Page 21 of Alamort

I start by pacing myself, getting a good rhythm going, a little slower than I usually would. I glance back at River and slow down a little more when I see her not keeping up. She smiles gratefully, gulping for air.

“I’m not a runner.” She puffs. “Why sweat on purpose?” I’m impressed with her logic. “Who the frick thought that I would need to be running if I’m not being chased is beyond me.”

Chuckling at her reasoning, “I think there is some quota the schools have to meet for our exercise each year, hence the reason for the mile.” I heard it somewhere. Sounds legitimate enough.

“Miss Waaaaalton!” Her last name is drawn out in the way P.E teachers do. “If you’re joking, you’re not running hard enough!”

Wincing, I realize he’ll probably make us run longer. We pass by him on our second lap and I do a double take. He looks familiar but I can’t quite place him.

“River, who is the teacher? He looks like someone I know.” I throw another quick glance over my shoulder in hopes of placing his face.

“Coach Riley? I dunno. He’s been the football coach for the last three years. His family owns some oil rig company.” That could be it, but not likely. Behind us, I see both Ambers whisper and look at me, or maybe River. The way they whisper conspiratorially makes me wary. I take my eyes off them for not even a second when my foot catches on something and I’m sprawling out across the gym floor. Blinding pain explodes from the front of my face.

“Ow, fuck. Ow.” I moan into the ground until my hands come up to my nose, which is hot with pain and warm blood. The metallic taste of pennies coats the back of my throat. Gross. River runs up to me telling me she thinks I should go to the nurse. Then tips my head back to stop the bleeding. I gag at the taste of blood running down my throat. I’m going to puke. Both Amber and Ember are standing closer to me than I thought previously. Amber leans down.

“This is your last warning.” She hisses, pulling back with faux concern. Apparently, the heart-to-heart we had last night was one sided and didn’t quite resonate with her.

Riv gives me an ‘I told you so’ look and shakes her head, opening her mouth to respond to the threat when Coach Riley appears.

“What the fuck happened here?” he questions. It makes me wonder if he’s giving us the opportunity to come clean.

Amber chimes in, “It looks like she tripped.” She forces a frown that’s more like an unsympathetic pout.

“Come on.” He grabs me gently by the elbow and leads us to an office with a metal door into a room covered in sports equipment. Guiding me to a chair, hand still holding my nose back up in the air. He turns to a misplaced sink in the office to wet a rag. He’s wearing athletic shorts and a standard grey crewneck sweater. Even with the hoodie I can tell he is in shape. Muscled legs, strong hands, and perfect posture. Ew, that’s my teacher. He’s probably old and has a family at home, and I’m here drooling at his legs and physique.

He startles me out of my perverted train of thought, handing me the wet cloth. I tenderly clean myself up, careful of my sore nose in the process.

“Are you going to tell me what happened out there?” he prods.

“Amber told you, I tripped.” Trying to blow it off, I’m not necessarily a clumsy person. My father’s anger made sure I was a pro at walking on eggshells.

His face tells me he doesn’t believe me. If he knows Amber, he’s not saying anything.

“I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me the truth.”

I stare at him. It’s going to bug me to not know where I know him from. He’s handsome in the classic kind of way. But nothing stands out about him.

“If you think I’m going to rat on someone, you’re sadly mistaken. This isn’t my first rodeo of being stuck with a mean girl.” It’ll be worse if Amber found out I snitched on her. What are they really going to do, anyway? A slap on the wrist? Suffering in silence seems to be the better option of the two. He drops his head like he wants to say more.

“You can head to the showers. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

“In the shower?” I joke to break the tension. His face contorts to one of horror. Whether from the thought of helping me in the shower or maybe because he is my teacher and I’m a student, but at least I’m quick to spot that he doesn’t have a ring on his finger. I laugh at his face. It’s funny to see him flustered.

Putting him out of his misery, “I’m joking! Calm down.” From the corner of my eye, I spot a smile twitching on his full lips as he shakes his head. Then, I go out to face the humiliation of people who witnessed me get tripped. The unmistakable blood staining the front of my shirt.

I make a B-line for the locker rooms, trying to avoid people for the foreseeable future when I stumble upon Amber’s other victim from last night. Lily leans against the sink, quietly crying in front of the mirror, staring at the word ‘whore’ written across her forehead. Taking pity on her, I grab my bag with handsanitizer and hand it to her as an olive branch. If Amber is going to be a bitch to both of us, we might as well stick together.

She glares at me from beneath her lashes. “What is this? If I wanted clean hands, I could just use soap and water like a normal person. Or is that beneath you?” Stunned at her outburst from me trying to be friendly because I felt bad, I have half a mind to walk away. Shaking my head, I realize from personal experience she’s lashing out in anger from humiliation.

I clear my throat before speaking. “Have you tried getting it off with hand sanitizer? I don’t think it will completely come off, but it should fade it enough to cover it up with makeup.”

Her eyes light up with hope and a touch of apprehension. “Really? This isn’t like some sort of trick and it’s going to make it stay forever, right?”

Shrugging, I leave her to figure it out. I don’t have a reason to be horrible to her. Not that she should have been all over Bennett to begin with. It takes two to tango.

She turns to the mirror with a sniffle and carefully applies the sanitizer to her skin. “I didn’t know.” She says quietly as I turn on the shower stall and grab a fluffy white towel from the rack. I don’t have anything to say. Whether she knew Bennett’s relationship status or not, isn’t my business.

I let the hot water soothe my muscles and run down my face before I lather myself in soap face to toe, taking care to exclude my hair because it’ll take forever to dry. The door opens and closes when she exits the locker room. I feel her absence in the stillness of the air.

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