I woke up before alarm. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 7AM. I still had half an hour to sleep but I decided to get up. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and a took a shower. After i finished drying my hair it was almost 8 o'clock. I went downstairs and quickly made breakfast for grandpa and me.

Soon grandpa got up as well. "Good morning, Rose", I heard him say.

"Good morning, grandpa", I turned around and smiled at him. "How come you've just got up? Late night conversations with George?", I asked, because grandpa always liked to get up earlier.

He laughed and sat down at the kitchen table, "Well we might drank a little wine and then ended up talking about God knows what all night", he said.

I smiled at that. George and grandpa are best friends and really could sometimes talk all night about politics, electricity because they were both eletricians, their families, books, TV shows and anything else that came to their minds. I think thats how I imagine Abigail and I in 50 years.

I sat down and we had breakfast while we talked about the today's testing. I felt my self getting more and more scared because I guess that physical part of the Test is more imortant and probably harder. As we finished eating I started cleaning up but grandpa stopped me. "I'll clean up, you go upstairs and get ready", he said and looked towards a watch on the wall. It was 8:20 so I had a little time to get to Castrum, again Abigail and I agreed to be there 15 minutes earlier. I quickly thanked grandpa and went upstairs.

I put on a red shirt, black high waisted jeans and red shoes. I really liked this combination, too bad I'll be changing when I get to Castrum. I didn't want to put any make up on today so I just grabbed my key and headed downstairs.

"Are you working today?", I asked grandpa.
"No, sweetie", he smiled at me, "I'll be here, waiting for good news."
Again, I felt fear in my stomach. What if there are no good news? What if I don't get in?
"Let's just hope for the best", I said and smiled weakly.

After meeting Abigail in front of Castrum, we went inside. We were in the enormous room from yesterday, waiting. I saw Max at the opposite corner of the room talking to somebody and I also recognised a couple of faces from yesterday.

After 10 minutes of waiting, which felt like ten hours, the man from yesterday, William Davies, appeared above us. The room fell silent.
"Good morning, RHs.", his voice sounded so formal, "As you all know, today we will test you physical abilities. We will test your speed, reflexes and strength." I looked at Abigail, it is like we both expected it to be, so I guess that's one good thing. "You will follow me to the dressing room. There you will find clothes for your testing." He said and started getting down the stairs. He then lead us to the dressing room. He just showed us one room and told us to wait there until they call our name.

We all went inside and realised that there are no separated parts for boys and girls, so we all have to change here together. In the middle of the room stood boxes with male and female clothes in them, sorted by size. Abigail and I grabbed two packages for us. Inside were black leggings, black shirt, trainers, hair tie and a peace of paper. On it were written the instructions for today's testing.

We will be called out in alphabetical order and when we get inside we will first go to the part of sports hall marked with number one. When we are ordered so, we will run to the red line. Then we will go to the section two where our reflexes will be tested. Everything was explained in detail: stand in the middle, then when you hear a sound and a red light on the floor, run to that place as fast as possible and tap it with your foot. Then when you see a new light, repeat. After that is finished ww should go to the section three where we will find different weights. From the lightest to the heaviest we could lift, we should carry them to the red line. And with that our testing is over.

I looked around me. After everyone was done reading instructions they all seemed like they wanted to get this over with quickly, so I just changed as fast as possible, hoping that no one was that rude to stare. Then I just sat down and waited. After a couple of minutes a door at the far end of room opened and blond woman from yesterday appeared. "Rose Adley, you're first." I sat up immediately. I knew there was a chance I would be first, but I just couldn't remember where my name was yesterday becaouse I was so excited, so I just hoped that there will be at least one person before me. But no, there wasn't.

I heard Abigail whisper good luck to me, but I didn't replay. I went over to the blond woman and through the door. I found my self in the sports hall that wasn't that big and I saw three people in front of me: William, a man around his age who I've never seen before and Melorian boy who I've met yesterday. His eyes landed on me as soon as I walked in and I saw that he remembered me. For a second I thought that he was going to tell the rest that I was wandering around Castrum without permission and that they won't let me even try to get in the Army. But I just saw corner of his mouth twist upwards a little bit and he stayed silent. Blond woman spoke up from behind me: "Rose, you may begin".

My heart was beating like crazy. I looked around me and saw the part marked with number one. I went over there and stepped in front of the line and waited for the sign to go. "When you hear the whistle, run", said the voice from behind, I guess it's that older brown haired man standing next to William who said that.

Running. I should be good at this, right? I spent so much time running through the woods, so I should be prepared for this. But still, I was so scared.

I heard the whistle and started running as fast as I could. I was running so fast it felt like I'm floating off the ground. I gave my best and quickly got to the red line and didn't stop until I was couple of meters past it. I tried to catch my breath and felt my heart beating even harder then before. I turned around and saw three older people scribbling something down while tall boy with curly blond here just stood there whatching them.

"You have a minute to rest", said the boy without looking at me.

I just nodded and went over to number two. This section wasn't that big, but floor structure was different. I waited and heard the whistle again. I looked around, searching red light with my eyes. Suddenly it apeared on my left, along with a high-pitched sound. I quickly ran over to it and tapped it with my foot, then it appeared on the other side and it reapated multiple times. To me, it seemed as if this lasted very long, but in reality I knew it wasn't more then a minute. I felt myself getting more and more tiered and I thanked God when I heard the whistle letting me know that this part is over. I was out of breath again and I didn't like that because I knew that I still had the third part to finish.

"Two minutes", said the boy, looking at me this time.

Our eyes met for a moment, before I nodded and went over to number three. I stood there trying to calm my breathing. I knew I wasn't that good with lifting but I had to give my best this time. Two minutes should be up soon and I felt I could use a couple more to rest. But I didn't have that time and when I heard the whistle and went over to the lightest weight and carried it to the red line. That was easy, but I know the rest will not be. I went back and grabbed the second one and it seemed it was at leas twice as heavy, but still not too heavy. I continued on with the rest of the weights and I felt myself getting too tiered. My arms and legs were hurting so much. I lifted a new weight and started carrying it and I could feel it slipping from my sweaty hands. I was so tiered and I just wanted to drop it right there, but I knew I had to carry it to the line, at least this one. I hope it will be enough. I had five more meters to carry this but to me it looked like it was hundered. After giving my last bit of strength, I dropped the weight behid red line. My arms felt like jelly and I was so tiered I just wanted to sit right there on the floor

"No resting", said tall man with brown hair.

"I'm done", I brathed.

They were still scribbling down something and I felt nervousness in my stomach again. Why don't they just tell me the results already?

"I'll show her the way out while you finish that", said the boy to the blond woman.

"Thank you, Jace", she said and continued writing.

Jace, that's his name. He walked over to me, "Follow me", he said and I did. He was in front of me and I was looking at his broad shoulders and could see his muscles through his shirt. His back was straight and he looked so confident and calm. While I was the exact opposite of calm. I was so scared right now. I think I did well on the first two parts, but I know that third part wasn't that good. I should have saved my energy, not waste it all in the begining. I acted so recklessly, I wanted to scream out loud and just get out of this place.

"You were really fast back there", said Jace.

His voice dragged me out of my thoughts. I was really suprised he said that.

"Thank you", I said quietly. My breathing still didn't slow down to a normal rate. "But I really sucked on the third part."

"Overall impression is very good", he said as he opened the door to an empty room. His words ment so much to me, they lifted my spirit a little bit. "Wait in here", said Jace, "since you're first, you have a long time to wait till the others are done. You have a bathroom over there", he gestured towards a door to my right, "so you don't have to go looking for it upstairs." He looked at me and I suppressed a laugh. I think I feel better now.

"Thanks for not telling anyone, by the way", I told him and gave him a small smile. He seems like he's okay, but I'm not sure what to think. He is Melorian and you never know how to act towards them.

"How do you know I didn't?", he asked. His expression was unreadable. Fear surged through my veins again. "Just kidding, I didn't, don't give me that face", ha said and chuckled. I sighed in relief and laughed too. He looked at me again and turned to leave.

"Um...Jace?", he turned around and I don't think I should have used his name, "What do you think, will I get in?"

"I think you will, but you're not competing against me so we'll see how other RHs will do", he told me and turned around and left.

I sat down and leaned my head aginst the wall and smiled. Laughed actually. He thinks I will. Tension from earlier, created by fear I didn't do well on the Test, was now almost entierly gone. But still there was fear. He said that it all depends on others. Maybe they will be better than me, maybe this isn't enough. I sighed. Stop thinking about that. I closed my eyes and tried to relax.

I stayed like that until I heard the door open again and saw a red haired girl coming in. She didn't  say anything, just looked at me and gave me a weak smile. I didn't feel like starting a conversation so I just stayed silent.

After several other people, Max came in. He saw me when he came in and he sat beside me.

"Hey", he said and gave me a small smile.
"Hey", I smiled back, "how did it go?"
"Fine, I guess, you?", he said.
"Same", I told him, "Is Abigail having a panic attack over there?"
He laughed. "We weren't talknig much but you could tell she was very nervous", he said as he turned to look at me.
"Honestly I don't know what's worse", I said, "being there and waiting for your turn, or being here and waiting for them to finish".
"I think I'm glad I'm among the first. I couldn't bare that tension while I was waiting them to call out my name", said Max.
"Yeah, you're probably right", I said and we continued talking about the Test, Castrum and the Army. Max seemed okay and he was really easy to talk to, kind of like Abigail. I wasn't that good at starting conversations, so I liked that kind of people. But once you get to know me I became more talkative.

After some time, the guy I saw with Max this morning came in and sat beside Max.
"Hey", he said.
"Rose, this is Drew, my best friend", said Max.
"Nice to meet you", I told him and smiled at him.
He smiled back and I saw dimples apear on his cheeks. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He's cute. Max and Drew continued talking about the test and I steyed silent most of the time, just adding something now and then.

After what felt like ages Abigail came in. I got up and ran up to her immediatly and grabbed her hands.
"How did it go?", I asked her. Her cheeks were still red and her breathing was uneven.
"I don't know, good I guess", she smiled weakly at me, "I think I kinda messed up the first part, but other two were good, you?"
"Same, except I messed up the third part", I told her.
"Well fuck it, let's go sit, I'm tiered", said Abigail as she walked to Max and Drew and sat next to Max. They continued conversation with her and again I felt the tension from earlier. Abigail's last name is Thompson, so there must be only few prople left. I closed my eyes again and tried to relax.

After some time the door opened, but this time it wasn't another RH, it was William. "Follow me to the Hall", was the only think he said before he turned around and walked away. We followed him and got to the enormous room where we got our results yesterday.

He went up the stairs and stood on the balcony above us. "Same as yesterday, results will appear on south wall. Those of you who passed the Test will come here tommorow at 12 o'clock for your first training", said William and then turned around and left.

I turned towards south wall and saw a screen with names on it. My heart was beating like crazy. I want to br in the Army so bad. I looked at the beginig of the list, and now I knew that my name should be first. And it was. Rose Adly. Wave of relief and happines came over me. I sreamed "I'm in!", and started hugging Abigail but she wasn't hugging me back. She was still looking at the list.

"I can't find my name", she said seriously. I quickly looked at the list again and started reading last names that start with T and then Abigail litterly jumped and started shouting "I found it! I found it! Abigail Thompson!", now she hugged me and we were both laughing. I cant belive it we made it. We really are part of the Army.

Hey guys, I just want to thank every single one of you who read my story, commented and voted, it means soooo much to me.