Without Words

7- Sparks

I am surrounded with the smell of sweat, cacophony of grunts, shouting and complaints of pain and agony on a beautiful weekend, all while snapping shots of those tormenting moments with my camera while listening to the melodious bark of Coach Bolton to his athletes.

Katelyn managed to snag us this chore for the school paper, documenting the training our school athletes undergo in an outdoor boot camp here in Charlestown. I have no idea the school care about its athletes' health and fitness so much. Then again, meeting Coach Bolton, he looks like someone who takes his work seriously.

Katelyn, the traitor the she is, is in the girl's team. I, somehow, was listed as the photographer for the boy's team. Katelyn let me borrow her camera for the event.

Matt and Dan are here, but they are on different sides of the field. It's only now I notice the interaction between them, or lack thereof. They're cordial and civil but I could see the tension even when they just converse with the same circle of people. It was definitely not the friendship I knew from before. Dan was right, everything changed.

I'm glad the boot camp mostly involves calisthenics and not those military drills I see on TV. The team separated after the aerobic exercise, football team went to strength training while the basketball team went to the speed and agility training.

I checked the shots I took from the camera and studied if they were newspaper worthy enough. I'm starting to think Katelyn just have this goal on drowning in work and deadlines every day, relishing on the stress of it all. Tabi is glad she's no longer the one indulging Katelyn's thirst for labor.

"Thirsty over there, babe?" Some guy whistled as he went up to me, offering me his half-drunk water bottle. "We can share if you like."

I just rolled my eyes. The flirting and catcalls have been nonstop since we came here. Apparently, high school boys are wolves who need to assert their dominance and masculinity on any female they see. Some even flirted with the women coaches. They felt proud of this, I just feel ashamed for them. One of the woman coaches made them do extra pushups that left them literally gasping for air. I made sure to get a tight and close up shot of that.

"No thank you."

"Your Forbes' sister right?" Some guys just couldn't take a hint. "You should cheer for me on the wall climbing later. Name is Leo."

"I'll make sure to document the wall climbing session later." I slung my camera over my shoulders and gave him a forced smile. "You should take advantage of your five minute break, Leo. Your face looked absolutely constipated during one of the lounges I got a shot of you from."

His jaw dropped and he looked horrified. That was my cue to leave.

"Girl Forbes!" Coach Bolton yelled at me from the tree line. I told him my first name but he insisted to call me by my last and since my brother is also here, he needed to add the girl part.

"Third part of speed and agility training is ongoing." He pointed at the forest area of the camp. "Take a few pictures then head back here for the pull bar session."

I saluted him then went running. He's a scary man. Some said he was a former military man, some argued he's a retired sumo wrestler. I settled on the thought that no one should ever make him mad. And, that school gossips are borderline ridiculous and amusing.

As I entered the designated area, I saw some athletes panting, holding what seemed to be sandbags on their backs while running around and dodging trees and other entrapments scattered around. I don't know if I should be impressed with the dedication, or sympathize in their pain. Some were already wheezing from the effort, I wonder how heavy the sandbags are.