Serena
"Paxton and Brendan are coaches nephews, but they live with him since their parents are low lives" Birkley told me, opening the doors to the school.
"Yeah, coach tells them pretty much everything, including lesson plans, game plans, practice plans, and try out plans. Apparently, coach is pretty impressed with what you've done so far in class, and really wants you on the roster!" Bailey exclaimed
"Geez! What about you guys, did they say if you're going to make it or not?" I asked, stopping and Birkleys locker.
"Paxton and Brendan are smarter than that, so you're the only case that they let slip, but we were both on junior varsity last year and sat the bench for varsity, so I'd say we have a pretty good shot" Bailey replied. We waited for Birkley to empty the contents of her bag into her locker and grab her materials for first lesson before moving down the hallway to mine and Bailey's lockers.
"You guys, I'm so nervous for tryouts. What if they were just messing with me to get my hopes up?" I asked the two of them, grabbing my materials for math.
"Serena, the boys are like my brothers. Coach is friends with my parents and the boys are always at my house, I can tell when they're lying and trust me, they aren't" Birkley reassured me.
I thanked them as the warning bell rang, signifying that home room would start in five minutes. Birkley and I bid our goodbyes to Bailey, before walking to homeroom, continuing to talk about whatever came up. Homeroom was boring, nobody felt like doing any work and the teacher didn't feel like lecturing us about wasting time, so everyone just sat in their desks until class was over.
In honors geometry we had another pop quiz, but this time it was open notes, which was great for me because I basically live off of my notes in order to get good grades. When I went to Forks, all of the teachers praised my note taking tactics and encouraged other to follow suit, yet here it seems as if the teachers are praying for your failure by not requiring students to take notes on lessons.
Bailey and I turned our quizzes in at the same time and smiled at each other. She had gotten to class a little later than usual, so we couldn't sit next to each other. "Easy?" Bailey asked
"Easy" I confirmed with her before we both laughed. I had come to find out that Bailey also takes really good notes.
Gym class brought another game of lacrosse and more worry to my mind. I was extra on edge today because I could feel coach's eyes on my throughout the period. The added stress made me sick to my stomach with worry, so instead of going to study hall, I went to lay down in the nurses office instead.
I was busy minding my own business laying on a cot in the corner of the office when a worried voice brought me out of my thoughts. "What's wrong, Rena?" Embry asked me.
"Embry, why aren't you in class?" I asked him.
"We could ask you the same thing, shorty." I opened my eyes to see Embry and Jared standing over me, both looking worried.
"How did you guys know that I was here?"
"Birkley told us, she said that you left in a hurry after gym class." Jared said, moving to sit on the ground.
"I don't know, I don't feel good but I have to be here for tryouts" I told the boys.
"Serena, you're just worried. I'm sure that you're just overthinking everything about tryouts and getting in your head." Embry explained, sitting on the cot by my feet.
"How do I not be nervous?" I asked them
"What do you mean?" Embry replied
"All of you are always so confident in what you do, even with what the rest of the school says about you, how do you do it? How do you ignore all the stares and whispers?" I asked them and they both faltered.
"Rena, we don't ignore them, it's really hard to actually. We just don't let them get to us." Embry replied
"Yeah, it actually is kinda hard to ignore some of the things they say about us, but I know the truth about everything going on so it doesn't get to me as much" Jared said
"Thanks guys, that really helps" I told them, "I'm staying here until lunch, are you going to stay with me?" Both of the boys nodded and I smiled.
After lunch, English, pottery, and general music, I found myself staring at my gym locker for the second time today. I was taking my time to mentally prepare myself for tryouts, but I had been standing here for 10 minutes already and there were only a few people left in the locker room. I took another deep breath and opened my locker, hurrying to get dressed because I didn't want to be the last one out of here.
I joined Bailey and Birkley in the hallway with the sea of other girls trying out today. For a school with only 164 highschool students, it seemed as if almost every girl wanted to try out. "Alright ladies! There's 53 of you here trying out, only 26 will make it, meaning that today, over half of your dreams will be crushed. Junior Varsity has 13 spots while Varsity has 16, which means that three of you will be on both rosters. Do your best, have fun, lets go play some lacrosse!" Coach exclaimed and everyone cheered.
The odds of me making the team were not looking good, especially considering most of these girls tried out last year and only 5 spots opened up from last years seniors graduating out. "You ready for this guys?" Bailey asked
"I'm pumped! Varsity here I come!" Birkley exclaimed
"I'm really doubting myself guys, over half of us get cut, what if I'm one of them?" I asked nervously.
"You won't be, trust us. Coach has a soft spot for you already" The girls told me, boosting my confidence.
YOU ARE READING
Lemon Water // Paul Lahote
Fanfiction"I've never seen you around here before, are you new?" "No, I've lived here my whole life, but my parents don't allow me outside of the house, something about druggies that are bad for me or something" "Maybe we should follow her, you know, make sur...
