Zenon's Game Chapter 239

I watched my boyfriend take his place at the starting line. He looked fine in so many ways: in appearance and temperament. Zenon seemed so relaxed about the torture. Exercise - torture, same thing. Has anyone mentioned coffee?

Mr Woodhouse passed by me again, noticing that Zenon had stepped up to the challenge on behalf of us. He muttered, "Wise choice."

I wasn't affected by the comment and replied, "We know our strengths."

Axel went up next and Bryce joined as the final 'contestant'.

Before the whistle blew again, Cynthia commented, "Woah, hold it please. Why is it three guys up there? Don't any of us girls think we can do it?"

I mean, I certainly don't.

Bianca looked uninterested. Oma was busy taking photos of this entire debacle. Seriously, why were we here?!

"Axel, can we trade places?" Cynthia asked, offering to change up the gender ratio.

After the tire flip exercise came the press ups. Cynthia tapped out and Axel tapped in. Oma replaced Bryce and Zenon kept his station. If I can't flip a tire, how am I going to do a press up?

The whistle blew again and I had to admit that I enjoyed watching Zenon do it.

"Stop showing off!" Bianca laughed as she recorded Axel and Zenon's competitiveness.

The ground was muddy and their hands squished against the slimy mud. They were genuinely competing, counting their reps out loud and trying to disqualify the other for not going deep enough. Axel put one arm behind his back, and Zenon matched him.

"This is exhausting," I sighed as Zenon returned to me, sweating from all the exercise.

My legs were getting tired from standing for so long.

I don't know how the instructors were scoring us, but somehow Zenon and I were in first place. I'd asked for coffee so many times that I'd practically memorized the scoreboard.

Zenon's cheeks were flushed from the workout and he glanced at me with a smirk, "You won't like the next one, Candy."

Before he could tell me what it was, Mr Woodhouse took the initiative. "And now, for any of you who've been taking it easy all morning," he glared at me, "here's the clincher. There's a route you all must complete through the forest. You have to work in your teams and, as soon as every team member has completed it, you can go home!"

I squeaked and choked. I stared off into the distance and wondered if I had reached my end of days.

"Is she ok?" the instructor asked Zenon, concerned for me.

"She's fine," he replied.

Last time I went into a forest, a bear almost attacked me.

True story.

Mr Woodhouse handed us all maps with cartoon symbols of the activities and the path we had to take to return to the entrance of this 'adventure park.' Each team had a different route so there wouldn't be hold ups at each of the activities.

Herp me.

Zenon and I walked through the forest, hearing the faint sounds of the other teams somewhere nearby. This felt like the Hunger Games. We followed our cartoon map to the first location.

"Zenon, it's this way," I pointed in the opposite direction to the one he was walking in.

He turned towards me, surprised that I was suggesting an alternative route. His face softened as he saw me in my unflattering green outfit, clinging onto my map with a worried expression.

He then surprised me when he said, "Do you remember how rude I was when we first met?"

Of course. I remembered the last time we were in a forest too. Last summer, on our overnight camping trip, I'd gotten my ranger hat stuck in a bush. He'd untangled me and said:

"Survival of the fittest would not be kind to you," I repeated the words he once told me.

We've come a long way since then. Still in a forest though, still just the two of us. Zenon walked slowly towards me.

"What an assh*le," he commented about himself with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"I agree," I said, feeling very conscious of how close he was getting to me.

My heartbeat began its familiar race; the only exercise I've ever willingly done.

He kissed me and I leaned into him. His hand rested on my map and turned it around.

"You're holding it upside down," he said, stepping back, "It's this way."

I tried to calm my beating heart. If there was ever an antidote for the nerves in my stomach, it's the butterflies that replaced them whenever Zenon and I kissed.

I barely paid attention to where we were going, until we came across a wooden post: our first activity.

Zenon climbed up the short ladder and extended his arm towards me. He lifted me up and gently lowered me on the small wooden platform beside him. My muddy shoes stepped on his and I quickly stepped back.

"Careful," he exclaimed, reaching out before I fell off the platform.

The ground was not far beneath us, but it was very muddy. We looked out at the ditch in front of us and the wire that connected this platform to the one on the other side of the muddy ditch.

I stared down at the brown mud and I swear I saw some bubbles in it. I couldn't tell if this was a natural ditch or a slimy mud pond.

I glanced back at Zenon who was already untying two ropes for us to use. This was a makeshift zip line. The ropes were attached to the zip line. We were expected to hold onto it and swing to the other side.

And if we couldn't hold on, we'd fall into the muddy slimy pond.

"You ok to do this?" Zenon asked me, holding the first rope in front of me.