Bittersweet

Chapter 7

The rest of the week went by fast, and before I knew it, it was Thursday. The first week of 8th grade wasn't too bad. During the rest of the week, I tried avoiding Caleb. I don't know why, but everytime I see him I feel funny. I still haven't told anyone about what I'm feeling, because frankly I don't even know myself.

School was done and it was finally the weekend. I was feeling a bit stressed. So just like every Thursday- William, my mom, and I headed to church for a small prayer. It was a ritual we had every week. We would never miss it. I didn't have any plans with my friends after that, so I decided to go to dance class. Care to know?

I've been going to dance classes since I was 4 years old. Ballet, Tango, Free-style, even hip-hop. I've tried it all. But in the end I settled with ballet and free-style. 

I started off with ballet when I was 3. I would dance around in my room, trying to recreate the nutcracker. Untill one day, my mom walked in on me dancing and decided to put me in a dance academy the coming year. It went awesome. Bianca, Jennifer and Samantha were with me in that academy too. Though Jennifer is the only one who is with me now. I usually go on Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and occasionally Saturdays.

So I called Jennifer, and we decided to go at 7:30 PM. I headed to my room to get dressed. For my attire, I wore black skin-tight yoga pants with a criss-cross pattern on the calf, my baby pink body, baby pink slip-on Vans, and my tutu in my backpack with my ballet shoes and iPhone.

Dance class was amazing. It was the biggest stress relief I could ever have, besides the gym. It killed me to stay on my tip-toes for hours on end, but it was my passion, and I adored it way too much. So the pain was nothing, as long as I kept dancing.

The next morning was normal. Wake up around 10 o'clock, study for an hour, go to the mall or something, come back home, finish studying, shower, and go to bed. Same old routine.

On Saturday, I went to the gym the moment I opened my eyes. It was early in the morning, so Coach Rick was a little too easy on me. I was already on edge early this morning, I don't know why. Probably lover boy, huh? My subconscious piped up.

"Coach, can u be a bit more harsh on me?" I asked hesitantly out of breath from the recent activity.

"An, if you're willing to hurt yourself then, go ahead. But we have to go a bit slow, eh?" He said and I knew he was right.

So I continued my 9th lap around the "track" on the treadmill. Except it was at jogging pace.

After 4 hours at the gym, I finally gave in and stopped. I was making my way for the exit when I was stopped by coach Rick.

"Hey A, what's gotten you on edge?" He asked using his favourite nick name for me. I trust Rick so I decided to open up to him, plus he knows me way too well to let it go. He would be the first person I open up to about this. I said I was gonna keep it to myself, figure it out, then discuss it. But I decided why not now? The sooner the better.

"Rick.... it's a bit long..." I trailled off. He nodded at me and smiled.

"Let's go discuss it in my office, huh?" He said and I felt so glad. I nodded my head and followed him. 

We reached to his office, a desk sits in the corner with a huge shelf parallel to it, lined up with medals and trophies, hundreds of them, a file cabinet in the corner and a big mug written across it '#1 Coach' on top of that. 

He took a seat behind his desk on a red swivel chair and I took one across him on the black leather chair that was placed there. We would always sit around at his office everytime I felt stressed or just had a bad day.

"Go on." He said encouraging me.

"Ok, so there's this boy, and..." I saw his jaw clench and he balled his fists at his sides, cutting me off.

"Whatever that fucker did, he doesn't know what is coming his way." He said in such a harsh tone, I cowered back in my seat. I laughed lightly. His colorful language never seised to surprise me.

"Oh my god! No! Rick you know I've never had a boyfriend, right? And I won't anytime soon." I said in a kidding tone. He chuckled to himself after noticing his reaction.

"Oh! Shit, continue." he said still chuckling a bit.

"Okay, anyway. I've known him for years and I just.... he is so hot now. Like puberty sure hit him like a truck." He laughed. "So I think I am starting to...... like him? I mean..... it's akward, I've basically known him my whole life... and he likes another girl. And get this!" He nods, "He asked me were to take her on a date!" He gasped dramatically putting his hand on his chest for a dramatic effect. "I know right." I laugh, shaking my head in feign disappointment.

"What the fuck! Well at least he trusts you enough to ask you about shit like that. I hope you gave him shitty ideas so she would bale on his sorry little ass." He said laughing. 

"Nooo! If I gave him bad ideas and she didn't like them he'd blame me." I said huffing.

"When is this so called date?" He asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"It was yesterday, anyway Rick! Not the point." I said gigging, knowing his intensions.

"Okay okay! Finish off." He said rasing his hands in defeat.

"Ya.... so he's sort of a player in a way. The girl he asked out just moved to our school,  but he knows a lot of people so... maybe he knew her through someone... I don't know... so what should I do?" I asked.

"A, the best advice I can give you is, don't let him get to you. Fuckboys like him don't deserve your kindness. Don't let him notice, okay? Guys can sense it faster than girls can. If you need anything text me, okay?" He said and I laughed at his reference to him, and boys in general.

"Okay." I nodded.

"Mind if I get to know mystery boy's name here?" He asked a smirk playing on his lips.

"Caleb." I said feeling my cheeks heat up at the mere mention of his name.

"Caleb huh?" Coach asked with a huge smirk.

"Ya.." I replied shyly.

"Ana get going... get your mind back to its spot. This isn't like you." He said pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks coach." I said pulling away from the hug.

"Don't you have your own daughter's boyfriends to care about?" I call over my shoulder as I leave. His only response was a loud, roaring laugh.

(Febuary 15-22)