Mary's Innocence

Being his enemy

Mary had no idea what was in store for her, but she knew better than to let her guard down. Opening her locker, she half expected to find a jar of worms or hissing pythons trying to bite her, but there was nothing. That was also a problem too, she had no idea where her textbooks and gym clothes were, and Coach Tyler was a ruthless man who loved to make the students run laps, whenever they didn’t have their uniform.

Mary felt like banging her head on the wall at her stupidity.

“Looking for this?” A haughty voice sneered.

Mary looked over to see Clarice and her entourage with a familiar white polo in their hands, “is that mine?” She croaked in disbelief, glancing at the shredded piece of fabric.

“Who else do you think it belongs to?” Clarice snorted in disgust, throwing the tattered shirt back at her.

Mary’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the tears and cuts on the previously sparkling new polo. There was no way she could wear it now, Coach Tyler would think she was trying to make a joke out of his him.

“And these.” Clarice smirked, tossing Mary’s gym shorts back at her. The shorts were in a better condition than the shirt, but they were hardly wearable either, with the words ‘whore’ spray painted boldly in red on the back.

Up until now, Mary never knew high school girls’ could be so vicious, looking calmly at the blonde, Mary’s violet eyes held no hostility or anger. “Tell Victor to suck balls.” She said simply, before marching away.

Only taking a couple of steps, she retreated back over to the group of girls who castrated her clothing. “My textbooks?” Mary held out her hand.

***

The strong odour of sweaty armpits almost made her faint from the smell, but Mary stood strong, not letting what she was wearing affect her.

After taking her soaking wet textbooks back, Mary had tossed her gym clothes into the rubbish – being ruined beyond repair. With a determined expression, she had then trudged over the nurse’s office, where the older woman had handed her the only polo they had left - extra large and stinking of sweat.

Mary had accepted the shirt and a pair of grubby gym pants without complaint. Well anything was better than running 3 kilometres on the field because of a misunderstanding,

During the lesson, Mary was a ball magnet, and it seemed like every hit was directed at her. It was like they were playing ‘let’s hit Mary’ instead of playing Volleyball like they should.

Treating her bruised forehead with an ice-pack, Mary felt her dislike for Victor grow immensely. There was no doubt that it was all his orders. It was only the first day, and she was already exhausted, was her willpower enough to survive?

***

“Oh good heavens! What happened to you darling?” Liz gasped, after taking one glance at her.

“I had a small accident in gym class.” Mary lied, knowing Liz’s protectiveness; she would ring up the school and complain.

“Mary dear, you know you can always tell me what happened.” The elderly lady said with a concerned expression.

“Nothing happened. I was just being clumsy and fell face first into a pile of hockey sticks.” She fibbed.

Liz pursed her lips together but didn’t further comment, Mary could literally see the wheels in her brain turning. “You’re being bullied, am I correct?” The older lady narrowed her eyes.