With a Partner

Part 2

    Nicole was throwing kicks at the punching bag as though it had personally offended her. Small flakes of fluff littered the floor around her feet, leaking from the stitches in the canvas. Small drops of sweat mixed around the dust, her red hair sticking to the back of her neck. When she jumped and kicked, her feet cleared the floor by at least a foot. The impact made the mirrors on the walls shudder with a tremendous rattling sound.

Nicole's legs burned as though the muscles themselves had been set on fire. Her frustrations disappeared and became null as she worked to knock the bag off of the hook and even across the room. People didn't understand why she loved this so much or where any of the fun came in. This wasn't the fun part. This was the therapy part.

This was when Nicole put all of her anger and her hurts and her melancholy into demolishing this inanimate object. It had been a hard day at work and then a second hard day at home. Now that she was finally here, in her safe space, Nicole planned to push herself all of the way to the very edge. Her legs would give out underneath her eventually and maybe then everything would finally feel somewhat okay again.

"Uhm, Ms. Haught?" Waverly, the camp counselor asked. Her eyes betrayed her concern as she leaned against the doorframe. "You are acting like that punching bag kicked your puppy or something."

Nicole had already been mid-jump, her leg snapping out into a roundhouse kick when she caught a glimpse of Waverly in the doorway. Without pause, she dropped like a stone out of the air and hit the floor with a smack. All of the air left her lungs in a rush, almost painfully. It was gone once more when Waverly's face appeared above her. The girl really needed some kind of dimmer switch for her eyes and/or her smile when she looked at Nicole.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Waverly asked her voice surprised and concerned. "That looked like a pretty hard hit there."

"I'm fine." Nicole growled lowly, pushing herself up to her feet and ignoring the hand Waverly offered. "It's just an addition to an already truly shitty day."

"I'm so sorry if I surprised you somehow or... I'm just sorry you're having such a crappy day. Can I help, somehow?" Waverly asked and she was just so sweet Nicole had no idea what to do or say.

"I don't think there's anything you can do, Coach." Nicole's voice was tired and maybe even a little sad. "I just come in on the off days sometimes to work through the bad days. Sorry, if it bothered you guys."

"No, I just saw the look on your face and heard you shaking the room. Though maybe you could use someone to talk to or even just sit with you for a while and I was already off for the day." Waverly said with a small smile. She had the kindest eyes Nicole had ever seen.

"You can sit with me if you want, but I can't promise you that it would be at all entertaining." Nicole chuckled darkly. "Unless that's the sort of thing you're into, Coach."

Nicole's tone was teasing but Waverly agreed wholeheartedly... and it felt like a punch in the gut. There was a twinkle in those eyes that suggested she might know it too. Waverly swallowed hard when she caught her gaze again. She sat down on the weight bench wordlessly and gestured back to the classroom. Nicole grinned and flipped herself up to her feet once more. It was plain that she was showing off, but neither of them gave any indication that they cared, Nicole's music still playing in the background.