Chapter Two
Beth stood outside her house, patiently waiting for her ride to school. She shivered slightly in her tan coat as it was a chilly morning. An endless winter would arrive soon and Beth shuddered at the thought. She checked her watch to see that Alison was four minutes late. Alison was never late. Just as Beth was about to call to make sure her friend was okay a pink Lexis rolled slowly in front of her and came to cautious stop. Eager to get out of the cold, Beth hopped into the passenger seat.
"You're late," she said in mock seriousness, "and by four whole minutes."
Alison looked genuinely apologetic. "Sorry about that. My mother wants me to drive more safely."
Beth laughed. "You live two streets away and it took you how long to get here?"
"Ten minutes."
"At this rate we're going to be tardy." She smirked. "I might miss lacrosse tryouts. It starts after school so just try and get us there by three forty-five."
"Tryouts are today? I almost forgot. Good thing I keep the training stuff in my locker. We're meeting at three-fifteen besides the oval like usual, right?"
"Right."
"And don't worry," Alison reassured her as they started moving forward inch by inch. "I'll drive at a normal speed."
"Remember that we've got to pick up Sarah and Felix. You forgot to last Friday."
"Yeah, forgot to…" Alison said. Beth could almost see the painful flashbacks of Sarah putting her boots all over the back of the clean, white car seats flickering in Alison's eyes.
"Did you do the English homework?" asked Beth as they travelled through the suburbs at a slightly below average pace.
"I've told you; don't talk to me when I'm going at a speed above forty." She snapped, focusing hard on the empty road ahead. Beth reached to turn on the radio but Alison pulled over, shot her a disapproving look and then headed for Cosima's.
"To answer your previous question regarding the English homework," began Alison several minutes later as they waited outside Cosima's house, "I had a pretty hard time getting five hundred words about what happened over summer when all I did was hang with you."
"Are you saying you didn't have a good time loitering at the mall and watching NCIS?"
"No, I'm just saying it's hard to make eating frozen yogurts and marathoning cop shows sound interesting. What did you write about?"
Beth smiled. "The time we saw Grease at the community theatre and you cried."
"Hopelessly Devoted to You is a really emotive song, okay?" She protested.
The back door opened and Cosima stepped in. "Hey, guys." She greeted. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's fine." Beth assured her giving Alison a knowing look. To deal with Cosima's constant lateness they had told her they arrived at ten past when really they came at twenty past. Cosima hadn't been late for the carpool in over a year.
"Are we picking up Sarah and Felix this time?" She asked, buckling her seatbelt.
Alison gave a heavy sigh as she started driving. "Yes, I won't forget them. This time."
"So how's the new girl you've been hanging out with?" Inquired Beth.
Cosima smiled brightly. "Delphine? She's pretty cool. We share the same science classes. Yesterday in chem-"
"Hey, chatterboxes," Alison barked. "I'm trying to drive here."
Cosima whispered, "So, yesterday in chemistry we-"
"I can still hear you!"
Cosima lowered her voice even more. "We-"
"DO YOU WANT THIS CAR TO CRASH!?" Alison yelled and with that they rode in silence until Sarah and Felix's.
The two were waiting for them when they arrived and jumped right in the car when it came to a reluctant stop.
"Hello all." said Felix as he squirmed into the middle seat and Alison turned off the engine.
"What ya do that for?" Sarah protested.
Alison took a deep breath in. "Okay, before we continue to school I would like to lay down a few car rules."
Sarah sighed. "Is this because I put my boots on the seat last week?"
Beth could see Alison flinch at the memory. "No, there have been other instances, for example Felix, two weeks ago upon your first time in this car you were eating a banana.
"It was my breakfast."
"Yes but we don't eat in this car. Or place our filthy shoes on the back of the spotless seats, understood?"
"Yeah." Felix agreed.
"Whatever." was Sarah's response.
"Also," added Alison, "we don't not talk to one another or to the diver while the car is in motion. And we do not attempt to distract the diver by playing music. Am I clear?"
"Yes." Cosima replied.
"Eye, eye, Captain." remarked Beth.
"Smartass." Alison muttered as she started the Lexis back up and drove at a cautious speed towards school.
Beth walked out of the locker rooms nervous yet collected. Nothing's going to stop me from making the team this year, she thought as she strolled along the hallway to the oval. Nothing at all. Her confidence, however, lessened at the sight of Rachel and her posse talking by their lockers in their PE uniforms. Rachel was holding a black lacrosse stick and chatting to Ainsley and Angela. Beth tried to avoid their gaze. Keeping her eyes to the newly polished floor she continued like nothing was wrong. She seemed to have made it out of sight when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Hello, Bethany." Rachel cooed. "Good luck out there. Let's hope it goes better than last year."
Ignoring her better judgement, Beth turned around and looked her identical straight in the eyes. "First of all, 'Beth' is short for 'Elizabeth'. Bethany is not my name. Second of all, I was injured last for last year's tryouts thanks to a trip to Newfoundland during the summer break that went horribly wrong. And third of all, not only am I going to make the team I am also going to be playing centre. So you better watch out, Bitchel."
Rachel just laughed. "What is that? My nickname amongst the 'Clone Cult'?
"I see you added a new addition to your little cult." Ansley added. "Some hoe from England."
"We are not a cult!" She exclaimed. "And by the way, Ansley, you might want to keep an eye on that 'boyfriend' of yours because I hear that he's been making out with Jenna Marlo, from gym class, during their Tuesday frees in the janitors closet."
Ansley gasped. "Well at least my Chad didn't get suspended for punching out the quarterback last year like someone's boyfriend. And besides those cheating allegations are false. Chad would never do such a thing."
Beth smirked. "You seem to be forgetting the events of last year's Valentine's Day Dance. Alison says 'hi', by the way." and with that she turned away. She really needed to take Rachel's position on the team. And to think of a better mean nickname for her than 'Bitchel'.
She walked out onto the school field with monstrous butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. The morning breeze had not subsided and she was shaking like a leaf in her PE gear. The school field was huge, much like the rest of the school. It was big enough to host lacrosse, soccer and rugby tryouts at the same time with plenty of space to warm up. Alison was waiting for her besides the stands. She had a pink stop watch in one hand and a clipboard in the other. She acted as Beth's self-appointed lacrosse coach and was as anxious as she was for her to make the team. They had agreed to meet half an hour before tryouts to warm up as they did before games.
"How are you feeling?" Alison asked as Beth approached. "Have you developed any injuries or illness since we last spoke?"
"We last spoke in math class fifteen minutes ago."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No," said Beth, "I have not broken any bones or developed the flu in the last fifteen minutes."
"Good. I don't want a repeat of last year." Alison said as she hung the stop watch around her neck, pulled out a pen from her pocket and scribbled this information down. "So would you say that you are currently at peak physical condition?"
Beth shrugged. "I guess."
"Okay then, give me a lap." she said, pushing a button on her stopwatch.
Beth moaned to which her friend yelled; "Time's ticking, Childs!"
"Fine!" And with that she began jogging around the outskirts of the field. She started out okay, she was keeping a good pace and breathing correctly but as the jog went on she started feel tired. Beth began puffing at about the halfway mark and by the time she reached the finishing point was sweating like a pig and coughing madly.
Alison examined her stopwatch. "Not bad, Childs. Now start stretching."
Beth began to do as her 'coach' asked when she caught sight of the rest of the club coming towards them. "Hey, guys." She smiled brightly. "Here to support me?"
"Well, mainly we're here because Alison is our ride." Cosima confessed.
Sarah added. "But that doesn't mean we're not going to support you."
"You know what not going to support you?" Alison asked, irritated by the interruption. "Your muscles if you don't warm them up."
"Okay, okay." Beth muttered as she bent down to touch her toes.
"Here comes Paul." said Felix, looking across the field. Beth turned around to see her boyfriend making his way towards them.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hey." Beth smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to cheer you on."
"Join the cheer squad." said Alison, looking annoyed. "Come on you guys, in the stands."
The club shuffled to the stands, except for Paul who muttered "Good luck" before following.
Alison scowled. "It's almost time for tryouts."
"Don't worry about it, Ali." Beth reassured her. "I'll make the team."
She nodded. "I know you will. I'd wish luck but I guess I was beaten to it."
"I don't need luck with this much skill."
"Okay, just try not to break a leg."
Beth smiled before walking briskly to the lacrosse field. A group of girls stood in a circle around the coach who was giving instructions. She hoped her lateness wouldn't impact on a spot on the team. Across from her Rachel gave her a smug look.
"Alright girls," the coach, a short black-haired woman announced, "We're going to start with some drills." From there on in Beth became so focused she could barely remember what the tryouts were like when Alison asked her about it as they made their way to her car an hour later.
"What do you mean you can't remember?" Alison asked, perplexed.
Beth shrugged. "I just became, like, a lacrosse machine. I think I did well. I remember running really fast."
"You did pretty well from what we saw." Sarah said."
"You don't know anything about lacrosse." Felix jeered.
"So when will you find out if you made the team?" Cosima questioned.
"Next week, hopefully."
"Why don't we celebrate your impending selection?" Paul said, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. "Pizza, my treat."
"I have physics homework." Cosima replied.
"'Grey's Anatomy' is on tonight." Was Felix's retort.
"I…" Sarah hesitated. Beth knew that she still felt awkward around Paul after the incident on her first day but they shared a woodwork class and were at least on good terms. "I have a… thing. And since when do you watch 'Grey's Anatomy', Fee?"
"Since Colin likes it."
"Am I ever going to meet this Colin?"
Felix scoffed. "I wouldn't want him to be scared off this early on."
Alison said; "I suppose I need to take everyone home. But you two have fun." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice. Alison didn't seem to like Paul very much and Beth couldn't figure out why. To be fair, Beth didn't much like Alison's boyfriend, Donny, either.
"I guess it's just you and me." Paul smiled. "We'll get the bus."
"Sounds good." Beth smiled back.