Stepping Out of Me

9

KIERA

Kiera tied her lace again which got loose as she changed into her uniform for physical education class. As she finished, she didn't bother waiting for Halle since her friends were also in the class. Kiera exited the changing room and made her way to the gym across the hall. The students were already in the class so the hallways were mostly quiet except for a few rushing.

Before Kiera could open the gym door she heard someone call her name. When she looked around it was who she suspected. Lance. He half-jogged over to her with a smile plastered on his face.

"Hi Kiera," Lance said.

"Hi..." Kiera replied slowly. She was a bit confused as to what they were doing.

"I see this is your first PE class and you said you hate sports." he pointed out. "Maybe this is when you finally become converted."

"I've done PE before so I doubt that," Kiera replied.

Lance chuckled as he looked into her eyes. Kiera averted her gaze to anywhere but him as it was a little too intense. He did the same while they were in the car yesterday and it was really weirding her out. Her heart beat a little faster each time he did it.

A few students exited the changing rooms and headed in their direction. Kiera felt warm hands on her as Lance gently shifted them so they weren't blocking the gym entrance. As the door closed behind the students Lance continued, "I hope you're wrong so that you can come to watch my next game." he smiled. "I'll be looking for you in the stands, Kiera. I have to go to class now, see ya."

Kiera nodded once as he turned down the hall. She stood there and stared after him with a dazed look in her eyes. 

"Kiera!" someone called her name. Her head snapped away from Lance and towards the source. It was Halle who finally exited the changing room with Josie, Luca, and the other girl whose name she couldn't remember. "Did he want to talk to me?"

"Who?"

"Lance."

"Oh," Kiera shook her head. "No."

Halle furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh. Well, we should go inside."

They all walked inside the gym one after the other. The rest of the students were already lined up as the coach said some words to them. Kiera, Halle, and the others quickly fell in line but the coach didn't miss them. "It's nice of you students to finally join us," he said. "we couldn't do this class without you." his voice was laced with sarcasm. A few students snickered at what he said.

Kiera ignored it as she didn't really care what he had to say. The class hadn't fully started yet anyways. After his unnecessary comments, the coach continued explaining the activities they'd do in class. They had to get into pairs for the first exercise. Everyone found a partner quickly and Halle was quickly snatched up by Josie. Luca had ventured over to some guy who he seemed friendly with. That left Kiera without a partner.

"Ah one left, there should be an equal amount of you. Anybody doesn't have a partner?" he asked.

"I don't." A small voice replied.

"You two can be partners." Kiera didn't move as he said this. She assumed the other person didn't either when he added. "Get closer, don't be shy."

Soon she was next to her. It was the other girl from Halle's friend group. She kept her hands wrapped around her body and her eyes which stared at the ground were partially covered by her long straight hair. She looked as if she would burst into tears any second. Kiera just hoped she'd keep it together until the end of the class.

They started their warmup activities and continued throughout the rest of the class. Finally, the coach dismissed them and they all quickly headed to the changing rooms to get ready for their next class.