Senseless

dead

My eyes opened and my vision was blurry for a few moments as I looked around. There were about seven girls huddled around me and one worried coach. The events came rushing back to me and my eyes opened wider when I saw Amber waving a bag in front of me.

"Eat," she said, glaring at me. "I don't care how tired you are."

I gratefully took the bag and the scent of chicken nuggets greeted my nostrils. "How long was I out?" My voice was raspy, but I didn't care. Amber pushed a drink towards me.

"I've been drinking it, but it's for you," she said apologetically. "Only a few minutes. A few people went down the road to get you this."

"Wait, what time is it?"

"A little past five. Why?" I let out an expletive and began rocking back and forth to get up. My stuff was still in the same place, so I grabbed it and shoved another chicken nugget in my mouth. "Where are you going?"

"I have to be somewhere," I said, turning.

"You shouldn't drive," Coach King said. "Have Amber take you."

"No, it's fine."

Amber followed as I left the building. "Where do you have to be?"

"The gym," I answered, continuing to eat like a wild animal.

"Are you just stupid? You literally just passed out and you're about to go work out?"

"I'm still doing lessons with Nash," I answered, making it to the parking lot. My head was still a little fuzzy, but with food in my system, I could feel the thumping in my temples slowly easing.

She said something I couldn't quite decipher and I climbed into my car. "Bye," she muttered. I could tell she was a little upset at me, but I didn't care. For some reason, I was slightly excited to see Nash. I wasn't so in the dark anymore; I actually knew about him and his bruises, and how strong he really was. I knew how he got his money and I was in on it.

My mind flashed back to the episode we'd had when he was just being rude about what I had and hadn't done. I knew he was right, and so did he, but it still bothered me. I wondered how he'd been able to just walk off so easily, when I'd needed a few moments to recover. I'd stood still, unable to move while his captivating eyes held mine.

I quickly shook the memory away and pulled into the gym parking lot. Inside, I found Nash punching the bag quickly and precisely as I walked in. "What took so long?" he asked.

"Just a little incident at cheer," I said, sitting down to stretch.

"What, did someone bump their head?" He smirked in amusement and I shrugged.

"I blacked out." His punches paused for a moment and he turned.

"And you're here because..?"

"Because I'm fine now. I ate and I'm alright."

"You passed out because you didn't eat?" He cocked and eyebrow and an almost irritated look passed over his face. "Do you realize that that problem is so easy to avoid? Why didn't you eat?"

"Because I was too tired to eat," I said, frowning. "Why else?"

He didn't speak for a few moments and sat down to stretch. "What'd your coach say to that? He probably wasn't happy."

"Well, I fell asleep at the beginning of practice and he said not to let my fatigue get in the way of practice," I said slowly, looking at the ground. "I imagine he was probably mad at me or something." Nash chuckled and shook his head.

"So how do you get sleep when your doing this?"

"We'll just practice until six thirty, now," he suggested. "You go home and sleep, then wake up for work, then shower and get ready for school when you come back home."