Chapter 8

50 4 0
                                    

They are vicious fighters. They are deadly fighters, Joe's voice boomed through my head. I opened my eyes slowly but got blinded by the harsh, bright light that was coming in through the open curtains. As my eyes adjusted, I stood up and stretched out while trying to gather all of my things for morning practice. But what I really wanted to know was why Joe told me they were vicious, deadly fighters. Most of the guys acknowledged me from time to time with a small smile or a quick hello. I didn't understand why he was so worried. Anyways, I got dressed super quickly and raced out the door to find my bike. Wouldn't want to be late for my second practice day. I quickly rushed in, knowing I was at least five minutes late and before I knew it J.C was calling us over to tell us today's practice.

"Normal morning training today. I will be calling each and every one of you up individually to talk about your performance last night. Partner up and get ready!" he said as he waved his hand. J.C went over to the very first group and took one of the guys with him to his office. Since I was third to last, I was gonna have to wait a long time to talk to J.C.

"Partners?" a voice asked, shaking me from my thoughts. I didn't have to look at the person to know it was Peyton.

"Sure!" I replied cheerfully, looking anywhere but him. "So are we going to start off with running the two miles?"

"Um, if you want to," Peyton said, his voice unsure. Usually I begged to do running last but right now I needed to clear my and the only way I could do that if Peyton ran and lapped me by a million.

"Aren't you gonna lap me?" I asked irritably after we finished a mile and a half. For some reason Peyton and I were running side by side. Well, Peyton was running. Me, I looked like a dying zombie trying to run but failing miserably.

"Well this is supposed to be a partner activity," he said slowly. Then it hit me. He was hinting about the kiss last night.

"Oh, right. A partner activity which takes two people," I mumbled. I still wasn't sure why I started bawling last night but the last time somebody took time to hang out with me and show that much affection was a long time ago. Plus, I had learned to block out all of these feelings a long ago yet Peyton managed to bring them out. Since that night, I've felt something in me that I've never felt before. It was a mix of belonging, love, liveliness, and relaxation. But all of those memories that threatened to spill created another bullet hole in my heart. And while I felt like I was the fighter and survivor that I've always been, I've felt sorta lost too. I badly wanted to tell somebody about my past, like Peyton, but I was afraid to bring out that weak side of me that I tried to cover up.

"So do you wanna talk about it?" Peyton asked curiously after a few long moments of silence.

Like any normal girl, I should've smiled and said yes. "Nope! Let's move on to lifting," I replied, smiling like I had just won a million dollars. We moved to the ab strengthening machine and started doing our reps.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with the guys and me tonight?" Peyton asked. "We were going back to the skate park and Lucas wanted to see that cool trick you did a few days a go."

"Um, nope. I can't. I promised Hanna I'd help make dinner tonight so that we could catch up on a lot of things. Plus I don't want her getting suspicious and all," I said, lying like always.

"Okay well maybe next time," Peyton tried. I nodded my head and let him do his reps. The only reason I didn't want to go was because if Peyton made any more moves, I'd soften up. Then there is the consideration of the fights that J.C was talking about. There was one coming up and then two more until the final game. This was a super short season which played out well because I was most likely going to go back home to Iowa after this entire fiasco was over.

Fighting, Surviving, & Hopelessly LostWhere stories live. Discover now