Chapter 7 Skill over Size
After the craziness of lunch, my fourth and fifth periods were extra boring. I could not stop thinking about what happened at lunch. Letting my competitive drive take over was dumb of me. Thankfully, I had a free period with Cindy. That may help me stop beating myself up over the whole thing. Bartise never told me who his ex-best friend was. That was okay, after Ezra kicked my chair out from under me, I was not in the mood for romantic crushes and friendship drama. I just wanted to crush the Jerks in LOTLAS and prove myself. Hopefully, it will make them back off. I get to my locker, and Cindy is already waiting for me.
"Where do you want to go?" She asked me.
"Where can we go?" I ask.
"We can go to the library or the field near the training area for LOTLAS. There is a pretty cool spot at this huge tree to sit under as long as other people have not already taken it over," she said.
"I feel like I have been stuck in this stuffy building for what feels like forever. I would love to go outside, so please lead the way!" I smiled brightly at her, then we were off.
We got out to the field before anyone else came out for their free break, so we got a nice spot under the tree. There weren't many other teens outside with us. Some played with a hacky sack, and others just found spots with their friends to sit and chat. We had the best spot, hands down, but this area had many other lovely places to hang out and unwind from being inside all day.
Cindy did most of the chatting. I swear she could find anything to talk about and could talk about it for what seemed like forever on some topics. Some of the things I didn't care much about, but others were pretty cool to hear about. She opened up a little about her transition from male to female and the hardships she had to endure. Most people were cool about it and did not care. Others were cruel, like all the friends she had before she transitioned. It made me feel so sad to hear. I could never imagine going through that. I am doing the opposite for now, hiding all the things that made me, me. She is now getting to show the world who she is. One day I will be able to do that and be free from my parents.
"So do you think you will be able to get a phone sometime soon?" Cindy asked.
"Eh, I will have to buy one myself. I would not even know where to begin to get one." I replied honestly.
"Will your parents put you on their plan if they do?" she asked.
"That is not possible. I would have to get my own plan." I said, shrugging and closing my eyes. I hoped it played off as no big deal.
"Aww, why not? Are they really that Strick?" she asked innocently. I felt guilty for not being able to tell her the truth. Especially where she has shared so much of her past and her truth, I just can't, not yet, if ever.
"Honestly, my parents are a tough subject for me to talk about... we do not really get along, so I do not go to them for anything... can we talk about something else?" I asked, and the hurt in her eyes at my not going any further showed, but there was understanding on her face, too. Maybe she understood with everything that she has gone through, that it was not easy for me to open up about, but there was a chance I would when I was ready. For that thought, I smiled at my first friend. A light bulb went off. "After school, maybe we can go phone shopping, and you can help me pick something out?" I asked hopefully. I had the money. I just never had the need for one.
"Oh wow! That sounds like a great idea! I will text my mom, so she does not have to worry about me not coming home right away," she said with pure joy written all over her face. I think she was just as happy to have a friend who accepted her. All of her like I did.
"We need something to do to celebrate me getting the top spot in LOTLAS" I smiled with fierce determination.
The free period was over when Cindy and I got up. She told me I needed to change into the special LOTLAS uniform that was made to protect us while we trained, so she wanted to walk me over to the changing room so I would not be late. That is where she left me, she said something bad happened in the girl's locker room last year when she came out. That was one of the reasons she only used the bathroom at the nurses office. So she did not want to walk in with me, plus she had to get to her last class. I thanked her for her help and walking me all the way over here with me. We agreed to meet at my lockers at the end of the day to go find me a phone. I waved at her as she walked away. When she was out of sight, I walked into the locker room. There were already some girls in there getting ready. I found the locker labeled "Hawks." I opened it up and grabbed the lock and my uniform. I quickly memorized the combo and shredded the paper out of habit.
"Well, that was dumb." A tall girl behind me said.
"Oh? Why do you say that? Did you see your reflection in the mirror?" I retorted as I took my clothes off and locked the locker before putting my uniform on. I did not like her attitude. I got the vibe of mean girl from her.
"Oh, well look at that girls. We got one with a cocky attitude who doesn’t know her place," the tall girl was not just tall, she was built like a linebacker. Looking around me, a lot of the girls around me are built with five times the amount of muscle. I never needed brute strength to complete missions. I was trained how to deal with those who were built bigger than me. It is like the saying goes 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall.' They had a good foot on me. I would guess the average height of these girls was six foot two inches. I sat at a short five foot two. The tall girl who I would guess was the leader of some sort to the rest of these girls was easily standing over me at six foot five.
"Oh, I got attitude, but it is not all I have..." I stepped forward. Squaring off with the leader. Showing her I wasn't intimidated by her or her friends. "I have skill, more skill than you combined." I sneered at her. Now that I was really looking at her. I think she was one of the girls who really tormented Cindy.
"What did you say?” She stood over me, trying to make me back down again. I have dealt with people like that. Give them an inch, and they take a mile. I did not flinch.
“I am positive you heard me, but I will repeat it.” I finished putting on the last part of the uniform, and I stepped up on the bench that was the only thing between us. Now I was looking down on her. “I have more skill than you and your groupies.” I pointed a finger at her chest. As soon as I did, I saw the anger flash in her eyes, and she went to attack me. The moment she moved toward me. I was already pinning her down on the bench and applying pressure in the right spots so she couldn't toss me off. Good to know she was a hot head and acted before thinking things through. Just as I got her pinned, and I was about to say I told you so. A female coach came.
“Let’s go, ladies... What in the world is going on here?” She asked, stunned at the pinned position I had the tall girl in.
I smiled innocently at her. “Oh, I was showing my new friend a great way to stretch with the help of someone else.” I got off the tall girl, and I looked at her. Waiting to see if she agrees or tossed me under the bus.
“Yeah...” she gritted her teeth. “I am all stretched out and ready for tryouts.”
“Alright...” not sounding at all convinced. “Let’s go, we all know how Mr. Griffen feels about being late.” And walks out. The tall girl stares me down as her friends close up their lockers and slowly file out of the locker room.
“You are dead meat little girl.” The tall girl practically growls at me.
I laugh in her face at her threat. “I would love to see you try.”