Fallen

Chapter 9

We were about two and a half hours into the trip when I decided to lay my sleeping bag and pillow out on the floor and take a nap. I was lying between the seats across the aisle, and since the seat opposite to me was empty, I had the entire floor of the bus to lay out in. It made for a comfy spot to take a nap, and was a trick I used pretty often. Usually Joe would sit in the seat across from me and I'd take the floor and that would let him stretch out across the seats.

This trip was varsity only though, and coach had gotten us a full-size bus to make the long trip more comfortable, so it was nearly empty.

When I got on the floor I noticed Karly had already gotten down on the floor and was lying facing back towards me...

I smiled at her, her face dark under the seats...

I heard her squirm a bit further back towards me... "I was wondering when you'd figure out I was down here and come see me." She whispered.

I knew she was towards the front and it would be easier to see her if she crawled back towards me so I crawled forward a bit, my face getting close to hers... I bit my lip, "How are you feeling..."

She bit her lip back at me... "Well, I'm feeling a bit faint... how about some of that mouth to mouth...?"

I leaned in and kissed her. Once again, an electric current jumped between our lips as they met. I'm really starting to love that, I thought to myself...

Our kiss was leisurely, and loving, just us sharing a little stolen moment between the two of us. It was really nice. Her lips were soft, and loving. Her kisses light and while there was a certain amount of passion, she was keeping herself under control...

I was not. My hand snuck under the seat and into her covers... sliding up and grabbing her boob.

Her kisses got much harder, more passionate. In fact, she was so distracting I hadn't noticed coach sneak back...

He hit me in the ass and screamed, "What do you think you're doing!"

I was so surprised I started to bolt upright, not remembering that I was curled up under the seat of a bus with a beautiful girl attached to my lips. My head came up about 4 inches and slammed to a stop against the metal bracket the seat rested on.

Bang!

"Owwww!" I screamed, kicking my feet in pain. "Sonofva monkey loving biscuit!" I screamed out, not wanting to curse and make my situation worse...

I crawled out from under the seat and lay on my back looking at coach who was laughing at my pain. "Coach it wasn't my fault... I crawled under there and she was limp..."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Well, if that's the case we probably should make sure that there's plenty of air in your lungs. Stop the bus!" he yelled.

I tried to extricate myself from under the seat and was having problems. Problems made worse with Karly's giggling fit. She was enjoying watching me get my ass busted far too much...

The bus finally came to a stop and coach yelled back. "Everyone on the bus who's over weight, time for a cut jog!" He looked at me specifically. I was well under weight, hell, I could make the weight class below mine if I really wanted to... "Let's say, two miles, shall we?"

The guys all groaned... I knew where this was going...

Coach added, "Shawn, why don't you run with them, help keep the ducks in a row, you know, considering your so worried about safety and all," He gave me a dark look, "or do you want to neglect your team and leave them out in the cold?"

His message was clear. I wasn't setting a good example...

I felt like slime... he was right. I was being selfish. It was okay to have fun with Karly, but I needed to be way more circumspect with it...

I got out of my seat, "I'm on it coach." I looked back into the bus at the guys starting to get out of their seats, I was shocked to see Sep was one of them...

"Move it or lose it." I yelled at them, "If you can't keep up with my fat ass, I'll give you some motivation!"

I looked at Karly and she mouthed, I'm sorry.

I shook my head, "Don't sweat it, my fault." I told her.

We got off the bus and coach stood in the doorway, "See you in two miles boys!"

With that, the bus drove off...

I looked at the four guys standing there... "Well guys, time to start running!"

We picked up a nice jog and I settled in next to Sep. He was smaller than me, and he could have easily outpaced us, but we all kind of agreed to stay together as a group. Sep and I out front, Andrew, the guy in the weight class right below mine, and Casey, the kid in the 171-pound class brought up the rear.

I ran with Sep quietly for about five minutes. He just kept running, his eyes faced directly forward. Finally, I asked him, "How much are you over?"

He didn't say anything. It really wasn't like Sep to be overweight on a day we had a weigh in. It wasn't like Sep to be overweight period, but I had never seen him get on the bus overweight...

Cutting weight was something I was really glad I never had to deal with... guys acted like it was no big deal, but I knew it was brutal on them. Cutting pounds of weight in a day really took it out of you. There were rules about it of course, but nobody seemed to obey them...

I looked at Sep, realizing that he still hadn't answered my question. He was really pissed at me for some reason...

I started splitting my attention between the road ahead of me and him, "Did I do something to piss you off?" I asked him.

He just kept running for a few seconds. Finally, he shook his head in disgust and sighed. "I'm just surprised you have time for us now..."

I looked at him in shock, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked back at me and I could see the naked anger in his eyes. "Dude, we're on break. You got with Karly and suddenly you got no time for any of us. We haven't seen you all week. Shit, you even ditched practice this week."

I remembered then the shameful night I had broken down. I hadn't felt up to going to practice the next day...

Sep didn't really have a good idea of my past, and frankly, with his upbringing, he wouldn't understand it. I kept it to myself. Karly was really the only one that knew shit about anything that had happened with my mom. I still felt bad though. I really hadn't let Sep in...

I shook my head. "Sorry man. I didn't even think about it. It really didn't have anything to do with Karly... I was dealing with some personal stuff. Family stuff."

I snuck a look at him and I could see he started to understand. He didn't know about a lot of the early trauma that I'd suffered, but he knew a good chunk of the stuff I'd experienced with my dad. Hell, he had helped me through some of it. He wasn't really a friend I counted on when the chips were down, but he was still a friend...

I had let him down. "I really am sorry" I continued. "I didn't want to burden you with stuff. Hell, I don't want to deal with it myself, I didn't even think to talk with you about it."

He looked at me again, still angry, "That's the problem. You pick and choose what you share with me. Why should I be your friend? We're not really friends. You hide shit from me, you only let me in on bits and pieces. I guess I'm just tired of pretending we're friends..."

I was shocked at how he felt...

I shook my head and told him while we ran, "I'm sorry man." I shook my head, pissed at myself for letting him down. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He looked at me, "You sleeping with her?"

Anger flared up in me... he had no right to ask that. "How often are you fucking Jess?"

He looked back at me. He was angry at me before; he was pissed now. I cut him off before he could say something stupid. "See how it feels? Don't ask me that again..." I warned him.

He looked back at the road and finally nodded his head. "You're right. I'm sorry."

I punched him lightly in the arm. "Don't sweat it. We're both still working this shit out." We kept running, our steps keeping pace... finally I added. "I'm sorry. I haven't been a very good friend to you. I should have been there for you more. I've been selfish, and I'm sorry."

He just shook his head. I could tell, he didn't believe me...

He sighed again, "I'm also having Jess problems..."

I scratched the back of my head, feeling the sweat pooling there... "Need to talk about it?" I asked him.

He shook his head, no.

"Two pounds." He finally said.

"Holy fuck!" I let slip. "Two fucking pounds?! How are you over two pounds...?"

He shook his head. "Ate too much yesterday..."

I noticed then that he was miserable. He was wearing two sweatshirts, and most likely several t-shirts. It was a trick a lot of guys used to drop a lot of weight quickly. You can't drop that much fat in a couple of hours, but you could dehydrate yourself and maybe make it. I made myself pick up the pace. He needed to really get some work out of this run...

He looked at me. "Thanks,"

I threw my attention back behind me, "Andrew, how much you over?"

"Half a pound." He answered.

Half a pound was manageable. As long as he didn't drink between now and weigh ins he'd be fine, even without the run. He was a big guy and big guys dropped weight easier.

"Casey, what about you?" I asked.

"A pound." He answered.

I shook my head. A pound for a lighter guy was tough... but both of them were in better of a spot than Sep was. Two pounds... he was going to be lucky to make weight.

"How far you guys think we're in?" I asked the group.

Sep looked around, "Maybe three quarters of a mile?"

I nodded, figured that was about right... "Okay guys, race is on. Pick up the pace..."

I nearly doubled my pace. The other guys were lighter than me, though Andrew wasn't by much. He ran on the high side of his class and it was right below mine. Flip a coin on a given day and Andrew and I would be close competition to see who was heaviest.

Sep kept pace without complaint. Casey was breathing hard and Andrew, after about half a mile spoke up, "I can't keep this up..."

I just kept looking forward. "I weigh as much as you do. If I can do it, you can do it. Now shut up and run!"

To make my point, I poured on a little more speed. In another quarter mile, my lungs were burning bad...

I could see the bus ahead though, parked in a wide spot in the road. "Come on guys, last sprint!"

With that, I poured it on. Full speed. Sep and Casey kept up easily. Andrew flagged a bit, but he kept running. I was proud of him. The bus started to pull out...

I knew then with horror what coach was doing. He was going to pull out and make us run farther. I tapped Sep's arm. He was fastest. "Pour it on. Get out ahead of it and don't let them leave us."

He leaned into it giving full speed. He left us in the dust. God, he was fast...

I kept the other guys at full speed. Sep burned down the side of the bus and started to come out in front of it. Thankfully the bus stopped...

We all ran all the way to the door, which thankfully stopped. We got on, with Sep and I bringing up the rear...

As we got on coach yelled cheerfully, "Thought you boys weren't coming!"

I looked at him and smiled. One thing I had learned from years of being bullied. Never let someone trying to get under your skin see that they were getting what they wanted...

"Doing good coach, nice bracing run!"

Coach smiled at me.

I grabbed Sep's arm. "Get your stuff and bring it up here. You're sitting with me." He started to open his mouth and argue, but I stopped him, "Shut up. I'm not taking no for an answer. I know enough about isolating myself to know that you need to be around your friends right now. So, shut up, grab your gear and bring your sorry ass up here with your friends."

He smiled at me. The bus started rolling and he grabbed his gear and threw it in the seat across from me.

I sat in next to the window and tapped the seat next to me. "Get over here, we need to talk." I told him.

He plopped in next to me. He was soaking wet, even through both his sweatshirts. I felt for him. I had cut 6 pounds in a day my sophomore year to go to this tournament and it had nearly killed me. I had thought at the time that I would have a better shot at winning by cutting the weight...

I had hidden the fact from my dad. It was one of the worst days of my life, so I had some appreciation for what Sep was going through...

I leaned into him hard, "So, what's going on with you and Jess?"

He gave me a look. I really had no right to ask, but I figured maybe being there for him would help. He was quiet for so long I was sure that he wasn't going to answer me. Finally, he shrugged, "Stupid shit. I started talking to her about college and stuff and she got pissed."

Jess was two years younger than Sep. I knew from Karly, and her experience with Mike, who had gone off to college and started cheating on her, what Jess was going through. I didn't like her very much, but she seemed to worship Joe. Losing him would be too much for her.

He continued, "I don't even know what she's pissed about."

I looked at him like he was stupid. "She's worried you're going to drop her like a sack of potatoes. You're going to run off to college and she won't see you all day. You'll be around older girls all day. She thinks you're going to screw around on her."

He wrinkled his face up. "That's stupid."

I leaned forward a bit, "Girls are stupid." I said in an overly loud voice.

She surprised me when her hand shot out from under the seat and pulled my loose sneaker off. She started to hit me with it.

Sep laughed his ass off seeing me trying to get my foot out of the way.

"You done down there?"

The shoe started aggressively flying out and trying to hit me.

I leaned closer to Sep, looking down, hoping to see Karly. It was too dark down there now... the sun was starting to set and the bottom of the bus was too dark to see her as she hid beneath the seat.

"You done?" I asked her.

Her voice was small... "Maybe..."

My shoe started to come out tentatively. I had won and she was trying to give it back to me. I felt cocky. I put my foot under the seat. "You took it off, you can put it back on."

Then I started screaming... I managed to pull my foot out, "Ow, ow, ow!"

Sep was laughing his ass off.

"What happened?" Joe asked me, leaning across the seat behind me.

"She bit me!" I told him.

Sep was laughing so hard he was holding his sides.

I leaned sideways. "Give me my shoe back."

She was completely hidden beneath the seat. It was like a horror movie...

"Put your foot back down here..." She said breathlessly.

"No way!" she wasn't biting me again...

Finally, my shoe came out of the hole tentatively. I snatched my shoe from her and put it back on.

I looked at Sep. "Now where were we...?"
"Put your foot back down..." Karly growled from beneath the seat...

I kicked at her, "Shut it, down there hobgoblin! Adults are talking up here."

Her hand flew out and up and tried to grab my foot again. "Fuck you! I'm four months older than you!" she hissed.

I leaned again, trying to see her under the seat. "Don't remind me I'm dating a MILF!"

Sep laughed next to me.

I pulled my phone out and typed into it quickly, "Cut me a break please baby girl? Sep could use a shoulder to lean on."

She popped out over the top of the seat like a demented jack in the box, spooking both me and Sep! "I love adult conversations! What are we talking about!"

Sept looked really uncomfortable. I realized in that moment that Karly might be exactly the right person for him to talk to...

I scrunched up my chin and looked at him. He looked back at me expectantly. Finally, I told him. "Look, I know it sucks and it may be a little weird, but Karly has experience with what you're dealing with, with Jess. She might be a good person to talk to about the problem..."

He looked at me with doubt, "I really don't want to talk to a stranger about my relationship problems..."

I shrugged, "I realize that, and I can sympathize with it... but you said Jess started freaking out about you going off to college. Karly has seen how that can play out..."

I realized suddenly that while Sep might be uncomfortable talking with Karly about it, Karly might not be comfortable sharing either...

Was I being an insensitive ass?

I searched her face...

She smiled at me, and gave me a short nod.

She is so fucking amazing! I thought.

She looked at Sep. "He's right. When Mike went off to school, I'd like to say that I never worried about it. I did though. I thought about it constantly." She looked down, haunted by her memories. I shouldn't have put her on this path... it was really insensitive of me to have done it...

"I thought I was in love with him... and when he was going to leave, I worried constantly. He was all I had, and I thought he would outgrow me, and that's exactly what he did..."

My heart ached for her... how could I have been so stupid to bring this up...?

I kissed my fingers and put them on her lips. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up..." I told her, anguish in my voice.

She smiled and kissed her fingers and held her hand out to put them on my lips. "It's okay. I have you now, and I realize that what I had with Mike wasn't love, it was just me being a stupid kid. You, you I love."

I looked at Sep's face in the darkening bus. He had a wry smile on his face. I could tell he was happy for me, but more importantly, I could tell that he was starting to understand his situation with Jess a lot better too...