Field Hockey and the Cleveland preserver

13

KJ's POV

"Jesus Christ Mac." I mumbled under my breath as I watched Mac tumble from her bed to the floor of her room. I caught her by surprise I suppose; I went over after my game but didn't think to call ahead or anything. Dylan let me in and I silently walked over to her room.

"Geez Kaje, could've given me a warning." She spat.

"I don't think you would've heard, I can see you have your Walkman on full volume."

"Touché"

"So I heard you didn't delivery papers today, that's a first. Care to tell me why?"

"Yea well I fucked up my foot and can't walk."

"Wow, I really couldn't tell." I joked. She stood up slowly and sat back on her bed, her foot standing by the toe so as not to hurt herself. She leaned back on her hands which were pressed onto her mattress, "I really have no clue how it happened. It was like one moment I was fine, the next: boom. Pain."

"I feel ya, I got absolutely slammed to the ground by a girl on the other team. The ref didn't even call it."

"Lemme guess, a little scrape on your arm?" Mac said, obviously feigning empathy.

"Actually, it gave me quite the scar." I said rolling up my long sleeve to show her.

"Damn. Dylan would be proud you took that with those cojones."

"Damn straight."

"Nothing straight about this." I said gesturing between us.

"Shut up," Mac said swiping her hand down as if to sweep away the conversation, "least I...." Mac was obviously stumped for a comeback. 

"Least you....."

"Never mind, let's change the subject."

"Fine, what are you doing for thanksgiving?"

"Same as always, TV dinners and dad fighting about politics." Mac reminisced, "how about you?"

 "The usually. Big party held by my parents as always, all the family over. Polite conversations and such. Big dinner, hell of a lot of dishes. 'Wear you nice fall dress Karina' my mother says, even though I want to wear a plaid shirt. Meeting and greeting people, most I've never met before. I get so nervous."

".................................that sounds like a lot." 

"Yea, I wish I could just hang out with you guys instead. Like escape out my window or something."

"That would be sick. Dylan tried that once, he snuck out to hang with his best 'friend'; they didn't get back till the crack of dawn the next morning. Dad gave 'im hell for it."

"Since when did your dad care?"

"Thanksgiving is one of the two days a year he always gets home on time for."

"What's the other?"

"Saint Patrick's day." 

******

When I got home I got a call.

"Hello, KJ here."

"Greetings and salutations," replied Alex "did you hear about Giliet?"

"No, but elaborate. I haven't talked to her too much in the last week. What with practice and everything."

And she went on to explain everything that happened to Giliet at the hands of guess who: Eric.

As if I didn't have more reasons to hate him, he was going after my own teammates. Just me was one thing but to have someone go after others whom are loosely or closely related is cruel. I'm not sure if it was because they had to do with me or just him being a pig, but either way he was going after and bullying new people who haven't even done anything to him. It was ridiculous.

The whole time Alex was talking about Giliet I couldn't shake the feeling that she seemed to care a bit more than normal friends.... It was probably just me looking into things too much though. 

"So you heard this from Giliet, when?"

"After the comp. She sat me down and told me everything in the locker room. She cried like five times."

"Oh my god," I said sincerely "we have to do something about this."

"I dunno KJ, Eric is pretty popular among the boys, and he'll fuck us up."

"Well we have to do something. What are we just gonna let him push us around? Do you really think that's the best approach?"

"Well there's not much else we can do. I mean think about it; the kid will  beat us up at the first sign of trouble and surely adult won't do squat about it. So it's up to us. However, on the other hand: Eric isn't that detrimental to our lives. All he really does is call us names every few days."

"Do you not remember the Jewish-bitch incident?"

"Like it was yesterday. You kicked and cried like a bullied child. A grown girl of twelve. But to be fair he also kicked the crap out of you."

"That he did. And I am a bullied child.........  I sorta wish he would just go away, move out of stony stream and get out of my life. Same with Rick."

"There's no way that you're comparing Richard Schwartz with the demon of Buttonwood. Rick is so nice to you KJ."

"Yea because he wants me to go out with him-"

"So you admit you have a proper fit boy going after you and you're not even bothered."

"Boys are disgusting"

"Meh," Alex shrugged "least neither of us are dating boys."

"And that I goodness for that. Rick is friends with Eric and Eric is a dick."

"Such vulgar language KJ, are your parents home?"

"Nah, they're visiting my great grandmother."

"Well, guess who Rick is apparently visiting this week?"

"Ugh Eric, for their flag football final game,I heard all about it." 

"Heh Yea."

There was a silence and I returned to our old topic, "so are we going to do anything about Eric?"

"No, I don't need more skeletons in my closet or broken bones."

"Why are you so apathetic?!"

"Cause he hasn't done shit to me, all he did was make some nerds cry and call you a dyke! He hasn't actually hurt anybody recently."

"He made Giliet cry." Alex was silent. She heaved a heavy sigh of air and waited a second. 

"I'll sleep on it." 

"Fine. See you Monday." I hung up and smiled, at least we were making progress. One less person on the team for him to bother, the better.

A/n

Hahahah I've been gone for awhile, I have had some major writers block with this story, and no ideas. I haven't much else to say.