CHAPTER TWO: GYM CLASS IS MONKEY CLASS
Thursday, October 10, 2013. 1:45 PM. Witter Field, next to the Piedmont Middle School campus. Piedmont, California.
It's Block 6 for students at Piedmont High School – and that means physical education class for the Pines Twins, 14 years old and in their freshman year. The current unit is still on soccer, so that requires traveling out of the high school zone, down the hill past the middle school, and onto the track and field with a large purple "P" in the middle. And as always, Dipper is far from looking forward to having his physical limits tested and being pushed around by his classmates, none of which are in a JV or varsity sport (because they wouldn't even need to take PE then), but are all more athletic than him by comparison.
Being October, the weather has cooled – fluctuating from 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. The sun is out, but is frequently blocked by the numerous cumulus clouds moving across the sky. Temperature wise, it's not so bad. But how hot or cold the air is becomes meaningless if one is forced to run laps, do stretches in a rapid pace, and finally get dirt kicked in the face as one struggles to get the ball for the team.
On the surface, the activities sound like a reasonable lesson plan for a high school physical education class. But put in a gym teacher that genuinely resembles the cliche pushy, ill-tempered coach from the average children's show, well, a different story arises.
"You guys know the drill. Two laps, no stopping, and get right to the stretching drill once you've completed the run," the coach sneered at his class. "Now GO, GO, GO! QUIT BEING LAZY AND GET A-MOVING!"
The coach blew his whistle. All the students, initially lined up alphabetically by last name for attendance, immediately took off down the field. It wasn't long before Dipper fell behind the rest of his peers.
Mabel, a fast runner naturally, usually jogs slower to keep herself as close to Dipper as possible. She knows how hard PE class has been for her brother, so the least she could do is be by his side for emotional support.
"Mabel…oh…," Dipper panted. "You don't need to do this. You go on ahead. Whew!"
"Hey, we're in this together," Mabel responded. "You know this is painful for both of us. But we can lessen it by sticking together."
"Tell it to Coach Haber," Dipper wheezed. "Every time he catches us running slow together, behind everyone else…"
"HIT THE GAS, PINES AND PINES!" Coach Haber's loud, booming voice – unaided by his megaphone – shouted from the starting line at the twins.
"Come on, Dipper, we can do this!" Mabel encouraged.
"Just go with the rest, Mabel…I never did well in PE anyways…I can survive more of Coach Haber's nags – AH-AH-AHHH!"
Dipper felt himself trip and fall forward. He extended his hands to break his fall, but to no avail; he crashed down onto the rough, brick-colored track asphalt and slid forward slightly. Dipper let out a large groan.
Mabel halted in her tracks, skidding forward about a feet. She turned around and rushed back to help her brother.
"Are you alright?" Mabel asked with deep concern. She helped Dipper sit back up. The side of his forehead is bruised, his hands are covered with dirt and reddened by the impact, and his left knee is gashed open and already bleeding.
"Oh my gosh OH MY GOSH!" Mabel started panicking. She licked her hand and frantically tried to apply her saliva onto Dipper's knee wound. Dipper winced at the contact.
"This is bad…you need to go to the nurse, Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed, worry deep in her voice. "Here."
Mabel squatted down beside Dipper. Dipper put his arm around his sister, and the two slowly got up. Mabel held her brother tightly as the two limped their way back towards the starting point.
"Oh, for love of Celestia!" Coach Haber flung his clipboard towards the ground and rubbed his eyes. "Pines, did you seriously trip? You need to watch where you are going, man!"
"I know, sir…," Dipper said uneasily as he and Mabel approached him.
"Coach, we need to head to the nurse," Mabel stated the obvious. "I'll help him out, he needs the support. You see the cut on his knee?"
"Yeah, I've seen worse," Coach Haber sighed. "Fine, take him to the nurse or whatever. Get him stitched up and come back ASAP. Or stay in the nurse's office, whatever she says."
"Thanks for understanding, Coach," Mabel smiled slightly. She stood up straighter and pulled Dipper's arm further across her shoulders.
The twins made their way to their backpacks. Mabel got out her hand wipes to clean some of the blood off of Dipper's knee. After some quick thinking, Mabel took out a roll of tape she usually uses for her art class and wrapped the strip around Dipper's leg. The rough feeling and stickiness made Dipper wince, but at least it helped prevented more blood from running.
Dipper put his arm around Mabel again and the two stood up. They made their way, slowly and limping, to the path leading to the middle and high school campus. It's going to be a long, hard trek uphill – especially the stairwell section adjacent to the high school gymnasium and the arts building.
"Thanks Mabel, for helping out," Dipper expressed.
"Save the thanks for later," Mabel replied sternly. "We need to move quickly. I don't know how long the tape can keep in the blood. It's already being stained from the inside."
"It's okay Mabel, I'll be fine. Let's just get there…oh!" Dipper scrunched his face at the pain.
"Your hands are also hurting and you have a dark bruise on your head. You're far from fine!" Mabel built up her strength and accelerated her pacing.
"Mabel…no need to be so fast! Let's take it slowly…ow…please!" Dipper hung on to his sister as he tried to keep up with his sister's faster walking.
"You need to be treated now and now! I'm not wasting any time. Every second spent is a second closer to infection!" Mabel insisted.
The two struggled uphill, past the middle school campus and towards the stairwell. Without hesitating, Mabel immediately started climbing it, much to Dipper's discomfort.
"Mabel…slow down…," Dipper moaned. Mabel, however, wouldn't listen; she is too eager to get her brother the proper medical treatment to even process what he is saying.
In only five minutes, Dipper and Mabel successfully reached the nurse's office all the way from the track and field down the hill. Very quick, considering how Dipper could only move with one leg – but with Mabel being desperate, she decided to sacrifice being gentle in order to reach the real care.
Very soon, Dipper's wounds have been disinfected and tended to. The nurse used a cotton ball dipped in antiseptic to clean Dipper's forehead, hands, and knee cut. She wrapped up the opening, much to both Dipper and Mabel's relief.
"The cut is large, but it doesn't seem severe enough to require stitching," the nurse said to Dipper. "You'll be fine. In about a week or two, the cut should be gone. Make sure to keep your wound covered for the next several days. You might need to do reduced activity for your next gym classes next Monday and Tuesday."
"Oh geez, Coach Haber is going to be glad to hear that," Dipper sighed.
"It's alright. He will have to let you rest if you have an injury significant enough to affect your performance, he can't help that," the nurse said with a smile. "Now, you just sit here and rest until the period ends, or the school day, really. I'll call Coach Haber to excuse you and Mabel for remainder of the block."
The nurse retreated to her desk to dial Coach Haber's personal cell phone. Dipper is sitting on the bed, a pad taped to his bruise on his forehead and thick gauze wrapped around his knee, and Mabel is nearby on the chair.
"Feeling better, Dip?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah. And I guess now would be a good time to say, thanks for helping out," Dipper smirked.
"You're welcome. And I'm sorry if I was a little too fast or rough as we were making our way up here. I just wanted you to be treated as soon as possible."
"I understand Mabel. You just care about me, that's all. And I'm very appreciative about that," Dipper smiled. Mabel in turn smiled back.
"It's funny though…usually you would be the one who would go on a full-out panic if I were the one who got hurt. And even just a little paper cut or splinter will make you freak out. Man, I was super motivated back then."
"Nah, I'd say you displayed the natural response any twin would have."
"Well, I'm just glad everything is done. Still hurting though?"
"A little bit, but not so much anymore," Dipper swing his lower leg a little bit, and winced when he felt greater pain. "Obviously I'm going to have to rest up for the rest of the week. But I'm alright. How about you? Feeling calmer?"
"Indeed. My precious brother is going to be all right." Mabel got up from her chair and cuddled Dipper like a mother towards her child.
"Okay, maybe not your calmest," Dipper chuckled.
"Shush, little one," Mabel said softly as she stroked her brother's hair. Dipper only rolled his eyes, but in an affectionate manner.
After a few minutes of hugging, Mabel detached from Dipper.
"Now are you feeling calmer?" Dipper asked again.
"I guess so. But to be fair, I can never get enough of hugging the life out of you."
"True."
Mabel let out a sigh. "I wish I had a chance to kiss your forehead bruise before the nurse patched it up. We used to do that when we were kids, kissing each other's cuts or bruises. I think it helps make the wound heal faster, you know."
"Yeah, I remember. We kind of outgrew that. Well, maybe not entirely."
Mabel leaned forward and softly kissed the spot next to Dipper's eye and right below the padding. "I hope this still counts. Naturally I would just take off the covering and kiss the bruise directly, but then again, there's antiseptic below it."
"It's fine Mabel. I'm sure the kiss is close enough to enact its healing powers."
The twins shared a laugh, and continued talking in the nurse's office for the next hour, up until the bell indicating the end of the school day rang.
Next chapter: My Favorite Set of Stars