treacherous • alan bosley

bumpy ride

maisie adjusted her collar about every ten seconds on the way to the buses. she had always been a rather anxious person about new things, but this was a difficult one. she was nervous about almost anything she could think of.

"can you calm down?" her mother asked as they pulled up to the spot where everyone would be meeting.

"i don't think so." maisie replied earnestly, though her mother took it as sass.

"nothin' to be nervous about, anyway," her mother chastised her, "it's just a paper, maisie."

maisie rolled her eyes, but opted not to say anything. small town minds refused to see maisie's vision, and her mother was one of those in her opposition. she couldn't understand why the young girl took it so seriously, and wished she'd just become a nurse or something more practical.

the two got out of the car, popping the trunk and allowing maisie to grab her bags. it was just a couple of bags, but the added weight made maisie's heels begin to sink in the dirt.

"fantastic." she muttered sarcastically, doing her best to yank her heels from the turf.

"are you gonna be okay out there?" her mother asked. it wasn't her first choice, having her daughter spend three weeks away at a camp without another girl for fifty miles. however, she knew it was something maisie desperately wanted, and she wanted her daughter to be happy, even if she didn't believe in her dream. though it didn't mean that came without suspicions.

"i'll be great!" maisie replied, hoping if she said it enough it would become true. she was nervous beyond belief, but she didn't want her mother to know that. it did her no good to prove her mother right.

she continued with her task of trying to get her shoes on solid ground, but it wasn't exactly coming to fruition.

she was about to toss the bags on the ground and leave them out of frustration, but luckily for her a knight in shining armor came to her rescue.

"hey, maisie," alan bosley smiled, having noticed her struggle for an awkward amount of time, "need help with those bags?"

maisie gave him a relieved smile, but didn't want to anyone to know all of her inner turmoil, "ah, and they say chivalry is dead."

he chuckled and took the bags from her, allowing her to find solid footing without fear of toppling over.

"well, i've gotta get to work." her mom stated, before giving her a quick hug and a goodbye. most parents had stuck around to watch their children leave safely, but maisie's mom had never been the overly-nurturing kind. it wasn't always a bad thing, but she did feel a little embarrassed to be the only one without a parent still there.

maisie and alan walked over to the buses, alan being kind enough not to mention the quick entrance and exit of her mother. he put her bags away for her and she thanked him, before she went to greet the coaches.

coach boone turned to her, a small smile appearing on his face, "miss sanning, good to see you all dressed up."

maisie nodded, a small relief washing over her, "yeah, thank you."

he nodded before turning to his other coaches, "alright, this is maisie sanning. she's writing an article about the titans for her paper."

she nodded along, listening as he introduced her to the other three coaches. she knew them only by name, because of some chatter around school, so it was nice to put a face to floating heads.

"an article, huh?" coach yoast spoke, looking at the girl with eyes she couldn't quite determine, "never asked for one before."

maisie sucked her teeth, not sure what to say.l. she understood why she wasn't wanted, but it didn't make things any less awkward or easier for her. after all, this wasn't exactly her choice either. she didn't go begging to the school board to hang out in a place she has no business being in, but they were treating her like she had. she knew this wasn't the perfect place for her, but they didn't need to make it so hard.