Alexa nervously laughed at his statement about her suit. Of course he’d notice the pastel blue suit.

“My parents did this to me, I swear..” She said as she scratched the back of her head. “I’m hoping for a better one if I get in.” 

‘Thanks Gale! You could have kept that to yourself.’

She looked up at the clock and noticed how close it was to exam time. Before she had a chance start heading off, she saw Galen moving. She turned away started to to wave until she heard his question.

“Patch?! What patch?” Alexa said almost frantic. She reached up behind her to feel the harness and this “patch” he mentioned. The worry subsided. She totally forgot. 

“ Oh this?! This is for anyone whose in a bubble with me. My barrier can be slick if you don’t have the right shoe wear, so they can grab onto my harness.” She said calmly as she pointed out the features. 

“I want to make sure no one gets hurt while I’m trying to save them, You know?” She said as she stood in the superhero pose with her fist on her hips. (can’t say superman because he’s not in this universe lol) She erupted in giggles after that. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

She laughed for a good minute, then finally composed herself.

“Alright, I better get going. See you after the exam!” She’d wave as she headed toward the table. 

When she got to the table, she grabbed the paperwork she needed to fill out. There were safety forms to review as well. She read thoroughly through the wording. With every word, she felt more fear building as she continued reading them.

“So many rules… What if I break them? What if I get hurt? I ...I-i mean my barrier isn’t that strong. Dad’s stomach is stronger than this.”

The paper felt heavy in her hands. She could fall to the floor from the pressure she felt. 

‘W-What’s happening to me? I- I’m so scared.’ 

She looked around to see if anyone was feeling like she was. Their confident faces made her feel worse.

‘I’m not supposed to be here.  I took the spot away from some stronger kid. I’m gonna let my family down. I should just leave. I’ll go now.’ 

Her hands slowly reached up to put her head in her hands. She pivoted to face the door, but she heard an announcement for the exam to start. Her head snapped in the direction of the doors. 

“Go! Now!” Something yelled at her from inside. The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t make out whose it was inside her head. Alexa weakly change direction and joined the students entering the arena. 

‘Why am I going this way? I’m going to get hurt. Maybe killed!’ The fear in her chest was going, but her body was running on automatic. Like someone was pulling her out through the doors. 

The arena was huge to her. Here eyes darted about the contents of the room. Her head felt like it was spinning. It was so vast in there and the fear erupted into flame. 

Before she turn to run, she could see students starting to fight each other. It didn’t make sense to her. The students were supposed to be fighting an enemy or at least trying to be more hero like.

“What in the world?!” Before Alexa could get a handle of what was going around her, a tight grip encircled her wrist and snatched her though the air.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t she fight the force, but twisted her head behind her to see her destination. 

‘A wall!’ Instinctively, her right hand pulled itself toward the one being pulled, they came together, and she sucked a big breath. She timed the hold just before the impact and closed her eyes. Her body hit the side of the barrier, but it wasn’t as nearly as hard as the cement wall. Instantly she slid to the bottom of the barrier and pulled her eyes open. 

‘I have to find out what pulled me.’

Around her arm was a green whip encircling her wrist.

(Will be continued)