Chapter 83 - Eighty-Two: The Watermelon

"Mark, are you sure he's not staring at me?" 

Even Emily had lost count of exactly how many times she had already asked that question in the last twenty minutes.

She clearly heard the sigh that escaped her brother's lips as he replied from somewhere behind her.

"No, Em. He's not staring at you. He can neither see us nor can hear us. He's just concentrating on the digital screen of computer that's not visible to you." 

Even though he sounded so calm and collected, she just knew that he was about to blow up.

And for the first time, she was ready to agree that she had actually irritated Mark to the verge of insanity.

Not her fault though. She still was determined that the boy sitting on the floor of the gym had been staring at her and he was probably enjoying seeing her failing to do even normal exercises.

But the only thing that went against her prediction was the fact that even after seeing her constantly landing on her ass countless times in the last twenty minutes, the dude did not even crack a single smile.

"By the way, can I put this cucumber down now?" She asked as she felt the numbness taking over her feet too.

"That's a watermelon!" 

Mark immediately corrected her.

"Yeah, right. The watermelon. Can I put it down?" She corrected herself and again repeated her question.

Her hands were the only part of her body that had not gone numb yet. Nope! She could clearly feel the pain and exhaustion of her arms.

"No, you can't. You are supposed to hold it for at least half an hour, and you have been holding it for only ten minutes or so." Mark replied.

"Wait, I've been trying to hold this for more than twenty minutes. How can you say that it has been only ten minutes?" She complained as she was definitely not happy with the data that her brother had in store.

"Because just like you said - you were trying and must I add - constantly failing too. Only for eleven minutes, you have held the watermelon without dropping it or yourself on the floor." 

"I think there's something wrong with your logic." Emily could not help but mutter under her breath.

However, as expected from her bad luck, Mark heard her very clearly.

"I'm still surprised to see this talkative side of yours. I think I prefer the quiet and peaceful Emily more." He stated as he moved to stand beside her.

Emily turned her face towards her brother as she asked, "Why? So that you can bully her easily?" 

She did not even realize what she was saying and by the time she realized, it was too late.

Mark was silent for a few seconds as he observed her and then he finally broke the silence.

"I was about to change my mind and allow you to rest for a while, but I have changed my mind again. Keep holding it and if you failed, the timer will start from the very beginning." 

And saying those evil words he moved away towards the punching bag that was hanging on her left side.

Emily would have strangled herself at that moment if she could. Unfortunately, she had a melon in her hands.

Her arms were screaming in pain as time started passing. It took all her energy to not lower her arms or even move them.

She was covered in sweat even though the air conditioning system was working perfectly and the darkness that had started appearing in front of her eyes due to the exhaustion made her almost lose her footing.

She shook her head to get rid of the exhaustion that was taking over her.

She was not ready to give up so easily. She did not want to become a laughing stock in front of others and she especially was not looking forward to facing Mark's disappointed look. 

"Emily!" 

Mark's sudden angry shout startled her drowsy state and she was taken completely by surprise which caused her hands to lose their balance over the watermelon.

The melon landed directly on her right foot making her jump as pain shot through her foot.

"A...."

Mark was about to say something but then he stopped himself.

His expressions changed into a cold and angry one as he glared at the girl.

"Barely twenty minutes. You are the first human that I've seen in this Academy who failed to hold the melon for even twenty minutes without failing. If you can't even perform such simple exercises, how do you think you are going to become the....."

Mark stopped the moment he noticed the tear that rolled down her left cheek.

She was once again looking down at her feet, something that she's used to doing whenever she felt like she had done something wrong, or when she's not confident enough to look at her opponent.

She did not start crying or sobbing. She did not even move to wipe that single tear that rolled down her cheek. She just stood there in silence.

For a moment he almost regretted his sharp words but he soon got a hold on himself.

"What? Have you changed into your older self again? Listen, Emily. If you can't even perform such simple exercises, there's no need for you to report to my classes. I hope if you dared to join your next self-defense class, you will at least pass this test." 

With that being said, he walked out of the room.

Emily slipped down on the floor and took off her right shoe to take a look at her foot which had started to turn red around the area under her fingers.

She was about to push her foot back into the shoe when a hand on her foot stopped her.

She looked up to find Jackson crouching in front of her. She immediately felt humiliation taking over her as she realized that he probably saw what just happened.

She did not even notice when he entered the room.

"This must be hurting, right?" Jackson asked as he settled down on the floor and pulled her foot in his lap.

For a moment she wanted to pull her foot away and leave, but she knew that it would be the stupidest thing to do.

So she just let her supernatural tutor and friend take care of her throbbing foot.

Jackson took out a small white porcelain jar from inside his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal a golden-colored cream in it.

"What's that?" She asked as she watched him taking a little scoop of the cream and gently applying it to the injured area on her foot.

"One of Sam's special medicines. By the way, I still can't believe that you succeeded in dropping an entire melon on your foot. You sure have some unique skills!" Jackson said with a chuckle as he gently massaged her foot.

"To be honest, I made sure to pick the smallest one even though I was not aware of what I will need to do with it. I think it was a good decision. If a bigger one would have landed on my foot, I would have probably gone cripple." Emily told him with her eyes directed at the basket of melons sitting against the wall.

A small smile appeared on Jackson's face as he observed the young girl in front of him and even though she just tried to joke about the incident, he could clearly see the dimness in her eyes.

"Emily...."

"Huh?"

Emily turned her attention back to Jackson who was still giving her foot a gentle massage.

"Don't take his word to your heart. I know that Mark could be bitter with his words, but he's not a bad person. He cares about you just like the rest of us. The only problem is that he's not skillful when it comes to showing it."

He went silent for a few seconds before once again continuing.

"I know that it's getting harder for you to believe in our words seeing that his behavior is only getting rougher towards you with time and that's because the more he is realizing that he cares about you, the more he's trying to keep it hidden. He's just not prepared to believe that there is someone in his life who matters to him more than his own selfish ass."

Jackson's choice of words made a little smile appear on Emily's lips as she slowly nodded her head.

"I know. I'm actually sad about not being able to pass my first ever test in this class. It looks like there's still much that I need to learn. After all, I'm starting from scratch." She admitted her thoughts to her only friend.

The pain had almost disappeared and Jackson finally helped her to put on her shoe.

Once she was again standing on her feet, Jackson went inside the locker room to grab her bag and took her out of the practice room.

They still had an hour left before Crist would be there to pick her up, therefore, Jackson decided to take her to the library which was located on the sixth floor.

As they were inside the elevator, Jackson decided to speak.

"It's alright. As long as you are ready to work hard for your goal, nothing can ever stop you from reaching it. Not even grumpy Mark. And I'm sure one day he's going to change his attitude towards you."

Emily just nodded her head in silence as she looked a little lost in her thoughts.

The elevator door opened in the hallway of the sixth floor.

The moment Emily stepped out of the lift, her eyes landed on a person that immediately made her stop in her tracks.