My Friend the Stranger

part 10

alright guys, I know its kinda slow, but bear with me...

 As I was walking alone in the barren hallways, various emotions washed over me. Guilt gnawed at my soul, picking me apart. Unjustified anger at her and at myself coursed through my veins, setting fire to my thoughts. I huffed and rolled my eyes, why me? I happened to walk by the nurse's office and heard a catch of conversation that intrigued me. Knowing that I would probably regret it later, my curiosity got the better of me as it always did. I leaned against the wall, hearing the conversation through the open door.

"What happened Zapp?" The voice was angry. I thought I recognized it as the other team's coach.

"I, I um dropped my racket?" she sounded so unsure of herself I groaned. Then I realized she hadn't told on me. Shock was added to my pile of emotions as I kept listening.

"Hmph. I highly doubt that. Now what really happened?"

"It was just that. I dropped my racket, and when I went to get it, I got spooked by the ball. See, the girl I was playing with was in the middle of a serve. I didn't notice the ball coming at first, but when I did, I tripped over my racket and twisted my ankle in a weird angle." She sounded more confident and I found myself hoping that they believed her. But her coach scoffed, but didn't say anything. I heard shuffling towards the door and quickly hid myself.

"Losing my star player..." The coach mumbled to herself as she came out of the office and headed back to the gym. As she left, I poked my head through the door, feeling especially guilty. She was sitting on a bed with her ankle propped up, ice surrounding it. She had that same faraway look she had when she had been playing with me. And then, she noticed me. She gave me a small smile and motioned me to come inside.

"Sorry about all this drama." She said softly, but grinning at the same time. I noticed her strong British accent right away. But what was wrong with her? I just made her break her ankle and yet she was apologizing to me? A new wave of guilt pressed onto me.

"Look I'm sorry that I broke your ankle. I just get too competitive for my own good sometimes. Although, in my defense, you weren't exactly paying attention." I said, trying to defend myself. She gave a small smile.Great, now I really felt like a bitch. Why couldn't she just act like a snob and get my guilt over with? "Why was that anyway? Didn't you think of me as an able opponent?" I asked, my voice much softer than before.

"No, no! It wasn't like that, I just have a lot on my mind right now." Then she looked at me with a quirked eyebrow. "You didn't do this on purpose...did you?"

"No way. I'm not a complete psycho bitch." I grinned and she laughed. "I'm Gwen by the way, the tennis team's unofficial mascot." I held out a hand for her to shake. She shook it with a firm grip and smiled.

"I'm Sophia. Coach calls me Zapp though, so don't get confused. It's my last name. And you are definitely good enough to be on the team, why aren't you?"

"I had a horseback riding accident last year and I'm not allowed to play hard core anymore." I said sadly, looking at my hands.

"Oh I'm so sorry." I knew she meant it, being someone who could share my passion for the sport.

"At least I can still watch it." I shrugged.

"Yeah, watching tennis is almost as fun as playing. I was a ball girl at Wimbledon a few years back, when I still lived in England."

"No way!" Wimbledon, for all of you who don't know, is a huge deal. It's watched by people all over the world and the best players were there. I've wanted to go since I was a little girl, and Sophia actually got to work there. I am insanely jealous, and bewildered at the same time. "What was it like?"

"Let's just say, best summer of my life." She grinned. I couldn't help but grin as well, imagining what it would be like. After that, our friendship was sort of automatic. We talked for forty-five minutes about random stuff. I learned that she was a senior and had just moved to the U.S three years ago. She told me about England, while I told her about my eccentric mom and my friends. Making random conversation, I asked her why she had been so utterly distracted while playing with me. She glanced down, twiddling her fingers, and sighed. "I was just worried about my boyfriend, well my sort of boyfriend." She paused. "I feel like he's in some deep shit right now, and I haven't heard from him in a long time. He's actually the reason I moved to the states."

"Why? What happened?" curiosity killed the cat, or in this case the Gwen. I hope I have nine lives...

"I don't know, he got into some trouble and my parents thought it would be safer for us here. And even though he isn't really my boyfriend, I really miss him. I might even love him." She sighed. "Great, now I'm being all corny. Sorry."

"Oh don't worry about it. I'm really corny when I talk about my boyfriend too." I grinned, making her laugh.At that moment, the nurse came back in, announcing that Sophia needed to go to the hospital to get a cast onto her ankle. I felt so bad as I learned she was out for the season. And even though I barely knew her and she was a year older than me, I felt like we could be close friends. She and I exchanged numbers before she left, promising to stay in touch. I waved good-bye to her and got up the courage to call David so he could drive me home.