Tatiana was the best to start off the rumors as she was close to Jessie. And then, with the 'help' of team Brave and Bold, rumors in Birchland High will spread more easily.

"Haha, aren't you quite a stud then?" Tatiana finally got over the initial shock.

"I don't think so." Finally, painful heat in my lungs started fading away as I sat up.

"Honestly, it's the first time I ever heard that someone would try their luck for three times in a row."

"I was the same."

"Still, it's reaaally hard to believe." Tatiana fiddled with her braid as she stared down at the floor.

"Yeah, I guess. But if you change the girl to a boy, it would sound less strange." I didn't know how to make this sound more natural and not like boasting.

"Hum-hum, I guess."

"By the way, surely you had more confessions than that? How many suitors tried to court you?"

"Eh? Me?" She finally looked up at me. Her expression showed her total lack of understanding.

"Yeah, you are quite the looker, aren't you? I'm sure you had your fair share of confessions."

"Ha-haha-ha… No way," She tried to laugh like usual, but very soon, her cheeks went beet red as she started fiddling with her braid. "Who would want to date someone like me."

Looking at her objectively, she indeed wasn't like most girls. But I couldn't say that with her 'assets' she will never find a lover.

I slowly stood up. "But I really think you would attract a lot of guys. They simply don't know what they are missing."

"Stop it already." she slapped me on my back, and I almost fell down.

"Guh."

"Enough chatting! Let's get back to training."

Rubbing the place she hit, I've put the conversation we had in the back of my mind. Right now I've had a more important job to do.

To survive.

"HA!"

"HA!"

"HA!"

With each shout, a sledgehammer was hitting a huge tire. The sledgehammer itself wasn't the heaviest. However, after striking the tire more than fifty times in a short period, I've felt the weight increase hundredfold. Every strike resounded in my whole body.

"Good! You can rest."

Throwing down the sledgehammer, I simply stood in one place. I couldn't even move a single muscle to fall down. I felt like my body went completely rigid.

"I think that's it for today. After getting some rest, you can go and train other things." slapping my back, Tatiana left quickly.

"Hiss." this slap brought back my ability to move. It brought back my muscle pain as well. My shoulder blades almost connected while my hands clenched tightly.

Turning my head, I saw Tatiana. She looked like she was running away. It was an act unbefitting her desire to have a personal trainee. Did I scare her that much with a talk about confessions?

With my shoulder blades still connected, I walked towards my towel and wanted to wipe my face. But, after touching it, I felt that it was completely drenched.

Damn, I hope there was a substitute one.

A couple of minutes later, I went from the changing rooms with another towel. My rigidness finally came away after I drank a large amount of water. I moved my shoulders and arms here and there to see if everything was okay. With a new towel around my neck, I was looking at what to do next.

There were now a lot of people in the gym, but not a single one I knew. Looking at the time back in the changing room, it was soon time for lunch.

Should I ask someone to spar with me? Or wait for Jessie and everyone else to come? Now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I saw Patrice around.

"What are you looking for?"

"Hm?"

Hearing the sudden voice, I turned around and saw a girl with a small stature.

Her hair was cut short. She had a so-called pixie cut, and her hair was dyed into a light shade of green. It matched her big round eyes that looked like two emeralds. They were exceptionally clear and shined like two gems, with her pupils being a color of light green.

Her eyebrows were rather bushy but neatly trimmed, and her small nose was slightly turned up. Her lips were forming a smile right now, and it showed a glimpse of her white teeth.

As for her clothes and figure, she was smaller than me by a head and a half. Yet, she still had a nice pair of boobs hidden by a top that looked like a sports bra. Her legs, however, were lacking. Her hips weren't wide at all, and her thighs were slender. The tightly fitting spats that went down to her knees only accentuated that fact.

"Madeline, was it?" She nodded to me. "Nice to meet you. I'm actually thinking of what to do."

"So you came here to train?"

"I've already trained."

"Alone?" She put her small hands on her sides.

I felt that staring at her wasn't appropriate as I didn't know her too well, so I looked around. Seeing Tatiana in the distance talking with a few guys, I said, "Tatiana agreed to help me."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to train harder, and I've asked Tatiana to become my personal trainer. It's my luck that she isn't busy. After finishing training with her, I was thinking of what to do next. Bill and Johnny promised me yesterday that they will be my spar partners, but they aren't here yet." Ending my rather long monologue, I looked at Madeline and saw her completely petrified. Her large green eyes looked like they cracked and lost all of their luster.

"You asked Tatiana to train you personally?"

"Yes, after Jessie introduced me to her, I felt she is the best trainer I can get." I nodded.

Madeline looked like her whole world went upside down. Finally gathering her thoughts back together, she sighed.

"You are really hardcore. No wonder Jessie went after you."

"Am I?"

"I bet no one would believe that you went after this out of your own will. It's more like you were forced."

"But I truly did it out of my own will."

"Yeah, I don't know why but I can believe you." she sized me up and down without any reserve. "Whew, anyway, you were looking for something to do? Then how about joining me?"

"And what exactly will I be joining?"

"We will go and work on your stretching ability. I bet after working with Tatiana, all your muscles now have a lot of tension, and you probably aren't as agile as before."

As I moved my shoulder, I didn't feel much difference. But, as I was still a complete noob in training, I decided to take up on the offer.

"And on our way, we will invite Tanya as well."

As we moved towards Tatiana, I couldn't hide my curiosity "What for?"

"She rarely does anything except working out, and the exercises she likes the most are all about weightlifting. And the heavier the weight, the more excited she would be."

"And her muscles are all tensed up because of this?"

"Yep, that's why I help her from time to time. I'm not a qualified masseur or chiropractic, but I can't bear to look at her. I think I should help at least a little bit." she sounded concerned when she talked about Tatiana. They probably had a close relationship. I guess it was to be expected as they were in one way or another part of Jessie's clique.

"Hey, Tanya, let's get going for our stretching routine," Madeline shouted to Tatiana from afar.

"Alright, you both understood what to do, right?." Walking towards Tatiana, she was talking with two guys.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Then I will go. If you still have other questions, you can find me with Madeline." Both of them nodded and went on their way while Tatiana turned around. Seeing Madeline, she smiled. She was this close to bursting into her usual fit of laugher until she saw me. "Erlig?" Her expression immediately became complex.

"Madeline invited me as well."

"Oh, well…" she fiddled with her braid. "Let's go then."

Madeline turned to me abruptly, her eyes squinted ever so slightly. The luster of her pupils changed accordingly to her mood. And now, her eyes were twinkling with curiosity.

"Let's not waste our time?" I said to Madeline, but my tone eventually turned to a question.

"Follow me then." She gave me one last look before going towards Tatiana. Both of them started walking to one of the more distant places of the gym.

Left behind, I couldn't stop my gaze from lowering down. Even though she wore loose cargo pants, I could've seen traces of a big round butt that belonged to Tatianna. As I thought before, she wasn't like most girls.

Moving my gaze to the side, I've shaken my head.

"At least it's taut."

"You said something?" Madeline looked back.

"No. Nothing." I hurriedly shook my head.

Damn! It's all Bill and Johnny. Never thought I would get affected by their influence so fast.

We made our way through all the different people who were training. Arriving at a somewhat deserted spot, I saw all kinds of yoga mats here.

"Erlig, you don't have your mat with you, so you can take mine." Madeline took a single mat that was rolled up and threw it to me. "I will get Jessie's."

"Won't' she be against it?" I sure would... or maybe I won't?

"Nope."

"If you say so." Shrugging, I put the mat down and looked at Tatiana and Madeline.

"Now, Erlig, as this is your first time, I will show you what to do, and you will try to replicate the move. Whenever you feel you need an extra push and you don't quite feel it, tell us. We will help you. Okay?" She looked serious.

"Okay, I got it."

"Good. Let's start then."

She started with a rather basic, and easy exercise, but as it turned more intricate, I required their help. And if it was easy with Madeline, Tatiana wasn't as cooperative. She was evading me. When I came to help her stretch, although it was evident that I was more helpful than Madeline, she looked unwilling.

As we took a small break, Madeline signaled to me with her eyes to take some distance.

"Tell me what happened?" as we walked a few meters away, she whispered to me.

"I don't know." Though I had an assumption, I couldn't jump to a conclusion straight away.

"Tell me what happened." This time Madeline's tone didn't allow for any negotiation.

"Sigh... okay." Glancing at Tatiana, who tried some pose from yoga on her own, I leaned closer to Madeline and started whispering back at her.

"At first, she was happy as I asked her to help me."

"Yeah. It's to be expected."

"Then, as we took a small break, she asked me about relationships."

"Uh-huh."

"And I told her that I don't have a girlfriend. I told her that not so long ago, a girl from my college..."

"It's Birchland High?"

"Yeah, the same as Jessie's." I nodded. "There was one girl who confessed to me three times in a row."

"No way!" Madeline exclaimed. She immediately looked back, and seeing that Tatiana was still absorbed in her yoga pose, she turned back. "No way."

"That's how it is." I shrugged. "I told her this and then asked how many confessions she had in her life."

"Oh…"

"And then I said that she was quite a looker, well, in her own way…"

"OOOhhh…" Madeline nodded to my words. "Well, you should brace yourself. Your relationship would be surely awkward for some time."

"Why?" I rubbed the back of my neck. She was probably more shy than I thought initially, but was it THAT bad?

"She isn't used to this kind of interaction. Are you telling the truth that you find her attractive?"

I glanced back and saw Tatiana doing another yoga pose. Her large assets almost spilling out from her top in the process. Gulping, I hurried to take my gaze away.

"Yeah." I turned back to Madeline.

"Well, no matter how dense she is, she sensed it as well. She usually doesn't get many suitors." Madeline shook her head in exasperation.

"Why?"

"Because any potential suitors are outworked by her." leaving these words behind, she went back with a bitter smile. "Why are you keep stretching when I said it's a break? Sheesh, I can't leave you even for a second." she went back to Tatiana's side as I thought about her words.

Outworked?

Because of me, an awkward atmosphere fell between the three of us. We continued stretching for quite some time until Bill and Jhonny finally showed up. I used this to make my escape. Bidding my goodbyes to Madeline and Tatiana, I went to the inseparable duo, and we went to spar.

As we were getting ready, I kept thinking about Tatiana. I didn't expect she would turn out like this. I thought she didn't care at all what others thought about her, nor what they said. Yet, the first impressions turned out to be wrong. Were there even more people I misunderstood?

Shaking my head once I went to spar.

I was already exhausted from all the training I had throughout the morning and day, but I still sparred with Bill and Jhonny for a couple of hours. Whenever I felt that I had no strength, I would eventually get up and go on.

And now I was laying on the canvas in the cage. At the same time, Bill and Jhonny were both sitting, leaning against the net.

"Erlig, can you tell us your schedule?"

"Yeah, so we can match it up?"

"Schedule?" I barely reacted to the words of the duo, "I don't think I have a schedule…" when I remembered a certain thing.

Schedule, right!

"Bill, Johnny, sorry but I got to go now. I've almost forgotten that I needed to do something important." Feeling a new wave of energy, I stood up. Much to the surprise of the two, I went to the changing room.

Taking a quick shower and changing into my outdoor clothes, I went to Birchland High. Talking about schedules reminded me that I needed to learn Reid's schedule.

And I felt the sooner I do it, the better.

It was already getting dark outside. It wasn't that late in the day. But, due to the season being winter, it was inevitable that we would get less sunlight.

Walking through the territory of Birchland High, I confidently made my way towards the single office that could provide me with the info I needed.

Walking inside Violetta's office, I didn't bother to knock.

"You?" looking at the uninvited guest, she stood up. "YOU! *!*@8! GET OUT!!!" she went closer to me so that she would be able to kick me out.

Great. I went towards her, and as Violetta tried to push me, I made it all the way towards her chair.

"IF YOU WON'T GET OUT THIS VERY SECOND, I SWEAR I WILL RUIN YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!" She stopped her attempts to push me and simply stood before me, fuming. Her bountiful chest heaving up and down, her face flushed red.

"Hah!" Sitting down in her chair, I couldn't stop a chuckle escaping my lips.

"WOAH!"

"WAIT..."

"STOP THIS!"

"WAH! Don't…"

"Don't, DON'T TOUCH ME!!!"

Her cries resounded in the office.