Chapter 9. (TRAINING TO BE TRUE)

     "Woah, now this place is enormous," Sophie exclaimed as she gazed upon the vast white room, filled with equipment and a large fighting compound.

"Yes, this is where your training will take place," Digi replied, placing her hand on her waist. "But what is my training. ?" Sophie inquired.

       "Well, there are numerous things to learn. Initially, we will focus on combat skills. So how good is your backflip?" Digi questioned. "A backflip?" Sophie repeated. "Yes," Digi affirmed.

       "I can't do a backflip," Sophie admitted. "WHAT????" Digi exclaimed, her expression shifting to one of concern. "Alright, what about a cartwheel?" "No," Sophie responded.

         "A front flip, perhaps?" Digi asked, her expression still filled with worry. "No." "ANYTHING related to gymnastics or somersaulting?" Digi asked, now feeling stressed.

"....Nope," Sophie replied after a few seconds of silence. "Oh, dear," Digi sighed, placing her hand on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, I never learned any of that," Sophie apologised.

"Okay, do you have any knowledge at all?" Digi asked.

         "Well, I know how to punch and kick," Sophie demonstrated by punching the air and kicking her leg. Digi facepalmed. "Anyone can do that," she mumbled, sighing. "Alright, can you at least do stunts?" Digi asked seriously.

          "Yes, if I learn them, I can do it. Oh and also took a little bit of karate lessons when I was 9" Sophie asserted confidently. "Thank goodness, I heard something useful," Digi breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, let's begin. Since you require beginner training, we'll start with the basics," Digi explained.

           "Okay," Sophie agreed. Digi snapped her fingers and summoned poles, sticks, rods, and a somersault pole. "Alright, let's start with somersaults," Digi instructed.

           Sophie followed her instructions, and after a few attempts, she was able to perform a somersault. "Excellent! Now, repeat that at least five times," Digi instructed.

        The first three attempts were challenging for Sophie, but by the fourth time, she found it easier. By the fifth time, she performed it effortlessly. However, she decided to do it once more to improve her technique.

         "You're a fast learner," Digi complimented her. "Thank you. What's next?" Sophie asked as she stood up. "Okay, now try doing a front roll while standing," Digi instructed.

        Sophie managed to do it, and then Digi asked her to perform a front cartwheel. Sophie struggled a bit, but on the seventh try, she finally got it. "Wow, impressive," Digi exclaimed.

       "These are kind of difficult, but I can handle it," Sophie said, feeling proud of herself. "Alright, now let's try a backflip," Digi said.

        Sophie tried several times but struggled to perfect it. She managed to do it eventually, but she ended up injuring her arm."Ouch! My arm. I think I stretched a muscle," Sophie winced as she held her wrist.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Digi reassured her, checking her arm.

"Are you a doctor too?" Sophie teased.

"What do you think?" Digi responded.

"Maybe," Sophie replied, and they both burst into laughter.

       "Okay, I've never seen anyone make so much progress in such a short time," Digi said, helping Sophie up. "Thank you, but I think I should head home now. Dad might be back," Sophie said. "Okay, we'll continue tomorrow," Digi said.

       Digi opened the portal, and Sophie returned home. As she entered her room, she saw her clone. "Is everything okay?" Sophie asked her clone. "Yes, everything's fine. I recorded everything on the stone so you can see what happened," the clone replied.

      "Okay, thank you," Sophie said, grabbing the stone and watching the recording. She then looked sad. "Oh...Dad won't be coming again because of another deal. It's okay," Sophie said, trying to cheer herself up.

        She checked the time and realised it was almost time for the bus to arrive. She quickly grabbed her bag and headed downstairs, where she saw her mother.

         "Sophie, I'll drop you and James off today. But when you come back, please pick up James. I have to visit Mrs. Anderson. She said she lost her aunt, so I have to go," Mom said.

          "Okay, Mom. No problem," Sophie replied. Mrs. Agustin dropped off Sophie and James at school. As Sophie entered the school, she passed the locker room, Sophie saw Gia and walked up to her.

          "Hi, Gia," Sophie greeted her. "Hello, Sophie," Gia replied. "What are you doing?" Sophie asked.

         "Nothing much, just putting up these posters," Gia replied, gesturing towards the posters. "Literature, Grammar Learning, join the Book Club hosted by Miss Rose, to create a world of your own in books," Sophie read.

         "Oh, are you part of the Literature Club?" Sophie asked. "Book Club, yeah," Gia corrected her. "Oh, that's cool. You must love reading then," Sophie said.

         "Yeah, novels are my specialty, and I love to unleash my imagination," Gia said with a smile. "That's so nice," Sophie said. "Which club are you in?" Gia asked.

          "I'm not in any club," Sophie replied. "Why not?" Gia asked. "There are so many, and I don't know which one to choose," Sophie explained. "Okay. But whichever option you decide on, I would love to know," Gia replied.

           "Alright, I should get to class now. See you later, bye," Sophie responded, then made her way to her class while Gia resumed her poster pasting. As Sophie arrived at her class, she noticed a commotion. There was a fight going on in the room, and Bella was standing with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Sophie approached her.

         "Hey Bella, what's happening here?" Sophie inquired as she reached her friend.

           "Hi Sophie, Mike accidentally stepped on Danny's shoe, and now the self-proclaimed king of the class is making a scene out of it," Bella responded with a blank expression.

      "Oh boy, should we do something about this?" Sophie asked.

       "Sophie, you know how Danny is. He always thinks he's right, so there's no point. Let's just go. They'll stop when they get tired," Bella suggested before walking out of the classroom.

        "Good point," Sophie remarked as she followed Bella out of the class.

           Sophie and Bella then proceeded to their friend's classes. As they were passing through the hall, they noticed a banner on the wall. Sophie went to take a closer look.

          "Love it, Sing it. Singing competition, The ultimate battle of embracing voices. The winner will receive a 5,000-dollar award," Sophie read the banner. "Woah $5,000 That's a lot," Bella exclaimed.

         "Do you think anyone will compete?" Sophie inquired. "I don't know," Bella replied. "Hi, Sophie and Bella," Nick called out to them. They turned around to see their six friends approaching them.

           "Hey Nick, hi guys," Sophie greeted them. "Wow, a singing  competition. I will do it. I know my voice rocks," Phil boasted. "Yeah, sure it does," Bella mocked him with a smirk.

          "Yeah, .....(He realized what she meant) Bella!!!!" Phil said. Sophie giggled. "Are any of you guys gonna join?" Brian asked.

           "Faith is going to join," Lucy said with a jumpy and happy voice as she hugged Faith. "What???" Faith said. "Yep, I used to hear you sing in the music room." Lucy implied.

          "That's because I am in the music club," Faith said. "So you have a good voice. You should join," Lucy said. "Yeah, Lucy is right," Bella added. "I'll think about it," Faith said unsurely.

        The bell rang, and they all went to their classes. During the fifth section, which was geography, Miss Rose finished her class early.

         "Alright class, that will be enough for today." Miss Rose announced. "Wow, that was fast," one of the students whispered to his seatmate. "I know right?" He whispered back.

         "OK now that we have finished. Let's have a little test Quiz." Miss Rose announced. "Okay, that's not so bad," another student said. "That will cover up for your project." Miss Rose said while looking at Sophie.

          Sophie knew why Miss Rose looked at her and started to get worried. "What, but you didn't say that. How are we supposed to write the test?" Danny said angrily.

          "Well, now if you had studied, there wouldn't have been a problem, right Sophie?" Miss Rose said while looking at Sophie and had a small smirk on her face.

           They all looked at Sophie with anger. Sophie was about to die of guilt because she was the only one who knew about the test and was preparing for it. She didn't expect Miss Rose to give it as a surprise test.

          "I thought you were going to tell us," Sophie said to Miss Rose with a shaky voice. "Yeah right, and you didn't even mind telling us," a female student said in anger.

        "And what is the point anyway? Even if she didn't know, she would have probably passed anyway since she is Miss Smarty." Another female student said.

           Sophie was about to burst into tears. She was hurt that her classmates thought of her like that. "Hey, knock it off! Sophie has helped us a lot of times. You can't say that about her," Mike said, standing up for Sophie.

         Sophie was compelled when she heard Mike being on her side. "Alright, stop fighting. You can do that after the test." Miss Rose said.

               The whole class went silent, but Sophie could still hear the insults from the glares of the students. Not everyone was angry at her; only five people were angry, but for Sophie, that's still something.

          After 30 minutes, the test ended, and Miss Rose left. Sophie could still see some of her classmates being angry at her. She then bent her head and was about to cry when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She saw it was Bella.

        "It's okay, Sophie. I know you are not like this," Bella said, assuring her friend. "I seriously didn't know that she would do it as a surprise test," Sophie said, trying to hold back her tears. Then Mike came to her.

         "It's alright, Sophie. It wasn't your fault," he said. "You believe me?" She asked, surprised "Of course, I do," Mike assured her.

          Sophie then rubbed off her tears. "Thanks, both of you," Sophie appreciated them. Mike then nodded and left the classroom. Bella turned to Sophie.

         "How did you know about this anyway?" Bella asked. Sophie sighed. "Can we go to the garden?" Bella agreed, and they went to the garden where their friends were also present.

"Nope, life does suck," Phil whined again.

"Phil, we have been over this," Brian said.

"Yeah Phil, it was just a test," Nick added.

         "Well, it was unfair of Miss Rose to do something like this," Faith said. "Can we just stop talking about this?" Miles said while being annoyed. "Hey, guys?" Bella said with a worried tone.

          They all turned around to see Bella and Sophie. "Hey, guys. Let me guess, she did the test for you too." Lucy with a sad face. "Actually, except for me," Sophie said while looking guilty.

           They all got confused. Sophie then built up the courage and told them everything that happened in the office. "I wasn't expecting this from you, Sophie," Phil said, angry at Sophie.

          "I didn't know she would bring it as a surprise test," Sophie said with little tears in her eyes. "But you still knew she would bring a test," Phil added. "I am sorry," Sophie said sadly while bending her head.

          Sophie then burst into tears and sprinted away from the garden. She hadn't experienced this sensation for five years, since her last incident, so this one caused even more pain.

         "Sophie, wait," Nick implored, attempting to follow her. "Nick, stop. She went through a lot in class and needs some time alone," Bella interjected, halting Nick in his tracks. "She's right, Nick," Miles confirmed.

          Nick turned his head back and conceded that Bella was correct. "You're right," Nick agreed, taking a seat.  "Let her calm down first, and then we can talk to her. Right, Phil?" Faith said, glaring at Phil.

             "What?" Phil said, confused. "You shouldn't have said that. You need to apologize. You know how Sophie is. She would never do that intentionally," Bella scolded. The others nodded in agreement.

        "You're right. I should," Phil admitted, feeling ashamed.

           Miles noticed how worried Nick was about Sophie, which made him suspicious. Recess was now over and classes had resumed. Sophie still appeared sad, and Bella tried to comfort her, which helped a little. As closing time approached, the gang reconvened for the day.

           "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it. I was just so angry that I..." Phil began, but was interrupted by Sophie. "It's okay, Phil. I understand," Sophie forgave.

           "Does that mean we're getting the dream team back?" Lucy asked excitedly. "Yep, bring it in," Bella exclaimed, putting her hand in the middle.

           They all placed their hands in the centre and did their thing. In the corner, Miss Rose observed them with curiosity before leaving.

"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Sophie said.

       Sophie and the others then left the school. Miss Rose entered her office, sat down in her seat, and began getting lost in her thoughts.

       "Heh? Even after all that negativity, she still found positivity in just some minutes. She's something different," she smirked.