52. Fisher
52
***Fisher***
R unning around campus in our full gear was the coach’s idea of punishment for us getting caught fighting. The fact that he made the whole team do it was almost more of a punishment. No one wanted to run the campus and no one was happy that we were the reason they were suffering. Coach wasn’t in a forgiving mood, though, with the team heading towards a division championship. One fuck up and the whole season could be over. I knew that but I still couldn’t care as much as I should’ve. Football was what I wanted to do. I loved it. If I wanted to get drafted to a good team after graduation, I needed to keep showing off my best work.
Booth and Vaughn were about as motivated as I was. We all knew what was riding on our performance but it was hard to give a shit when we’d hurt Ella so thoroughly.
As captain of the team, I was at the front of the pack as we ran. Despite the cooler weather, it was hot in our full gear. I was tired and I honestly felt a little like throwing myself to the ground and seeing if a full blown tantrum would get Coach to pity me.
Of course, Coach had us running in the middle of the day when the campus was busiest, too. He wanted us to be embarrassed but I wouldn’t feel anything other than satisfied about beating the shit out of the two pricks messing with Ella. They deserved the ass-whooping they got. They deserved another one if I could catch them somewhere private.
Pushing through a side stitch, I let my gaze track from side to side. Unlike the first half hour, I finally spotted the one person I’d been searching for. Ella. I didn’t think twice about veering off the path I’d been on to run towards her. It didn’t occur to me that everyone would follow me until they did.
Ella looked up and saw me running straight towards her with the entire football team behind me and her eyes went wider than I’d ever seen them. I could see the thoughts racing through her mind as she decided what to do.
“Ella! Just-” The rest of my words trailed off as I watched her turn around and sprint away from me. From us . The entire football team was behind me, watching.
I didn’t think. I just ran. It didn’t occur to me in the moment that chasing after her with the entire football team might not be something she wanted because I just wanted to talk to her so desperately. Ella was surprisingly fast but I was faster.
I caught up with her and, running beside her, I tried to apologize. “Ella, I’m sorry. I just need-”
“What are you doing? Stop chasing me!” She looked over her shoulder and before I had a chance to catch her, she tripped over her own feet and went down hard. A pile up of players was imminent as everyone in front stopped to avoid running her over.
I watched in horror as Ella ended up under a few guys. Flat on her stomach, her ponytail was sticking up like a flag of surrender, waving in the breeze. The guys on top of her tried to move quickly, realizing they were going to flatten her. I helped shove them off and knelt down beside her.
“Ella? Are you okay? Jesus, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
She turned her head to face me and blew a few strands of hair out of her mouth. “Ruining my reputation and happiness wasn’t enough? You want to leave me physically broken, too?”
I yanked my helmet off and grabbed her under her arms to tug her to her feet. “Where are you hurt?”
Vaughn and Booth, both unhappy runners who’d been at the back of the pack, caught up and got the tail end of the commotion. Booth pushed past everyone and stood in front of Ella. “What happened? You’re bleeding.”
My stomach twisted as I saw that her elbows were both bleeding, as was her chin. “Oh, god. I’m sorry, Ella. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m-”
Vaughn moved closer and gripped her head to move it so he could examine her chin. “Fuck. We need to get this cleaned out, Ella Rae. Does anything else hurt?”
A few whispers could be heard from the team behind us and Ella recoiled. She pulled away from us and swiped her hand over her chin, wincing as she tried to wipe away the blood. She lowered her head, moved around us, and, without saying another word, hurried away.
Vaughn tried to go after her but Coach appeared, a dark scowl on his face. He stretched his arm out across Vaughn’s chest and shook his head. “Take a goddamn hint. I’m assuming she’s the one you dumbasses were fighting over? Well, great job! You almost killed her. That’s an extra half hour. Get back to it! And stay on the fucking path this time, Hayes!”
When we finally got home that night, I felt like I’d been run over by a semi truck. My body hurt all over from the full practice we’d endured after running for an hour and a half. I had blisters on my feet and I hadn’t been paying attention during practice and I’d taken a sack that made me bite through my bottom lip.
I fell into the couch and groaned as my body protested. Booth and Vaughn were in the same shape and they each folded onto the couch on either side of me. I wasn’t so sure Coach hadn’t tried to kill us.
“Booth. Call your mom and have her come take care of us.” Vaughn grunted out the words like it was exhausting to even speak.
“This place is disgusting. She’d murder all three of us for living like this.”
I sighed. “Booth. Call your mom and have her come murder us.”
He let his head rest on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “Do you think she’s okay?”
“Who? Your mom?” I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“I meant Ella.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you chased her down.”
Vaughn snorted. “No one could.”
“What was I supposed to do? Not take the chance to talk to her? It’s nearly impossible to catch her. She changed her normal schedule and no matter how many times I call or text, she doesn’t answer. I regret the pile up, but I couldn’t let her get away without trying.” I winced. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, though. I probably should’ve stopped when I realized the entire team was following me.”
“She hates us. And she has every reason to.” Booth pushed himself off the couch and groaned. “I’m going to bed.”
Vaughn turned his head to face me after Booth was gone. “She has every reason to hate me . I’ll talk to her and tell her that you two were just victims of my selfishness.”
I picked at a callous on my hand. “I wish that I thought it would help.”
“There has to be something we can do.” He sounded like he was starting to panic. “Right? She can’t just write us off. She cared about us.”
“And we turned the whole campus against her. I think she can just write us off, Vaughn. I think she has.”
He stared off into space as I forced myself off the coach and towards the stairs. I could see a look of determination play across his features but I just ignored it. Ella was done with us.