Chapter 5

After lunch, Easton showed me where the gyms were. Inside I found the fencing club area, and quickly found the locker room. A bunch of guys were already getting dressed. One of the guys noticed me and walked over to me with a smile.

"You must be the new student. I'm Sawyer, the fencing team captain," he introduced himself. I shook his hand with a smile.

"I'm Sky," I replied.

"We've been expecting you. I heard you were pretty good. Your locker is over here. Your suit is already inside. You'll wear that for sparing practices when you're not wearing your gym clothes. But for today's practice, you can wear your gym clothes. We're doing conditioning," he explained, showing me to my locker. I thanked him before opening the locker and taking my backpack off. Luckily, most of the guys were already dressed and leaving the locker room. I would have to figure something out for changing in the future. Once they were all gone, I changed quick and headed out as well. In the gym, guys were already running laps around the outside of the mats. Many practice floors were set up with electronic scoreboards and sensors. This was truly a top notch school.

"Sky, over here!" Sawyer yelled to me. I jogged over and came face to face with my idol: Olympic team fencer, Race Imboden. I felt like I could cry. His spiked red hair and impeccable jawline was even more beautiful in person. He held his hand out to me.

"I'm Coach Race. After conditioning today, we need to place you on a team, so be prepared to spar with Sawyer here," he said. I felt my tears betray me as they fell from my eyes while I smiled. I hesitated before I shook his hand.

"Are you... crying?" Sawyer asked confused. I sniffled and tried to dry my face quickly.

"I guess I am. Sorry! It's just... you're my role model for fencing. I've watched every single one of your televised matches," I tried to explain quickly. I could feel my body shaking. Coach Race smirked as Sawyer laughed.

"Never meet your heroes kid. I'm tough on my students, and I'll work you hard so be prepared," Coach Race said as he pay my shoulder.

"Come on, let's start running," Sawyer chuckled. We ran, did squats, crunches, relays, pushups, everything. By the time we were done conditioning, I'd successfully worked off my excitement from meeting my idol. As everyone else left, I grabbed my mask and knickers from my locker and went back to the gym to put on the sensored jacket. I pulled on my gloves and put my mask on before taking blade and doing a few practice jabs.

"Alright, take the mat,"Coach Race said. Sawyer and I each took a side of the mat before the sparring began. I dodged and jab to the best of my abilities. By the end of the match, I won. We stepped off the mat and I took my mask off. I was exhausted and panting, but I was happy I could show my idol what I was capable of. Coach Race smirked as he nodded.

"Not bad at all. We'll put you on team one. You've actually got skill. Go back and shower and be ready for practice the day after tomorrow," he said before sticking his hands in his pockets and walking out of the gym. I sighed before setting the sword down and taking off my gloves.