No choice

"Yeah, you hear me right the first time – be my student."

"By technique, do you mean 'Hands that pull up a mountain'?"

"Yeah, that. There will be more intense training, and you'll be coming every day once school is over."

*What the... that means more intensity of this torture? I don't want to imagine it.*

"I know it's a great technique, but... no, thanks, I'm good."

"I never said you have an option. Meet you here tomorrow once school is over. Don't be late, or I'll double it."

He picks up his bag to leave, then turns back to face me.

"Oh, you need to note that you don't just learn 'Hands that pull up a mountain'; you'll need to learn at least thirty different techniques and fifteen skills to be able to pull it off at its twenty percent strength."

"Oh, come on. This is pure torture. You're just being cruel."

"I'm a Colonel. I've chosen you as my sole student. You have all this honor to enjoy."

"I don't wanna," I said.

"What's up with you? You should like it, since you're a masochist," he teases.

"I'm not! Who in their right mind will enjoy pain?" 💢 I said annoyingly.

"But you didn't try avoiding the training, did you?"

"Haaah... You wouldn't understand."

"Go home and have a good rest. Next week is going to be hell for you, students," he said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask.

"Don't worry; you'll still find out," he said as he left the school.

Without thinking much about it, I decide to arrange my bag and head home.

*It's a house, not a home. My house doesn't have what makes up a home,* I correct myself inwardly.

*It's been a hell of a day, and I still don't get why my head is still hurting. That small pain should have been relieved by now. How hard was the thing I hit my head on?* I think as I walk down the lonely hallway of the school. I am one of the few people still around; most are staff, and I'm among the few students hanging around.

*Grace, huh? What's that exactly?* Suddenly remembering what I said to Priscilla, I decide to ponder on it later.

~Ring, ring~

My phone rings.

~Beep~ I pick up and put my ears to listen to what it's saying.

"What! Okay, just give me about 30 minutes. I'll be there now," I said panickingly as I start dashing home immediately.