Stuck On You

chapter 37: weisz was trying to avoid this

chapter 37: weisz was trying to avoid this

~weisz~

       I open my eyes right as Reno sets a glass off water on the coffee table. I rub my eyes, letting my sight adjust, wondering why I'm sleeping in the beach house's living room. Then my memory catches up to me. Right. I pushed myself too hard. I just wanted to prove to my team that I don't need the special treatment. I guess I do need it after all.

       "Morning, princess," Reno says. I sit up and Reno sits beside me on the couch, picking up the glass he just put down to give it to me. "How are you feeling?"

       My head feels light, so I drink some water before leaning into the couch. "A bit dizzy."

       "Yeah, that's what passing out does to you."

       I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "I'm sorry."

       "You have nothing to apologize for, Weisz," Reno says. "But you can't be pushing yourself that hard. It's dangerous. If you truly want to be the best surfer you can be, you'd pace yourself and listen to your body."

       "But if I push myself, then I'd catch up to the rest of my team. I wouldn't have to take breaks so often."

       "If you push yourself, you have the risk of passing out again, which only leads you to missing out on practice." Reno's right. Of course he is. Sometimes, I think he knows me better than I know myself. He just wants what's best for me, after all. So if that means I have to listen to him and not push myself, that's what I have to do.

       "How long was I out for?" I ask.

       "Not long," Reno says. "Just twenty minutes. Freida said once you wake up, you should rest for thirty minutes before going back to practice."

       "I guess you're right then. Pushing myself only leads to me missing practice." I still could have been practicing. I could have been riding the waves, remembering exactly why I got back into surfing in the first place despite still recovering from cancer. If I want to fully enjoy it, then I need to ease into it. "It just sucks, you know? I had to take a year off of surfing because of my cancer so it just always feels like I'm falling behind."

       "I know," Reno says softly. "But just think, you made the team. You wouldn't have made it if you weren't good enough."

       Reno is right again, but that still doesn't help me from feeling like I barely made the team. If the team was ranked, I'd be in last place. I mean, everyone is out there practicing while I have to take a break because I push myself too hard to the verge of passing out. I'll just have to go back to taking things easy and taking breaks when I need it, even if it means everyone else on the team hating me for it.

       It sucks, but I guess I don't have to make friends on the team. All they're doing is isolating me. At least they're not trying to sabotage me. Well, most are not. Can't say the same for Kyle whenever he drops in on me.

       "I think I'm ready to get back to practice," I say.

       I'm about to stand up, but Reno grabs my arm and pulls me back down. "I just told you that Freida says you should rest for thirty minutes first."

       "Should. Not have to."

       "Weisz."

       "Fine. I'll rest. I learned my lesson. No pushing myself hard." It's unpleasant just having to sit and wait out the half hour before I can get back to practicing, but it's a consequence. I have to deal with it. 

       The thirty minutes go by painfully slow because I'm itching to go back to practice. Reno won't let me go a minute sooner, though. I have to wait out the full thirty minutes but once it's finally up, I go back outside. The team is in the water right now, waiting on some waves, and it's all I want to do.

       Before I can get on my surfboard, Freida walks over to me, "How are you feeling?"

       "Better," I say. "Sorry."

       "Just try to listen to your body next time," Freida says. "And to me. I'm your coach. If I say you should take a break, you should take a break."

       "Yes, Ma'am."

       Since I'm the last one on the water, I'm going to have to wait my turn to ride a wave. It takes a while but soon enough, I'm the only one who hasn't ridden a wave. Everyone is out of the ocean having taken their turn, so I paddle a bit deeper in the ocean to wait for a decent wave.

       Kyle suddenly not only paddles over, but paddles in front of me as if he was telling me that he's taking the next wave. "Uh, hello?" I say, noticing a wave coming closer. This jerk better get out of the way before it comes. "You already had your turn."

       "Sorry, but I'm not going to let a charity case boss me around," Kyle says.

       "Wait, what?"

       Kyle's comment leaves me confused enough to not try to beat him to the wave. He's ahead of me anyway, so he paddles even further and rides the wave out. What did he mean by charity case? 

       I have to wait for another wave but I'm way too distracted by the time it gets to me. I end up falling off my surfboard. I highly doubt I'd be able to focus enough to try again, so I get out of the ocean. Kyle stands nearby and snorts a laugh. "What kind of ride was that?"  he asks.

       "What kind of comment was that?" I shot back. "I'm not a charity case."

       "Right," Kyle says sarcastically. "So you're telling me you didn't make the team just because you have cancer?"

       I stay silent for a few moments, processing what Kyle just said. It takes me some time, but I figure out that he probably overheard me and Reno talking about it at one point. We try not to talk about it with people around, so Kyle either purposefully eavesdropped or he just so happened to walk in on the conversation without me and Reno noticing.

       I finally regain my composure. "That's not true. I don't even have cancer anymore. I'm in remission. And Freida didn't even know I had it during tryouts. She found out after I had to give her my medical information."

       "Oh, I'm sure." Kyle clearly doesn't believe me. Nothing I say is going to change my mind, so I just walk away from him. I wanted to avoid this. I didn't want anyone to find out. I was worried that people would pity me, but I didn't think of the worst case scenario. That someone thinks I only achieved something because of my cancer, not my hard work.

       We're given a break, so I take the opportunity to walk over to Reno on the patio. "Kyle found out," I say.

       "What?"

       "He found out about my cancer and now he's saying that's the only reason I made the team. Because I'm a charity case."

       "Weisz, that's not true."

       "I know, but it still hurts to hear. Now that's all Kyle is going to talk about, and I won't be surprised if he ends up telling everyone else."

       Reno looks over at Kyle who's talking to Karla. "I can talk to him for you."

       I sigh. "No, that's only going to make things worse. I'll just... have to sit through the comments, I guess."

___________________

weisz :(

reno still wants to "talk" to kyle. with his fists.