Wesley Tate's Story

Right jab, left jab, uppercut, strike. A rhythmic pattern of thuds could be heard in the gym’s training room at Aeonis Academy, accompanied by the blast of Billy Squire in the background, steadily growing in both strength and intensity. Abby had been in the training room since 4 a.m., her relic of a boom box working its way through her cassette tape collection as she worked out, which always helped to get her pumped and center herself. Abby had been having nightmares again, and at some point she’d just learned it was better to give up on going back to bed, and to take back control with an intensive workout. She always did lifting first, part of the advantages of coming in early meant eliminating competition for the much sought after weight lifting equipment, and it was also the shortest part of her routine. Abby was strong for a girl, and being the daughter of Ares only helped in that department, but in a school full of demi-gods with enhanced strength, it wasn’t exactly something to brag about. She’s recognized pretty quickly that she was never going to outclass some of the boys regarding pure strength, so instead she focused on speed, and that was where she was really deadly. Being smaller and lither than her opponents had its advantages and she’d always been able to weave in and around her opponents in the boxing ring, dodging their blows while landing quick and precise ones of her own. So in addition to weights, she also did strict regiments of cardio and agility exercises to help keep the edge on her speed. This though, was her favorite part of the day. Alone with the punching bag, all her focus diverted there, the rest of the world melted away. Nothing else mattered but her fists and her imaginary adversary, and it was always a liberating feeling. Abby always felt lighter after boxing, and part of her was considering cutting orientation day entirely to stay and continue. She eventually dismissed this plan though, as the last thing she needed was to give Ms. McKinney another reason to get on her case.

After one last strike to the punching bag, Abby collected up her cassettes and headed to the locker room, where she deposited her stuff in the bottom of the locker before heading back to her room to shower and change for the day. Her room itself was pretty Spartan compared to some of the other students here, especially considering she was one of the students that lived at the academy year round. Most of her stuff was pretty obviously second hand and out of date, but it was her stuff, bought and chosen by herself alone, and she’d never apologize for it. Her last roommate had graduated the year before, which meant more than likely she was going to be getting a new one today. It was a prospect that didn’t exactly thrill her, but Abby had lived in close quarters that made this particular arrangement look insanely roomy, so it wasn’t something she was going to worry about either.
Once she’d finished slipping into a pair of jeans and a red flannel top over her black tank, Abby focused on her next priority, breakfast. Abby never missed a meal when she could help it, and some might even call her a glutton, but then Abby never really cared what other people called her. Besides, between her overactive metabolism and her rigorous workout regiments, she figured her body could handle the bacon cheeseburgers. So as Abby made her way toward the door, it was with the intention of heading to the cafeteria. That’s when the door suddenly unlocked, revealing the face of a girl who appeared both excited, nervous, and definitely new.




At times, crossword puzzles were lamentingly easy, and today was one of those days. The New York Times was usually very reliable in their quality of word puzzles, but Wesley supposed that even his city’s home paper had its off days. The Sudoku had at least proven to be a bit more challenging, but even that had only proven to last a measly ten minutes before the entire puzzle too was solved. Wesley had never been able to sleep for long periods of time, and though the young son of Hades had always been a bit of a night owl, he also tended to be up soon after the sun. Wesley did work out, but he wasn’t quite the fitness nut that some of the other men at the academy were, and he preferred to do his workouts at night regardless. In combat classes his physical strength couldn’t compare to that of the children of Zeus or Ares, though he could hold his own, so he preferred to refine his geokinesis for effective combat purposes. That wasn’t really where Wes shined though, as he’d always been more of a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of combatant. Psychological and covert warfare was his specialty, and he was a firm believer in working smarter, not harder.

Impeccably dressed as usual, Wesley left his dorm with his messenger bag over his shoulder and a cup of gourmet coffee in hand. Wes didn’t have the palate for cheap coffee, so he made a point of keeping his own machine in his room, that way he could brew what he wanted and how he liked it. Breakfast wasn’t really his thing, though the knowledge that a certain blonde with an endless pit for a stomach would undoubted be there tempted him to head toward the cafeteria. Abby was still angry with him, and though he seemed to have under estimated her ability to hold a grudge, he still found her stubbornness on the matter frustrating. Despite what she insisted, Wes had never lied to her, at least not explicitly. He’d merely presented half-truths in a purposely ambiguous light. It wasn’t his fault that she filled in the blanks incorrectly and felt compelled to open up to him in an attempt to ease his perceived pain. Wes honestly wasn’t used to such fervent rejection from women, especially women he was actively pursuing, and while he had found the challenge entertaining at first, he was beginning to become more annoyed by it than anything else. Persistent goading had become his currently strategy, and he’d almost decided to head that way when he thought better of it. Goading Abby while she was eating rarely yielded results, as he had experienced firsthand. Waiting for a more opportune moment in this instant might prove the wiser strategy he decided, and instead went to seek out some of his academy friends whom he hadn’t seen over the summer.