Coach Crowley called us to her office with training still in session. I insisted I could still run, it was just a light sprained wrist. But she was adamant.
Crowley sat at her desk, eyeing the two of us. "You don't have to love each other, but you have to love each other." I rolled my eyes and glanced at Casey, who looked down into her lap. Crowley grabbed the ice pack resting on her desk that she'd taken out from the freezer moments before.
"Casey, you'll ice Izzie's wrist, and you'll both stay in here until... you can get along." She dropped the ice back on the door and left her seat with a tap of her fingers, and "Okay."
"Actually, I think we worked it out." Casey called down to her.
"You know what - no you didn't." The door shut behind her.
After a moment's pause, Casey reached for the ice pack. I reached and grabbed it out of her hands.
"I can do it myself." I pushed the blue pack on my wrist, feeling the coolness numb the throb so I could no longer feel it. Shit. I had to call grandma to watch the kids for a bit longer, since I was not going home on time, but I couldn't reach anything in this state.
"I have to make a phone call, but someone pushed me, so now I can't use my wrist." I gared accusingly at her, and she dodged eye contact.
"I didn't push you, I was nowhere near you."
"Oh whatever." With a small shake of my head, I looked back down at my wrist and continued pressing. "Can I please just hand me my phone from my backpack please."
"Fine, I didn't push you." She grumbled but got out of her seat and towards my bag. "I'm so sick of his stupid school and this STUPid track team." She thrusted my phone into my hands.
I felt a twinge of sympathy, but started dialing the number. As soon as I ended the call, Casey spoke.
"Baby? Do you have a kid?" Her smirk was irritating.
"Of course not. I'm not a moron." I was exasperated. "My mother is."
"Hey, mine too!"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I take care of my three siblings." I shuffled into my chair and bit my lip, fidgeting. I had no idea why I told her that. I hadn't said it out loud to many, but it came out to her on its own. Embarrassing.
"You do?" Her voice was soft and gentle, but not condescending, and I couldn't not respond.
"Yeah." I couldn't hold eye contact either, but I could feel a warm smile creeping up on my face. I hurried to hide it.
"So you're not a gazillionaire?"
Not yet, I responded. I was going to be, I needed to make sure of it.
She came around and sat on Crowley's desk in front of me. "My brother has... autism, so like, I'm constantly looking out for him." She looked down again, her voice sounded lighter, like she'd been holding herself back.
Autism. It must be hard for her. "I didn't know that," I responded, and she winced a smile.
"Dude, how would you know that. You like, barely talk to me."
I was laughing now and all my muscles were relaxing. I felt so mean - no, I had been so awful to her over the short time I knew her. It felt like a crime now, with her easy smile and our smooth banter. "I talk to you! I just say mean things," I teased, and we both giggled. This felt nice.
"You know, you - are not what I expected." Her eyes roamed the room but focused on me, and I had to look away. Her gaze made me feel a bit vulnerable, and I hadn't prepared for it.
"Well, I'm not like the other girls." I knew how cringey it sounded, but I meant it. No one around in Clayton had any idea what it was like to climb up, not on a runged ladder, but from the depths of an unconquered mountain with no safety harness nor support person. But she might understand. "I don't get to mess up."
In my mind, I was replaying that time when Penelope told us she crashed her car and her parents simply bought her a newer model of it. How with one mediocre grade, my scholarship might be cut. And with my scholarship cut, my future would more or less be gone. I don't get to mess up. I told her about it.
"And Quinn has vodka in her locker just in case she gets bored." I chuckled, thinking about how she never gets bored, anyways. She didn't have much tact but she was funny. "And a bikini, for some reason."
We both laughed, and I could feel her gaze on me. Silence hung in the air for a second after. "But for me - this school, what I do here matters. I feel like I have to be perfect all the time, and it's exhausting."
She nodded. "Is that why you were such a dick to me?" She said accusingly.
"Probably." I answered. "Or I might just be a dick."
We both laughed, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
