Hey, sorry I haven't posted in couple weeks, I had a lot going on. But now it's Easter break so I had a chance to catch up on it so, here's chapter four, thanks for the reviews!
Marina
French class is a little dry, but I don't mind it. My teacher, Mr. Ricardo makes it pretty interesting, always having this weird yet positive passage to share. Because I'm usually quiet in class, I'm not really noticed that much, so I'm a little startled when I walk into class and Mr. Ricardo trains his gaze on me.
"Marina!" He exclaims. A few of my classmates look at him with weird expressions and I blush when I hear a few people snicker. Mr. Ricardo doesn't seem to care, just looking at me with a peaceful smile. Not really knowing wether I should go up to him or sit at my desk, I kind of just slow my steps until I can see what he wants.
"Um, hi, Mr. Ricardo. How are you today?" I ask him, not really knowing what to say.
"Ah, the happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." He replies. His response makes absolutely no sense considering the question I asked him, but it makes me feel good anyway.
"Okay, that's... good?" I say awkwardly. He continues to smile warmly at me.
"Marina..." he repeats. I can only picture the look of confusion on my face.
"Yeah?" I answer.
"Did you know that your name means 'of the sea'?" He asks me. I shake my head, no, still confused as to where this conversation is going. "Do you know what that means?" Again, I'm not really sure how to answer.
"Uh, no?" I reply anyway, assuming he'll tell me the answer.
"It means..." he says quietly, like he's letting me in on a secret, "that our class has our very own sea queen."
Even though the comment strikes me as a weird thing for a teacher to say to a student, I can't help but smile. 'Of the sea'. I like it.
"Well, thanks. I didn't know my name meant anything." I admit.
"Ah, every name means something." He assures me. He smiles, then starts typing on his keyboard. Accepting this as my cue to go, I take my seat at the back of the class.
I'm only sitting down for a second before someone plops down in the seat next to mine. I automatically smile when I see Joseph, he's taken to sitting there ever since we talked at the rink. Not that I mind of course. He looks over at me and grins, a mischievous glint in his eyes that's not really uncommon for him. He doesn't say anything though, just stares at me looking like he's holding back a laugh.
"What?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him in suspicion.
"Marina of the sea, huh?" He arches an eyebrow at me. I raise my eyebrows at him, trying to play off my embarrassment.
"Were you eavesdropping?" I accuse him, struggling to keep the laugh out of my voice. Joseph's eyes widen with exaggerated horror and he puts a hand over his heart.
"I would never." He shakes his head, his curls falling into his eyes, "I was just walking by, and I couldn't help but overhear the official crowning of the schools sea queen." He explains. I try to glare at him but I'm pretty sure my face is red because his grin only widens.
"So," he continues before I can say anything else, "I've been thinking about what you said at the rink." He slides his desk a little closer, while I stare at him confused. What could I have said to him that caused him to contemplate it for over a week? I open my mouth to ask him but he puts a finger up, "Please do not interrupt me, Sea Queen. I planned this out."
"Oh, sorry." I say, nodding like I understand what's happening.
"Thank you. Now where was I?" While Joseph puts a hand on his chin like he's in deep thought, I look at the front of the classroom to find that Mr. Ricardo is still on his computer, which means he probably didn't hear the bell ring two minutes ago.
I train my attention back on Joseph as he continues, "Right, so I've been thinking about what you said at the rink. And you are completely right. What a fool I was to think I was worthy of your attention without having the foresight to learn such an elementary skill." He rests an arm on the back of his chair so he can face me, "But of course, how was an simple-minded citizen like myself, supposed to know about her Majesty's preferences when it comes to associating with random, creepy guys in a hockey rink?" He shakes his head and opens his mouth to continue, until he sees the look of confusion on my face.
"You don't know what I'm talking about." He says. I shake my head and he sighs dramatically, "When I told you I couldn't skate and you looked at me like you just saw a ghost." Right, now I remember.
"Okay, I didn't look that bad." I roll my eyes and Joseph laughs.
"I'm not saying you looked bad, you looked quite good actually." He winks at me and I can't help but laugh, my face heating up like it does so easily. "Anyway, as I was saying. Ever since the dramatic decline of my dignity that day, I have decided that I would take some steps to improve upon myself." He pauses and I raise my eyebrows at him expectantly. He smirks, "Now, I didn't learn to skate or anything if that's what your thinking, Marina of the sea." I give him a tired look and he grins cheekily. I see Mr. Ricardo get up from his desk and I start to tell Joseph to hurry up, but again, he puts up a finger.
"Marina, I will not express to you how much time it took me to memorize this speech, so instead, I respectfully demand your silence while I present my soliloquy." He raises his eyebrows at me and I quickly gesture for him to continue. "No, I didn't learn to skate, how could I when I am so inexperienced? I wouldn't even know where to start. But of course, here I am, sitting in the presence of royalty, not being able to do the one thing that is a necessity to gaining your affection. I decided that I must do it. I have to learn to glide across frozen water, if not for the sake of you, than for the sake of earning respect for myself."
His speech is dramatic and over the top, but even so, I can't stop the smile from spreading across my face as he talks. We both look to the front of the classroom as Mr. Ricardo begins talking in French. Instead of listening, Joseph just turns back to me and speaks in a quieter tone.
"But once again, the universe has me at a disadvantage. You see, Marina, I have nobody to teach me such a skill." Is he going to ask me to teach him to skate? Joseph grins at me as I start to get it. He puts his hands together in a praying motion. "Marina, of the sea, will you please teach me to skate."
I honestly don't really know what to say. I haven't skated in two years, I haven't even thought about going out on the ice, let alone with a guy I've known for barely a week. A very attractive guy that I've known for barely a week, I think right after. Wait, is he asking me on a date? Is that what this is? Before I can get my thoughts in order, I realize that I have been silent for a little too long so I should probably say something.
"That was well worded." I say stupidly. Joseph grins proudly.
"Thanks, I worked hard on it." He stares at me with a half smile, not creepy, but long enough to make my face go red. Meanwhile, Mr. Ricardo continues to speak in front of the class, but I hardly notice him, I'm too busy trying to decide how to tell Joseph I can't teach him to skate. I haven't been on the ice in so long, who's to say I still even know how to skate?
"Um..." I start, Joseph raises an eyebrow at me.
"Please don't say you can't skate. If you say you can't skate, you are officially the biggest hypocrite I've ever heard of." He says.
"I can skate." I laugh. "I just haven't in like, two years. I might be a little rusty, and I've never taught anybody to skate before." That's a lie. I taught Ella, but I'm not going to tell him that. He doesn't seem discouraged.
"Well, you could never be as bad as me, and I have no doubt that you will be an amazing teacher." He pauses, "You don't even have to drive, just meet me by my car after school and we'll go." He offers. I snort and he looks at me confused.
"I barely know you. You could be a kidnapper, or a fugitive serial killer, I don't know." I know as soon as I say it that it's not true. I'm just grasping at straws now.
Joseph bursts out laughing, causing Mr. Ricardo to look back at us. He quickly recovers though, his laugh effortlessly turning into a coughing fit. Unlike Joseph, I'm able to stifle my laugh until Mr. Ricardo turns his attention from us, and Joseph leans over to me, a grin still on his face.
"Well, that's always a possibility." He says, still laughing. "Take a chance, Sea Queen." He looks me in the eyes, more sincere now. "I would be honoured to be your student."
Well, how can I say no to that?
. . .
"Marina of the sea!" Joseph greets me as I walk up to him. He's standing outside the school doors with one hand in his jean pocket, the other holding the book bag he has slung over his shoulder. I smile at him with a little less enthusiasm than the grin he's wearing.
"You need to stop calling me that." I tell him once I get close enough. I get to where he's standing and he turns around to walk with me.
"Why? does it embarrass you?" He cocks his head to the side comically and I roll my eyes.
"No." I say.
"Yes it does." He says after a second.
"How would you know?"
"I can see it in your eyes." He points at my face and shake my head smiling.
All of a sudden, Joseph starts to jog ahead of me. He stops at navy blue car and opens to passenger side door, beckoning me forward.
"Our chariot awaits, your Majesty."
. . .
"Holy crap, how do you lace these things up?" Joseph sits next to me on the change room bench, his brows furrowed in confusion as he stares down at the skates on his feet.
He brought me to my house before we came to the rink so I could get my figure skates, which I had to dig through my closet for about five minutes before I found them. I had them taken out of their holder, put on, and tied up within three minutes of being here. Jospeh however, took all that time to get his feet into his skates. I study his rented skates, which are hockey ones because he didn't want to "sacrifice his masculinity" as he put it.
"I'm pretty sure it's just like lacing up shoes." I shrug. I'm only familiar with figure skates. I briefly consider texting Maren or Riley so they can explain it, but then I'd have to tell them what I was doing and I'm not really up for that many questions today. "It can't be that hard." Figure skates are pretty simple to tie and it looks like hockey skates are the same, just a little wider.
I get off the bench and kneel down in front of him so I can see better. "Maybe we should have asked for some velcro." Joseph jokes. I laugh and start to do up his skates. It really isn't that hard, exactly like lacing up shoes actually, I start to wonder why he couldn't do it himself.
Once I finish, I get up, Joseph does too, a little unsteady. "This is... weird." He says, bouncing a little on his skates, which causes him to stumble slightly. His eyes widen as he catches himself and he grins sheepishly. "Does it get easier when I'm on the ice?" He asks.
"Nope, it just gets harder from here."
"I thought teachers were supposed to be encouraging."
"I tried to warn you that I wouldn't be a good teacher."
"Now, that's where we disagree." Joseph moves towards the door with some struggle, but doesn't fall so that's a plus. He opens the door and holds it. "Shall we?" He grins as I walk through the open doorway with much less trouble than he did.
There's only about ten people out on the ice. Some of the kids use those walker-like things and unsteadily push themselves around. Joseph points to one. "I think we should get me one of those." He says, and it's hard to tell if he's kidding or not.
"I think you'll be fine." I say.
"And we disagree again." We get to the door in the rink wall, I pull up on the lever and it swings open.
Suddenly, as I look down at the ice, I don't want to go. It's stupid and weird but I feel like I'm not ready, like I forgot how to skate and I'm not going to know where to put my feet when I get out there. Maybe it's because I haven't skated in forever, but it's probably because when I look up, I won't see my dad in the stands. I take a step back.
"You should go first." I say to Joseph, who raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't question it.
He walks forward and puts one skate cautiously on the ice. When it slips forward slightly, he quickly pulls his leg back in, shaking his head. "Yup that's definitely ice." He laughs nervously, bringing a smile out of me.
"Okay, just step out and hold onto the wall." I suggest. I try to remember how Dad taught me to skate, but it was so long ago that I can't even recall the moment. It's weird how you can remember how to do things but can't remember how you were taught.
Joseph nods, taking my advice and gripping a gloved hand tightly to the wall. He takes a nervous breath. It's a little funny to see him like this. He's usually so confident, I'm not used to seeing him being the awkward one. I stifle a laugh.
"You think this is funny?" He asks, twisting around to look at me. I shake my head, wiping the smile off my face.
"No, it's mostly just sad." I shrug sympathetically and a grin breaks out on Joseph's face, causing me to smile too.
"This is scary, Marina. Men are allowed to be scared." I laugh and he turns back around, looking out at the ice. If I could see his hands, I can guarantee he'd have a white-knuckled grip on the wall. Still, he hesitates.
"Just count to three and do it." I repeat the same advice that Riley had given me once, when I was nervous about regionals. It's pretty simple, but it worked.
"Okay." Joseph says. Nodding determinedly, he starts to count. "One. Two." He pauses. "Three."
Joseph puts one skate onto the ice, and pushes off with his other foot. Luckily, he's still clinging to the wall, so after a rather wobbly entrance, he's able to pull himself to the the boards and hang on to the side of the rink. His eyes widen as he realizes that he's successfully standing on the ice. He grins proudly and shoots me a thumbs-up through the glass, which I laugh at. Now it's my turn.
I take a deep breath, and stupidly look across the ice to the seats. Of course, nobody is there. I clench my jaw. It's okay. I can do this by myself now.
I step onto the ice and push off like I've done a thousand times before, much more graceful than Joseph's entrance. I feel much more comfortable out here and a grin breaks out on my face. I easily turn around a few feet away from the door and skate back to Jospeh who's still trying to figure out how to balance. I stop next to him and lean on the window.
"Now might be the time for some pointers." He says nervously. "Like maybe, how to move?"
"You're gonna need to turn around first." I say, hoping it's the right thing to get him off the wall.
"Hm, making me do the complicated stuff right off the bat, huh?" He says shakily, throwing me a weak smile over his shoulder.
He still does as I tell him, stiff as he turns around, now holding onto the wall with his hands behind him. I show him the most simple way to move, keeping one skate straight while pushing with the other foot. He shrugs after I'm done and counts to three again, then lets go of the wall.
"Alright." I call to him, further down the rink now. "Skate over here, you can hold onto the wall with one hand if you want." He raises an eyebrow at me and with a smirk, slides the hand closest to the wall in his jacket pocket.
"That's the easy way out! Sea Queen, I am a rebel!" He shouts, the confident Joseph that I've gotten to know, resurfacing for a second. But then he loses his balance again and I can't stop a laugh when he rips his hand out of his pocket and grabs onto the boards again.
With a nervous grin, he slowly starts to make his way down to me. When he's about halfway to me, he takes his hand off the wall and does the one foot push thing I showed him. He whoops and I grin, glad that my teaching actually worked. Although, as he come closer he drifts farther and farther away from the wall, and to make it worse, he's actually speeding up. I can see the panic on his face as he gets closer, his pride from a moment ago, gone.
"Marina of the sea?" He asks, sounding panicked. "This might be a bad time to ask but, how do you stop?" Crap.
Joseph is still coming toward me and doesn't look like he's about to slow down. He has his arms held out in front of him, and I start to skate backwards to avoid getting hit.
"Just, dig your skate into the ice." I say, hopefully calmly. Confusion crosses Joseph's face and he looks up at me.
"How?" He asks desperately.
"Um..." I don't really know how to explain it. Suddenly, my back hits the boards of the rink and my feet almost go out from under me. I've just recovered when I look up to see Joseph right in front of me. I get out of the way just as he hits the wall, but unlike me, he doesn't manage to catch himself and falls in a sitting position on the ice. He doesn't try to get up though, instead, stretching out on his back with his arms above his head. Both of us are silent for a second, he breaths heavily while I struggle not to smile.
"You know what? I take it back. You are a sucky teacher." He says.
I laugh then, actually having to hold onto the boards to keep my balance. After a second he starts chuckling too, and I slide down the wall, putting a hand over my mouth to muffle the sound. Then we're both just sitting on the ice, laughing like idiots. It's a good thing there aren't many people here. After a minute I push myself back up the boards and skate over to Joseph to where he's now in a sitting position, with his legs stretched out in front him. I extend a hand to help him up.
"Are you ready?" I ask him, still laughing through my words. He grins up at me and nods, taking my hand and getting up with such a struggle that he almost ends up pulling me down with him.
"You have a nice laugh." He states once we're standing. I feel my face heat up and realize that I'm still holding his hand. I quickly let go and skate in front of him so I can face him.
"Alright, now let's teach you how to stop." I say, ignoring his compliment because I really don't know what to say to it.
I spend a while just getting him to scrape at the ice with his skate so he gets an idea of how to stop, then we go around the rink for a bit. Him holding onto both my hands as I skate backwards, because I don't really trust him not to fall again.
"You're skating backwards." He observes after a while.
"I am."
"When do I get to do that?"
"When you learn to stop." I say smirking at him. He laughs and his lack of focus causes him to lose his balance for a second, gripping tighter into my hands as he re-orients himself. I easily stop myself and wait until he gets his bearings, he shakes his head.
"How do you skate so well?" He asks as we continue.
"I used to be in figure skating." I say shrugging, but also surprised I chose to tell him that. It's not really the type of information I just give out.
"Really?" Joseph asks with a little too much enthusiasm. I raise an eyebrow at him and nod. He laughs. "Why aren't you out there twirling around and doing flips? Go show these people whose boss!"
"I need to stay here and make sure you don't fall." I say, shaking my head.
"I won't fall." He assures me, then almost falls over as he skids to a stop. He grins at me almost giddy, like a kid. "I'll stay right here, and you go out and do a trick or something." Before I can say anything, he lets go if my hands and holds onto the wall instead.
"Since when did you learn how to stop?" I ask, hoping to change the subject. He doesn't fall for it.
"I guess I just needed a bit of motivation." He says smirking.
"And that motivation is?"
"Seeing you go out there and do a twirly thing." He says and I can't help but smile at his description of a spin.
"It's not as cool as you think it is." I try, but Joseph shakes his head.
"I will be the judge of that." He crosses his arms and waits. I try to glare at him but end up failing when he shoots me back the same expression.
"I probably can't even remember how-"
"Do a spin! Do a spin!" He starts chanting, interrupting my excuse.
I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows at him but he just keeps chanting it louder and louder. Eventually, he's almost screaming it, and it takes me almost pushing him off his feet for him to stop. Still, he just grins at me.
"Do a spin, Marina. Just one. For me." He puts his hands in a praying gesture and I roll my eyes. I guess it couldn't hurt.
"Okay." I say and his eyes light up. "One spin." He nods enthusiastically and leans back on the boards.
"Whenever your ready, Sea Queen."
I roll my eyes again at the nickname, but a small smile crosses my face anyway. It's starting to grow on me. Before he can say anything else, I skate out to the middle of the ice. After I've built up some speed, I swing my arms around me for momentum and do a simple one footed scratch spin. I skate back to Joseph-my face probably red-where he's waiting, his mouth open and eyes wide in a look of awe, even though it's wasn't even that special.
"How did you do that?" He exclaims. He keeps looking out at the ice as I come up to him. "You were going straight and then-" he shakes his head. And I laugh despite myself.
"I'll teach you how to do that next lesson." I joke and he snaps his head around to look at me.
"You mean we're going to do this again?" He asks excitedly and I blush as I realize what I said.
"Well, I mean... if you want-"
"Yes, yes! I want." He exclaims before I've even finished my sentence. I grin at the look on his face and I reach my arms out to him.
"Shall we?" I ask, using his earlier words.
"We shall." He replies, taking my hands. "You know, you looked really good. Doing the spin I mean, but also in general." He continues as we start moving again.
"Thanks." I reply, looking down at our skates to hide my face, which I'm sure is red.
"No seriously though. You looked different. Sea Queen, you looked alive!" He adds and I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Are you implying that I look dead usually?" I joke.
"No, exactly the opposite actually." He laughs.
We continue to go around like that until the buzzer noises, signalling the end of the skating time. I let go of him as we make our way to the door, and he manages to get there on his own. I'm actually relieved to see that he's a lot better than when we first came out. Once we have all the gear taken off, Joseph returns his skates and we go out to the car so he can drive me home. The sky is just beginning to get dark as I get home, and I realize it's 5:30.
"By the way, my friend is having a party this Friday. And to thank you for letting me be your student today, I would like to invite you. And you can bring whoever you want of course." Joseph says once he's parked his car outside my house.
"Oh, okay." I say, even though I'm not really sure if I want to go or not. I haven't really been to a lot of parties as you can imagine.
He grins. "Cool, so I'll just text you the address." He continues as I open the door. I look at him in confusion.
"Wait, you don't have my number." I say.
"Right!" He says, shaking his head. "Well, I'm gonna need that." He looks at me for a second before handing me his phone with the contacts app already loaded onto the screen.
He didn't even look at the phone before handing it to me, which leads me to believe he's had his phone like that since we left the rink. I feel light as I take the phone from him and enter my number. Joseph has a huge grin on his face that I can't help but giggle at as I hand his phone back to him.
"Well, I guess I'll be in touch with you." He says, taking the phone .
"I guess you will." I step out of the car and wave to him as I close the door. He gives me a salute and I roll my eyes, turning away and making my way towards the door. He honks the horn as he reaches the end of the driveway and I wave to him again before unlocking the door and heading inside.
When I walk in, Ella is already sitting on the stairs waiting for me. She must have heard the car horn, and judging by the way she's looking at me, she knows it wasn't Maren or Riley dropping me off. She eyes my skates as I lay them on the floor and raises an eyebrow.
"Hey, how was your day?" I ask her. She just shrugs.
"Not as good as your's by the looks of it." She replies. I feel my face heat up and she grins knowingly. She's only twelve, how does she know so much? "So, who's your new boyfriend, Marina?"
I glare at her. This is going to be a long night.
John
"This is the gym?" I arch an eyebrow at Stanley over the roof of his car, then open the back door get my gym bag.
"What were you expecting, a five star resort with a couple Ferraris out front?" He smirks at me and starts to walk towards the gym. I grab my bag and jog to catch up with him.
"No, but I had hoped it would look a little less eager to die." I mutter, nodding to the chipping foundation and actual holes in the wall.
The place in front of me looks like it's violating several health and safety codes, and the sign above the door, reading "Jim's Gym", swings precariously and I'm afraid it may fall down. No, this is definitely not the image I got when Stanley told me we were going to the best gym in town, especially when he said he'd have to buy my membership for me because I wouldn't be able to afford it. I should have known he was messing with me. I keep my eyes focused on the teetering sign as we pass underneath it, in fear it will fall and crush me beneath it, which Stanley laughs at. He darts in front of me and opens the door.
"Ladies first." He says, his smirk only growing when I glare at him.
As soon as I step in, the scent of sweat and metal overwhelms me, and it takes a conscious effort for me to keep a straight face and not cover my nose. They're really in need for some air fresheners. As I look around, I'm surprised that it's bigger and better managed than I originally thought when I saw the exterior, although it still looks a bit ratty. I look around, surprised to see the amount of gym equipment organized into the space, and it actually looks to be in decent shape. In one corner, there are a few treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, obviously the cardio zone. There's other spaces for strength and endurance training, and I raise my eyebrows at Stanley, pleased despite myself.
A muscled guy comes over behind the desk and Stanley introduces me, seeming to be on good terms with him. The man doesn't even ask for our membership cards before waving us into the change room with a friendly smile. We have to go down a narrow hallway to get there, and I almost trip up on tuffs of dark red carpet multiple times. Why would you even put carpet in a gym? I have a feeling it contributes greatly to the smell.
"So, what do you think?" Stanley asks me once we get changed.
"It's alright." I say shrugging, not wanting to boost his ego too much, which is almost impossible. He grins at me and I can tell he took my compliment to heart. "You have a gym in your house though, why would you need to come here?" I ask, before he can get too cocky.
"I've been coming here for a year now, Dad thought I needed more friends." We walk back down the hallway and I make sure to lift my feet high to avoid tripping again.
"Did you find any?" I ask and he gives me a look.
"No, why do you think you're here?" He shakes his head and we wordlessly make our way over to the treadmills.
"Why didn't Joe come?" I continue. Stanley rolls his eyes as he sets the speed into the machine, clearly annoyed.
"He said he had a date, something about a girl in his French class." He says irritably, and I can't tell if he's mad because I'm asking so many questions or because Joseph has a date and he doesn't. I suspect the latter.
I copy the setting Stanley put in his treadmill into my own, and I start to move into a light jog, good for warming up. "Jealous?" I ask him, smirking.
He snorts. "No, just annoyed because you're asking so many goddamn questions."
I leave the conversation at that and try to entertain myself by looking at the people around me. There's only a couple other people using the cardio machines. The strength part of the gym demands the most attention with about a dozen sweaty guys doing bench presses with weights that are way too heavy for them. I have a feeling Stanley would be over there if I wasn't here.
After I get my pace and breathing regulated, I decide to up the speed a notch, the treadmill making a beeping noise as I press to up arrow. I continue jogging, content with my speed. That is, until I hear two beeps from the treadmill next to me. I glance over at Stanley to see him going a tad faster than me after just turning up the speed on his own treadmill. He keeps looking straight ahead, but I know he did it to show me up. It shouldn't bother me, he's just arrogant and cocky, I should just let it go. This isn't a competition.
I kick the speed up two notches.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a sour look cross Stanley's face. For a second I don't hear anything, and I start to think he let it go. Of course, as soon as I have that thought I hear two beeps from along side of me, and look over to see Stanley smirking. I grit my teeth in annoyance, both because of Stanley, and because I'm falling into his stupid competition. I'm better than this, I should stop, be the bigger person. I turn up the speed again. Not a second after do I hear another couple beeps from Stanley's machine.
I'm not sure how fast the treadmill goes but I intend to find out. We keep going until both of our legs are pumping as fast as they can go. We're both covered in sweat and I can barely hear Stanley's breathing over my own wheezes. Right now I'm going one level faster than him, and he looks over at me panting just as hard, and wipes his forehead with a towel. He reaches forward, his hand shaking because of his pounding steps, and presses the button twice, going one level faster than me.
I clench my jaw, finding it hard to keep going but I have to because I've already taken it this far. But I don't know if I can go any faster. I desperately fight through the burning in my muscles, not sure I can last much longer. Although, if I'm feeling this way, that means Stanley must be having a similar struggle. I just need to go a little faster. I click the button once. My legs can barely keep up. Twice.
Bad idea.
The heightened speed shocks me and I stumble, my arms flailing in front of me but I can't seem to get a grip on the arm rests. I frantically try to get control of my feet but it's a lost cause. I fall.
I put my arms in front of my head to keep my face from getting scraped on the tracks. My body flys backwards and I actually flip over, my feet slam into moving floor, sending me back until my spine hits the elliptical behind me. I groan, leaning over to lie on my side while I try to calm my breathing. I stare forward as my arms and back throb and see Stanley turn off his machine and mine. He stays there for a second, leaning on the side of treadmill. His shoulders are shaking and it takes me a minute to realize he's laughing.
Finally, he crouches next to me with his hands on his knees. His face is red and I can't tell if that's from laughing or exertion. Probably a bit of both.
"Oh my god!" He howls. "That was the funniest shit I've ever seen!" He can barely get his words out over his laughter.
Deciding that I don't want to look any more pathetic then I already am, I push myself back into a sitting position and lean my head back, closing my eyes. Only when my breathing slows do I feel a stinging in my arms. I lift them in front of me to see a series of long scratches moving all the way from my pinky figure to my elbow on both arms. I guess they hit the treadmill pretty hard. The cuts are all bleeding pretty heavily and blood drips from my elbows. Maybe that's why they have a red carpet. It takes a second for Stanley to notice and he arches a concerned eyebrow, although it's hard to see the sympathy behind his grin.
"I think I need a bandage." I mumble.
"You think?" He laughs, shaking his head. He gets up and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'll go get a first aid kit, try not to hurt yourself while I'm gone." He walks away, leaving me with my broken pride.
I just sit there for a while, watching the blood drip off my arms and blend into the carpet. I start wonder how many other people have bled on this carpet, but then I remember that there's probably not a lot of people that are stupid enough to do what I just did. What kind of idiot turns the treadmill up to the highest setting just to, do what? Prove a point?
I feel something bump my left shoulder. Thinking it's Stanley, I immediately look up with a glare, ready to take the first aid kit. It's not Stanley though. Maren stands in front of me, a smirk on her face that looks a lot like Stanley's, but the expression looks way better on her.
"I think this is yours." She says. She holds a sneaker in her hand, it's what she bumped my shoulder with, and I look down to see my left foot bare with just a sock on. I didn't even realize I lost a shoe in the chaos.
I take it from her with what I hope is a smile, but by the way she laughs, it probably looks more like a grimace. "Thanks." I say, bringing my sore leg toward me and slipping the sneaker on.
"No problem." She replies.
I try to bend my back so I can tie up my shoe laces, but it hurts quite a bit so I abandon the effort, sticking out my leg and resorting to trying again later. Without a word, Maren comes over and sits on the now stopped treadmill in front of me. She puts my foot in between hers and gratitude surges through me as she ties my shoe. I guess she can be nice sometimes, although she's never nice in math. I guess that subject brings the worst out of everybody anyway.
"Thanks." I say again.
"Yeah, well I figured somebody should tie it right judging by how easily it came off just then." She finishes tying it. "That was quite the show you guys were putting on. I mean, until..." she trails off with a teasing grin and I smile, my mood already improved.
"It might have gotten a bit out of hand." I admit shrugging.
"Well, you did almost break your back so I would say that's accurate." She says nodding. I raise my eyebrows at her.
"Oh yeah? You think that's bad." I hold up my arms and she rolls her eyes.
"I think an injured spine is a little worse than a couple of scrapes, John." She says, not looking the least bit impressed by my blood covered arms.
"What are you talking about? These are my battle scars." I say. Maren rolls her eyes but she's grinning.
"Oh yeah, I can't wait to hear you telling the story of how the treadmill almost took your life." She replies flatly.
I laugh and grab onto the elliptical, pushing myself up so I'm standing. I'm still a little dizzy from the fall though and immediately fall to the side, just catching myself on the machine to my left. Maren snorts and I try my best to look serious.
"So," I say, leaning on the elliptical. "Come here often?" She recognizes the cheesy pickup line from the movies and laughs.
"Yeah, I'm always here helping injured guys tie up their sneakers." She jokes. I smile sheepishly and she rolls her eyes. "No, I just come here for the punching bag." She explains, nodding toward the other side of the gym and only now do I notice that she's twirling a roll of tap around her fingers.
"Got a lot of pent up anger you need to work out?" I tease, arching an eyebrow.
"You have no idea." She says. Before I have a chance to ask what that means, Stanley starts coming toward us, the first aid kit in hand. "Speaking of anger." She continues as she looks toward him with a glare, he returns the expression. I feel weird between them, like I'm neutral territory or something.
"Anyway," Maren sighs. She gets up, dusting off her pants. "I'll be going, see you later." She says, quickly walking away just as Stanley arrives.
He passes me the first aid kit. I take it, shaking my head. I decide not to ask about what went on between them, it's probably something stupid anyway.
"Sorry I took so long, I had to explain to Jim what happened. Then it took him forever to find this thing." He explains, not really sounding sorry.
"Don't worry, it's cool. I'm just bleeding out here." I rummage through the box for some bandages.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Stanley snorts. "It's just a couple scratches."
"Yeah? I think the pool of blood on the floor begs to differ." I retort. I triumphantly pull a long bandage out of the box, it's still not big enough to cover the length of the cuts, but it will have to do.
"Well, who's fault is that?" He smirks. I clean the the cuts then put the bandage on, doing the same with the other arm right after.
We go back to the change room and get our stuff, deciding to call it quits so my arms don't get any worse. Stanley gives me a ride home, talking about my fall the whole way back. When he finally gets to my house, I can't get out of the car fast enough, actually forgetting my bag and having to go back for it.
When I walk into the house, Dad is sitting on the couch doing work on his laptop. He works at an accounting firm so he does most of his work on his computer. He looks up when I close the door, and has to do a double take when he sees my arms.
"Do I even want to know?" He asks.
"No." I shake my head. "No, you do not."
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