Stress Test (Ellie's Academy Story, Pt1, 1K~ Words) (Patreon)

I've been trying to finish off the Q&A for this month, but unfortunately a couple of last minute things have come up IRL and I can't really get it to a place I'm happy with yet. (Doesn't help that February is a short month!)

So instead, I'm going to release this early - the first part of a story featuring Ellie and developing some other Academy characters! Hope you enjoy it and I plan on posting more of this story, as well as the Q and A in full next month.

Thoughts and feedback, as always greatly appreciated!

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 A small breakfast and a long session of cardio had made up a satisfying morning for Ellie Watson. A hot shower even more so. It soothed the spots on her wrists and ankles where heavy weight straps had rubbed at her skin, as well as the feet that had hammered the gravel track without hesitation for four straight hours (the following two having been on her hands). Standing with the hot water pouring onto her pale freckled skin she pressed her fingers to the shimmering gold band fitted firmly around her neck. Satisfying, but not hard enough, she decided. It had seemed hard at the time as her lungs burned and her hands shook and her legs cramped, but her recovery time was growing every quicker. Once her shower finished she only felt the sweet pump of muscles well worked and the familiar hunger for more. The afternoon's training would best be much more intense. This gave Ellie something to think about as she paced into her room and towel dried her hair to keep the red locks from drying wild and frizzy. With care, she tied them into a neat ponytail with a blue ribbon. As a high ranking "gold collar" student of the Athena Athletic Academy she had the luxury of her own room with an en suite, giving her a privacy she very much appreciated. What she was most grateful for, however, was her wardrobe.

 If Ellie could ever have been accused of wasting time, it would be in the minutes she spared herself to pick out a leotard from her healthy collection. It was the sparkling, colours and patterns that had first caught her attention as a small child as she caught the world championships on television. What had enthralled her even more was the way the fabric wrapped around the muscles of certain athletes, their phenomenal bodies bulging against the fabric but remaining so graceful and feminine in movements and routines that seemed to defy physics. Now Ellie could leave her childhood idols in the dust, but her love for them, as well as their leotards never faded. A purple, glossy number was her choice for today, with white, frost-like patterning around her neck and shoulders, subtly bejewelled and glittery on the uppermost section. As usual, she had to pull herself away from the mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door, shaking her head with a smile. Come on. Head on the game, Ellie, she reminded herself.

 Once out of the gold-band dormitories, she moved her attention to the large board on the far side of the path. Near twice her height and double that across, it was filled with pins, papers and posters. Some looked professionally printed, some were scraps of paper with scrawled writing. Such boards were dotted around the Academy grounds, indoors and out. They were updated daily, and filled with the various sessions taking place around the grounds, updates, meetings and even challenges and competitions. Some girls also liked to leave messages and notes, most anonymously. One that made her smirk as it caught her eye was simply of a love heart with "L + W" written inside. She didn't linger on it long, as her eyes began to skim for the most brutal looking session available. Fate, it seemed, had other plans.

 "Miss Watson?" a meek little voice made her turn around to find a girl a few years her junior. Only little shorter but a lot skinnier than Ellie. The black leather band around her neck meant that she was of the lowest ranked group of Academy students and that was as far as most would bother to look. Perhaps some would note the slender frame wrapped only in a thin white leotard, and the way she shyly hid most of her face behind her mousy, shoulder length hair. But Ellie saw more. She she saw the blister covered, calloused and torn skin of her hands and the wiry muscle running up her arms which meant that she would be moving up the ranks before long.

 A lot of the more highly ranked students liked and expected to be fearfully revered by 'black collars', as they were called. Ellie did not. "I told you Willow, I'm not a Trainer. Call me Ellie." she responded with a cheerful Scottish twang. The girl gave a start, moving her gaze up to Ellie's face a few moments too late.

 "Oh!" as she squeaked, she really did remind Ellie of a mouse - a small, sharp nose above a little mouth set slightly open and soft features with wide eyes. "Okay - sorry, Ellie." The smaller girl seemed surprised to be addressed by name, but Ellie remembered her well, though they had met only once. She and another black collar, shorter, darker and much more hyper-active had helped her out with some weights during a session a few weeks ago. Academy students at a certain level often needed help in loading or unloading weights during more advanced training and the black or bronze collars were always the quickest to volunteer or be roped in. As she smiled up dreamily, Ellie had to prompt her to get her to keep talking and she gave out another squeak. "Oh! Of course... I have a note for you. From Miss LaChance." Between her slim pale fingers she held out a neatly folded piece of paper.

 Ellie rolled her eyes. She did wish that people wouldn't use the new girls as messenger birds, but gratefully took the note nonetheless. The handwriting within was in almost perfect cursive.

Watson,

A new custom Academy training machine has arrived today and you

will be testing it out. Any plans you had today are cancelled. Meet me

in Room B212 immediately.

- Zoe LaChance

P.S. - Be sure to warm up those famous abs.