Opposites Attract

Chapter Two

            The final bell rang. Every body evacuated the classroom like a nuclear bomb just hit the school. As students were struggling to pack up their belongings, the teacher was trying to shout over the brutally loud shuffling. All I got was, “…upcoming test.”

            I was one of the first people out of class, with Viktoria quickly following behind, struggling to keep pace. I had to get out quickly so I wouldn’t be late – again – for track practice. I was running the 100m, 200m, the 100m relays, and throwing javelin. I was a busy jock. I loved to play sports.

            “Are you sticking around after school?” I asked Viktoria as we walked towards the lower level of the school. Our lockers were situated near the gym, on the first floor.

            “Actually, I’m hoping to try out for triple jump,” Viktoria stated.

            “Really? Awesome, now I’ll have another teammate that I actually know.”

            “You know, I heard Hunter was on the team as well. He runs the 100 meter and 400 meter, right?” Viktoria asked cautiously.

            “Wrong. He wouldn’t join a school team even if his life depended on it. He’s probably solicited too many prostitutes on the street., I argued, knowing that Hunter wouldn’t dare run for the team.

            “You never know…”

            “I know.”

            Viktoria rolls her eyes playfulle and we end the conversation there. My locker was exactly beside the doors to the gym, and Viktoria’s was a little farther down. I stopped and opened my locker to stuff my books in. Then, I grabbed my shorts and Lynx Athletics T-shirt from my locker. My straight chocolate brown hair was still down, so I grabbed a hair band and placed it around my wrist, for later usage. I yanked my duffel bag from the hook inside my locker and stuffed my things in it. I then slammed my locker shut and locked it.

            As I was turning around to go change in the girls’ change room, Tyrell, a big and muscular African-American – who also happens to be a close friend, stopped by my locker.

            “Lo-Lo! What’s going on girl?” Tyrell asked in his Jamaican accent. Only Tyrell called me Lo-Lo, it was just a primary custom I was used to.

            “Nothing much Tyrell, how about you?” I said. We did our little handshake that we made up in seventh grade, and we started walking in the gym hallway.

            “Just getting ready for some track and field, you coming?” Tyrell questioned.

            “You know it,” I replied.

            “Alrighty then, I’ll see you there!” Tyrell said, jogging towards the exit doors inside the gym. I made my way over to the change room door, but it was locked. Weird, I thought, it was usually open. I shrugged and headed to my second option to change, the bathroom.

            I opened the door to exit the gym hallway, when I noticed my duffel bag was slipping from my grasp. I only looked down for a second, and then I bumped into something hard. I looked up at what I bumped into, and sure enough, out of all people, was Hunter.

              “Whoa, watch where you’re going sweetheart,” Hunter said amusingly. He thought calling me sweet names was funny. I didn’t.

            I picked up my bag that fell to ground, ignoring his comment. I knew the best thing to do in these situations was to just walk away. I got up from the floor and pushed past him – but he wouldn’t let me through. His body was hovering in the doorway. There was no exit hole to let me through. It was like he was desperate to annoy me.