Baby There's Already A Bitch In Town

Chapter Fourteen: The Rare Case Of Sugar And Spice

"Jeez E, I can't believe you let him do that for so long. I mean, you've always been so strong, independent, a 'take no shit' kind of girl," Spencer's incredulous tone sending a loud and clear message her eyes can't, given they're kind of busy watching the road as she drives them to school.

"Yeah, well, I was kind of fucked-up beyond belief when we started dating and, I don't know, it felt like he saved me from drowning, like he was my lifeline, or whatever."

Spencer frowns, risking occasional glances at her friend whose mind seems to be in a far off place now. The mention of how she was when they started dating, right after Ali's disappearance, is odd. Not that Spencer doesn't believe Eisa cared, merely that everyone saw very little of Eisa at all for the first 2 to 3 months after her initial disappearance. All anyone ever heard was teachers lauding her work in the classroom, berating students for their lack of commitment when someone who wasn't here was constantly getting better grades than them. So with all this contextual evidence whipping through her head, Spencer, the Nancy Drew aficionado that she is, wonders what exactly happened during those three months. She considers asking straight up, but then decides better of it, Eisa's never been particularly open. Her mulling has taken the entire drive to school, and she parks swiftly in a spot near the entrance. 

"See you in English, try not to make anyone cry," Spencer jokes as she waves bye to Eisa, Spencer heading in the direction of the library and Eisa towards the Gymnasium.

Eisa pulls her lightly curled hair into a soft, low side ponytail, taking a deep breath before she walks through the doors of the gym. The whole of the squad silences themselves upon her entrance, stiff in the stillness of their mid-stretch freeze of something like fear. They do manage to unobtrusively continue stretching, their eyes following her through their periphery as she walks to the bench, leisurely setting up before she turns to them.

"Alright sluts, you know what you're supposed to be doing, but for those of you that are morons, let me restate what you should be doing. Over the next 2 hours, you should have done four different stations. In the south, you have the strength training section, arms and legs for stunters and tumblers, core for flyers. West is for stretching, push everything you do twice as far, I want a straight back and legs behind your head, this also a great place to work on your jumps, so Jess, that's you, your hurkies suck, you and I both know you can do better. North is cleanliness and speed, you're doing suicides, sprint to one end, full push up burpee, to the other end, lie down, sit up, lie down, nip up, repeat. East, I want you practicing consistency on your tricks, flips, if you turn, you get that turn perfect, no wobble over and over. Same with your roundoff's into your tricks, Amy, your back tucks have been sloppy, fix that shit. Half an hour in each spot, then you can go, don't be shit, and go!"

Eisa claps to end her set of orders, which set the whole group off, the main bases of all the routine's stunts go immediately to the south, some already going straight to the dumbells and weights. The team's regular tumblers go straight to practice their tricks, the rest spread themselves out. Eisa herself joins those working on their strength, but before she can make it there, Jess herself walks up to her, all meek as can be, and taps her on the shoulder.

"Yes, Jessica?" Eisa doesn't make eye contact or stop from the beginnings of her workout.

"We were, well the whole squad briefly discussed if maybe, well, we could do a dance routine? We're just feeling a little less... Inspired?"

There's tense silence, the whole group isn't surprised by the statement, expecting it, clearly already having discussed it, and yet, no one really thought the words would be said aloud in the presence of the great bitch herself.

"Normally, I'd really consider acquiescing to such a request, but really, I just laid out all the reasons that that is the dumbest question, especially coming from you. But here's the deal, sluts and hoes, if I see genuine improvement in the things you and I know you need to improve, then I will give you some fun chore next time, till then, shut your faces and GET TO WORK!"