Crescent Temptation

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day I tried to stay away from him as much as possible. Not because I was afraid of him or of what he could do to me. I got used to his insults. During Science, he was unusually silent. He didn't sit behind me like he always did. He sat opposite me. His friends were at the other end, and for once they left me alone. John seemed sad and lost. He wasn't paying attention. He kept looking into space. I wondered who he was in real life. What was his family background and why he was always so angry? He looked my way, and I averted his gaze. My heart quickened, and I felt a strange sensation building in the pit of my stomach. Why? Why was I feeling like this? He had just looked at me.

The lesson passed, and I was grateful that the professor didn't ask me to solve the equations he wrote on the whiteboard as I wouldn't have been able to. Not today. After the lesson, I hurried to the gym. I had already prepared my note of excuse. At the beginning of the year, I applied to be part of the volleyball team. It has always been a sport I liked, although I rarely played. I did it in a moment of madness. It was when I started to diet and take training seriously. I thought volleyball training would help me get fit, but it didn't work that way. But now I regretted doing it. The Coach always insisted I took part, even if I wasn't good. When I arrived at the gym, the others had already started doing the warming up.

"You're late." Mrs Lawrence told me in an irritated voice. I was about to take out the note when she shot me a sharp look. "Don't you dare tell me you're not staying or that you're sick? We don't have enough players today to do the training. Get changed and come here. We need at least twelve players to do a game, and there are only eleven."

I was going to suggest that she play, but I bit my tongue when I saw her angry expression.

"OK, but I'll wear the trousers," I said.

"No way. You put on the uniform like the others." She insisted.

"But, I don't feel comfortable. The volleyball pants are too short." I complained. Why couldn't she understand that it was torture for me to be seen wearing such short pants?

"Enough. Get ready!"

I looked down and went inside the changing room. I grabbed the jersey and put it on, and then I put on the shorts. Oh God, I would never go out like this. The shorts covered nothing. It felt like one of my underwear and it kept creeping upward. I pulled it down desperately.

"Alison, are you ready?" The coach shouted from outside.

Ready? No, I wasn't. It was going to be humiliating. I just hoped no one came in during the training. I already knew the girls would laugh at me, but I could bear that. I took a deep breath and walked towards my fate. The moment I opened the door and saw the others looking at me, I wanted to die. I tried to ignore the giggling and whispering. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what the coach was saying. How was I supposed to play and concentrate when everyone kept laughing at me? I went in position and the moment I kneeled forward to catch the ball, my shorts went up. I heard someone laughing heartily and as I looked towards the side of the gym; I realized that a group of boys had come in. The one who was laughing was Scott. He kept throwing insults at me, and I was about to weep when the coach shouted at them to leave. On the other side, there was John, gazing at me. His hands were crossed on his stomach. He looked serious. He didn't seem to enjoy the show and looked almost pissed off. I wondered why he hadn't joined his friends. I was so distracted looking at him that I didn't realize the ball was coming my way.

"Be careful, Alison!" The coach shouted. I turned around, but it was too late. I felt a sharp sudden pain that paralyzed half of my face. Initially, it felt as if someone had turned my face on fire, and then it went numb. I felt dizzy as everything turned around in fast forward. I felt nauseous, and I tried to suppress the urge to vomit. I struggled to breathe, and then I collapsed on the floor and closed my eyes. I wasn't unconscious, I could still hear the screaming of the coach.