his lungs as he took what felt like a brick to his chest.

As he sat on the sidelines, Ashleighe took a seat next to him.

"Hey, Kyle. Are you doing alright?"

He stared at her, as if to imply the answer was obvious.

'Yes! I am fine! Would everyone stop trying to come give me a hug!?'

Ashleighe leaned over and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know it's been rough for you lately, but it's going to be okay. I know you loved her, but-"

Kai pushed her off of himself, and flatly refuted her words in an attempt to shut her up.

"I never loved her."

After all, it wasn't quite a lie.

"Fine then. We'll be here when you're ready to talk."

Ashleighe walked away, clearly somewhat upset.

The rest of class was uneventful, and Kai headed straight home.

~~~~

Kyle woke up in a poorly maintained prison cell, with only a rope around his ankle keeping him inside.

Footsteps echoed in the distance. Kyle's heart skipped a beat.

<Oh god. I'm not alone.>

Frantically looking around him for something to free himself with, Kyle didn't notice how loose the knot around his ankle was at first.

Only as the footsteps grew nearer did he notice the flaw in the containment system of his captor.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, before beginning again, slowly fading away.

Quickly unknotting the rope, he squeezed through the bars to the prison cell.

Kyle woke up tied to nothing, standing in the middle of his bedroom.