Facing Coach Opal after the summer's bullshit was about as much fun as it sounds which is to say not very. Last year the plan had been to take the one fitness class the state required and be done with it. A combination of realizing how much I enjoyed a challenge and my desire for a military career were good reasons for me to rethink that mindset. So instead of taking Advanced Engine Repair first semester I swapped into Endurance Training. I was still signed up to do engine repair second semester so it's not like I was missing out. Blue fire burns hotter than any other color, bearing the brunt of Opal's ice colored glare drove that point squarely home. "Lunges across the gym", She barked without preamble, "Half of you go vertical the other go horizontal. When you reach the end switch directions", Her whistle screamed the song of its people sending us into motion.
"Real shame you didn't stick with us Everburn", Coach's long legs easily kept pace at my side. Three lunges in and sweat was beading along my hairline, "I ended up tossing that little shit Navy onto the bench. Girl was acting a might big for her britches deciding she can set my lineup better than I can. No discipline in kids these days", She shakes her head almost sadly, "No respect for their elders. When I was a little girl in Berlin I would be sent to stand in line for my family's weekly bread ration. On a good day I would be there two hours, now I see teenagers who whine when they're told to wait five minutes. Dewy glasses off and pick up the pace", The sudden yell right next to my air made my flinch and lose my rhythm.
Using Opal's distraction to my advantage I fell back into line before she looked back at me. "Fuckin hate that name Coach", I panted, "Thought you and I had an agreement about usin it?" Reaching the end of the wall I adjusted myself to begin the horizontal part of my ordered workout. "Bullshitting aside we both know I'd never been good enough for the squeaky clean members of the PTA. I ain't Lapis or Amethyst, I can't pass for normal", Lactic acid burned in my knees. Lunges are fucking brutal on the joints if you aren't ready for them, "Eventually I'd piss someone off and I'd be out. Better for me to quit before I wreck your reputation", I finally reached the wall that housed the folded up bleachers. People with longer legs stood to the side having finished before their stumpy limbed counterparts.
"Twenty burpies", Opal blasted her whistle again while pulling a lever to release the first bleacher step. A few people further down the row groaned in complaint, "Alright I get it twenty isn't enough. Make it thirty then, unless you'd like to keep complaining", They wisely kept their mouths shut. Talking wasn't really possible when you're gasping for air so I had little choice but to listen while Opal spoke. "Listen to me Wulfenite, if you're striving for normal then you are selling yourself short. Normal may be the standard nut so called normal people never do anything interesting with their lives. Do you want to end up in some boring 9-5 job that you hate or do you want to be something extraordinary? Think about it", She moved further down the line of students correcting positions as needed. I blinked trying to figure out when exactly my hard ass of a gym teacher got replaced with a philosopher.
By Iduna's benevolence Opal let us go a few minutes early so we had sufficient time to shower. Gym was my last class of the day so right after the rinse off I had to rush to the bus on aching legs. Peridot was still my assigned seat partner so she was at least used to me not smelling the best. Nevertheless her pointed little nose wrinkled when I came upwind, "By the stars Wulfenite you smell like roadkill." I leaned down to give myself a cursory sniff and immediately recoiled; note to self use fucking soap. Wrestling with the window for a minute gave Peridot some time to adjust to my funk well enough to speak. "Ahem", She cleared her throat and steepled her fingers, "Am I correct in assuming we will be resuming our weekly tutoring sessions? Thanks to my vastly superior intellect I am not required to take any mathematics courses for the rest of the year. Apparently this cloddy school system doesn't offer lessons beyond basic trigonometry. No wonder Delmarva is falling behind in national test scores", She scoffs, "It's disgraceful."
"Chill P-Dot", Amethyst chides from the seat behind ours, "Not everyone is a brain lord like you. If the school expected everyone to be as smart as you me an Forest Gump over here'd be fucked." Her arm draped over the top of the seat to to pat my shoulder, "Ain't that right Wulfie?" Time spent out in the summer sun had darkened Amethyst's skin a few shades making it stand in stark contrast to my light green shirt. I got the shirt on a whim when we were out school shopping with Rose, the pattern of blue symbols running in lines up and down made me think of alien computer code. Of course as soon as Peridot saw it she immediately gave me her seal of approval. I'm still amazed by the fact that her being happen can make me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy. Working meant I didn't get to hang out with her and Lapis as much as I wanted too. I wondered how they felt about that, did they miss me as much as I missed them or were they happy for some alone time?
Shaking my head to clear away the maelstrom of negativity that was trying to kill my after workout buzz I turned around. "I ain't a retard Amethyst and I don't much appreciate you comparin me to one, I got enough of that shit in lock up." Something unhappy flashed across Peridot's face, "But yeah no way in hell I'd pass if I needed to be as smart a you." Amethyst pulled her arm off me and I took the opportunity to lightly bump Peri's shoulder, "What's up? You look like you ate a lemon", She was frowning and it looked like a weird lowercase m.
"I do not enjoy the use of the word retard and would prefer if you would refrain from using it. People with mental disabilities deserve as much respect as those who do not. That word makes me feel small", Peridot looked out the window still frowning. Her short arms clutched her messenger bag tightly to her chest in the way a kid would hold a stuffed toy. "Words like that are created to label something as defective, worthy of being thrown away. Life on this planet is worth protecting, all of it, no matter how insignificant it may seem." Nervous hands played with the buttons on the front of her bag but there was determination in her eyes.
"Shit Peridot I'm sorry", I reached out to touch her shoulder but hesitated, "I won't say it anymore. You're like my best friend and the smartest person I've ever met I didn't mean to make you feel bad." Peridot looked away from the widow to offer me a small smile that I couldn't not return. "There's my angry little slice of pie, you wanna come over and decimate asshole kids over the Internet? Amethyst and I have been playin the shit outta Overwatch", Said girl let out a loud whoop behind me. Between myself, Amethyst, and Steven we had managed to persuade Rose to let us buy the popular online game. It was a lot less violent than the newest Call of Duty so it's not like she put up much of a fight.
"Why would I leave the comfort of my home when we could simply converge in an online room? The days of cooperative split screen are long gone", Peridot bumped her shoulder into mine showing I was forgiven. "Perhaps another evening though, my mother is going to be home tonight and has requested that I keep my schedule free. She will be leaving for California on Monday and will not return until sometime after Thanksgiving." Despite her expression remaining in its usual resting bitch face I could pick up the sadness in Peri's voice. I could relate to to what she was going through, yearning for the love and approval of someone who seemed to barely notice you existed. Wanting to convey that sense of kinship I put my arm around my friend's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Our eyes met briefly but I didn't hold the contact for long; it was starting to feel like a moment in a cheesy romance movie.
"Aw man Peri we gotta play soon, my JunkRat game is on fucking fleek", Amethyst interjected on our tender moment. "Ste-Man is gettin damn good with Lucio even after they nerfed him", She continued to ramble on about stats. Peridot listened with polite attentiveness but I let myself zone out so I could just reflect on the moment. Things here felt so right, so domestic and normal, that I could barely believe that just over a year ago I was living in my own mental hell. Here I was with a pretty awesome set of friends, a job, and a home that didn't expect me to hurt anyone. I had a coach who wanted me to challenge the closed minded assholes who refused to accept that I was more than my past. Sighing contentedly to myself I rubbed my cheek against Peridot's shoulder affectionately.
"Clod", Peridot muttered under her breath although her tone was full of fondness, "What will Lapis think? Neither of us have seen cuddly Wulfenite since I found you sleeping in Garnet's lap." She scratched her sharp little nails down through the thick mass of hair on the top of my head. This encouraged me to rub my face harder against her until my cheek was almost raw. I gave her a short headbutt goodbye when it was time for my stop and exited the bus. Lapis lingered behind so she could give her nerdy girlfriend a quick kiss on the nose. Watching them being all cute and coupley didn't provoke pangs of anger and jealousy like it had in months prior; this was good.
Author Notes: Hey guys I know the last couple chapters have been fluffy and kind of slow. I had initially written this with a much harsher tone but scrapped it because I wasn't feeling it. There are, I figure, maybe 10 chapters left of this story and I wanted a bit of brightness before shit gets heavy again. As always thanks for reading.
