Using the Day Well

Madison wiped off her forehead, running the white towel over her head as she sat on the bench at the side of the room. It was a private room, or so she thought, because people peeked in from time to time to find her swinging a sword pathetically, kicking and punching a dummy like paper balls to steel. Every time that door slid, she stood rigid and said, "T-taken!" Taken, taken. She got in what she wanted to do, and at the end wasn't even that embarrassed anymore by what passers-by would see. They didn't care as much as she made it seem, she told herself. She didn't look so bad training. Everyone in the other rooms probably were as weak and pathetic as her.

She pulled out her phone, cloth still pressed to her forehead, looking into the dark closet across the training area, where mannequins, wooden swords, and targets lay cascaded across the narrow room. In it, a certain mannequin stood, and its eyes gleamed an awful crimson, like the Kremlin on a sunny day.

"Quit looking at me."

The nonexistent shuffle of wood to a mannequin that didn't move.

"I, um, I command you to stop looking at me!"

The wooded mannequin send scratchy mahogany whispers across the floor, a sound that never was. She sighed, and rose the phone to her face, just in time to see a pop up. Mother. She'd talked to her a week before. She thought it was enough.

"Madison, darling, how are you? Why are you so sweaty?"

"I was training."

"Training for what, dear? You aren't there to fight the spirits, embrace them, embrace their stories, that's the mark of a medium."

"I'm not, um, I won't, I will not be a min--me--"

"Speak up, speak clearly dear, I'm not as young as I used to be."

Madison pursed her lips. She wasn't too much over 40. She seemed to be wearing a makeup that made her skin a smooth tan, the loosened collar of a yoga jacket peeked over the camera's base, as well as a pearl necklace she'd never seen before.

"I'm not being, er, gonna be a medium."

"Oh, darling, Maddie, sweetie, you'll give me a heart attack." She held her chest to show this, a dramatic gesture of a talentless actor. Madison bit her lip.

"Sorry ma-oom, I--"

"Your aura is tense."

"Pard-excuse me?"

"You're so tense, honey, are grades getting to you?"

"A little," she lied. She cast a glance up to she the mannequin, shuffling its legless post against the invisible barrier of light, bouncing its head into the wall, tendrils of splintered wood showering sparks of purple shavings onto the floor, it hated her.

The thing that really scared her, however, was the door opening beside her, so much so that she jammed her phone screen into her lap.

"Darling, darling, what happened, I think I lost you Maddie!" Her lap buzzed with a muted concern.

Myles finally got to do his own brand of physical therapy. He saved up his cash for a few weeks and bought a really old, almost ancient iPod.  He was clad in a a power-lifting shirt from his year at high school, his last name across his back, a wolverine crushing a forty-five pound plate on the front.  It was probably one of the first times he wore shorts in the last few months.  He still thought about grabbing someone to spot for him, he was weaker of course.  Six weeks of almost inactivity will do that to a person.  He looked down at what he called his clown shoes of sneakers, before looking back up at the entrance to the gym.  

It was time to go and do something other then hobble around and feel sorry for himself.  He stepped up to the door, wrapping the fingers of his right hand around the handle and pulling it open.  Passing his way through the halls, past the pool area and the basketball court, finding himself to the training rooms.  Chris Knight buzzed in his ears as he made his way to the second room in the hall.  It was kinda early in the morning, the room was probably empty.  He let out a small breath as he wrapped his fingers around the door knob, pushing his way through.  

He stepped in, turning to the mirror lining one of the walls, examining the red line of scar down his face, his blue-gray eyes looked himself up and down.  He smiled slightly as he stepped into the room, oblivious to the girl who he would have seen if he had been looking in the mirror when he closed the door.  His music still buzzing in his ears he dropped the drawstring bag off of his back, stretching out as he sung a verse to himself.  Popping his neck and preparing himself to get back into work.

"Madison, dear, are you okay?"

Madison flipped off the Skype call and watched the boy walk further in, looking at his reflection in the room's mirror. Did he not notice her? He had earphones in, as she saw, the music leaking out from the volume, but it was still pretty oblivious. At least she knew him. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She did have to enhance her social skills, and it would be nice to have actual friends outside of Nicola and Owen.

She had been thinking of leaving silently, but decided that it would be best to stick around and be a normal human being, at least for a little while. She could be a recluse the rest of her life. She got up, putting a hand to her lower back that was still in the brace, and walked over with a limp that had almost become non-existent. She walked up behind him as he stretched, in the view of the mirror, opening her mouth to say 'hello' but pausing. He probably wouldn't even hear her, huh?

Myles stretched a neck once more when he noticed the blue eyed girl standing to his right.  He raised an eyebrow in surprise.  He turned down his music, pulling one of his ear buds from his ear.  He looked her up and down for a second, taking a step back and offering a small smile. "Well you're lookin' better then last I saw you."  He noticed the sweat still on her brow, realizing she was training in here before he even got in.  He thought about it for a second, deciding if he would walk out or not...He didn't need a good spotter, just someone to call the correct authorities if a bar fell on his neck, someone to actually catch it was a plus, but he wasn't gonna do heavy weight anyways.  He could help her as well, if she needed any tips on recuperating, he'd been in a stage like this before.  Had to get back into everything, and he was doing it again.  He nodded his head as he had probably been staring for a couple seconds.  He gave her his smile again finally saying "Well, how you doin' Maddie?  Uh listen, I get that these are private, but I need someone to spot for me, and maybe I can give ya a hand with anythin' you are working on."  

Madison blushed as he smiled, as hard as she tried not to. "I'm fine, um, thanks--no um, just...Thanks." Spot? What was that? She always heard about it when people talked about the gym, but it wasn't exactly her seen. She would have inquired, but decided that that was probably not for the best, keeping her eyes to the side and nodding. She didn't want to look dumb. If it didn't require strenuous back work, it was okay for her. "I'd love to," she said, hoping he would take initiative on whatever it was.

Myles offered another nod and smile, stepping up to the bench.  He looked at it for a second, before looking up at the bar, judging it was the forty-five pound type.  He grabbed a pair of tiny looking weights and slid them onto each side of the bar, looking to Madison.  "I'm gonna start by warmin' up with a set of ten, this'll be good for me to teach ya."  He moved behind the bench and bar, looking up at her.

"This is pretty easy to do, you just put your hands under-over on the bar, doesn't matter which one is which, and if I lose it like it gets stuck on my chest or the bar stops movin', all you gotta do is give it a little pull and if I still don't get it, just a little more until I get it to the top.  The warmup you shouldn't have to worry about, but it's good practice.  Come on, let's see you set up your hands."  He took a step back, moving back around to the front of the bench, one hand out gesturing behind the bench with a smile.

Madison had a brief fear that he was leading her to lift weights. It was never something she had ever done, mainly because her arms were twigs and she had never shown any interest in the gym until recently. It put her at ease when she was just helping him out, that spotting was only standing over him and making sure he doesn't get stuck, but she was sure she wouldn't be much help. She was weak, after all. She hoped he'd be fine without her.

She set up her hands like he told her. "Is this good...?" Her voice was unsure, and she shifted her hands only to put them back in the position she had them originally. All the while, she was asking him to not die in her head, repeating it over and over again. Don't die, don't die, don't die. She supposed ten pounds wasn't too bad, but what if he ended with 500 or something? Could a person lift 500 pounds?

Myles turned when she passed him.  He raised his eyebrows when she seemed unsure, stepping up past the bench,the bench between his legs, standing on the opposite end of the bar, looking down at her hands.  He looked up at her eyes then back at her hands, gently gripping one of her hands scooting it in between the two positions she just switched from.  He looked back up at her with a smile "It's perfect, darlin'."

He bent his legs and sat down on the bench, turning 180 degrees and scooting up.  He'd slowly lean back, finally laying fully down on the bench, his feet flat and still, he'd look up at her "Ready?"

No. "Yeah," she said, hoping he wouldn't hate her if the bar fell on his neck and he died. Why didn't she slip out when she had the chance? It was better to stay an antisocial puddle all her life than to take a life away from someone. She was bad enough at the whole social thing anyway, flinching when her touched her hand. What a dumbass she was. She breathed. No, she would do this and follow through, and go to her dorm feeling good about herself as opposed to the opposite. For once.

Myles let out a short breath, before pushing the bar off of the rack holding it up.  He smirked as he slowly brought the bar down onto his chest.  He arched his back slightly and pushed down on his heels as he pushed the bar up almost effortlessly.  He let the bar fall a little faster on his chest a second time, pushing it back up again.  He then began to speed up slightly, before finishing his set at ten.  He pushed the bar back into the rack, sitting up slowly and swinging his leg around on the bench. He would look up to her eyes with a smile "See, Maddie? No problem, let's put a little weight on the bar, how about a ten..."  He gestured to the small weight stand and began to stand and move towards it.  "Shouldn't be hard to find, it says ten on it." He crouched to the side of it so Madison could grab the other ten.  His eyes moved down the stand until he found the tens, gripping one and pulling it off with one hand, grabbing another with the other and holding one out to Madison. "You know how to put weight on the bar? It's pretty self explanatory. 

Pretty self explanatory didn't mean she was capable of delivering, but she got it soon enough and slid the ten pound weights onto the bar. Was this what being social was like? It seemed a bit chorish. She figured she would help him with what he was doing there and find an excuse to bail, standing where she was prior and resting her hands on the bar. All the while, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Shit, it was likely her mom. If he couldn't hear it, her face exploded in red at its sounding. Fuck, couldn't she leave her alone or something?

Myles slid the weight on his side, moving to the bench and easing back onto it.  He closed his eyes for a second as he mentally prepared himself before opening his eyes again and seeing her face a flush.  Myles eyes widened as he slyly looked down making sure no one was camping.  After a sigh of relief he pushed the bar off the rack and did most of the reps easy with only one little hitch on the last one.  He set the bar back into it's rack and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.  "What's wrong, Maddie?" He said as he sat up.  He swung his leg over the bench again to face her, scooting up on the bench to where he was just about six inches from her, offering a small smile.  "I didn't know I looked as impressive as you after six weeks of inactivity" He said humorously.  His music was just a notch too loud to hear the phone going apeshit in Madison's pocket, he had no legitimate clue why she was blushing.

She was always slow to pick up on cues, but it was pretty obvious what he was working at, and her heart exploded in a torrent of panic. "Oh, um, no," she said quickly. "It's my--" she pulled out her phone, which was still buzzing with her mother's desperate calls, the women's smiling face on a JPEG avatar that she turned to him briefly. She hit the disconnect button, and typed out a one-worded message: Busy. "--mom, it's my mom, she keeps calling, she won't...stop." She shoved her phone into her pocket. She ignored the compliment, mainly because she didn't know how to handle it, laughing uncomfortably.

Myles raised his eyebrows at her panic, she didn't seem very accustomed to social situations of any kind, especially ones where he was throwing compliments or leaving hints or any of that.. He just offered a small smile, and scooted closer to where he was leaning on the bar about three inches from her, looking up at her "You don't get out much, do ya?  You'd much prefer to be somewhere outta the open and locked up tight with a good book or a trusted friend, huh?"  He knew the type well. He used to be a recluse himself for a little while. He wanted to get her to come out of her shell but he didn't believe a gym training room would be the best place to start.  "Why don't we go somewhere a bit more your speed to hang out, yeah?  The library or your dorm or that little lake area by the forest we first met.  I can always work out later and it's still the morning.  Whattya say, Maddie?"  In all honesty he could use a quiet place to sit and talk, plus people might be able to hear his remarks, last thing he needed was to crash and burn and have that be talked about for all eternity.  Not that it mattered, but it was kinda early to be knocking some poor sap's head in.  He just held his warm, sincere smile, looking cooly into her eyes.

It seemed like he was reading her mind, and had formed a solution that seemed scary to her. She didn't know him too well. It took her months to get that comfortable around Nicola, and she was a girl. Owen still seemed uncomfortable around her. Did he really want to do that? Did he just feel sorry for her? Madison took a deep breath, blinking, and turned her eyes to the mirror. She seemed a little calmer, though her mouth hung open like she had a broken jaw. She closed it and swallowed.

"Sure," she said silently, still not casting her face down, but rather looking at his reflection. "But I don't know why you'd wanna talk to me, I..." There was no conclusion to that 'I' of course. She always added words until a subsequent one was impossible.