Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series

“Wake up, Allura. It’s already 6.15.”

Huh? What? Why is Alessandro waking me up this early?

“Come on. Wake up. You have a lot to learn today.” Alessandro said.

Oh. Right. We’re starting the training today. I forgot about that for a second. He literally reminded me of this a few hours ago. I’m still sleepy though. I don’t know if I’ll be able to train right now. Maybe I can do it later. I just need a bit more sleep. The accidental astral projection I did earlier really drained my energy a bit.

“Allura.” Alessandro called.

“Five more minutes, please.” I said, still keeping my eyes closed. I hear him sigh at my request.

“Fine but you have to wake up and get ready after the five minutes are up. We can’t waste time. You have to be ready for anything that might happen tomorrow.” Alessandro said.

“I will. Just let me sleep a bit more now.” I said.

“Okay. I’ll put on a timer and wait here.” Alessandro said. He’s no fun. He’s right though. I really should use the time I have now to train my self-defense skills or I might get fucked up tomorrow. It’s better to do it now than keep procrastinating it. That’s definitely something that I wouldn’t say about my university classes. Fuck that shit though. It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t have to go there anymore. It’s actually relieving to know that I don’t have to tell my parents that I want to drop out of university to do what I actually want to do. I hate that there are people who say shit to people like me who don’t want to get a higher education and a goddamn degree things like ‘oh, you’re so lucky to get a higher education. It’s expensive now to get into college and most people out there can’t afford it’, ‘people out there who can’t afford college want to get a higher education and you have parents who are willing to pay your tuition but you’re just throwing away your opportunity if you don’t do that’, ‘you should be grateful that your parents are paying for your studies’.

Yeah, so? Just because that’s you want to do, it doesn’t mean it’s what I want to do as well. It doesn’t mean I should do it to what, avenge your desire? I’m not going to do that. Don’t fucking guilt trip me for not wanting to do what you want to do. We have different goals, and for me, getting a higher education is not one of them. Why should I do what I don’t want to do? It sucks that I’m forced to do it because that’s what my parents want. I couldn’t really do anything about it until now. Getting kidnapped by my cousins really has it perks.

Anyways, that kind of things people say is seriously tiring to hear and make me want to kill myself even more for the past few years. I felt like a failure most of the time. Sometimes, no actually most of the time, what they say make me feel like I have no real life purpose anymore if I don’t do what they want. Like I would be useless to the world. The stupid thing is, those people also worship people who are famous and rich without a single degree. What a dumb asshole. I hate that kind of people so fucking much.

Whoa. Alright. I better stop rambling to myself now. I bet my extra five minutes is running out soon.

I let out a sigh and keep my eyes closed but not being able to sleep after all that rambling in my head. I hear the timer from Alessandro’s phone beeping and I sigh at the sound. Great. I waste my extra five minutes for that useless rambling.

“Alright. Time’s up. You have to wake up now.” Alessandro said. I want to complain but after the rambling session I just had with myself earlier, I don’t think I can go back to sleep anytime soon. So, I better wake up now.

I open my eyes and look at the window. What? It’s still dark outside? I guess the sun is coming out in a few minutes. The sky is starting to light up a bit more.

“Okay. I’m awake now.” I said. I push myself to sit and swing my legs to the side of the bed. Wait. Why is there- oh, right. We were having a sleepover last night. How did I forget about that?

“I’ll wait for you in the living room with Alessio and Luciano. Lock your door when you’re in the bathroom and when you get out of the room. We can’t risk anyone to tapped your room again.” Alessandro said.

“Okay.”

I roll off Luciano’s bed as Alessandro walks out of my room and then I lock the bedroom door. I go straight to my closet, staring at the choices of sportswear in front of me. I guess I’ll just use joggers, a shirt, and a pair of running shoes. All in black.

I go to the bathroom to get ready. Because I’m going to get sweaty, I decided not to take a shower and just wash my face, brush my teeth, and use a bit of sunscreen on my face and arms. I then change into the clothes I’ve chosen earlier and put my hair in a tight bun. After seeing all the incidents on the internet from wearing ponytails while working out, I’d rather not tempt fate with that choice.

After putting my smart watch, socks and shoes on, I get out of my room and lock my bedroom door. I put the key inside my pocket while I make my way downstairs. When I get to the living room, I see my cousins and Luciano already there. Waiting for me.

“Alright. Now that you’re here. Let’s go to the yard and stretch our bodies first.” Alessandro said. We all go to the spacious yard and then stand in circle, facing each other. Alessandro leads the warm up, starting by stretching our arms above our head. Minutes pass and we finally done with the stretching. Alessandro looks down at his smartwatch and set a timer on it.

“Before we go to the gym, jog around the yard for fifteen minutes.” Alessandro said. I’m sorry, what?! Fifteen? I’m sure I’m gonna die after this.

“I don’t think I can make it until fifteen.” I said, frowning at Alessandro.

“Just try, okay? Push yourself a bit but if you’re already tired, you can stop. Don’t force it. I don’t want you to get sick. Not at this time.” Alessandro said.

“Okay. I’ll try.” I said, setting a timer on my own watch. I hope I’ll make it at least until seven minutes. It’s a bit of a stretch for me but I think it’s doable.

“Let’s start now.” Alessandro said. He leads the group by jogging down the yard first. Alessio follows behind him and Luciano lets me go up next. I sigh and start jogging behind Alessio. Let’s do this.

We keep going around the large yard. I check the timer and we still have ten minutes left. Okay. Five minutes is good. Better than my previous jogging session which is ten months ago. Nice.

I keep following Alessio through the yard and my nose starts to tingle. Oh shit. Here we go again. I forget this will happen whenever I run or jog. Why is this keep happening to me? I’m not sure why because I never really search about it on the internet. I can’t really trust the internet’s diagnosis anyway.

I let out a sneeze, but I continue to jog. Alessio turns his head around as he keeps moving in front of me, looking confused. I then sneeze again before I can say anything to him. Alessandro and Alessio then start to slow down their pace as they look back at me.

“Are you okay?” Alessio asked. Everyone is now stopping themselves from jogging as they stare at me with concern.

“I’m fine. I guess. This always happen when I-“ I sneeze again. I sniffle and then look at all of them again. “This always happen when I’m running or jogging.” I continued. I feel like another sneeze is coming out but it’s not leaving my body. This is the worst thing that can happen when you’re sneezing.

“I think it’s better if you stop now. Walk for a few minutes first before sitting down. Don’t forget to straighten your legs.” Alessandro said. I nod at him. My eyes are now watery from the sneezing fit I just experienced.

“Okay. Sounds good to me.” I said.

I do what Alessandro told me to do while the men continue jogging. After that, I take a sit on the grassy ground with my back against a tree trunk with my legs stretched before me. I look down at my watch and see that everyone will finish jogging in 5 more minutes. After walking for a few more minutes, they approach me.

“How are you feeling?” Alessandro asked.

“I’m fine.” I said.

“Good. Let’s go to the gym now.” Alessandro said.

We walk back into the house and I follow everyone else down a hallway towards the secret door to the basement. We take a left turn from there and see another door. It turns out that it’s also leading to the basement. We keep walking and then see a room full of gym equipment. It’s a pretty spacious room. There are some men doing their own workout routine and training with a partner or alone. They glance at all of us and then go back doing their own thing.

I follow Alessandro to the right side of the room which is an empty space without any equipment. I look around and see that Luciano is currently doing a bench press with Alessio as his spotter. I stare at him as he pushes up the weight and then lowers it down to his chest.

“Allura.”

I turn to Alessandro and shift my full focus on him. Shit. Did he noticed I was watching Luciano? This is so embarrassing.

“Yes?” I said, trying to keep my cool. I don’t think he noticed. Thank god.

“Give me ten push-ups.” Alessandro said.

Ten? I’m definitely going to die after this. I can barely do one push up.

“I don’t think I can do one but I’ll try.” I said, shrugging at him. I then lower my body onto the floor and get on my stomach with my hands on the floor. I push myself up, struggling to do it as my arms shake from the movement. I immediately falls back on the floor before I can even straighten my arms.

“See? I can’t do it.” I said, looking up at Alessandro.

“Do the modified push up instead.” Alessandro suggested. Okay. Here we go. I think that one is easier to do. I’ve done it before and it is actually a lot easier than a standard push-up.

“Okay.”

I bend my knees behind me and keep my hands on their previous position. I push myself off the floor and then go back down.

“That’s one. Do it again.” Alessandro said.

I push myself up again and again while Alessandro counts it until I do the last push-ups. I drop myself onto the floor after the last one. It was tiring but the good thing is I actually did ten push-ups. Even though it’s the modified one. That’s an achievement after not doing this kind of work out for months.

“Now do ten sit-ups.” Alessandro said. Now that I think about this, I’m still not sure why he’s making me do push-ups and sit-ups. Like, what does this has anything to do with self-defense? I still can’t connect the two dots yet but I’m going to do it anyway. I’m curious of my own ability in this type of workout after months not doing this.

I get on my back with my knees bent. I do the sit-ups slowly but surely until I do ten of it. I look up at Alessandro and he only stares at me with his arms crossed. What does he want now?

“Do ten more.” Alessandro said.

What the hell?

“More?” I said, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Yes. You can do sit-ups better than push-ups so I want you to do ten more.” Alessandro said.

“Fine.” I said, rolling my eyes at him. I get back on my back and do ten more sit-ups while Alessandro watches over me.

“There.” I said.

“Okay. Now do a thirty-second plank.” Alessandro said.

“Thirty seconds?!” I asked.

“What? You want a ten-second only plank? Where’s the challenge in that? I’m sure babies can also do that.” Alessandro said.

Actually, Alessandro is right. I’ll be okay. Plank is so much easier than doing push-ups so it’s fine. I can do it. Thirty second is a pretty short time for a plank.

“Keep doing it until I stay stop.” Alessandro said. I have a bad feeling about this but I’ll do what he wants me to do for now.

I get on my stomach and get in the plank position. I keep myself up for god knows how long and my arms and body are starting to shake. I’m going to fall. I’m going to fall. Oh shit.

“Stop. You can take a rest for five minutes and then we’ll continue with the training.” Alessandro said. I lower myself down to the floor and stay there on my stomach. I then roll to my back and look up at Alessandro, still panting a bit from the plank.

“How long was that? I don’t think that’s only thirty seconds.” I asked. There’s no way it’s only thirty seconds. It has to be longer than that.

“One minute and ten seconds.” Alessandro said. See? My feelings right. He’s making me do a longer plank.

“Oh, okay.” I said.

Alessandro leaves me and then walks back towards me with two water bottles in his hands. He holds one out to me and I take it. I gulp down the refreshing water and then sigh as I close the bottle again.

I look around the room and see Alessio doing some push-ups while Luciano does pull-ups. I really want to have the strength to be able to do a pull up. I never been able to practice it once. Well, I did swing and hang on monkey bars when I was in elementary school. I guess that counts a bit? At least I can hang for a quite long time. I used to. Not sure about now though.

“Ready to continue your training?” Alessandro asked.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” I said, pushing myself off the floor.

“Follow me.”

I follow Alessandro to the other side of the room and I immediately realise that he’s leading me to the pull-up bar. Oh no. Shit. Is he going to make me do pull-ups? I hope I can do at least once.

“Do a pull up. I want to check your upper body strength.” Alessandro said.

“Okay.”

I blow out a breath and then jump, reaching the bar above me. I then grab onto it and hang off it. Let’s do this. Only one pull-up. It should be easy, right? I try to pull myself up and I see that I’m passing the bar. Only a few centimetres left and I officially do one pull-up. I suddenly lose my grip and fall. I feel someone grabbing onto me, preventing me from taking a bad fall.

“Are you okay?” Alessandro asked. He lets go of me and I feel my heart racing inside of my chest. That was close. I could’ve broken my ankle or something if he didn’t catch me.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I said. I turn around and see that Alessio and Luciano already standing next to Alessandro. That was pretty embarrassing.

“No need to be embarrassed. You can try to do it again if you want to. Make sure to grip tighter next time.” Luciano said.

“I don’t think I’ll do it again now. Can I just go to the next thing in my training program?” I asked. I’m not risking myself getting embarrassed by falling again. That’s enough embarrassment for one day.

“Yeah. Sure. Let’s get to the self-defense training now.” Alessandro said.

Alessandro leads me away from Alessio and Luciano. We walk towards the punching bag and then stop in front of it.

“We’re just going to learn the basics for now. First thing first is punching. You have to learn to punch the correct way so you won’t hurt yourself badly. When you punch someone, use the knuckles of your index and middle finger like this. Your stance when you punch should be like this.”

Alessandro demonstrates the stance, which is having his feet parallel to each other with a distance. He then shows me the correct way to punch by putting his knuckles on the bag. He then punches the bag once and it swings after the impact. He does it again a few more times with both of his fist interchangeably and I nod as I take a mental note on how to punch like how he does it. Alessandro steps away from the bag and turns to me.

“Your turn. Try it.” Alessandro said.

Here goes nothing.

I step in front of the punching bag, get in my position, and then do the same thing as Alessandro did. At least that’s what I thought I’m doing. I’m not really sure if I’m doing it correctly or not.

“Do it again a few more times.” Alessandro said. I punch the bag again just like what he told me to do and then I turn to him again. Alessandro nods a few times to himself.

“Not bad. Your form is still not good enough but we can fix it.” Alessandro said, shrugging.

“Here. Stretch one of your arm as if you’re punching the bag.”

I take a little step back and then stretch my arm in front of me. I turn to him and he smiles at my uncertainty.

“Don’t look at me, silly. Focus on the bag as if it’s your worse enemy. That is if you have one. If not, maybe just imagine your parents. Whatever you want. I’ll move you around to get you into a better stance.” Alessandro said. I roll my eyes at him.

As much as I hate my parents, I hate my worst enemy more which is Isabela. Yeah, that bitch from my university. She has done so many bad things to me ever since the first semester I was in. I don’t want to go into details but she’s one of the worst people I’ve known. She was actually the one who made me do the hardest part for the presentation which is collecting data from real people knowing that I don’t have lot of friends and acquaintances I can ask to fill and share the survey. Other than that, I was also feeling depressed at that time so I was not motivated enough to do anything. I don’t blame my depression on her though. No matter how hard my task is, it was still my job to do.

I wonder what happened after Uncle Ryan called her to his office. I didn’t get to know what happened because I got kidnapped by Luciano after that. I hope she got expelled after everyone finds out about what she did to keep her good grades.

I glare at the bag and keep my knuckles pushing it a bit. If I stand a bit far away from the bag, I won’t be able to actually punch it. While I glare at the punching bag, Alessandro fixes my shoulders, arms, and legs position. He steps away from me and I can see him having his hands on his hips from the corner of my eye.

“There. That’s how your body position should be like when you’re landing a punch. Keep that position in mind. However, only attempt to do a punch when the person you’re facing also going in a stance to fight you. Now that I think about it, I should’ve teach you the other stuff first. But whatever. We’ll do the other things later. We still have more time. Punch the bag now.” Alessandro said.

I punch the bag as hard as I can and go back to my stance with my arms bend.

“Good. Do it again a few more times. If you feel your stance not as good as it is now, immediately fix it.” Alessandro said.

“Okay.”

I punch the bag again with all my strength and focus as I imagine it to be Isabella. The punching bag keeps swinging and I keep on punching it hard.

“That’s it. You’ve improved a lot. You’re definitely a fast learner.” Alessandro smiles proudly. I turn to him and smile back at him cockily.

“I know and I’m proud to be that.” I said.

“Okay. Now let’s to the more serious training. Freeing yourself from someone’s hold.” Alessandro said.

I’ve always been excited to learn this self-defense skill from watching those tutorial videos on YouTube. Sadly, I don’t really have anyone to help me learn this kind of thing. Now that I have my cousins and Luciano, I will definitely use this chance to learn the most out of this.

“Alessio! Luciano! Come here.” Alessandro shouted to both of them. Alessio is currently doing a deadlift while Luciano watches over him. Both of them leave the barbell and jog towards Alessandro and me.

“What is it?” Luciano asked.

“We’re doing it now.” Alessandro said in a serious manner. I furrow my eyebrows at how serious Alessandro looks right now. What is this about?

“Are you sure?” Luciano asked again, glancing at me cautiously. What the hell are they talking about? Is this going to be bad? I feel like it’s going to be bad.

“Yes. Let her try first and then we’ll teach her the better ways to do it.” Alessandro said. Try what? Teach me what?

“This is going to be interesting.” Alessio said, smirking at me.

I narrow my eyes at the three of them and they slowly turn to me, looking very, very suspicious. Should I be scared now? What the fuck are they going to do to me?

“Don’t use your superpowers on us, okay? Just do what you think is right.” Alessandro said. What does this have anything to do with my superpowers?

“Okay. What are you guys going to do any-“

I squeal as Alessandro charges towards me and puts me over his shoulder. My face is now facing his back while my stomach is on his shoulder. He now has his arms around my legs, stopping me from kicking violently.

“What should I do now?” I asked, starting to feel my head hurting from all the blood that entering my head.

“Try to get away from me.” Alessandro said. I turn my head around and see Alessio grinning at me as Alessandro walks past him.

How the fuck can I get out of this situation? Do I try to wiggle my way out? I don’t think that’s going to work. I’ve tried to do it when Luciano did the same thing on my first day here. I guess I’ll try to do it again. Who knows it will work with Alessandro.

I keep moving in Alessandro’s hold. Basically kicking and swinging my legs. That doesn’t seem to faze him. I should’ve expected that.

“That’s not going to work.” Alessandro said.

“Hurry up. Are you going to let yourself getting kidnapped by Federico and his men?” Alessio said. Hell fucking no. I don’t want that to happen. What should I do? Should I punch Alessandro? Not on the back again because that didn’t work.

“If I punch you on the head or something like that? Is that okay?” I asked.

“Yeah but not too hard. I don’t want to get a concussion.” Alessandro said. Fair enough.

“Okay.”

Now that I know moving around too much doesn’t work, can I try to straighten my body so I can reach Alessandro’s head? I don’t think I can really reach his head with my upper body upside down. That sounds like a good idea.

I struggle to push myself up. Fucking weak core strength. Goddamn it. Do it. Just fucking do it as if I’m actually in danger. I groan and use all my strength to get up straight and also push myself up by grabbing onto his top. Now that my elbow is on the same level of his head, I elbow him behind the head and little and then he lets me down to the floor.

“Okay. That’s good.” Alessandro said.

“Thanks-“

My eyes widen as Alessio throws me onto the mattress and then he quickly gets on top of me and pin my hands above my head. My heart is beating fast in my chest from the sudden movement. Shit. I didn’t expect that.

“Now can you escape this?” Alessio said. I look around and check my current situation. Fuck. I can’t think of anything. I don’t think I can escape this one.

“I don’t think so.” I said, shaking my head.

“Try to do something.” Alessio said.

I try to get my wrists out of his grip but I fail because his hold around my wrists is too tight and strong. My knees are behind him and I can’t kneel him. I try to push my body up but I also can’t do it. He’s way heavier than me.

Fuck. What should I do now? Oh. Wait. I remember that one self-defense video I’ve watched. Let’s see if it actually works.

I put both of my legs firm against the mattress and bump my hips against Alessio. He moves forward and lets go of my wrists to balance himself I quickly wrap my arms around his torso and keep my body close to his. Now what? What’s next? Oh that.

I move up his body and then roll the two of us to the side. Now I’m on top of him and I quickly get away from him.

“Good.” Alessio said, nodding at me. I let out a sigh and the rest of my breath gets knocked out from my body after someone pushes me from behind. Now I’m back on the mattress and facing it. Someone then gets on top of me before I can get up and pin my hands next to my head. Damn it.

“You guys are relentless.” I said, takin in a deep breath.

“In reality this could happen a lot faster. No time to get ready. You can’t choose your opponent so you have to think quickly to beat them.” Alessandro said. He’s right about that. Wait. If Alessandro is not on top of me then this must be Luciano. Oh shit.

“Can you get out of this now?” Luciano asked, still pushing my wrists against the mattress. Absolutely not. I actually don’t know what to do.

“Actually no. I don’t know how to.” I said as I try to move my arms. Nope. This is hopeless.

“Try to think of something.” Alessio said. I try push myself up but it doesn’t work. Luciano is not moving even a bit. He puts all his weight over me. I give up. I can’t think of anything else to do.

“Okay. I give up.” I said.

“And just like that someone’s going to slit your throat.” Alessandro said.

“Yay. I’m finally dead.” I said.

Luciano gets off from me and my body jerk as he accidentally touch my side. Oh no. They know my weakness now.

“You’re ticklish?” Luciano asked.

“No.” I quickly get up and move away from Luciano. I look at him and he already has an evil smile on his face. My cousins also staring at me mischievously and I can only move away from them slowly. Not this. Please no.

“Really, huh?” Alessio said, raising one of his eyebrows.

“Yes. I’m not ticklish.” I said, trying to not show my nervousness.

“Then why are you looking nervous and keep moving away from us?” Alessandro asked. Shit. They know. I’m fucked. I should run away from them.

I keep walking backwards, keeping my eyes on the three of them.

“Because all of you looking so suspicious right now. Why are you moving closer to me?” I asked.

“We just want to find out the truth.” Luciano said, smirking.

“No. You’re not going to find anything.” I said. I then run towards the exit but someone is fast enough to catch me. I thrash in his arms as Alessio starts poking on my sides.

“No! Stop!” I yelled, trying to dodge his poking but failing to do so. My sides start to hurt from all the tickling. I can only laugh, giggle, and squirm in Luciano’s arms while Alessandro only stands on the side, grinning over my suffering.

“Please stop. I can’t breathe.” I said, giggling and panting for air. I scream as Alessio pokes my side again. Oh my god. I’m going to die from getting tickled.

“Okay. We’ll stop now.” Alessio said. Luciano then lets me go. I let myself fall to the ground and lie there as I pant.

“You’re crazy.” I said, scowling at Alessio.

“Now we know the truth.” Alessio said, grinning at me. I only roll my eyes as I pull myself to sit.

“Everyone. Take a five-minute rest. We’ll go back to the self-defense training after the break.” Alessandro said.

Thank god. I’m still recovering from the tickle attack Alessio did to me. I can’t believe Luciano joined Alessio’s shenanigans. That was so tiring. I feel like I’m going to pass out. My abdomen hurts from all the tickling and laughing. Alessio was merciless with the tickling. I seriously need to learn self-defense from him.

I hope after today’s training I can know more about self-defense moves. Not only to get away from Federico and his men, but also from my cousins and Luciano in case they’re going to attack me by tickling my sides again.