Routine was natural to Adlai, and so the days went by quickly. He always struggled with physical education. Adlai was of a leaner build, or as Averi would say a stick. The coach seemed to always choose him to torment, making him run extra laps, or do an extra few reps of a particularly strenuous exercise.

It wasn’t malicious, however, more so to “build him up” as the coach said. Despite Averi and the coach's words, however, Adlai believed he was built up enough. The one class he really looked forward to however was the lab. It was hands-on learning, something Adlai was used to.

Being able to touch something and understand it that way was something Adlai loved to do. He especially loved the biological experiments, from examining alien skulls to simply observing one of the captive species kept here. Averi on the other hand loved the leisure time they got. When Averi walked into a room, nearly everyone greeted her.

She had a charming smile and a calming but energetic personality. There were a few people who clashed with her, however.

Walking into the leisure room one day, Adlai and Averi saw a new face. Adlai had been around a lot of people, working in a dingy factory, and he had confidence in his ability to gauge their temperaments. This girl ticked off all the requirements in his head to be qualified as someone to avoid. She had angry brown eyes, with shoulder-length hair, roughly cut. She was shorter than him but radiated pure energy. She had a lean build and looked like she could run forever. She scowled at them as they walked in. Averi walked in nonchalantly, smiling. Adlai could tell however this was a front put up. As she greeted her friends, the new girl got up. Methodically, she covered the distance between her and Averi.

“Hi, my name’s Averi! Nice to meet you!” Averi smiled disarmingly.

“So you’re the cripple who’s going to get us all killed. Nice to meet you.” Averi’s smile melted off her face, exposing a stone-hard glare.

“What did you just call me?” A dangerous tone entered Averi’s voice. The leisure room was suddenly quiet.

The girl’s eyes glittered with excitement, like a cat with a new toy. “Oh, so that’s the button to press? What, you can’t accept the facts? With that missing leg, you’re just a weak link. You’re essentially useless.” Sneering, the girl continued. “I mean what else can you expect from a cripple-” Averi came in hot, a wild roundhouse punch towards the girl's face. But the girl wasn’t there anymore. Adlai watched as Averi’s wild charge was medically disassembled by the girl. A neat pivot and a quick toss, and Averi was on the ground, with the new girl over her.

The girl gloated in victory, but not for long. Adlai tackled her off Averi, shoving her to the ground, and punched her face. The girl, momentarily stunned, recovered, and bucked Adlai off. She spat on the ground and raised her fists. Adlai threw a punch, one she dodged with ease. She replied with a wicked jab to his gut, which he barely dodged. He went for a right hook, which she ducked under, and answered with a left hook of her own. This landed directly on Adlai’s side, knocking the air out of him. She punched him again, a straight jab to his nose, forcing tears to his eyes. Adlai crumpled to the floor, holding his bleeding nose. Averi, up again, watched as the girl walked out of the room, her fist clenched, knuckles white. Turning back to Adlai, she helped him up.

Suddenly, Erik burst into the room. “What happened here?”

Unfortunately, at that point, nausea hit Adlai like a tsunami, and his lunch ended up on the floor, near Erik’s shoes. Erik sighed and beckoned them to follow him. He led them to an infirmary, and they laid out Adlai on one of the beds. Adlai woke up with his nose sore, and his side even sorer. A dull throb resonated in his forehead, and he felt a huge pressure behind his eyes. He sat up and touched his very raw hand to his forehead, and took a deep breath. Immediately, a sharp pain jabbed into his chest, and he gasped in pain. He laid back down, staring at the dull white ceiling. Turning his head to his right, he saw Averi asleep. To his left, he saw the girl he had fought. Satisfyingly, he saw that her eye was swollen and almost shut. The door creaked open, and then shut. Adlai painstakingly edged himself up to see Erik standing in front of the trio.

“Ahem, I see you all are doing well now. Adlai, Averi, and Shawna. I seem to have overestimated your maturity, given what just happened.” His eyes turned steely. “I will not tolerate infighting. You all will be working together. I will not hesitate to kick you off my program. Are we clear?” Adlai and the girl, Shawna, nodded. Adlai turned to see Averi still asleep. Erik followed his gaze. “Take good care of her. She told me what happened.” Shawna flushed, she turned her face away. Erik locked eyes with her. “I expect you to apologize to these two. Is that clear?”

Shawna nodded, but her eyes said she’d rather burn alive than offer an apology. Erik walked out of the room, and Shawna glared at Adlai.

“Lucky punch. Try it again pretty boy, and I’ll make sure you don’t get lucky.” Adlai was too busy trying not to be sick to respond. The door opened again, and a nurse walked in. She glared at Shawna, who was starting to rise from her bed.

“You get off that bed, and I’ll personally lay you flat again. Now, I’ve got you some numbing cream, and cold compresses. You, beanpole, I’ve got some numbing cream, and I’m going to wrap your chest, you’ve got a bruised rib. Carrot-top, you’re a bit bruised, but you’re good to leave whenever.” Sighing, she walked over to Adlai’s bed, and started to wrap his chest with medical fabric.

“Try not to get into any more fights and tell your physical education coach about this, I don’t want you coming back here.” She looked at Shawna, a hint of distaste on her face.

Quietly, she mumbled to herself. “...Don’t understand how she could be so angry. Makes you wonder how her parents raised her.”

“Ow!”

“Oh, sorry! Wasn’t paying attention to how tight that wrap was. Just to make myself clear, you’re going to spend the night here, and so are you…angry girl. I’ll be back. If I see you off the bed young lady, I will personally strap you to it.” She made a shooing motion at Averi, who had faked being asleep to Adlai’s surprise.

“Go on, go back to learning! Don’t want you skipping class here!”

“Oh come on! Can’t I just spend the night here! Or at least the rest of the day? I think I’m suddenly catching a cold!” Coughing, Averi looked up pleadingly at the nurse.

“A cold! That means I’ll have to administer medication! Unfortunately, it seems I don’t have any oral medications on hand. I guess I’ll have to go use the hypodermic needle.”

“I think I’m feeling better, thank you.”

“Oh, are you sure? I have those antihistamines loaded up here!” The nurse slapped the side of the needle.

“I think I’m fully recovered, thank you. I’ll see you, bye!” Averi waved to Adlai and ran out of the infirmary. Adlai closed his eyes again, starting to feel sick. The pain in his chest was fading thanks to the numbing cream, but he wasn’t excited to vomit again. He laid down again, trying to ignore the burning glare Shawna had centered on his head. He stared at the door, wishing he could leave. It was going to be a long night.