Inevitably Yours
Chapter 38

I stood at the starting line, the cold air biting my arms and legs. Morgan and I stood behind the other five girls on our team in the varsity division race. My face was still red and puffed around the healing cut on my cheek; I just hoped there wouldn’t be a scar.

A whistle rang out, indicating a 60-second warning. “You ready?” Morgan asked as she shook out her arms. I bounced on my toes, trying to keep my legs warm. Whoever decided tiny, form-fitted shorts and tank tops were adequate running attire in a pack that has a half-year cold season was crazy.

“I think so,” I answered her. Morgan grabbed my hand and squeezed.

“The only difference between this and JV is the busybodies out front. Just stay with me; I’ll pace,” she smiled.

“I guess as long as I am not last, it won’t be so bad,” I reasoned. Another whistle sounded; 15 seconds until the gun. I exhaled sharply as every racer got down into starting position.

“Here we go,” Morgan whispered.

The wind rushed across the open field in front of us, quieting the crowd. Seven girls from each of the twelve present teams stood tensed for the starting whistle.

Short whistle.

Short whistle.

Gun!

As the sound rang out, bodies lurched forward, and we were running. I could barely make out the screams and cheers of my teammates on the sidelines. When we weren’t racing, we all ran from spectator spot to spectator spot to cheer on our teammates.

Morgan being taller than me, had a much longer stride, giving her an advantage in the take-off. I pumped my legs as fast as I could, sprinting to keep up with her as the crowd of racers thundered over the grass. The course narrowed after the first 400 meters, so everyone began to funnel together. Runners from other teams pushed in between Morgan and me; I was starting to lose her.

“I can’t see you,” I linked her.

“Just run, Q,” she replied. “I’ll just be a little ahead.”

“I guess I’m on my own this time,” I said to myself.

“I’m here,” Saph assured me.

The first half mile was almost a dead sprint. Then everyone began to pace down around me. The course weaved in and out of a wooded area with many rolling hills. I quickly realized I needed to pay special attention to where my feet were moving because of the excessive amount of roots and rocks in the path.

We were nearing the halfway point when a girl in front of me stumbled. I moved quickly to the side so I wouldn’t crash into her, but I slammed into someone else. We both went tumbling down, and I hit the hard dirt path with a hard crunch.

“Ahhh!” I screamed into the dirt. Other racers continued around us; we were less than 100 yards from the next opening for spectators.

The other girl untangled herself from me and pushed herself to her feet. She took off a bit slower than we were moving before. Other people kept running past me; I wasn’t as far back as I thought.

“Get up,” Sapphire urged. I tried to put my legs under me, but pain shot up my shins.

“I don’t know if I can!” I gasped, breathing heavily as I clutched my leg.

“Just get out of the trees,” Sapphire said.

Someone stopped beside me. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“No,” I said.

“Can you stand?” she asked. I shook my head. She reached down and grabbed my arm. “Come on, let’s get out of the trees.” She helped me to my feet, allowing me to keep my weight off my hurt leg. I slung my arm over her shoulder, and she helped me limp toward the next open part of the course. Hannah was waiting right at the edge of the spectator section.

“Goddess, Q, are you okay? What happened?” she asked quickly.

“I need to get back on course,” the girl helping me said. Hannah switched her and helped me to the side. I couldn’t step off the course, or I would be disqualified. She wasn’t supposed to step on it either. The girl ran off, and I shouted my thanks.

“Coach is coming,” Hannah said. “What happened?”

“Someone in front of me started to stumble, and I tried to get out of the way, only to crash into someone else,” I said. “I need to sit.”

She helped lower me to the ground as our coach came sprinting over. He didn’t look happy. “How did this happen?” he shouted.

“She fell avoiding someone else mid-fall,” Hannah said. My ankle was swelling and turning purple.

“Can you put weight on it?” he asked. “You need to at least finish.”

“No, I don’t think so,” I told him.

“Come on; you have to try,” he said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I yelped as I instinctively tried to balance myself, putting weight on my injured leg. “Walk,” he ordered.

I shook my head, my eyes tearing up. “I can’t,” I told him.

“Great,” he g*****d, turning around. Hannah came to my side, grabbing me before I could fall over. “Useless,” our coach muttered. He turned back to Hannah and me. “Get over to the medical tent and get some ice for it.” He grabbed the racer number pinned to the front of my uniform and took off, probably to withdraw me.

“What an a*****e,” Hannah said. A few more of our teammates came jogging over, worried. “I called back up so we could carry you back. I don’t know if you will be walking out of here today.”

“Wonderful,” I g*****d.

–

Christy called on Sunday to see if she could come over and bake a cake with me for Stuart’s birthday. He turned 17 on Tuesday, and she planned to have his party that night. When I explained what happened at the race, she was shocked.

“Stuart didn’t say anything to you?” I asked her.

“No,” she said. “We watched movies all last night, and all he told me was his time was four seconds slower than last week.”

“Yea, well, I can’t race for a few weeks now, which pretty much brings us to the end of the season. I am pretty sure I am not supposed to march in band either,” I told her.

“Oh no!” she gasped. “You just have the worst luck this week.”

“Tell me about it. Anyway, you can come over, and I’ll help you with the cake still. I don’t know how much more help I can be. I’m bound to crutches for a week,” I told her.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “If you aren’t up for it, I can do it myself.”

“No, it’s fine,” I told her. “I’m home alone anyway. I could use some company.”

“Okay, then. I will be over in a half-hour,” she said.

We hung up, and I looked around the quiet house. I sat on the couch with my leg propped up. I had been contemplating calling Michael when Christy called. It had been a few days since we talked, but I was also hesitant to tell him I got hurt. It felt silly getting hurt in such a simple sport.

My fingers came up to trace the fading line of the cut on my face. I hoped it would be gone before school the next day. I wondered how much help I was actually going to be to Christy as I picked up my notebook.

“Maybe she just wants company,” Sapphire thought.

“Maybe,” I agreed.

–

My friends had mixed reactions when I got to school Monday morning. Brina was worried about me while Kyle, John, and Reese were in stitches. Carl teased me lightly when I told him I was okay.

I decided to head to class early to avoid the rush of the crowd that came minutes before the bell. Reese was nice enough to carry my bag. Luckily, Mr. Ganbar was usually in his class early. When I came clomping in, he stopped talking to another student and looked at me in shock.

“Now, something is different here,” he said in mock speculation. “Miss Samuels, did you get a haircut?”

The student Mr. Ganbar was talking to turned around, and I recognized him. “Oh, it’s you,” he said.

“You two know each other?” Mr. Ganbar asked.

“Everyone knows her,” the guy smiled. I was trying to remember his name. I sat down at my desk, and Reese set my crutches against the nearest wall for me.

“Well, I guess it helps that you are here early. I was hoping to ask you something today,” Mr. Ganbar said. “You see, I coach the wrestling team, and we need some help.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. “I don’t know anything about wrestling!”

“Well, that is not a problem. Nothing that can’t be learned. You see, we need people to keep score. The refs can make mistakes and miscall things, so each team is allowed to have scorekeepers that join the coaches on the sideline. I like to give this opportunity to she-wolves who show particular math talent as well as the ability to multitask. Seeing as you always have the correct answer in my class but a different textbook open, I thought you might be a good fit,” Mr. Ganbar explained.

“Yea, we need new girls,” the guy said. I realized he must be on the team.

“Um, what kind of commitment is this? I mean, I have other things going on,” I told him.

“One lunch period a week plus any matches and tournaments you sign up for,” Mr. Ganbar went on. “The only one I require you to participate in is the Senior Celebration night. You can go to as many as you like. And you can list this as a ‘team manager’ position on your future applications.”

“Sounds like something you’d be good at,” Reese said under his breath.

“Can I think about it?” I asked.

“Training starts Wednesday, so you have until then,” Mr. Ganbar smiled. He went back to his conversation with the other student.

–

At lunchtime, Sunni came rushing over to the table I sat at. “Did you hear?” she asked excitedly.

“Hear what?” I asked. Tommy came over with Matt to join us.

“Andi got expelled!” she gushed.

“What?” I gasped.

“Good riddance,” Tommy grumbled, sitting next to me. Sunni took the seat across from me, and Matt sat next to her.

“I heard her parents are so mad they are shipping her off somewhere else. Some relatives’ house,” Matt said.

“All because of Friday night?” I clarified.

Sunni nodded enthusiastically. “It was the last straw or something. Her parents are mean strict, so they were absolutely enraged when they got the call that she attacked another student outside the pack.”

Luckily, the mark from the scratch was gone when I woke up for school, so I hoped there wouldn’t be too much talk about what happened. An uneasy feeling took over me.

“So, is she already gone?” I asked. “Like out of the pack?”

“I don’t think so. I bet her parents needed a few days to make arrangements. She isn’t at school, so that is already done,” Sunni said. That only made me feel marginally better. Getting expelled and sent away from the pack would only make Andi hate me and blame me more.

“When you left Friday night, your face was bleeding. Why are you on crutches?” Tommy asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, yea,” I said. “I fell during my race.” Tommy’s face went slack, making me laugh. “Guess you shouldn’t have had all that confidence in me.”

“Man, the director is going to pitch a fit,” Matt said. “How are you so clumsy? Isn’t your sport like a warm-up for all the others?

“Well, that was mean,” I replied. “Not like I planned to be attacked on Friday and break my ankle Saturday. I would have just stayed home.”

“We’re going to have to put you in a bubble,” Tommy frowned.

“We could roll her out on the field and march around her!” Sunni laughed.

“I’m glad you are all taking amusement in my despair,” I joked back.