Just Try It

Chapter 28- Hard Practices

Tuesday, February 14th 3:35pm

Lincoln High School Girl's Locker Room

After school, Sondra slipped into the locker room and began to change quickly in hopes no one notices that she was late. Her face is hot, and she knew it was bright red under the layers of makeup, from her argument with Moe. Just as she had predicted, as soon as classes ended Moe had cornered her for answers. Unable to lie to him, she had admitted that her mom had slapped her for refusing to drain her college account to bail out her new step-dad. Moe had immediately stopped them from continuing on to practice while his violet eyes searched her face. His piercing gaze had locked on the spot that she knew was almost invisible thanks to heavy pancake makeup. He had demanded answers even as he asked unceasing questions. When he finally slowed down, she hadn't answered any questions, but she had asked, "Why do you think YOU should be the one to deal with this?"

That had shut him up. His mouth had opened and closed his mouth several times before declaring, "I'm your friend, and it's my job to take care of you."

Even as she had shoved her disappointment to the side, she insisted, "I know you care, but you are not in charge of protecting me.  Grandma knows what happened and she will help me figure out what to do, not you."

Before he could recover and argue again, she had hurried to practice and hoped she wasn't too late. By the time she got to the locker room most of the girls had already changed, and she had been sure that Susie and Nancy would be yelling at her. Even riding the adrenaline rush, Sondra had been relieved to hear Susie and Nancy talking on the other side of the lockers.

Nancy was saying, You shouldn't blame Malcolm like that. It isn't something a good girlfriend would do. He just said the truth. You brought it on yourself, but three days seems like a lot. Jamie only had a half day in school suspension for the same thing. Someone must have talked to Ms. Miller before you got there. You said someone came out of the office when you went in, and she was around when you were with Malcolm. If you saw her, then she probably saw you. You have seen how much she is around the office. She has to be a total snitch. My guess is that she went straight to the office to make you look like a slut. Think of how much she had to run at practice. She would like it if you weren't around for a few more days. She is the real reason that you were suspended for so long.

Sondra wondered who they were talking about. There hadn't been anyone else in the office except for her. Risking a peek between the lockers, she saw Susie narrow her eyes as Nancy talked. Slowly Susie added thoughtfully, "Malcolm said it was a family matter. If she really is part of Malcolm's family, then she probably would have tried to paint him as innocent while blaming me."

Susie's frown deepened as she growled, "I just need to figure out how to get back at her."

"I'm the one that makes the plans," Nancy argued.

"Your last plan didnt work out so well. It ended with your brother being sent away," Susie blurted out  as she headed for the door.

Even as Sondra quickly finished getting ready, she heard Nancy growl lowly and mutter, "Susie needs a reminder of what I can do. No one questions me like that. I think I 'll talk to Malcolm tonight."

As Nancy stalked out, Sondra made sure to stay out of sight. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she was sure there was going to be trouble for someone. Having them know she had heard them talking seemed like a bad idea. To avoid trouble, Sondra unobtrusively slipped out of the locker room and joined the others before they could notice she was still in the locker room. Luckily, Susie and Nancy were too busy glaring at each other to notice her.

Before Sondra could even great her friends, Susie turned with a glare and commanded, "Today we get in shape. Everyone needs to run."

"How much?" asked one Freshman nervously.

"Until I tell you to stop," answered Susie with an evil smile.

On the guys' court, Moe was also running. One good thing about running was that it gave him time to think of everything he had done wrong. When he had heard about Sondra being hit by her mom it had pushed some sort of button inside. He hadn't felt that helpless since he had been eight years old. The helplessness had turned to an anger so powerful that it had scared even him. No way could he let Sondra see that side of him.

He didn't even remember getting changed and joining the team.  Holding himself in check had taken all his attention. Once it had started he had been sure that he could channel the feelings somehow. However, it must have been obvious that something was wrong by the way he had pushed himself like a crazy man. Maybe he was crazy. After all, when Terrance had told him to take it easy, Moe had yelled at him for his concern. Terrance had glared at him, but he had backed off when the coach had stepped in.

She seemed to understand what Moe was going through. She didn't even try to scold him. Instead, she had suggested that he run laps until he could show some respect.

It had taken most of practice, but it had finally worked. The driving anger was back under control. Yeah, his whole body ached from the strain, but he had been hurt enough in the past to know he would be fine tomorrow.

As Moe stumbled to a stop near the water fountains, he wondered if he would be able to drink any water without throwing up. Drenched with sweat, he needed to rehydrate. Moe held himself back a little longer as he tried to slow down his racing heart just a little. Only when his body swayed did Moe realize how close he was to collapsing. He had no intention of letting his body betray him. Defiantly, he braced his hands on his knees and picked a single spot on the ground to stare at until his balance returned.

A shadow approached the spot he was staring at as he tried to regain enough control of his body to stand up and continue on to the water fountain. Moe gradually realized that the shadow was attached to some feet. It took a couple of minutes, but Moe was finally able to let his eyes follow the feet up past the shorts, past the Under-Armour shirt, and all the way to Terrance's scowling face.

Terrance quietly watched him struggle to stand up straight before asking coldly, "Did you work it out of your system?"

Moe gave a nod as he finally managed to stand up straight and guessed, "I suppose you want an apology."

To Moe's surprise, Terrance shrugged and answered, "Nah. You look like you punished yourself already. Besides, I get it. Something was bothering you."

As Moe's jaw dropped, Terrance chuckled and asked, "What? How do you think I gained all my muscles? When something bothers me too much, I work out until I can handle things again."

Moe grinned, but said, "Thanks for understanding. Still sorry I snapped at you. It had nothing to do with you."

Terrance smiled and slapped Moe on the shoulder. At Moe's groan and stumble, Terrance's smile widened and he answered, "No problem. Just don't let it happen again," before he walked back to his own practice.

Moe chuckled as he straightened up again. This time he headed for the water fountain. It was good to have friends who cared and understood, but sometimes it was still painful. Moe sucked down water even as he ruefully realized the same could be same could be said about his relationship with Sondra. A glance over his shoulder had him wondering what dwelled on Terrance's mind enough to cause him to exercise enough to build up such large muscles.

Anybody exercise away their frustration? I have heard of this method of dealing with stress, but can't honestly say that I use this method. Let me know what you think. I would definitely appreciate your ideas. If you are too busy, please consider tapping the star to vote if you like this chapter. If you don't want to do that, I hope you at least keep reading. Thank you all.