Opportunity Lost
Inspired by the poem "A Charm Invests Face" by Emily Browning
I continued to run. My heart was pounding in exhaustion and my body was slowing down in protest against this horrible torture. I looked around me and felt my stomach twinge at the sight. There were boys, my age lying around the floor, bruised and battered. I crashed onto the floor and sighed in defeat.
I heard the coach's booming voice surround the gym as he told us to finish up and hit the showers. Some of my friends helped me up, and as a team we staggered towards the light. My dad would have been proud of my first training session. There are just some things that you can't talk to you mum about. For example sport or … dating.
The steaming, scorching water did miracles for my aching muscles and when I stumbled out of the tiny shower I felt rejuvenated and ready to face the rest of the day.
We walked up to the end of the walkway. I had always thought it was more of a red carpet than a walkway. If you came late or arrived after everyone had congregated around the edge of the hall you became the centre of attention. You were judged on your clothes, your appearance and most of all, who you arrived with and who you didn't. I don't think I will ever get used to the staring that surrounded the 'cool list'.
I watched on as my mates spread out to their other friends and girlfriends and eventually found myself standing in the middle of the hall by myself. I shuffled out of the centre and strolled the rest of the way towards my locker.
Being a 'jock', as I was now being labeled, isn't as easy as everyone seemed to think. The girls all want to be with you, not because they like you but because of your status and the guys all want to be you. This may sound like every high school boy's dream, but this doesn't fit comfortably with me just yet. Everything you do is watched and if you happen to do one thing wrong, then there is a long way to fall.
The loud, obnoxious ringing pulled me out of my thoughts and back to reality. On my way to class almost every person interrupted my path with a chat or a handshake and even the occasional high five. I sauntered into the classroom and made my way to the spare seat at the back, avoiding the teacher's glare and terrifying questioning about why I was late.
As I sat in my first class I felt my focus roam, as it often did. My eyes wandered around the room and eventually landed on the girl in front of me. When she flicked her hair I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I have never been good at expressing my feelings, especially when it comes to girls.
I couldn't even count the number of times I had sat behind her and wondered what it would be like to reach out and feel her soft snowy skin or twirl the golden locks between my fingers. Her eyes, however, were the most entrancing thing about her. Mixtures of blue and green were plaited in a complicated way around the dark centre; they sparkled with emotion.
I knew my concentration would be lost after my first thought of her, and I wasn't disappointed. My whole body would shiver with every thought of her, and my heart would speed to the point of hyperventilating every time I looked at her beautiful figure.
The lesson came to an end, much to my frustration. I hadn't started, let alone finished anything in the whole seventy minutes I had spent dreaming. But most of all, my irritation was due to the fact that the most perfect thing in the whole world wouldn't be there for my viewing pleasure through the next class.
I watched as she collected her books and went to stand with her friends. The tallest of whom was the head of the group and went out of her way to embarrass me. She was also known as my sister and was yet another obstacle to my course.
I watched as the girls strutted out of the classroom and continued up the hall. I followed cautiously and almost tripped over my feet when I saw her look around her shoulder and smile. My heart almost jumped out of my chest and my knees began giving way at the sight. I felt my lips tugging at both sides in return and waved stupidly.
She stopped and looked directly at me, her friends, noticing this, also paused in their places. My sister looked at me and grinned wickedly. She whispered something in the other girl's ear and then I saw the blood rush to her cheeks. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen and would have been perfect had my sister not been standing in the middle of it.
With one last wave to me, the group strutted off in the opposite direction, using the hall as their cat walk. I tried to imagine the scene without my sister in it, before reluctantly proceeding down the long stretch to my next class. I could almost hear the funeral march.
The rest of the day went by slowly and as I had been late to every class so far I hurried to my last, knowing that the one person I had been longing to see, was going to be there. I quickened my pace to almost a run in anticipation.
Arriving at the door, I casually walked in not wanting to seem too eager. I took my seat and felt a pair of eyes looking at me. I glanced around the room and found the pools of sea green staring at me. I could look at her for hours and never get bored; there were so many wonderful things to look at. I broke away from her glance only to listen to the teacher. She said something about group work and I felt my body tense in anticipation. What would happen if we got paired together? I heard my name "Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez". My heart leapt with joy as realisation began to sink in.
My body began to shake and I could feel my heart stop as joy quickly became nerves. We moved together and I felt my hands go sweaty being so close to her. I am going to do it today, I told myself. I can no longer put it off. I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times trying to prepare myself. I heard her giggle slightly next to me and felt my cheeks flush red.
"Troy, what are you trying to say?" She said.
I sighed there is no way I can do it. I knew I had to but I just couldn't. "Well, I was wondering …" I felt my voice become thinner and my heart literally stopped. I looked over at her and her eyes were shining with what I would like to be hope. I sighed in regret, I couldn't do it. "… Wondering whether you could help me with my algebra?" she looked disappointed and I'm sure I did too.
My heart sunk, what kind of sports star was scared of a girl? The rest of the class filed out of the room leaving me, standing there, like an idiot. Damn it! I swore as I kicked a desk.
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