Scarred Knees

five.

Five.

[Daniel]

My worn-out lungs gasped for air, as I sprinted across the hallowed gym hall for the last time. My legs weakened with every step I took but I managed to keep up with my decelerating stamina. Sweat gathered and dripped, slickly from my forehead as I raised my hands to wipe it carefully. Looking forward, I could bluntly see and hear cheers echoing through the gymnasium, bystanders rooting for a win.

This is merely what warm ups consisted of in our forth period class- gym. Our coach made it his life mission, to challenge and drag us out of our comfort soon. Many gave up with health class the first week of school; the rest tried struggling throughout the years with heavy nausea. Not everyone could keep up with his heavy-duty sprints or staunching exercises. Coach Clark had his own way of teaching; he tried empowering people against their weaknesses. Or maybe he just tried impressing youthful girls that drooled as he walked past. He was fairly a bulked man, who was very pleased with his frame.

My eyes flickered towards the female crowd as the coach asked us to gather around. I gave Kyle a hand, as I pulled him off the ground- both of us sprinted towards the crowd. As Coach Clark babbled about the lacrosse season, my eyes wandered off, gawking at everyone who tried their best keeping up with his ranting. My gaze fell on someone quiet, someone petite and beautiful- the girl from the cafeteria. She looked back and forth between the coach and the other girls, definitely feeling defeated in her own skin. Her hair was pulled back as she played with loose strands in between her fingers. She bit on her lower lip as she constantly tried gazing at someone in front. My eyes followed hers and I come to see an overly excited Cassie, smiling widely at the coach. I practically rolled my eyes at Cassie's foolishness; she always had a thing for him. I stared back at the naïve girl, and my heart trembled as I saw her eyes swell up. She gently rolled her head up and I, nervously, shifted myself towards a bored Kyle.

"Hey man, what's her name?" I asked Kyle quietly, pulling him out of his retrieve.

"Whose?" He shot back, as I nodded towards the unknown girl.

"Oh her? I think her name's Serena. She's in my math class, why?"

Serena? It was such an exotic name for a beautiful girl. Of course her name had to meet up with her expectation. And it suited her just right, flawlessly and impeccably.

Serena. I recalled her name inaudibly. It felt strange coming from my mouth, and I could definitely feel myself brightening up with just the thought of her name.

I shook my head, as Kyle gestured me to answer. "No reason, just curious." I added, as Kyle raised an eyebrow at me. He surely knew that something was up, because I had never wondered about a girl before. Their name was probably the least-to-know in my care list. Though, he let it slip by. But I knew better, he would certainly beat it out of me if I ever so raised suspicion next time.

Pacing out of the gym, I pushed open the doors to the changing room. I slid back into my day clothes, as I fumed myself with deodorant. My teammates patted my shoulder as they congratulated me for the day. I did pretty well in class today, I guess. I was good at sports; there was no shocker to that. But it all balanced out with my struggle with academic subjects like English. I couldn't write for sh*t. And I strongly disliked reading. In fact, I hated it.

Taking advantage of the friendly sun, we changed our daily gathering. We scattered outside instead of the cafeteria, in the courtyard as many people crowded around us. Cassie was nowhere to be seen, which happened to be a good improvement. But I knew, this wouldn't be for long. She probably went to shag someone else. I knew that I wasn't the only guy she was having fun with. It didn't matter to me, because she wasn't the only girl I was sleeping with either.

"Hey, did you hear about the pool party this weekend?" A red head, named Summer, yelled as she took a seat in front of me. She was a good friend of mine; we had been friends since we were toddlers. She knew about my past just like Kyle did, and she respected my views on not sharing them. As much it affected me, it impacted her too. She grew up with my family. She practically was a sister to me, and I so dearly cared about her.

I shook my head, as she dropped a flyer in front of me. "Another council party? It's probably going to be shit." I say sternly. I hated school parties. They were more like torture. People getting drunk on cheap beer and then getting turned down by the cops- not my greatest adventure.

"Oh come on! We should go. It's going to be fun!" She pouted, as her eyelashes fluttered together, putting her green eyes on full display.

"Summy, it's probably going to be lame like the bonfire party last week. The cops fucki.ing show up every single time." Kyle added, as I nodded, totally agreeing on this matter.

"But you guys know I have to go! I'm trying to run for the body president next year, I have to show up or they wont even consider me. I'm going either way, with or without you guys." She replied grimly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Now this was the thing about Summer, she knew very well that I wasn't going to let her go to a underage party all alone. I didn't want any stupid horny teenager to gawk at her or touch her. She needed to have at least one of us with her, Kyle or me. And if I were to go, Kyle would most likely hop on along. And plus, another boring party wasn't going to cause any trouble, was it? Maybe I should give it a try. If it did get tedious, I would force Summer back home.

"Fine. But we get home as soon as it gets dull. Deal?" I asked.

She nodded, jumping on her feet before pulling me into a tight hug, "Yes, yes, I love you."

"What about me?" Kyle argued, and I rolled my eyes.

"And you too." She added, wrapping her arms around Kyle.

I looked to my left unknowingly, as Summer told Kyle about her girly outfit ideas for the party- surely not my area of interest. My eyes landed on Serena who sat beneath a tree branch, as I bit on to my lower lip. She tugged at her already baggy jeans as she stared at the paper in front of her. She slowly turned her head up, our eyes meeting momentary before she quickly pulsed away. She flushed red as she bit on her nails. I chuckled at her naïve characteristic, whilst shaking my head. Maybe, she was going to be at the party too. And maybe, I would get the chance to talk to her, I thought.

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written by @babiedoll13