Chapter Two

Bella's Point Of View

"A Gym Class?"

Alice's voice rang off in confusion as she stared at me. However, behind the confusion, she was a bit excited. I shrugged my shoulders lightly and gave her a half smile, understanding her, only a bit.

"I know." I let a hearty laugh escape from my chest as I saw her shock.

Did I look like that too when I first learned about the gym class? I questioned to myself silently, but I let the thought go in a shrug. I placed my hands on my wheelchair and glanced back at Jake. I gave him a soft smile before nodding my head softly. "I'm okay for now if you want to stop pushing me."

Jake shrugged softly and began to walk next to me for a moment. One thing that bugged me about Jake, though I knew it was unavoidable, is his lack of expressing emotions. "I'm going to go." Jake said simply, and without another word he left. There was no explaining on where he was going or what he was going to do. He was just gone.

"Bye?" I said silently to Jake's leaving back.

Alice watched Jake leave for a minute before continuing to talk to me about gym. "Why is there a gym class?" Alice asked curiously with joy.

I clasped my hands tightly against the wheels of my wheelchair and began to roll down the hall next to her, thinking. "I don't know..." I said softly, "It seems kind've - pointless, doesn't it?"

Alice stopped walking abruptly, which caused me to jerk on my wheelchair. I frowned softly and rolled my wheelchair around to be directly in front of her. I hesitantly opened my mouth and watched the blonde. "What's wrong..?"

"Pointless?" The short girl exclaimed and threw her arms in the air. "I haven't been in a gym class for ages, if -" Alice continued to ramble on and on about how amazing it was to be in a gym class, and honestly? I was amazed. How could anyone, even a normal abled person, love this class? It's gym. Gym.

When my mind finally came back into focus on what Alice was saying- I realized I couldn't understand her. She was speaking too fast to understand, on top of her slurring making it more difficult to comprehend. Over time, I might get the hang of how she talks.

I smirked at Alice's excitement over gym. What did she see in it, anyway? Instead of remaining silent, I decided to ask. "Alice, why do you love Gym?" I asked, running my hand over the wheel on my chair. It was a habit that I'd gotten myself in. It's similar to people bouncing their leg, but I can't exactly do that since it's immobile.

"Why..." She said slowly, staring at me. "Well, I've never been in one before.." She said slowly, kicking at the tile floor. "I've only ever seen it on TV, I'd really like to know what it's like."

I rubbed my neck softly with an expressionless gaze. "Oh..." I said simply. I could understand that. In elementary school, I was able to attend gym, so I have had some sort of prior experience. Alice hasn't.

The gym class that Alice and I are in is adapted to be easier than the average gym class. This class is full of special needs students with activities that are adapted so that even people with lower physical abilities can do them. Because I'm stuck in a wheelchair, there are still a few things I can't do. However for the most part, I'm able to do majority of them.

"I can't wait..." Alice ended her excited little speech on that note. I'd completely forgotten she was talking - it was easy to zone out while she was talking to you. I've quickly picked up that Alice is able to hold not only her side of the conversation, but mine as well.

I'm fairly certain I can determine she's a chatterbox.

"Ahuh..." I said to simply give Alice the impression that I had listened to every word she said. I slowly began to tighten my grip on my wheel. I turned myself around and continued to push myself down the hallway, Alice tailing behind me.

"Are you excited?" She asked the deadly question.

Now how exactly did I respond to that?

I could've told the truth.

I could've told her I hated gym and the subject could've been changed right then and there to something we both would like.

But I didn't.

"Super." My response came out in a more sarcastic and monotone voice that I intended. It was here that I learned Alice doesn't understand sarcasm.

"Oh my god! What's it like! You have to tell me!" Alice began to clap her hands together and a lopsided grin crossed her face.

I instantly regretted my decision of telling her I enjoyed gym. I could've told her I hated gym. But now I have to talk about... it.

"It's small." I said simply, glancing over - Yes, over. Not up. Exciting, isn't it!? - at Alice. I do enjoy the fact that Alice is the same height as me in my wheelchair.

She stared at me expectantly and began to make a 'continue' gesture with her hand. She clearly wasn't taking that as the only answer.

I sighed and began to slow the rolling pace on my wheelchair as I spoke. I was rolling too fast for Alice to walk next to me, and my arms were getting a bit tired. "It's just a weird class." I shrugged softly and glanced over at Alice. "There's about ten people in the class per year. There's no learning involved in the class, mostly just doing."

"And?" Alice egged me on.

"And everyone in the class gets partnered up with another person. You and your partner work together throughout the whole year on different activities every day."

"Really!? So, you and I could be partners the whole year!?" She squealed and began to- well, to drool at the thought.

"It's not exactly like that Alice..." I said slowly. It was difficult to explain this. How exactly do I tell such a presumably sensitive person that a disabled person never works with another disabled person?

In this gym class, the teacher recruits 'abled' people who have no physical or mental disabilities. They're often cocky and just like to brag about their own abilities to this disabled: they can walk, they have all of their limbs, they can think straight. Essentially, the abled students are full of themselves.

The gym class is typically the same every year. During the class, the abled and disabled students are mixed together. As soon as the bell rings, a distinct separation is formed between the pair.

Considering the fact the abled almost always feel awkward with our situation, they rarely come back the following year to join the class again. They would rather be in a normal gym then work with us.

Forgot to mention that tidbit - if you're an abled person in the adapted gym class, you don't have to attend a normal gym class. They get a choice to be in this class, unlike the disabled students.

I've hated almost all abled classmates for the simple fact that they weren't able to accept that we were different. Hell, they weren't even able to sympathize. Not that I wanted their sympathy. None the less, they almost always immediately looked down at us. There's only one abled person I've ever met that has managed to bond to and keep a bond with in that gym class. Her name is Rosalie.

Rosalie was my abled gym partner last year, when I was a sophomore. She had long blonde hair and an attitude. But, I liked the attitude. It worked - since I have one myself.

I remember the first time I met Rosalie. Coach called out my name, following Rosalie's name. After Coach dismissed us, I rolled over to her. We were told to talk to our partner and 'get to know' each other.

It's always the worst part of the year, to get to know the abled that you will be working with for the rest of the year. I couldn't get past the fact that they are the ones who mock us.

"Let's get one thing straight." Rosalie told me as she sat down in front of me. "I don't give a damn what other people say. You're just as capable to do things as me, you just sit around in a chair more than me." She said and shrugged. "Well, you sit around all the time."

At those words, you think I would be insulted. You think I would be pissed off and show her where her place was. But, I wasn't. In fact I was happy. She didn't pity me, not in the slightest.

Rosalie knew I was just as capable to roll myself around in this chair. She knew I can carry my own damn tray in the lunch room and she knew she didn't have to baby me around. I respected that.

She was here to be my friend, she wasn't here to be my servant and pity or baby me. All she wanted was a friendship, and that's all I wanted. A normal friend.

After Rosalie's 'warm' introduction to me, we began to talk. Actually talking. We didn't beat around the bush and do the generic questions to each other (Like the oh-so common "What's your favorite movie" question. I can't explain to you how many times I've had to repeat A Walk To Remember.).

Rosalie began to talk to me, bringing in deeper questions than I ever thought was possible to get from this stupid class. And I suppose, you could say it's the only thing I was thankful for in gym: Rosalie.

We began to hang out more frequently, even outside of gym. She would even push me to my next class (Rosalie only willingly pushed after she explained to me that she wasn't doing this for pity, she was just jealous of the muscles in my arm so she wanted them to shrink). Eventually, Rosalie and I even began to hang out away from school: at the park, at my house, at the mall.

Don't even get me started when I tried to give Rosalie a nickname - Rosa. Let's just say, she was having none of it.

"Bella?" Alice's lispy voice tore me from my thoughts. I glanced at her with a confused expression before she continued. "So, are we going to be partners in gym?"

"Alice..." I said slowly, gaining up the courage to explain. However, I was too much of a coward and changed my answer - though it is a true one. "We don't get to pick our partners. Coach does."

The bouncy girl froze in her place and quickly stopped bouncing. "We don't?" She whispered softly, almost as if she was scared. Was the afraid of being partnered with someone she doesn't know?

"Sorry..." I said with a forced smile. "Maybe we will end up being partners?"

"I hope so!" She squealed and began to skip off down the hall.

I slowed my rolling pace a bit and watched her run off down the hallway, away from me. She was clearly lost in her own thoughts.

This year, I hope, will be different. Somehow, just somehow. It needs to be different, Alice is here now, Rosalie is - still here, and Jake will be silently supportive (as always).

I have faith that this year will be different. Maybe this stupid abled against disabled feeling will go away, but I doubt it. It will always be here.

I continued thinking about the entire situation for a few more moments before a thought dawned on me.

"Alice!" I screamed, rolling faster after her. "Alice, come back!"

I could see her, she was almost out of sight. Her hair bounced up and down as she skipped down the hallway with excitement, her curls bouncing.

Alice began to dodge around the people who were in her way without a care in the world.

My hand started to burn from being tired as I rolled faster after her. My voice clenched as I yelled.

"Alice, wait! You have no idea where your next class is!"


Thank you for actually making it to Chapter Two. It's a big accomplishment! You're getting a little mental sticker from me.

As always, I'd love to read all of your reviews! (Mostly because I want to make sure I'm not insane and people are actually reading this.)

XOXO Alice