Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
29 Published 03.24.2020

•••

JAMES

"Ladies, please run like you mean it. My grandma could run faster than you and she's 65. Mind you, she had knee surgery a year ago." Coach Carson yells from the bleachers.

As soon as he says that, the majority of us start to run faster.

The results for tryouts were announced yesterday. And since then, everyone who got accepted into a team has to receive training starting today.

Not only that, but we also have to start watching our diets. So basically, twice a month we are allowed to eat whatever we want. Other than that, we have to watch what we eat.

"Hurry up! Pretend the floor is made of lava." He yells once again.

Panting hard, I push myself to run faster.

School ended probably half an hour ago, and since then, everyone has been running around the track field, nonstop.

"Don't complain, I need you to build muscle." The other coach whose name I've just learned, Coach David says as he stands in the middle of the field.

Sweat runs down my face and I shake my head to get rid of it.

"Mate! Adri, wait for me." I turn to my side to see Vincent. His cheeks are pink from the run.

"Where are the other ones?" I ask as we run in sync.

"Ethan and Nicolas were with me a few minutes ago, but I increased my speed to catch up with you." He explains in the midst of panting.

Neither of us say anything after that as we reach the finish line. Once we cross the line, Coach Carson blows his whistle.

As he starts to clap, he says. "Take a break everyone."

As soon as he says that, I let myself drop on the grass while my heart races rapidly from the adrenaline rush.

It was a sunny day today, the sun beaming down on me as I'm forced to place a hand over my eyes.

My muscles relax as they rest from the burnout.

"James! Vince!" I open my eyes and turn my head to see Nathan jogging our way.

His t-shirt is damp, most likely from sweat.

As he reaches our side and stands there, he hands us a water bottle each.

"Thank you," I take it from him and proceed to take a deep gulp.

"Thanks, mate," Vince says.

"No problem." He says and moves to sit on the grass, his palms pressed against the ground on either side of him. "The other guys are sitting on the bleachers. And judging by their state, I doubt they are coming here." He laughs loudly.

"I don't blame them. It's been a while since I ran like that." Vince says rolling his shoulder backward.

I sit up from the grass and stretch my limbs.

"That's enough free time. Let's get back to work, we need you in your best shape." Coach Phillips says pulling up the students by their hands.

"Yeah! Show my grandma that you kids are actually good for something." Coach Carson yells once more.

"He must be fond of his grandma," Vince says.

"Oh, he is." Nathan laughs. "She's an interesting lady." His eyes focus o the horizon as he recalls a memory.

"Have you met her?" I look up at him.

"Oh yeah," Nathan looks back to Coach Carson. "Remind me to tell you guys about her."

Pushing myself off the ground, I grab the water bottle.

There is a girl walking around with a bag taking all the plastic bottles. So when the girl comes our way, I hand her the plastic bottle.

I stretch again, getting ready for the next workout.

"Listen up, for the next fifteen minutes you will be doing sit-ups." One of the coaches says as he writes down something on his clipboard.

"And do not slack off!" Mr. Carson yells.

With a chuckle, I get into position.

"Here goes nothing," I mumble.

•••

Stepping out of the locker room, I walk to the school's parking lot.

Even though the school ends at three, the training lasted for two hours.

And when I left the locker room, it was still filled with other students.

Locks of damp hair fall over my forehead as a curtain as the sun beams against it.

Grabbing my duffel bag, I unlock the car and place it in the back seat. Closing the door, I get inside the driver's seat.

I grab my phone to check the time.

05:23 p.m.

Still no message of her.

I was hoping that by the time I finished my shower, I would see a message of her, but I was wrong.

My nickname for her was nowhere on the screen.

For some reason that made me sad.

But I decide to do it myself.

Putting on my seatbelt, I connect the phone to the car's Bluetooth and turn on the car.

As the phone rings, I begin to drive away from the school's parking lot.

"Stranger?" I hear the surprised tone as her voice resonates in the car.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" I ask.

Waiting for her to respond, I press my blinker and make a turn on the road.

"I didn't think you would want to talk to me after yesterday. You told me you were upset with me, so I wanted to give you some space to be upset with me." The girl explains.

I feel my face soften at her answer.

"Baby, don't do that. I may be upset, but I still care about you, You're still my Princess Fiona. So don't feel the need to give me some space? Okay?"

"Are you sure?" She asks quietly.

Stopping at a red light, I respond. "I'm sure, princess."

"Oh ok," She says and I frown.

"Princess, are you getting shy with me?" I ask, a teasing smile on my lips.

"It's just that I keep thinking about how I hurt you and I feel guilty."

I groan loudly at her answer.

"Baby, why are you so cute?" I ask her.

Somehow knowing that she felt guilty for hurting me and that she tried to give me space made my anger towards her dissipate slowly.

I couldn't be mad at her knowing that she cared about me enough to give me space.

"What?" The girl questions.

"Nothing, babe. Guess what?"

She hums in response.

"I'm no longer mad at you?" I tell her.

"But you just said- you're confusing."

No, you're confusing.

"I know, but I decided that I'm no longer mad at you," I say.

"Okay, but you said it! Don't forget that you're no longer mad at me." She exclaims and I smile in relief.

"That's my girl." I chuckle.

The line stays silent and for a second I think she hung up. But I'm wrong when I hear her nag.

"Of course I'm your girl. Who else would I be?"

"You're right." I nod.

"James," She suddenly says and I glance at the phone for a second before bringing my attention to the front of the car.

"Yeah." I raise a brow.

"Oh, nothing. I was just saying your name. I can't believe I never thought of that."

"I'm not surprised, you did say you have a brain the size of a pea. I'm sure not much could fit in there." I laugh.

Parking the car, I turn it off after disconnecting the call from the car's Bluetooth.

"Hey! Stop dissing my brain. What about you, are you smart, Mr. James?" She taunts as I step out of the car.

Bringing the phone near my ear, I push my hair back. "Well, I don't want to show-off, but I happen to be quite the intellectual. Just a tad bit, though."

"Hmm," The girl hums. "An intellectual. That's a huge plus. Tell me more!"

Biting my lip, I take my duffel bag out of the car.

"But, babe. It isn't fair to tell you about me if you don't tell me anything about you."

"Ooh, you're right. Nevermind, don't tell me." She suddenly says and I deadpan.

She didn't understand me.

"No! Princess, you're supposed to tell me something about you. Listen, let's get to know each other. If you plan on marrying me, then I would like to know some things about you."

"Umm, okay. But you first." She agrees.

I grin at my accomplishment.

Opening the front door, I step inside the house.

Guessing by the lack of cars, I would say that no one is home yet.

As I think over what to say, I walk upstairs to my room.

"Let's see, I play sports. And not to brag but I have a great body. Abs and all, just to give you a mental image for that little mind of yours."

"Woah, did I hit jackpot?" The girl's voice grows in excitement.

"And then there is my face, I was blessed by the wonderful genes of my family. So practically, good beauty runs in my blood. But of course, beauty isn't everything."

"I'll ignore your cockiness for now. But please don't tell me you're one of those guys that are insanely good looking and all the girls are after you?" She says and I open the door to my room.

Heading straight for my bed, I place the bag beside it and crawl inside the bed.

"Why? You're afraid of some girls?"

I close my eyes as I try to imagine this sarcastic girl arguing with some girls about me, but I find it hard to do so.

"That too, but I honestly would prefer if you weren't such a handsome guy."

I frown at this.

"Why?"

"The good looking guys are always mean." Her voice quivers as the tone in her voice changes. She sounded almost afraid.

"What do you mean? Have you had any bad experiences with guys?" I stand up from the bed, focusing on her next words.

She hesitates. "No."

I sigh.

But I decide to leave her alone.

"Ignore me, I'm speaking nonsense." She says. "But hey, if you're good looking, I can't blame you for that. It's in your blood. In a sense, it benefits me. Our kids will be good looking because of you." She says.

"What about you?" I ask.

"Me, I'm not good looking?"

Chuckling, I repeat her words. "Good looking?"

"Yeah, I'm not good looking."

"Princess, I don't need to see you to know that you're pretty. Plus, with a voice like that, the owner is bound to be pretty." I tell her.

I wish I could see the girl behind this sarcastic attitude, but I know that she wouldn't let me see her. Not right now, at least.

"You're weird." She says.

"It's because I've been talking to you," I tell her and she scoffs. "Hey, tell me something about you."

"Okay, okay. Umm, I have light brown hair. You?"

As she says that, I try to picture this strange girl, with a voice so soft and brown eyes and hair. It wasn't easy, creating a mental image, but that's all I could do.

Perhaps I should try to sketch her.

Changing the phone to speaker, I place it on top of my chest. "Same, I have light brown hair mixed with hints of gold.

"Yep, definitely a ladies man." She whistles under her breath.

"Princess, as much as i want to continue talking to you, I have to go now because I have to study. I expect a call from you tomorrow. Do not leave me hanging."

"I won't, Stranger."

"Take care, love." I Smile,

"Bye, husband!"

With that, she ends the call.

•••

I let go of the pen and it lands on the desk.

What she said had been lingering on my mind.

It's not the first time she says things like that.

I've noticed the way she puts down herself.

The things she says about herself.

The phone call.

I've noticed it all.

And today she told me about her fear towards certain guys.

All the clues are there. Something is wrong and I wanted to what.

And she doesn't want to tell me anything.

But I've never been the one to give up easily.

Whatever is wrong, I will find out.

○○○

My darlings! Are you doing well?

I hope you are.

I'm sending you love from behind my computer.

I'm honestly surprised that I'm publishing this chapter on time, I'm so sleepy that I just want to go to sleep, but I decided to push myself until I had this chapter done.

Good thing you can't see me, otherwise you would see me yawning like every two minutes.

This is what I get for binge-watching shows so late at night.

But like, how can you not?

Goodnight, for those who will be sleeping soon.

Do not forget to count your sheeps.