People were wondering how one girl got to be so awesome at things so suddenly. Personally, I thought it had happened before that, and here's how it started. Enjoy!
Principal Wilhelms looked at the young girl in front of him with a sympathetic eye. Everything about her, from her shy posture to the clothes she wore, told him all that he needed to know about the situation. Here was a round peg in a town of square holes, a stranger in a strange land, somebody who doesn't understand the unwritten rules of the school. More than twenty years ago, he WAS this young girl, or at least in her spot. Most of the time he still felt that way.
Still, rules were rules, and he couldn't break them just for one student. Even if the student was giving him puppy dog eyes without even trying to. "Miss Horesen, I'm sorry, but I simply cannot allow you to not take gym. Exercise is important, after all."
It was the name, too. It was bad enough for whoever is up there to create such a freethinker in a town full of closeminded simpletons, but to give her a last name that sounded so close to 'whore' was pure cruelty. The poor girl probably had to deal with snickers and mutters of 'I already did her' allthroughout the school. Sometimes, Principal Wilhelms mused, it was a good thing that his mother kept her maiden name when it came to her children.
Miss Hor- the young girl shrank back in her seat, rubbing her arm in an almost guiltful manner, as though there was something wrong with going to your principal if you had any problems. "It's not the exercise that I have a problem with. It's… well… it's the locker room." The last part was said in a mutter, with her hair hanging into her face to hide the blush.
Oh, yes! The locker rooms, of course. It's what every misfit student despises most of all. Principal Wilhelms didn't want to be the latest in what was likely a long line of authority figures telling her that there's nothing to worry about. After all, it was only just being stuck in a room with people who hate you with no adult supervision and all of you either naked or only in your underwear! Nope, no problems at all!
In the back of his mind, Principal Wilhelms saw a wet towel being wringed out into almost a whip like shape. He resisted a shutter and turned his attention back to the girl.
"Well, why don't you ask your teacher if you can change in the bathroom?" He asked, but he already knew what the answer would be. If such a simple solution existed, why would she be here?
Just as he expected, she looked shyly away and said quietly that "I asked Coach Green, but…" She left it hanging there, but Principal Wilhelms understood what she meant.
Coach Green was positively draconian in his teaching style, still going by the survival of the fittest as a grading curve. His obvious bias against anyone he saw as 'unfit' and the preferential treatment towards the jocks and the prettier girls was practically criminal. In any other school, he would have been fired by now. In fact, Principal Wilhelm had warned him again and again, even putting him on probation several times. However, it seemed like the majority of the school either benefited from his two-system tyranny, or were too scared to speak up against him, and so, despite being the principal, he was unable to do anything to curb Coach Green's cruelty.
Of course, he couldn't actually say that to a student, so he forced himself to smile at the girl. "Well, what would you like me to do about this?" He asked, not really knowing what could be done in this situation, but feeling it necessary to ask in any case.
"Well… maybe I could transfer into a different gym class?" She didn't add 'one with a different coach', but he heard it nonetheless.
"I'm sorry, but the two week transfer process has ended already," Principal Wilhelms stated, not meeting the girl's eyes, "but I'm afraid it wouldn't matter. This is such a small school, we only have one coach." She probably would have known that simply by comparing schedules with her friends, but Principal Wilhelm doubted that she had any to speak with. He knew from years of experience, both as a student and as the principal, that this school was not kind to the outcasts.
"Oh…" she muttered, still rubbing her arm. Principal Wilhelms' heart broke to see that, but there wasn't really anything he could do. "Well… is there any way I can have some excuse not to take gym?"
"Not unless you have a note from the doctor about some sort of injury," Principal Wilhelms said. Much to his dismay, she seemed to be considering it. "Although frankly, I don't think Coach Green will accept that. He'd likely make you participate even if you were in a full body cast." He added quickly, before she could get any ideas about it. He would never want to encourage somebody to hurt themselves, not even to get away from such a teacher as Coach Green.
"So… there's nothing that can be done?" She asked, sounded like she was just on the verge of crying. "Nothing at all?"
"Well…" Normally, he wouldn't suggest this, but since she was so desperate for at least a chance… "There might be something you could do…"
She stood up so fast her chair toppled backwards. "What?! What is it?!" She slammed her hands on his desk and practically demanded to know. Then, as if she had just realized what she had done, she drew back, blushing slightly. "Sorry…"
Principal Wilhelms leaned back in surprise. "Oh, it's quite alright. Just gave the old bones a little shake, that's all." Really, she nearly gave him a heart attack, but she didn't need to know that. "Now, why don't you sit back down, and we can talk about it a bit more calmly, hmm?"
"Right…" She sheepishly picked her chair back up and sat back down, looking as shy and meek as she did right before her outburst. Considering how sweet and nice she had seemed before, Principal Wilhelm didn't want to think about how bad these last few weeks were for her, if her reaction was that severe. He was a lot more secure in his decision with that thought.
"I take it you know of the community center a few miles west of here?" He asked her, waiting for her nod before responding. "Well, they have a series of athletic programs. Gymnastics, archery… things of that ilk. And while the law states that you must take an athletic program… it doesn't have to be one from this school."
He was loathe to extinguish the light he saw in her eyes, but he had to warn her about the downsides of this arrangement. "Of course, you'd have to have your parents agree to pay for it, or else find some sort of job. You'll also have to meet with some a member of the school board, so it'd be obvious what you've learned enough to qualify. But… if you're willing to go through the paperwork, it could be shown as an experiment in dual enrollment schooling or some such posh. So… are you willing to give it a try?"
He got his answer, not in words, but with a gigantic hug as she practically launched herself over his desk to tackle him. "Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"You're very welcome, Miss Horesen." He manage to choke out after she loosened her grip. "Just making sure my students are comfortable in their surroundings."
She let go, and smiled shyly at him. "Oh, you can just call me Zoey."
Principal Wilhelms was surprised, but not unhappy, to find out that their 'test student' for the 'dual education program' was not only holding her own in her new gymnastics class, but also thriving. After gymnastics came archery, then kickboxing, then a class on wilderness survival skills (he wasn't exactly sure how that had counted, but he supposed the fitness experts knew best), all of which had the school board members impressed beyond belief.
He was equally surprised, but no less happy, to receive an email from her two years after the event, asking him to 'watch Total Drama, ;)'. He did, not entirely sure why she wanted him to watch such an infuriatedly inane reality show, but he got his answer after the first few minutes once he saw that particular shade of red enter the screen.
"Well, Zoey," he said to the image on the screen, not expecting any answer, "I hope you'll put those new skills of yours to the test."
Needless to say, she did not disappoint.