Fitting In

Chapter 4 - Treadmill Guy

I awoke to the blaring sound of my alarm. I hate getting up in the morning. It was 5:00 in the morning. Today was what I liked to call an on-day. I didn't get this beautiful figure from reading all day, so I started working out. I only did it every other day, because I liked to be able to work myself to the bone and then have a recovery day.

Today I wasn't going to go as hard as I usually do though. I had my first practice this afternoon.

As I stated in the first chapter, first impressions are more than important. They determine people's perception of you until you do something to prove them wrong. I needed to make a good impression in order to really be accepted on the team.

I did a tournament once with some boys. They needed the extra player, and I didn't have anything else to do. We didn't practice or really know each other well, but I figured as long as I didn't suck they would play with me. I was wrong.

I scored our first goal of the entire tournament, and I kept up with a bunch of boys who were all one to two years older than me. I played really well, and I was one of the only people in shape enough to play midfield and guard the other team's best player. I found out from the coach after the game that all of the boys were trying to sub me out the entire time. I guess they saw me as the weak link because I was a girl. I didn't want that to happen again.

Authors Note: This actually happened to me back when I played travel in middle school, and a lot of the other soccer parts will be drawn from my experience with being on a Co-Ed team (The younger team didn't want to have to leave the premier team they were on, but because I was in eighth grade I couldn't play with the high schoolers I usually played with). A few other things will also be from stories from other soccer players. So, yeah, I bet nobody cares, but I figured I'd put this out there.

I got ready, packed my bag, and left before my mom even woke up. I was going to school early today because they had open time in the weight room and gym before school started.

The weight room was pretty small. It seemed even smaller because of the sheer amount of people packed inside. I could see almost the whole male population had shown up. There were two small groups of girls. One group was giggling in the corner with a few 3lb weights. They were obviously just there for the eye candy.

The second group had actually showed up to work out. I put my things away and walked toward an open treadmill. I was surprised one was open, but I was glad. I would have to get here earlier next time.

I was four feet away when I realized someone else was also going for it. I speed up and barely beat them.

"Ha! Better luck next time," I teased, triumphant.

He just smirked at me and walked right up to the next treadmill. He tapped the girl's sholder, and she took out one of her earbuds. Her eyes widened.

"I was just wondering how much longer you were going to be using the treadmill. Blondie over there stole mine," he said gesturing over to me.

"Oh, you can have it. I was almost done anyways," She replied blushing.

"Thanks, miss..."

"I'm Callie."

"See you around Callie," he said smiling at her. She blushed and left. He looked at me and stuck out his tongue. It was really immature and annoying. Or, at least, that's what I told myself.

This guy was built, but not like a body builder. He had mischievous blue eyes and dark brown hair. When he grinned you could tell that it was real. He was a charmer, and based off of his interaction with that Callie girl, he knew it.