I Can't Breathe

Ch 3: The Game

We were trailing over to the bleachers, waiting for the usual speech and peppiness to begin, when deep voice suddenly called my name.

"Alexandria, Alexandria Bourroway!" Said the voice, "Can I speak to you for a moment?" I spun around on my heals to see Mr. Luther, the gym teacher and coach of every sport at Eastvalley Highs school, was the one calling my name. Five boys, four of which were being dragged by their ears by Mrs. McKillan, followed along behind him. Mr. Luther and the boys finally were within feet of my friends and I when he continued to speak. "Ms. Bourroway, I've been told by Declen here," he said pointing to Declen, "that Mr. Lively, Mr. Blasson, Mr. Mochi and Mr. Berra here, were givin' you girls some trouble, is that true?" He added

"Yes," I say rather proudly, "Yes, actually as a matter of fact they were."

"And what might have been the trouble?" Mr. Luther asks

"Well, they were being down right jerks to start off." Said Hanna

"And then," added Morgan "They were callin' Alex a bitch and... And... And they were calling her a slut." She continued

"And they were making fun of us for having siblings or boyfriends who play football." Continued Jordanna

"So I see" said Mr. Luther intently

"That's not all, sir" said Declen, "This is the third time today that they have made a girl either cry or come very, very, close." I immediately look away. He saw that, didn't he. God, Alex, good job. I think.

"Well then..." Mr. Luther continued, "I think you boys owe these fine young ladies an apology."

"Jesus..." Muttered Andy, under his breath.

"What was that Mr. Berra?" He asked, by the look on his face, you could already tell that he knew what Andy had said.

"Nothing Sir, just loud breathing" said Andy trying to cover it up.

"Well, then, if nobody's going to apologize, or if anyone else has something to say under their breaths then, Andy, Daxton, Ewan, and Caden, you're all no longer part of the Couyotes Football team, and you will not be playing in this game, or any other game, for that matter, ever." Said Mr. Luther, rather delightedly and the boys, being released by Mrs McKillen, stomped off, and returned to the big white truck that caused this problem.

"Well, thank you ladies for your honesty and I hope y'all have a fine night." Said Mr. Luther in his deep southern accent. Turning around, he walked off towards the field to hopefully coach our team to a first victory this season.

Then turning towards us, Mrs. McKinnel said, "Now, if they ever, and I mean ever, bother you or any other girls like that again, you girls come tell me and I'll see to it that they are expelled, immediately, alright."

"Alright, thanks again Mrs. McKinnel!" Said Jordanna sweetly

Then just like that, Mrs. McKinnel spun on her heals and walked off, shooing away anyone who appeared to be getting into trouble of some kind.

"She's pretty great for a drama teacher, isn't she." Said Hanna

"Yeah, she's good." Commented Morgan

"Let's go" I say and we head towards the football field, this time, undisturbed and in complete silence.

It feels good to walk. Just walk, not argue or comment or even talk. Just walk. We walk beside each other in silence. Not saying anything or even breathing to loud. Sometimes, I think, I'd like to be someone else. Be able to live in someone else's life for a day. See how it would feel to actually be a normal eighteen year old girl. Be able to run for a long time. Not have to sit down all the time, have a normal set of lungs fo change. Escape reality. I reach down and feel in my pocket for my phone and the keys. They're there. Like I expected. Everything is rather predictable, isn't it? I ask myself. All day, we go to school at a precise time, have classes at the exact same time and are set free at the same time as well. I have lung problems so I will probably end up in the hospital. My mom will probably cry. I probably won't go to school for a few days. That's the problem with predictability. Is that it will probably happen because it's happened many times before. If it's hot outside and you turn on a fan, you will probably turn it in again the next day. I tell myself. I absolutely hate predictable situations. Absolutely. Hate. Them. We reach the field just in time for the game to begin and quickly take a seat in the stands. On the bottom row. Not exactly a superb seat but I can lug this oxygen tank up to many stairs, and my lungs are tired enough already. Just another sacrifice in my pitiful little world(for all of you who came here for that kind of stuff). That was sarcasm by the way. Tweet and the game begins.

It's a short game. Well not short. Just boring. The Tigers beat us 43 to 6. Now that is just sad. I sat the whole game without saying a word. My friends all talking and me giving the casual nod and whatnot to appear that I was listening. I catch a glimpse of Cole as he walks of the field. He looks pissed. He is the captain after all. This is hard for him, a loss like that, at least now that the college coached are here at most of the games.

"Earth to Alex!" I hear my name. It pulls me out of my day dream. It's Morgan.

"There she is!" Says Jordanna sarcastically

"Sorry," I say, "I was in my own little world"

"We noticed, but don't be sorry." Says Hanna enthusiastically

" Hey," I hear someone yell from behind me. " Why are tigers the best?" They continue. I whip around to see who's talking. It's a brunette boy with green eyes and sitting beside him is a blonde boy with deep grey eyes and ice pale skin, looking rather embarrassed. "Because they don't have a Bourroway on the team!" The brunette continued.

"Hey, man shut up." The boy beside him says quietly.

I can feel the rage filling up inside me. Between the boys earlier and now this kid, I know that I'm going to crack. "THAT'S MY BROTHER," I yell very loudly. Everyone is now looking "SO SHUT THE FRICK UP OR I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!" I begin to cough. Serious coughing. Mo starts to pat me on the back and I manage to get out three words. "Cole." "Hospital." "Now!" I say in a husky voice, barely audible. Hanna gets up immediately and runs onto the field. She grabs my brother by the arm and I can see her say

"Alex, hospital, now!"

I can feel myself slipping. I don't have enough oxygen. My eyes are slowly closing and I am using every ounce of energy to keep them open. Not a coma, not now, please god no. I think. I feel someone pick me up. I can hear a faint sound of screaming. It's one of my friends, I know it. Who ever is holding me has started to run. I keep slipping. It's not working. I can't stay awake. So tired. So. So. Tired. And then, everything went cold.