I stare out the window, grateful for my seat to be there, and gaze into the distance. Not at anything in particular, just gaze. My mind starts to wonder. I imagine myself as a warrior, fighting like it was my last night on Earth. My sword clashes with another, sending sparks everywhere. The clang of metal on metal throughout the air. Suddenly, instead of fighting I am now spinning on the ballroom floor under the grand chandelier in the early 1900s. Me, Fleur Hazel Moss, in a tight corset and a huge skirt, my hair tightly pinned up with the utmost precision. Dancing gracefully across the ballroom floor and into the palace garden with the guy of my dreams. Oh what it would be like.
"Alright, so, any questions?" Ms. Lindsey asked, dragging me back into reality. I shake my head and look back at the board. It's filled with notes and little drawings. I curse under my breath, realizing that I now had nothing to study. I glance at the clock. 20 minutes had passed already. I still had an hour and 10 minutes left. I grab my notebook and pencil, planning to write everything down quickly. I get the letter 'a' written down on my paper as she starts to erase the board. I let out another mumbled curse. I was definitely going to fail. I put my head down on the desk and listen faintly to Ms. Lindsey's voice as she begins to explain cell transport and cellular energy as well as how cells divide. Not that I catch much. One minute my head is on the desk and the next thing I know, Reuben is violently jerking me awake.
"Get up idiot." he whispers, shaking me. I shoot up and my eyes go straight to my clock. 8:48 A.M. Class was over. I shake my head and gather my things.
"Fleur..." the teacher says in a warning voice.
"I know, I know. It won't happen again." I sigh. She nods her head as Reuben and I leave her classroom.
"I'm going to guess you didn't get any notes at all?" Reuben asks, fishing out his notebook from his pile of textbooks and supplies. I stop by my locker, throw all my stuff inside, and take the notebook, placing it carefully on top of my stack of books. Reuben waves and heads towards the south wing of the school to his band class, while I head to the North, to the gym. The class I despise with all of my heart.
I got there a few minutes late. All of the girls in the locker room had already finished changing and were starting to head to the gymnasium for attendance. I quickly open the locker and grab my uniform. I strip from my clothes and change into the ill fitting purple and green gym uniform. By the time I'm finished, everyone is already in the gymnasium and the teacher has already called my name and moved on.
"I'm here!" I shout, running through the doors. "I'm here!"
"Fleur. So nice to see you. Though, you're late. Again." the P.E. teacher, Mrs. Glaven, says, emphasizing the word again.
"Sorry, I was held back in class." I responded quickly. The P.E. teacher shakes her head and motions for me to take my seat on my red mark on the floor. Not only was I embarrassed in front of the entire football team during this class, I also had the worst seat. I was stuck in the middle of all three girls, Ayasha, Amber, and Kimberly. And to my fourth side, the smelliest kid in the grade, Julian Mossopha. I swear to you that he never showers.
"Well then, now that we have everyone here," she glances at me, "I suppose we will start with some stretches. Everyone on your toes!" Mrs. Glavin calls. Everyone rises and we all mimic the teacher. Toe touches, arm circles, twisting as if we were going to pop our backs. None of that is particularly bad until we get to the balancing portion, which I am and will always be terrible at. We are supposed to stand on one leg and hold the other behind us, only, I can barely stand on two legs, let alone one. I try to hold my leg back, hopping around like an idiot. The people around me look in my direction, watching me hop around on one leg. I take one final hop before falling backwards into Julian. Everyone laughs, especially the three girls. I quickly stand and straighten my shirt. The teacher, who was chuckling alongside everyone else, shook her head.
"Alright, anyway, onto today's activity." Mrs. Glavin chuckles and grabs a basketball from the crate. Ayasha groans. She's always hated basketball ever since she was hit in the face last year and it broke her nose.
"At least we won't be as bad as her, right?" Kimberly laughs, whispering to Ayasha. All three girls giggle and grab a ball. They head over to the farthest hoop. I, being in the back of the group, get one of the last balls. Of course, half of the ones I pick up are flat. I finally find one that bounces well and take it to the hoop where no one is at. Julian jogs up behind me. Great, just the person I wanted to see.
"Hey." he says.
"Hey. Sorry about falling on you. I can't balance, like, at all." I say, dribbling the ball. I aim for the top corner of the box and shoot, making it in.
"No problem. I can barely balance either." he says. I shake my head and shoot the ball again. It misses and darts to the left. I ran after it. Can't balance? That's a lie. He was like a statute that whole time, until I fell on him. I came back to see him completely miss the basket. The ball flies over the backboard and hits someone who was trying to get their ball. They stop dead in their tracks. They turn and start running after Julian. Julian, hesitant at first, books it across the gym. I sigh and shoot another basket. It seems like all I can do nowadays is throw a ball into a net, and that's when people aren't blocking me. I begin to toss the ball when someone runs into me. The ball flies from my hand as I lose my footing. I fell hard onto my face.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you okay?" someone asks. I sit up, hand holding my right side of my head.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." I answer.
"Oh look, the screwup screws up again." Amber whispers behind me and the boy. Amber and her clique laugh at the boy next to me. They quickly muffle their laughs as the gym teacher walks over.
"Everything good over here?" she asks.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I answer.
"Alright then. Everyone get back to playing!" she calls, moving back to her spot on the other side of the gymnasium. I get up and jog to get my ball. When I return to the basket, the boy is still standing there.
"Hey. I'm really sorry you know. I'm Alphie Hampton by the way. Call me Alphie." the boy says.
"Well, Alphie, it's fine that you ran into me. I'm fine. And I'm Fleur." I responded.
"Well, Fleur. Do you want to play?" he says, holding his hands out towards the ball. I passed it to him. He takes a shot, making it in flawlessly. I grab the ball and confidently shoot it. My confidence instantly drains when it hits the backboard and I see it coming directly at me. I feel pain jolt through me as the ball hits my face. I drop to the ground holding my nose. I bring my hands away. They're covered in blood. I hear people behind me snickering. The teacher shushes them and grabs my face.
"Fleur," she sighs disappointingly, "I don't understand how someone can be this clumsy. Go to the nurse, Fleur." she continues. I get up and run out of the gymnasium. I feel tears rolling down my cheeks and wipe them away. I have no reason to be crying. No reason. Through tear-filled eyes, I dodge everyone in the hallways. I held my nose in an attempt to stop the blood though It wasn't of much use. The blood leaked through my fingers, dripping onto the floor and staining parts of my t-shirt.
"Oh look, it's Flasher." someone laughs behind me. I look back and tell him to go fuck himself. As I turn back around, I run straight into someone's chest.
YOU ARE READING
If Only
Teen FictionCOMPLETED: You know how they say high school is going to be the best years of your life? Yeah well, that's a fucking lie being said directly to your face. Fleur Hazel Moss found that out the hard way. She always believed it would be great, but the t...
