Chapter 9 No.9

Coach

Her fatigue seemed to fade into the background and the exhaustion from school disappeared after receiving the call from the caller 'coach'.

She stared fondly at her phone and smiled, remaining motionless for a moment, before finally snapping back to reality. She placed her phone back into her pocket and ran, charging straight ahead to her new destination, and it wasn't home.

She continued running steadily, not stopping even once, as she turned when she reached an intersection, twisting her body to adjust to the change in momentum and balance as she continued to race. As she rushed past the block, dashing past the few people she came across, she didn't falter even once. She was used to this already and even without thinking her body moved on reflex. None of her classmates or even members of her school could see her like this. All sweaty and energetic, yet not slowing down. A different version of herself from what she showed in school. No one attending her school knew of this. It was only her mom as well as a few teachers in school who were aware. None from Orion High passed this route, after all, it was the opposite of the residential area they were all from.

Yes, where she was headed was not her house, but... In a way, it could be said to be her second home. She was getting close, just a right turn at the corner and she would arrive. She took the turn, balancing her legs so she wouldn't lose her footing, and slowed down so she would stop directly in front of the place.

The building wasn't so fancy, having two floors, the ground one and the first floor above it. The paint used on its exterior was already getting bleached, but that didn't bother Roxanne. She was never one to judge a book by its cover anyway.

The metal door was closed, with the [Open] sign written boldly on a board attached to it. She stared at the wide board at the top of the building, reading out the words written.

"PASSION OF LIFE GYM" She said, feeling cringe because of the name.

In the three years she had been attending the gym, she still couldn't get used to the name or say it without cringing. However, she had no choice. To enter the gym, it was an unchanging rule for Regulars to always say the name of the gym before proceeding inside. Fortunately, no one she knew was around to see her say such an embarrassing name.

She huffed slightly, taking deep breaths and calming herself a bit before finally proceeding into the building.

"I'm in..." She said as she entered the building.

If what a person expected when he entered the gym was a bunch of sweaty men, dirty towels, and a bunch of weight sets lying around, then that person couldn't be more wrong.

The ground floor was filled with nothing but the standard gym equipment and a few people doing their regular exercises. She smiled at the new faces she saw for that day. One man in particular tried so desperately on the treadmill, moving his huge body desperately as he tried to push past his limits.

She shook her head slightly. Having such energy was fine by her, but she was familiar like him. They burn their energy on the first day, and they would never enter a gym until after some time. Some would give up entirely.

"He's only giving it his all now because something must have happened to him? Did he get insulted due to his weight or something?" She asked herself.

Well it was none of her business. She turned away and walked toward the Receptionist, who looked her way and gave her a smile since she recognized her.

"Is the coach around?" Roxanne asked the woman.

"Yeah. He's upstairs, doing the usual." She answered.

"Thanks Mary." She said, quickly making her way to the stairs and climbed them in a jiffy.

She entered the room on the first floor where she was guaranteed to meet her coach, her personal fitness trainer... Her mentor.

Her eyes went around the room as she entered. Unlike the one downstairs, this place was only exclusive to Regulars such as herself. A place not for the usual gym exercises and routines. No, this was different.