Manipulate
Chapter Three

In the morning I hear someone shuffling around the room. I grab my combat boots dangling off of my bed and pull them on. I jump off my bunk onto the floor. Carefully, of course, so I don’t wake Nick up. Theo comes over to see me.

“Hi, how did you sleep last night?” he asks leaning on a bed frame.

“Fine,” I say with a slight yawn.

“Come on, let’s go get breakfast. We have three minutes until they need us down there anyway,” Theo says, glancing at his watch.

I follow Theo down to the cafeteria. We stand outside the doors waiting in silence.

“Breakfast doesn’t get served for two more minutes. But we can wait in line,” Theo says.

Theo and I wait in line. I can smell the bread being toasted, the eggs being scrambled, the muffins coming fresh out of the oven. I even smell coffee and potatoes. My mouth waters.

“If you smell potatoes, you’re smelling home fries,” Theo says.

I nod. The cafeteria workers come out with trays of food. They set the food down on a salad bar-shaped line. Theo and I grab trays and start filling up our plates. Theo guides me through a list of what’s the best and what’s the worst. In the end I end up with a plate of eggs, a lemon blueberry muffin, a fruit cup, and a cup of coffee.

I sit where I sat at dinner the night before. Theo joins me. All of the other people of TID come piling in through the cafeteria doors. The sound of plates clattering, of silverware clinking and the sound of plastic cups falling all fill the cafeteria with laughter. I drop my knife. It falls to the ground with a loud clatter.

The room enters into an eerie quietness. Then a round of applause goes around. Everyone joins in. There are a couple of whistles. I shoot a questioning look at Theo.

“It’s a tradition if you drop something whether it’s a water bottle, a cup, fork, knife, spoon, tray or plate everyone claps. It’s normal. I promise,” Theo explains to me.

I nod. “Thanks for the explanation.”

“No problem,” Theo replies. He picks up his paper cup of coffee and sips it.

I glance at the clock on the wall. It’s six thirty-five now. Alia announced to the whole table that we need to be in the training room at seven. I pick up my empty tray and walk it over to the dirty dishes window. The lady rinsing off the trays smiles at me. I return the smile.

I start walking toward the doors. I exit the cafeteria. Nick rushes out behind me. He taps me on the shoulder, I whip my head around.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Nick apologizes.

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” I say.

“Are you looking for the training room?” Nick asks me.

Suddenly I realize that I have no clue about where the hell I’m going. “Yes. I don’t know why I just started randomly looking for it,” I say.

Nick chuckles. “Come on I’ll show you where it’s at. You know that TID is huge right?”

“I noticed,” I say.

Nick shows me around TID. He ends the tour at the training room. I glance at the clock. It’s six fifty-nine. Nick and I stand outside the training room. I hear Alia and Max laughing down the hall. Max has his arm around Alia’s shoulders. Alia is laughing and her face is pink. Max is smiling. He looks at Alia in a way that I think that he might like her. They don’t seem to notice me or Nick.

I glance at the clock again. It’s officially seven now. Max and Alia stop talking and notice me and Nick.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice that you two were there,” Alia says.

Max withdrawals his arm from Alia’s shoulders. Max grabs keys from his pocket and unlocks the door to the training room. I hear a stampede of heavy footsteps come down the hallway along with a bunch of loud talking and laughter.

“Today we will resume learning how to punch, kick, and dodge. And at the halfway mark we will review how to shoot both a real gun and a paintball gun. Understand?” Max says. Everyone nods. “Good. You may enter.”

Everyone enters the training room. Alia flips on the lights. As the room lights up, I see punching bags, targets, tables, weights, and a pull-up bar.

“Hey, Abhaya. Do you need help with learning how to punch?” Theo asks.

“Yeah. My brother taught me but I don’t know if he punched it correctly though,” I say, shyly.

“That’s fine. Show me what he taught you.” Theo points to the punching bag.

I stand in front of the punching bag and punch it. Theo is quiet for a moment.

“Your technique is right but your body shouldn’t be right in front of the bag. You should be turned slightly,” Theo says. I turn a little bit. “Perfect. Now try again.”

I punch the bag. It feels a lot better than it did when I did it the first time. I hit it again. Theo nods. Theo shows me how to kick and dodge.

“Wow, Abhaya, that was great! You’re a fast learner,” Theo comments.

“Thanks,” I say, my face becoming warm and I hope it’s from sweating and not Theo’s comment.

Theo and I work as partners for the next twenty minutes. Max blows a whistle, signaling time.

“Alright everyone grab a small silver gun. A silver gun, not a paintball gun or the large guns.”

Everyone scrambles to get a gun. Max demonstrates how to shoot a gun. The door clicks open. Max stops what he’s doing,

“Go ahead and resume. I’m just observing that’s all,” Rae says. Max nods and resumes what he was doing.

“Here, hold the gun like this,” Theo says. He gently lifts my arms so that I see the silver gun in front of my face. Theo holds his gun and tells me to do the same.

“Good. Just relax your grip on the handle a little,” Theo says. I loosen my grip on the handle just a little. Theo nods.

“Now try shooting the target,” Theo says, pointing to the target.

I shoot the target. It makes a clean piercing in the target. Theo nods.

I do it again. It hits the target. I smile, Theo smiles a little, too. Rae stands against a wall and observes us. She stays in the room for about ten minutes and then she leaves us.

Max stops us at nine. “Okay. Now that we’ve reviewed how to punch, kick, dodge and how to shoot the small guns you all can grab the larger guns now,” Max commands all of us. We set down the small guns on the table and grab the large guns.

Max and Alia take us outside to the outdoor shooting range. Theo shows me how to shoot this type of gun.

“This one is a little heavier than the smaller one because of the material used to make them,” Theo explains to me.

I nod. Max walks around on the side I’m on observing each and every one of us. Theo taught me to inhale when I lock the gun, and exhale when I shoot it. My first shot misses. But the second time it hits the target. I smile.

At ten in the morning Max stops us once again.

“Well, it seems that everyone did quite well today. The average during the fighting portion was a low A and during the shooting both times the average was a low A. Great improvement to those who did poorly on the last test. Now we are doing paintball!” Max concludes his small speech and slaps his notepad on the table holding the knives, guns and paintballs.

A series of cheers go through the air. Everyone scrambles to grab a paintball gun. I follow their lead. I pick up one of the guns and examine it.

“Hold it like this,” Theo says, repositioning the gun in my hands.

I look at him and realize that I was holding it all wrong.

“Thanks,” I say. Theo chuckles.

“You’ll need these to be able to play paintball, silly,” Theo says handing me five paintballs. I look at him and take the balls. I load the paintballs into the gun with Theo’s help.

“Here, you hold it like this. Put your hand here and your other hand here,” Theo says. I put my hands where he told me to put them.

“Perfect,” Theo says. “Now shoot the paint out.” Theo motions toward a target.

I shoot the paint out of the gun. It makes a loud splat against the target. I shoot it again.

At 11:05 Max stops us. “Okay everyone that is enough for now. Lunch is in one hour; you may do whatever you please. You may stay in here but we’re putting up the guns. The punching bags and knives are open to use. You may also get out the bows and arrows if you want to. But no guns. I’m looking more at you, boys,” Max says, eyeing a group of teenage boys who look away as if they know that they’ve done it before.

Everyone starts to leave the training room but I stay behind. I walk over to a punching bag and start hitting it. Theo sees me and walks over to observe me.

“Hey, want to practice with me again?” Theo asks.

“Sure,” I say.

Theo and I stand in the middle of the room with our arms in front of our faces.

I throw a punch at Theo and he blocks it. Theo throws a punch; he hits my arm. I feel a bruise forming on my right forearm. I swing my leg behind Theo’s legs. His legs buckle a little but he doesn’t fall to the ground. Theo circles the area and then he throws a punch at me. I dodge it and block it. Theo smiles at me.

“Hey, you’re getting it now. Abhaya, you’re a fast learner!” Theo exclaims.

I can feel the blood in my body rush to my face causing me to blush.

“Let’s keep going,” I say, trying to conceal my blushing face.

“Okay,” Theo says.

We keep practicing until we’re out of breath and my body is sore. Bruises will form but that’s life, right? We get hit and we take the blow with a mark.

“Are you okay, Abhaya? I mean I did hit you pretty hard on your arm,” Theo asks me.

“I’ll be fine,” I say, shaking my head.

“Okay. But I’m going to get you some ice for your arm. It looks like it might hurt a lot later,” Theo says. He points to my arm. I see a big purple splotch forming on my right forearm, he’s wrong, it stings.

“It’s fine. I’ll get the ice myself,” I say.

“Okay, that’s fine. There is a freezer with ice in it over in the corner,” Theo says.

I walk over to the freezer and grab an ice pack made from a frozen paper towel. I apply it to the bruise on my forearm.

“Does that help it at all?” Theo asks me.

“Yeah. It does help. Thanks,” I say.

“No problem. Do you want to grab some lunch?” Theo asks.

“Sure,” I say.

Theo and I walk down to the cafeteria together. The ice is still cold and solid. It helps numb the bruise. When we get to the cafeteria, I throw the ice pack away in the nearest trash can at the entrance. I get in line next to Theo. I grab a tray and two plates and a cup.

As the line moves, I end up with a cheeseburger, a cup of pineapple and a cup of water. Theo made me pick up a piece of Alice Cheesecake. He prefers to call it that because he likes that name better than TID Cheesecake. I sit next to Theo at the table I’ve been sitting at since I’ve gotten here.

“How long have you been here?” I ask Theo.

“Why do you want to know?” Theo asks with a smile.

“I was just wondering that’s all,” I say.

Theo looks at me and smiles, “I’ll tell you later. We have another free period after lunch.”

“Okay. Sounds cool,” I say and Theo smiles at me.

I return to eating my food. I poke at the cheesecake. Today’s flavor is triple chocolate. I cut the cheesecake with my fork, making a perfect slice and a satisfying texture in the cake. I put the cake into my mouth. The cheesecake base is soft and moist. The base melts once it hits my mouth. The chocolate is creamy and rich in flavor. I look at Nick. He’s two seats away from me. He has two slices of cake. I laugh a little.

When lunch is over all of my unit pile out of the cafeteria and head to the dorms. Theo walks next to me. When we get to the dorms everyone goes to their bunks and starts talking. I climb into my bunk and pull a blanket over my head. I snuggle into my bed. I fall asleep while everyone is talking.

I wake up to someone shaking me awake. I turn my head and replace that it’s Theo. He smiles at me.

“They need us in the training room in five minutes,” he says.

“Shit. Sorry, I’m just exhausted from earlier,” I say, kicking back the blanket.

Theo laughs. “It’s fine, you’re not the only one who decided to fall asleep.”

I look at Theo, his hair looks messed up. Guess he also fell asleep. Theo stands on Nick’s bed. I jump off of my bunk. Theo looks surprised at my choice, I shrug. He grins at me.

In the training room we sit on the floor reviewing basic safety and what not to do in basic situations. Max stares at Nick with cold, hard eyes as Alia explains the rules of TID and that we need to respect everyone here. Ten minutes later, we’re dismissed but I stay back for a few minutes until the talking fades away in the hallways,

I walk back to the dorms by myself. I know that I’ve been here only for two days but I’m starting to understand this place. TID has an interesting history. I found out that the original founder of TID was Alice Louise. She was one of us. She wanted to keep us safe and away from the government. Alia catches me wandering the halls.

“Abhaya, what are you doing?” Alia asks me. She’s smiling.

“Oh, um nothing,” I say trying, to cover up my wondering.

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Alia says.

“I was just exploring TID,” I say.

“That’s not a bad idea. But come back to the dorms with me, we’re playing truth or dare. In case you didn’t know, Abi and Kayla are out of the hospital wing now,” Alia says smiling.

“I’ll come,” I say.

“Come on then,” Alia says.