in a world where a sweet girl tries to be her best, she gets pushed down by those around her. she thought going to California for the goodwill games was supposed to be the time of her life, but her teammates made sure that wasn't possible. back in W...
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F O S T E R G R A Y
-ucla dormitory -the lounge
In front of me on the couch was Coach Bombay, who peacefully leaned on Ms. MacKay, his knee elevated on a chair and plenty of pillows.
His knee was harshly bruised, so I jumped in to take action. Most of my teammates were already in bed since it was late and they were all playing tomorrow, but I stayed up to make sure Coach was okay.
I sat on the floor in front of him wrapping an ice pack against his knee so he could rest it for awhile and ease the pain. I knew it would help even if it was just temporary relief.
"You know, Foster, you really are such a sweet girl. The way you jumped in to help Gordon is so thoughtful and caring of you," Ms. MacKay's voice filled the quiet room. I removed my eyes from what I was doing but still continued. "Why were the kids so mean to you?" She asked.
A small breath escaped from my mouth. I quickly finished wrapping Coach's knee before letting my hands fall to my lap. I looked up at Ms. MacKay nervously, shrugging my shoulders.
"I guess I was an easy target," I admitted to her. "I was quiet, and I've never been the type of person to stand up for myself so I guess I was their best choice."
"You're such a sweet girl though. It makes no sense as to why they'd even treat someone like that anyways. I couldn't stand seeing them throw things at you in class. I'm sorry they wouldn't stop when I asked them to, really. And for you to forgive them all just like that? Did you read all of their apology letters?" She asked me. I shook my head with a swift motion.
"No, I haven't. I've only read Dwayne's and that's it. I mean, things happen, people change. Connie came to my room crying one day, I guess it was after you all had that big talk, but anyways, she was telling me that they all knew who I was before I came, and that she was jealous of me, which I will never understand why," I let out a small laugh and looked down at my hands. I situated myself on the floor and crossed my legs.
"It's true," Coach Bombay finally spoke up, "it was like you were a celebrity to the boys. They thought you were, well, beautiful, and they were a fan of how you play. They watched all of your videos."
I felt my cheeks heat up, but my smile faded. Why did they treat me so poorly though? I sighed.
"Adam and Ken were the only ones not to fall into Connie's trance at first. Adam was the only Duck to be nice to me. He treated me so well, he talked back to Connie, helped me when I was struggling, he was so worried when I didn't eat one time, he comforted me when I finally broke..," I trailed off. I didn't know what else to say, but I know I didn't deserve Adam. I didn't deserve someone with such a big heart like that. What would happen if I accidentally crush that?
