Awkwardness ahead… you were warned… the writing is somewhat awkward too… but I told you.
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I stirred but stayed curling up next to the thing next to me. It was comfortable and warm, like a heated comforter would be like. For a split second I thought my parents actually bought me a heated comforter. 'Nahhhh'. I shoved aside my thoughts and pushed myself more into the warm-comfortable-hopefully-heated-comforter. I sighed in content as I curled up tighter next to it, getting warmer and warmer. Definitely should have put more layers on before I left, but my comforter was doing fine. Then it struck me.
Comforter?
I opened my eyes, only to see black and a silver under armor symbol sticking out at me. 'Whhhaaaaaattt?' I pulled back a little and my comforter stirred. I was awake in an instant. I sat up and observed around me. All lights were out and I could hear some snoring. It was still sleeping time, still.
"Can you just sleep? Please? You can slap me later," I heard a quiet voice whisper. My head whipped over and I saw Zach with half-lidded eyes.
Darn.
I blushed and looked away. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were fluttering, trying to stay awake. He had taken off his coat and now in his under armor with a sweatshirt. He was lying up against the window with a blanket pooled around his back. Then I realized that that blanket also went around me. I also realized that his arms were around me, his hands tracing incoherent things on my back. I realized that I was in his lap and that my comforter was him.
"Gallagher Girl, I'm tired," he voiced softly. I looked back at me and he his eyes were pleading.
"Then go to sleep," I simply replied.
"I was comfortable."
"Zach-" I didn't bother finishing because, as much as I hate to admit, I was tired too. So when he pulled on my back a little more forcefully, I complied. He pulled me to his chest and I put my head in the crook of his neck. I heard him sigh contently and he pulled me closer to his body. After a few minutes I felt his head loll on top of mine. He was asleep for sure. Slowly I let my eyes close and fall into sleep
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I woke up and I was leaning against the window.
I was freezing.
I shuddered and pulled the blanket closer to me. I was so cold I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. I sat up straighter and looked around. The lights were back on and most people were talking.
Zach wasn't beside me.
I mentally shrugged and rewrapped the blanket around me. I leaned against the window again, but this time I had a blanket so it wasn't as cold. Slowly I got warmer and warmer. Zach never came back. The whole trip I sat dazed against the window, half sleeping, half awake. Most people were doing homework or something, trying to get things done so they wouldn't have to worry about it over the weekend.
Finally the bus lurched to a stop, and there was a gas station.
"You can go buy snacks. We will have a fifteen minute break before we continue. We encourage you to get up and walk around, stretch even," Mr. Thompson spoke. I sighed as I slowly detached myself from the blanket. Then I thought better and rewound it around my body. I was the first one to get up and move. Slowly people started to move behind me.
I got off the bus and went into the gas station. I looked for something I might want to eat.
"Comfortable?" I looked over to see Sophie Wheeler.
"You did that basketball thi-"
"Yeah yeah yeah."
"I thought you played hockey?"
"We have out of city competitions too. Except we're going a little further than you," she replied.
"Oh," was my awesome reply.
"You look pretty comfortable."
"Yeh."
"Is that Zach's blanket?" I stopped for a second to think. Was it? All I knew was that it was wrapped around me. She laughed at me before smiling. "What are you going to get?" she asked changing the subject.
"Not sure. I kind of want to get some candy, but that's unhealth-"
"Just get it." I looked at her, confusion on my face.
"We're athletes. We'll burn it off." This time I laughed. Sophie and I had some small talk but after ten minutes we both realized we had to go. I grabbed some skittles and puffercorn and paid. Hey, that stuff never gets old.
"MORGAN'S THE LAST ONE," Mr. Thompson said louder than necessary, but the bus driver started immediately. I slowly walked back to my seat. Everyone laughing at me for being so tired. They kept teasing me, saying I was sleep-walking. It was all good though, I could take the teasing and it was more of a joke than to get me wound up. Finally I plopped in my seat and started eating. That caused everyone around me to laugh.
Why I will never know.
Finally they put movies on and they were constantly playing for the rest of the five hours. I watched them all, eating my puffercorn and skittles.
Never once did Zach come back.
But it made me wonder. Was Zach even there in the first place? It was a dream. I was sitting by myself. I was with a mystery blanket though. I ate my food slowly, thinking about it. Zach never once came back. I only saw him in the dark. I swore I saw him when I first came in and sat by him. I guess I could ask Carly… but that could be awkward. What if I hadn't? Then she could go around switching my words around to saying I wanted to sleep with him.
Which I definitely don't.
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We got to the hotel and I was a little surprised. It was a ski resort. Cabins and all. Wasn't skiing enough? Did we really have to go to cabins? But then we walked into the main resort and saw that the thing itself was a hotel. The cabins out there were either bought or reserved. We all got our rooms and set up. I got to share a room with Courtney Bauer luckily. She wasn't the most girly person on the planet so we both just claimed our beds and went out.
I was about to open the door when we heard a knock. I opened the door, Courtney right behind me and three girls stood outside. I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure their names were Anna, Mick, and Eva.
"Hey!" Courtney said entusiastically. I'm guessing they were her friends based on Courtney's reaction. They stared blankly at me for a moment before they said hi. It was as if they were treating me like a model or upper classman. Basically they were treating me as if I were a 'higher rank'. We were in the same grade.
"Hey, I'm Cammie," I said giving them a smile.
"Eva."
"Mick."
"Anna," Anna squeaked. I giggled a little bit.
"We were just going down to the cafeteria. Do you guys want to come with?" I asked including them. Plus I wanted them to think I was the same as them.
"You're Cammie Morgan," Anna said in a rather, high voice.
"Guys, she's cool. Lets' get some food," Courtney rolled her eyes. She was smiling though. We all headed down to the cafeteria. I realized that these four girls were hidden. I didn't know that they did alpine ski. I felt bad for not knowing, they were on my time. We talked and it was all fun. Around ten we found ourselves on those comfy couches in a circle, sipping hot chocolate while laughing about jokes and embarrassing moments.
"Yeah, and so after Mick spilled yellow paint all over the QB's white pants, RIGHT near the CROTCH, he yelled and Mick went scampering off. She was terrified! She wouldn't come out of the bathroom until two hours after the game finished," Eva finished up laughing. Mick was bright red but she was still laughing as hard as the rest of us.
"Gosh, you would do something like that. How you got yellow paint on a QB's pants during his game, I will never understand," Anna giggled. Mick stayed bright red but nodded smiling.
"Girls, get back to your room. You have to be down here by six a.m. tomorrow," Coach (now that we're at our destination) Thompson scolded us. We all reluctantly got up and made our way to our rooms.
Doesn't mean we did it quietly and didn't get yelled at.
After Courtney and I stumbled into our room we got all the laughing out and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big competition and we better be rested.
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I got up and Courtney was already up and moving. She already had her suit on and she was layering up for outside.
"'Mornin' Courtney," I mumbled out. She looked startled for a second but then laughed at me.
"You look dead," she laughed.
"Just because I just woke up-" she cracked up. It was amazing how close we had gotten in so short of a time period. I rolled over, attempting to get out of bed but instead rolled completely off the bed.
I fell on the floor hard and groaned. "Darn itttt!" I could only hear Courtney's laugh fill the air. She had such a cute laugh. It was high pitched and it just replayed over and over and over again. After I untangled myself from the sheets and got dressed, we walked down to the cafeteria where everyone was waiting for us.
"Morgan, you're late again! I roomed you with Courtney, hoping you would be on time-" Courtney just bursted out laughing and I stood trying my hardest not to laugh. "What's so funny?" Coach Thompson asked, obviously confused.
"OH MY GOD," Courtney wheezed out. "This morning, this morning-" she couldn't go on because she was laughing so hard. Man, I must have been a sight this morning…
A bit annoyed Coach Thompson dismissed it. "Let's just get out there."
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I stood at the sidelines watching my team whiz down the hill. Right now Mick Morrison was going down and she was so graceful it was crazy. She made it look so simple. She finished in a record of time.
I knew that the four girls went straight in a row, so I didn't know who was next. But then I saw Courtney's silhouette and knew that she was next. In a matter of seconds Courtney was flying by. I stared, wide eyed. She wasn't as graceful as Mick, but she was flying. Bump after bump she was airborne. It was as if she liked it that way. She finished faster than Mick by 2 seconds, but that was a lot. Suddenly I heard snow being crunched and I looked over to see Mick planting her skis next to me.
"She's fast but reckless," Mick told me as we watched Courtney clear way for the next one - Eva. Suddenly I saw a blur of black go by. "Eva's pretty good, but she has no drive. She only does it because of friends. She doesn't go as fast as she can. Coach just can't get it out of her." After a few minutes of silence, Courtney came to join us. We talked and laughed when Anna started. I watched in shock as she went down quicker and more efficiently than the rest.
"How Anna is good at this, I will NEVER know," Courtney chuckled. Anna finished and then fell straight on her butt. We all laughed at that. She was faster than Mick by 6 seconds. And that was REALLY good.
"When are you up?" Eva asked me.
"I'm up with the evening group," I replied. Some how I got stuck with racing when it was turning dark. It was more dangerous, and you needed to know the course.
"You must be good," Mick said.
"Uh no, remember, I'm the one who started this year?" I replied.
"That's unfair! A newbie going at night! That's not safe," Anna stuck up for me. I chuckled.
"I don't think that's going to change anything, but thanks for trying." I smiled.
We all walked back into the resort and went to the cafeteria. We were all laughing and making jokes. When it reached three, we went back out. I had a race in two hours. We watched some of the ski jumping and went back in forth to cheer on our school.
We were walking back when we heard the crowd start screaming, we looked back and people were rushing the bottom of the ski jump. I paled.
"That's not a good sign guys," I told them. No one needed to say anything to know that that was an understatement. We stayed frozen in place as we heard shouts go out and the crowd back up. Everything seemed to be happening in a blur. Before I knew it I heard the sirens and an ambulance driving on the snow.
"This is way serious," Mick said. It wasn't necessary, but we were all a little freaked.
"Our school wasn't up was it?" Eva asked.
"Does it matter?" Mick snapped back. Mick was right though, it doesn't matter if we know them or not. It was serious.
On top of that my race was in ten minutes
Slowly we unfroze and I started making my way towards my equipment. I put on my skis and my friends encouraged me and told them they would be watching me and cheering me on. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I smiled as they gave me their luck and I skied toward the lift. I got in line and soon enough I was the one getting on the lift. I closed my eyes and thought about the race I was about to do. I was going to do fine. I was going to fly.
I was going to win.
I got of the lift and skied toward the starting line. There were still some skiers in front of me. Some man came by and checked me and made sure I was 'ready to go'. After I was set he left me to check the person behind me.
Slowly the number of people in front of me decreased, and soon enough I was the one who was up to go down.
As I was at the top of the hill, I was freaking out. That was an understatement.
All I know was that I was in the ready position and I heard "GO".
I flew off. I was off to a good start.
I loved the feeling of the wind whip around me.
I loved flying down the hill at the unnatural speed.
I loved seeing things go by as quickly as they came.
I loved going on the jumps and being airborne.
I loved making sharp turns.
I loved how the snow flew up when I made the sharp turns.
I was feeling solid, invincible almost. I was making considerable time. It was peaceful out. The sky was pretty. Everything was going well. I was still high on the hill when I saw the ball in the middle of the course. I knew that it would roll out of the way. Some mom probably lost track of her son.
Then I saw the boy.
I know that a little boy was not supposed to be on the track. I heard some people scream. Internally I was freaking out. I was way to close. I didn't have enough time to react. Quickly I turned off course so I wouldn't hit the boy. Then my luck changed for me. My ski came off and suddenly I was flying. I felt safe for the split second I was in the air, but then when I hit the ground I knew that this could not possibly be good. I hit the ground with my shoulder and I rolled over a couple times. Somewhere during the process my other ski fell off. All I could hope was that the little boy was okay.
Finally I came to a stop and my leg was burning. I did a quick system check and nothing felt wrong. Only my hamstring hurt. But my hamstring hurt BAD. Suddenly I heard a crunching of snow and I heard a little boy ask, "Are you okay?"
I wanted to reply to him so bad, but my body felt heavy. My blood was pumping through my body. "Are you alright?" the boy asked again, but more rushed. Finally I found the strength open my mouth.
"I'm fine," I croaked out. It wasn't hard to figure the kid was crying. Suddenly I heard more yelling.
"OVER HERE!" the boy's voice cracked. I heard more snow crunching.
"Miss, can you hear me?" I heard a man ask.
"Yeh," I managed to mumble out.
"What hurts?" he asked again. I was amazed at how calm he was. I heard more crunching as I realized people had a sled that they were going to put me on.
"Ug-" was all I was able to mutter out. I heard more snow crunching.
"Is she alright?" I heard a voice frantically ask. I've heard that voice somewhere before…
"You are not supposed to be here," the man calmly replied.
"Is she alright?" the boy replied more forcefully.
"I don't know yet," the man calmly replied again, but there was more of an edge in his voice.
"Cammie, open your eyes," the boy ordered. I realized that I hadn't opened my eyes. Someone pulled my goggles off slowly so it wouldn't hurt. "Cam, please, open your eyes," the boy said again.
Slowly and disoriented I began to open my eyes. After about a minute of being blinded by the snow I moved my head slightly so that I wouldn't be staring into the snow.
"Gallagher Girl." I looked up to see Zach, totally freaked out.
"You know her?" the man asked.
"Yeah," Zach snapped. "Gallagher Girl, what hurts?" asked me with more patience in his voice. I tried to voice my words, but my mouth was heavy. Finally I was able to move my mouth, but no words were coming out.
"Gallagher Girl, take your time," Zach said softly. I closed my eyes for a second and then reopened them. Everyone was watching me still. I started to move one hand. Good to know that my arm works.
"Your arm?" Zach asked. I barely shook my head no. He still understood. Slowly I moved my arm to my right leg. "Your leg hurts?" Zach asked again. I slightly nodded.
"Anything else?" the man asked. I shook my head no. At least no other pain and registered in my body yet. The buzzing in my leg wasn't bad either. It only felt as if I pulled my hamstring.
"H'mstrin," I slurred out.
"I'm sorry what?" the man asked.
"H'mstrin," I tried again.
"Hamstring?" Zach asked. I looked at him. "It's her hamstring." I was a little amazed at how well Zach read me, but it doesn't matter I guess. Suddenly I felt hands touching me and lifting me up. I heard crying and I looked to my left. I saw the little boy, but I saw trees all around us. Trees? I must've flown way off course. The kid's eyes were red, and his cheeks were really puffy. I slowly reached my hand out to him. The 'adults' watched me closely.
"Can you do me a favor?" I croaked out. I thought of how freaked out the kid must've been. I probably looked like death through his eyes. "Roll up my suit and take my bracelet. Until I take it back, keep it," I told the kid. I chuckled thinking of how cheesy this was and how it always happened in the movies.
Except I wouldn't be dying anytime soon.
My chuckle soon resulted in a coughing fit though and the boy quickly took my bracelet. I flashed him a smile (which probably looked more like a grimace) and then a medic lead me out the woods. After a few minutes we finally came out of the woods. I heard some clapping, but it was mostly quiet. Quickly the paramedic went down the hill and we were at the bottom in mere seconds. 'I was seconds away from doing my personal best'.
Just as soon as we reached the bottom, I was being man-handled. I was dead exhausted and all I remember was being lifted from the sled. Then I fell into sleep.
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I woke up in my hotel room. I felt a little sore, but I thought nothing of it. It was when I tried to sit up when I remembered that I was thrown off course into the woods. I thought a little more about it, and wondered how I didn't hit any trees. Maybe I was lucky. Yeah. That was probably it.
I heard something to my right and my head whipped sideways. Didn't hurt a bit, nope. I saw Zach with Courtney, Eva, Mick, Anna, Coach Thompson, and some people I didn't even recognize.
"How are you feeling?" Mick blurted out right away. From the glares she got I figured out that that was something she wasn't supposed to say.
"Fine," I replied. Everyone looked a little taken back.
"She speaks," one of the men stated.
"Yeah," I slowly replied. I guess I wasn't supposed to be able to talk.
"Then what's wrong with her?" another man muttered. "She was thrown around and yet we can't find anything wrong with her!" I studied the two men, and realized that they were probably doctors.
"I feel fine," I stated bluntly.
"She's fine then," the other doctor spoke. Then the two doctors left the room.
"That's not the end of them. You'll be seeing them more," Coach Thompson told me. "Get better," and with that he left. Which left me with Eva, Mick, Anna, Courtney, and Zach.
"God, I thought you were never going to wake up," Mick told me. I cracked a small smile.
"Yeah, you've been unconscious, sleeping, whatever for like three hours," Eva rushed out next.
"It seems like eternity!" Anna piped.
"I feel fine, maybe a little hungry-"
"I'll go get you a hamburger!"
"Don't forget a drink!"
"Buy a side-meal-thingy!"
"I don't want to stay behind! I'll go with you guys!"
"…"
I watched the four of them race out the door and down the hall. The door shut and soon enough I found myself alone with Mr. Goode. I looked over at me and was staring at me. He didn't even look away when I caught him staring. It was more like he stared more.
"Uh, hey," I awkwardly spoke out.
"Did you pull your hamstring?"
I sat there a moment wondering what the heck he was talking about. Then it struck me that when the other medics were with me in the woods, I mumbled out my hamstring hurt. I lifted my leg a little bit realizing that my hamstring did in fact hurt.
"Yeah," I replied, a little awed.
"You told-"
"I figured as much," I cut him off. He watched me for a second then nodded.
"Does it still-"
"Yeah," I finished. Then the door flew open and coach and the girls walked in. I ate the food they gave me and we made some small talk. After a while Anna and them left to go hang out in the cafeteria, but more or less away from our coach.
"So how are you feeling?" Coach asked again.
"I think I pulled my hamstring," I replied a little uncertainly. Coach looked a little nervous for a second.
"The uh-" suddenly the whole room filled with people from our school. Maybe Eva and them went to go get the team. That would've been sweet of them.
"Get better!" I heard multiple people saying it from multiple directions. Overall the message was the same - get well soon. Then things just had to get awkward.
"Does, uh, anyone know how to wrap a hamstring?" Coach blurted out.
"What do you mean?" someone called out from the crowd of kids in the room.
"Wait, why can't I get a medic or something?" I asked.
"The trainers are busy with other injuries that they can tend to. Right now people think your injuries are more major than they are," Coach told me.
"Zach's the most medically educated!" someone else blurted out.
"Yeah, he knows the most! He's wrapped my foot before!"
"He helped me with my arm!"
Suddenly I was hearing praises for Zach left and right. It was a little shocking.
"Then Zach. Can you… help Cammie out with her… er…. Situation?" coach asked.
"Sure." With that one word everyone was ushered out of my room. Can this get any more awkward?
"So, um…" I tried to start a conversation. Zach just avoided my eyes.
"I'm going to help you up to a sitting position," Zach told me what he was going to do. Slowly he lifted me up. I was mostly leaning on him as I sat upright. "You're still in your suit?" Zach muttered more to himself. I realized that he was only talking to me when he had to. And when he was talking to me it wasn't because he wanted to, it was more or less for medical purposes. I watched his face as slowly his cheeks flushed.
"I'm going to need you to, uh, change out of your racing suit," he awkwardly told me. "I'll just be out the door."
"How are you supposed to know when to come back in? It's not like I can walk." I had just woken up and I was pretty disoriented.
"Right…." I looked to my bed side and saw I had a sweatshirt.
"Zach, can you get me some shorts?" He walked over to my suitcase and I told him where to look, so he wouldn't get into anything he wouldn't want to get into. He tossed them to me. "Turn the other way." As soon as I said it Zach faced the other way. I stared at him as I quickly changed out of my suit into a sweatshirt and some baggy shorts.
"I'm good," I quietly told me. He turned around and his poker face was on. Come to think of it, as soon as his cheeks flushed his poker face came on…
"Sit on the edge of the bed," he instructed me. I did as I was told. "How bad does it hurt?"
"Pretty bad."
"Scale of one to ten?"
"Solid eight and a half."
"…"
I watched as he brought some icy hot and materials to wrap my leg.
"Where abouts does the pain begin and end?" Slowly I pulled my leg up, and I felt the tug almost right away. I pointed right away. I saw Zach's cheeks flush a little bit again before his face went emotionless.
"So pretty much a little above the back of your knee to a little below your, er, butt," he spoke awkwardly. I knew he was dreading this. I smiled a little bit laughing a pinch at Zach. He gave me a glare before tugging on my leg.
"OW," I blurted out.
"Sorry," he said like an angel. We all knew it was on purpose though. "Actually I need you to move more towards the edge." I inched my way toward the edge of the bed before Zach got sick of it and pulled me toward the edge of the bed. Awkwardly I stayed in his embrace as he positioned me so that it was more easy to wrap my leg.
"I need you to flip over for a second," he told me. I rolled over so that I was on my stomach. Then I felt warm hands on my leg.
"Zach," I said, I little edge in my voice. It felt, awkward to say the least.
"Sorry," he muttered. Then he proceeded to lift my shorts up.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"I'm sorry, I can't properly do this if I can't," he didn't bother finishing. He was obviously flustered that he was left with this job. He lifted my shorts up until they were right below my butt. My whole leg was exposed. It felt awkward. Then I felt his hands rubbing my leg, then kneading it.
"Zach that feels amazing," I truthfully told him as he massaged my muscle. He stayed quiet. Then I felt his hands leave and I heard a pop. Next thing I knew something cold was being rubbed against my leg.
"It's cold," I told him as I shivered a little bit.
"It's icy hot," Zach replied. After he put icy hot all over my hamstring, he stared to wrap it. First in prewrap. The first few layers he did loosely, but as he continued on he started to wrap it a little tighter. Tight coils up, one wrap around going down. He went over and over until I had a layer of prewrap, probably five layers deep.
"Is that all necessary?" I questioned.
"Probably not. Probably over did it," he replied. Then he repeated the same thing except with the bandage. After a few minutes he finished with a, "Done."
Slowly I turned around. He held out his hand, as if to help me out of bed. I grabbed his hand and I pulled myself out of the bed. It was really awkward at first. I had never pulled a muscle and my leg felt stiff.
"It'll feel a little stiff at first, but then your muscle will relax," Zach told me, still holding my hand. Suddenly he smirked. The smirk that I hadn't seen in forever.
The smirk that made my heart beat a little faster.
"I like your sweatshirt." I looked down to see that it was his football sweatshirt.
"Don't be cocky," I playfully shoved him. Secretly I was surprised though. I didn't remember packing it, yet it was sitting with the clothes I wore on the bus. I know I wouldn't of worn the sweatshirt in school. That would horrible. That's probably an understatement.
"Um, want to go get hot chocolate?" Zach awkwardly asked. He scratched the back of his head and it was so un-Zach like.
It was as if he was nervous.
I smiled as I realized I had some kind of an effect on him also. "Sure. I would love that."
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That was 5,180 words. Of the story I mean. I think that's amazing. I think it deserves some reviews. :)