Chapter 14
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.
We were standing on the school basketball courts, and I was scowling in the direction of the PE teacher.
I’d just gotten over the feeling of awe as I walked past the school’s indoor swimming pool, which had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake, and the fitness center, which had all the latest high-tech equipment a fitness junkie could dream of.
I hadn’t even had a chance to appreciate how shiny and new the school’s basketball courts were before the teacher announced the worst news ever.
Today we were taking part in the high-school version of torture—the beep test. Couldn’t they have waited more than two days into the new school year before subjecting us to this?
I wasn’t the only one who was upset by the idea, and a series of groans echoed around me. Cress and Anna were probably two of the loudest. The boys in the class didn’t look nearly so concerned. Although I heard Sawyer grumble to his brother that he shouldn’t have eaten so much for lunch.
The upside to all of this was that at least I’d be too tired to keep stressing over the girls’ PE uniform.
We were expected to wear a T-shirt with a pair of booty shorts, and ever since I put them on, I’d been worried half my butt was showing.
It wouldn’t have been too bad if the top was oversized, but that too was on the smaller side.
The outfit was something I’d be happy enough wearing on a run—when it was the early hours of the morning and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
But being surrounded by a class of teenage boys, I was feeling highly self-conscious.
“We’ll be comparing your test results from the start of the year to the end of the year to see how your fitness improves,” the teacher explained, but it was hard to hear him over the complaints of my classmates.
He started to tell us how the test was going to proceed, but no one was really listening.
The concept was pretty straightforward, and I imagined most kids had done the test before.
All we had to do was run back and forth between the cones laid out at either end of the court, staying ahead of the beeps.
It was easy enough until the beeps started getting progressively quicker and you had to run faster.
If you didn’t reach the next cone before the next beep, you were out.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck start to prickle, and I glanced over my shoulder as Noah and Luther entered the gym. It was like my body had some built-in sensor for whenever those boys were around—self-preservation, I thought.
I concentrated on the teacher, not wanting to be caught staring at the two of them. I was determined to keep my distance from those boys, Noah especially. They were trouble with a capital T, and I had no intention of getting swept up in it.
I couldn’t seem to help myself from noticing wherever Noah was in the room though.
He’d stopped just off to one side of the teacher and was leaning against the gym wall looking like he was posing for some catalog photo shoot.
I’d never seen a high-school student fill out a PE uniform quite like he did.
The shirt perfectly molded to the muscles on his arms and chest.
If I was being honest, a few guys in the class gave Noah a run for his money. I wasn’t completely blind to how good the twins looked in their uniforms, and Luther was almost as muscular as his friend. I just wished I were a little blinder when it came to Noah.
The teacher blew his whistle, and several kids jolted with surprise. “Line up by the cones!” he shouted. Several more groans echoed through the room, but we all started heading to the side of the basketball court.
“This sucks,” Anna said. “Coach August must have had a really bad summer if this is how he’s starting the year.”
“It’s like he wants to punish us,” Cress agreed. “And we haven’t even done anything wrong yet.”
“Yet?” I asked.
Cress and Anna shared a knowing smile before Anna turned to me.
“Last year, Cress and I got in a bit of trouble because we kept pretending to have our periods to get out of swimming in PE. August probably wouldn’t have said anything, but everyone was swimming for a month, and we sat out of every class.
You should have seen how pink his cheeks went when he confronted us about it. ”
Cress giggled as she nodded. “He kept referring to our women’s problems, and every time we corrected him to say periods, his cheeks went even brighter. That’s probably what this beep test is about. The old guy still hasn’t forgiven us.”
“Probably,” Anna agreed.
“This is going to be fun,” Wes said, appearing at my side. “I hope I can beat my score from last year.”
“You must be the only person who’s excited about this,” I told him. I enjoyed running myself, but not like this. The best part about running was finding a steady rhythm and enjoying the outdoors, not racing until your lungs burned and your legs seized up.
“Yeah, because he’s a super human fitness freak,” Anna agreed with a shake of her head. “Wes, you’re crazy.”
He laughed and shrugged. “I can’t help that I enjoy this stuff.”
I looked over to see if Coach August was close to starting the test. He was standing to the side of the court and seemed to be in close conversation with Noah.
He was listening intently to whatever Noah was saying, so I guessed there would still be a few more moments before the running began.
I’d woken up this morning and was pleased to find my ankle didn’t hurt as much today, but I was still feeling a little nervous about exercising on it again so soon.
I’d been walking okay so far, but it was still a little tender.
I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.
I was sure it would be fine if I just started with a light jog and stopped when my ankle started to complain.
“So, what do you think, bro?” Sawyer walked over to stand next to Wes. “Fancy a little bet on which of us will come out on top?”
Wes rolled his eyes. “We already know I’m going to beat you. No point in betting on it.”
“You sure? Because I was thinking of putting our dorm room on the line …”
“Oh, really?”
“Yep.” Sawyer eagerly rubbed his hands together. “If you win, you get one full weekend of the room to yourself.”
“And if you win?”
“Well, I get the room to myself.”
Wes actually seemed tempted by the idea. “And where would the loser sleep?”
“I’m sure you could find a couch to crash on. Or your car’s got a big trunk; you could probably sleep in there.”
“Neither of those options sound the least bit appealing. But since I’ll be winning anyways …”
A big grin lit Sawyer’s face. “Then we have a bet?”
“We have a bet.”
The two boys shook hands, identical looks of satisfaction displayed proudly on their faces. Each looked convinced he was going to win.
“Wes seems confident,” I murmured to Anna. “Do you think he’ll win?”
“To be honest, it could go either way,” she replied. “They’re both just as fit as each other.”
“At least Sawyer didn’t bet his Maserati this time,” Cress said. “He almost cried when Wes won their last bet and got to drive it for a month.”
“So, they make bets a lot?”
Anna nodded. “Oh yeah, they are always competing with each other.”
“Miss Grace?” I turned as Coach August walked over to me.
“Yes?” I somehow managed to smother a frown as he stopped in front of me. I wasn’t sure how he knew my name, but as I was the only new kid in the year group, it probably wasn’t hard to figure out. Still, I wasn’t sure why he’d decided to single me out.
“The nurse contacted me,” he said. “I hear you’ve hurt your ankle.”
I was thrown for a moment. The nurse hadn’t told me she was going to speak to Coach August about my injury.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I did,” I answered. “It’s feeling much better today though.”
My eyes drifted past Coach August to where he and Noah had been standing at the side of the court.
Luther was now alongside Noah, chatting away to his friend.
But Noah didn’t seem to be listening. He was looking right at me, watching my conversation with the teacher.
When our eyes met, he instantly turned to his friend, as though he’d been talking to Luther the whole time.
“Miss Grace, did you hear me?”
“What?” I turned back to face Coach August, who was still looking down at me. I must have completely missed something he’d said.
“I was saying I think it would be best if you sit out the test,” he continued. “You can make it up once your ankle is fully recovered.”
I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed. I didn’t particularly want to do the beep test on a sore ankle. But I also didn’t want to sit out by myself. I’d rather just get it over and done with.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I said.
“I insist.” There was a sense of resolve in his voice, and I knew there was no way I’d convince him otherwise. He started gesturing to the bleachers. “You can sit over there and watch.”
I let out a sigh. “Okay.”
He nodded, satisfied I’d finally agreed, and returned to the sidelines.
“Have fun,” I murmured to Cress and Anna. They were practically glaring at me with envy.
“You are so lucky,” Anna said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be sitting with you soon,” Cress added.
I gave them a smile before I trudged over to the bleachers. I hated being the odd person out, and I felt like the rest of the class was judging me as I went to sit by myself. My limp wasn’t obvious anymore, so they probably all thought I was cheating to get out of the test somehow.