Gray Skies

Dawn Break

I woke up a little after 3:30AM. I could never really sleep that well at all. Not since I quit pageantry and my Aunt's overbearing debutante club. I liked sports and I hate to say it, but sports liked me.

I quickly rolled off the bed and slowly made the bed back up into it's original condition. When I checked my phone I had a few unread messages. 7 to be exact so I sat down to read each of them. 3 were from Dream, just wondering if I was okay. The next three were from Connor, saying that he was awake and heading over to the school gym.

The final message was from my Aunt...

A.B: I hope that you have learnt your lesson. You can come home when you have properly corrected yourself.

I had half a mind to toss my phone to the wall. But I didn't this was my third phone in the last year and I couldn't afford to keep getting a new one. So I just did what I could to control myself. It was moments like this I felt defeated.

Then I saw a piece of paper in my gear bag catch my eye. I pulled it out. It was the piece of paper Terry had put my sandwich in earlier. I flattened it out and a key was pasted onto it. I took the key in my hand and continued to read the note:

Anora.

You've proven yourself trustworthy . Take this as a mark of my trust. Use it at any time if Bethany becomes irritable.

Terry.

He knew what to say even you didn't have the words yourself. Terry was a kind hearted person. It made me laugh a little thinking how he referred to my Aunt being irritable. He was right. I slowly put the key in my bag and changed into my workout clothes and left the room. I looked over to the dining table and saw a note pad. I glanced at Rebel's jacket that hung over the center of my gear bag.

How the hell was I going to get this jacket back to rebel without the beaming of a thousand eyes on me. Then I thought of the most obvious idea ever. I'd give it to Terry... and he can say it was left at the school. I quickly jotted down a note to Terry and prayed that this would work. Then I left for the gym.

By the time I made my way to the gym it was still too early for Connor to be there. So I started to do some Fartlek training. Of course I couldn't do much. My Aunt's mark will keep me from training properly for a few weeks, but there was no way I was stopping completely. When I got into the gym I was the only one there.

This was the usual time I would come. It was quiet and that was the main reason why I came so early. I was running for about twenty minutes when Connor showed up. He didn't say anything he knew all too well that when I trained the last thing I wanted to talk about is my Aunt.

"Good to see that you're dedicated to the sport Anora..." I heard Coach Messam say as I continued to run on the treadmill. I kept my focus forward to focus on my running. "I see that you have a bandaged shoulder there..." she said now standing right next to my treadmill. I shook it off knowing exactly what she was implying. "No. It's just a small temporary setback, Coach" I say continuing my running.

She nodded then pushed the stop button. When I looked over at her she just said "You've been running for over an hour Anora. How long have you been here?". I looked over to Connor shooting him a look before grabbing my sweat towel. "Almost two hours" I say taking a sip from my 2.2L jug of water. I bought it to save me time and money. Despite the fact I could barely even afford a soda, I've forgotten what it tastes like.

"Anora, you are one of my best players... I can't afford for you to injure yourself" she says turning slightly and continuing "you're off the starting line-up, Miss Blake". I couldn't let that happen. I went after her wanting to reason with her, we reached her office before I could say anything to her. "Please Coach Messam. I can guarantee that I will be better than ever by game night..." I paced around the office and muttered small nothings "I am the best flanker in the region. I have to be able play... I'll wear pads if I have to...". She went wide eyed at me and faced me straight. She tapped her pen on the table, "Are you telling me that you are willing to wear padding?... The girl who once told me that those who wore padding were just to afraid of bringing the pain.." she says.