When We Write the Stars

Chapter 11: Cassie

     "You're right, and I know it, I just don't know it."

     "Then let's keep punching it out," I reply smiling at her as I grab the pads she was holding earlier and hold them up to block the new sequence of punches we're doing.

     She's still going hard, we both are, but there's something comforting about knowing why she was so intense today. We both have a lot on our minds, and I deal with not knowing about next year by partially not thinking about it and partially by just overplanning. Alyssa deals with it by getting in the feels, which is completely valid I just hate seeing her sad.

     "Okay, last set, give it your all," Alyssa says to me twenty minutes later when we only have about five minutes left in class.

     "I don't know how much I have left, but I'll try," I respond.

     Then I focus, and let everything around me kind of melt away, my only thoughts are the numbers of each punch and kick, and how I need to move my body to do them. I'm breathing heavily, and muttering the numbers as I do each one to remain focused, and am completely zoned in. I couldn't tell you what song was playing, or what anyone else in the room was doing, hell It'd probably take me a minute to realize even if Alyssa said anything, I was just punching and kicking with everything I had left. Trying and failing not to think about everything.

     One, my left fist collides with one of the pads. Hayden dancing with me in the living room.

     Two, my right fist this time collides with the other pad. Falling onto him after he tried to spin me.

     K2, my right foot collides with the pad. Him flipping us over so he's hovering inches above me, pinning me into place so close I could feel him breathing.

     Three, my left fist again. Pushing back so I'm above him. Our faces are so close. He leans in ever so slightly. I could kiss him.

      Two, again. The sound of the door, practically jumping off of him and acting as if nothing happened.

     Five, my right fist hits the pad again. Waking up in his arms, he's carrying me. Pretending to still be asleep.

     "Okay," Mel's voice snaps me out of the trance I was in, "Good job today everyone, let's spray the pads and I'll see you all on Wednesday."

     I drop my stance and start taking my gloves off, I look up and swear for half a second I see Hayden and Teddy standing, looking in from the glass door, but when I look back they're gone. I must've imagined it.

     "Damn," Cassie says as we spray our pads and gloves, "And you thought I was intense today. Girl, you were at a whole other level."

     "That's what happens when I have to put up with Hayden all weekend," I respond sheepishly.

     Alyssa shakes her head as if she doesn't fully believe me, she knows me so well I wouldn't be surprised at all if she knew how I felt about him before I did. Because that was the thing, I had absolutely no idea how I felt about him.

     As we walk out of the gym, we pass the student athletes' weight room, and I see Hayden and his roommates, and other guys I assume are also on the hockey team in there, maybe I didn't imagine seeing him after all.

     "So I think we should have a PowerPoint night," Alyssa says as we step out of the gym and into the cool damp air that comes with fall in Washington.

     "Oh that could be cool," I reply somewhat absentmindedly, "I've seen those a lot on TikTok."

     "So have I," she replies, "It sounds like a lot of fun, and we could also do group cooking and make a whole night of it."