JustAMatt

Chapter 10

"AJ! Why are you all wet?" Mrs. Rosevelt asked me.

"I accidentally hit the shower handle that I was under and got soaked. But I'm okay," I tell her.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to wipe the bottom of your shoes off so they're not all wet?" She asks me as she hands me out a towel she was holding.

"No, it's okay, I'm okay," I reassure her.

"AJ, I just saw you slip while you were making your way up here. I don't want you slipping again."

"You saw that?" I asked her. I could feel my face starting to get hot as embarrassment took over me.

"Don't be embarrassed, no one else saw. But here, wipe the bottom of your shoes off." She hands me the towel again and I take it. I first wipe the bottom of my shoes off and work my way up. I then dry my legs off which now no longer had water droplets on it from the towel drying them away. I then wipe my shorts off, then my shirt. I swiped the towel down my arms and my neck and face. I quickly tried drying my now no longer dripping hair. I handed her the towel back with a smile.

"I actually just said to wipe your shoes," she whispered under her breath but I still heard. She looked back at me from the towel and gave me a smile. "Thanks AJ..."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Rosevelt!"

I then pranced into the gym and saw people running. I was usually an over achiever and sprinted around the gym. So that's what I did today.

"AJ! Wait up!" My friend Adam yelled to me. He started to speed up his jogging pace to a run. It's like he's running to me. Well, actually he is running to me. But if only it was my Justin.

I stopped and waited for him. I stood there for a while. Like omg, come on Adam, I'm supposed to be sprinting, not waiting here for your slow as-butt. Butt, not the A-word which also means donkey. I really need to stop swearing, especially when I do it in my head.

"Hey AJ," he greeted me.

"Hey Adam! Ready for the pacer test, my friend?" I asked him.

"Not really. But it's whatever."

"Well I think I am! I learned some tips and tricks online to make sure I can do this! My goal here is 85 and I know I can do this!"

"Go to your spots!" Mrs. Rosevelt's voice boomed through the gym.

We went through our normal warm-up procedures, except my language arts teacher, Mrs. Handlen was there. She was talking with Mrs. Rosevelt most of the time.

When we were instructed to do our planks, I had my body straight as I balanced myself on my toes and forearm on the wood floor. Mrs. Rosevelt counted to 10 as we did our planks.

"Uh, is AJ supposed to have his butt sticking up?" Mrs. Handlen's voice could be heard throughout the whole gym.

"Keep your body as straight as you can," Mrs. Rosevelt tells me through the laughter of everyone.

I dip my butt down as quickly as possible. My face then got hotter and hotter. I was really embarrassed.

After our warm-ups, we were all directed to stand by one of the black lines that ran horizontally of the small gym. She said she was going to tell us how to do the pacer test. I wanted to at least get what Justin got when he did the pacer test. But I didn't know if it was going to be possible.

"So you guys are all going to line up behind the black line. I have this stereo here. What it's going to do is beep. Once it beeps, you run to the other black line. While you're running, it's going to play music. You have quite a few seconds to run, so don't run too fast since you might be standing there for a while. Then it's going to beep again. When it does do this, you're going to run back. There are different levels, and depending on the levels, the speed will be different. Starting off, it won't be that fast, but as you get to higher levels, it'll get faster so you'll have to increase your speed. If one of you are the last ones, don't quit, just keep going! Remember, you want to try to get your number as high as you can since it will count how many times you go over the lines each time. When you can't run anymore or are done, just walk over to the sidelines and tell me your number. Then just sit on the side and wait until everyone's done. Any questions?"