THE only thing I hated more than exercise, was exercise lying about being exercise under the ruse of stretching. Because if I felt a burn in any of my muscles, or even the slightest bit out of breath, that was damn exercise and I wanted no part of it unless it was running away from my death.
"Mom, let me go, I don't want to do this anymore," I pleaded, wobbling as I tried to keep the sole of my foot balanced against my knee, hands pressed together in a praying stance. I groaned again as I stumbled. With a frown tugging on my mouth as I pathetically tried to resume position.
This felt like some damn exercise.
The blonde woman next to me was completely unfazed by my vehement whining, her face the picture of Zen, the embodiment of Buddha. She released a deep sigh from her lips and smiled. "Stella," she breathed out, calming notes permeating her voice. "This is supposed to be soothing, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth."
Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun, soft tendrils falling out, and she was donned in the tight yoga pants and tank top that she usually wore around the house.
If she wasn't keen to remind me of the stretch marks I'd left on her body during the pregnancy that led to my fabulous birth, I didn't think I would believe we were related. Although everyone always cooed that I looked like my father more anyway.
I groaned, still trying to keep the stupid pose, and failing incredibly. "I can actually feel my body rejecting this. I hate this, this is stupid and my body hurts," I whined, a pout pushing out my bottom lip.
Mom peeked an eye open and smiled. "Fine," she relented, "At least eat a banana before you go to school, okay? And did you download those wave sounds to listen to?"
As soon as she threw the white flag, I was escaping out of there at record speeds. "Can do!" I called in reassurance, barely listening to anything else she said as I made a bee-line to my room.
Getting up half an hour earlier than necessary for some damn exercise was not a life that I was about. I was more about sleeping, and bacon, and the dream of the day that technological advances would allow me to enjoy both at the same time. And yoga caused ridiculous frustration for an activity that was created to calm people down.
I didn't even have Savannah to bribe me with any baked goods because her slam poetry club was meeting early that day, Eva carpooled from the other side of town, and I had to take the bus. This cut my early morning lounging time in a way that I was not fond of.
And so I found myself stationed outside, black umbrella in hand and tapping my foot impatiently as my eyes kept darting to the corner of the street. A frown weighed down my face as I breathed in the aroma of wet concrete and worms, the threatening pellets of rain too close for comfort. A shiver charged down my spine.
"Someone need a ride?"
I whipped my head in the direction of the voice, finding Reese in a camouflage jacket and waving me down from his car. He was grinning that mega-watt smile, amber eyes dancing with amusement. My scowl only deepened.
I turned my gaze forward. "Stranger danger!"
"Come on," he coaxed, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "It's pouring rain, just get in the car and let me drive you to school! Don't be such a baby about it!"
My chest rose as I took in a deep breath, my lips pursing bitterly at his words. I tried to weigh my conflicting emotions.
On one hand, spending any time within a thirty foot radius of Reese was probably at least three different levels of the hell he'd spawned from, and the yoga had not really improved my mood. On the other, I could feel the mist of rain crawl underneath my umbrella and the sharp bursts of wind that were cutting into my jacket made me want to punch weather in the face.
Heaving a sigh of defeat, I turned begrudgingly in his direction, half-lidded eyes meeting his cheeky dimples. "Fine, okay, you win, let me in," I surrendered.
As I took a step forward, he reached towards to gearshift, the grin never faltering. "Sorry, I only give rides to my friends!"
Before I could react, the tinted window was rolled up and he was revving out of the driveway, speeding down the street. As he passed by my gaping face, his wheels dipped into the massive puddle that had collected next to the curb, causing the dirty brown rain water to splash and strike me like shrapnel.
I stood there, gasping with the taste of dirt and worms on my tongue, absolute shock consuming my entire body. My eyes darted down to see that liquid mud had drenched my now see through white t-shirt, speckling my leather jacket and soaking my dark wash jeans. I could see the rivulets of water dripping from the ends of my dark and now drenched hair.
My jaw clenched as red flashed across my vision, and my hands began shaking with pent up rage.
As the bus rumbled to a stop in front of me, I climbed on with gritted teeth. I sat at the back, my clothes sticking uncomfortably to my body, and waited. School was only a quick fifteen minutes away, although even so, my muscles burned with the ache of fury.
But I waited. I sat there, and I waited.
When we finally pulled up, I charged down the aisle and resumed break-neck speeds all the way into the school. I'm sure murder was written all over my face as I felt that homicidal itch in the back of my throat, a scowl carved onto my mouth, eyes narrowed and set straight ahead. I barely even registered my surroundings as I stalked down the hall, mercilessly pushing some unsuspecting freshman out of my way.
"Stella, hey, you okay? Why're you drenched? Hey, Stella?" came the concerned voice of Eva who was now quickly following after me, worry etched into her sun-kissed skin, but I blatantly ignored her.
I did not have the time, because the longer I waited the more I could feel my fists turn the size of bowling balls and my flesh turn green. Marvel should have been asking me for a twelve-movie contract.
My sights were set on the atrium outside of the cafeteria, where I knew one Reese Powers was to be found. My fists were clenched at my sides, grip tight on the umbrella, and I could feel the adrenaline thick in my veins. Just picturing his face in my mind became even sweeter as I added two black eyes to the image.
Just as it was meant to be.
As I shoved a few loitering students out of my way, receiving a few disgruntled replies, I finally discovered Reese casually standing around with his group of friends. I faintly registered that Tyler McMaster was standing next to him, but even that beautiful face couldn't deter me from the hell path I was on.
Reese was laughing, head thrown back, absolute ease painted on his face. I couldn't wait to punch it off.
"What the fuck Reese?" I spat, lethal eyes stationed on his stupid face.
Everyone's attention immediately snapped to me, curious eyes devouring the situation, drinking in every detail. But I was focused on Reese, wearing the same stupid camouflage jacket, who paused at my outburst. As if he could ever hide from me, I could practically smell the stench of eau de jackass from a mile away.
He eyed me up and down with an arched eyebrow. "Hello to you too?"
I chuckled, dry, at the innocent façade he wore. "Good morning, how are you? I'm not fine, I am, dare I say it, pissed as shit. You drenched me with your car this morning you goddamn asshole!" I wildly began gesturing to my still very damp and uncomfortable clothing, waving the umbrella around. "So I repeat, what the fuck?"
"Oh." He looked me up and down again, oozing nonchalance. "Well, sorry." He shrugged.
I blinked. My mouth parched. "Sorry?" I echoed.
"What do you want me to say, don't stand so close to the curb? Get a car? Get some friends that will drive you?" At his last question the ghost of a smirk crossed his face.
I swallowed, processing his words, rolling them around in my mind. And then, something inside of me snapped. The crack echoed throughout my being and all I saw was red.
This was it, Reese Powers was finally going to die.
As I lunged forward, eyes ready to attack, Eva materialized next to me and grabbed a tight hold on my wrist, pulling me back. "Stella, hey, calm down," she feebly tried to soothe me, and although her voice was low, I could hear the quivering undertone of her pacifying words. "Hey, in through your nose and out through your mouth, yeah? Stella, don't do this. Remember, hey, remember we don't want this. Stella, okay?" Her words were rushing together, quick and low, the urgency palpable in her tone.
Breathing in deep, I kept my shaking hands at my sides, feeling the rage boiling over inside of me. I struggled in her grip, still waving around the umbrella around wildly with my free hand.
"Eva, I swear on my life, I'm going to punch him in through his mouth and out through his asshole. I'm going to rip off your limbs and drag your body all the way home and leave it on your porch, you little shit!"
Reese stood there, stunned, all deer in headlights. His eyes were the size of moons as he took a cautious step back. "Stella, I-"
"Ms. Sandavol, do we have a problem here? Are we going to have to make a visit to Mr. Ruth's office?"
I swallowed as I turned to Mr. Gunther, a lanky balding man with an overbite I was much too familiar with. My jaw clenched as the Biology teacher fixed me with a warning stare, and the name Mr. Ruth was like a cold charge of water dumped over my head.
After the Peter Roth incident in sophomore year, I'd only just gotten out of weekly meetings with our ridiculous puppet-loving guidance counselor, and that was the only level of hell deeper than wherever Reese came from.
"No problem at all," I reassured Mr. Gunther with a plastered, shaky smile. I felt Eva's grip on my wrist tighten.
"Good." The man nodded his head, and turned his attention to the massive group that had begun crowding around the altercation. "Now there's nothing to see here, get to class," he ushered them away.
I turned my gaze back to Reese, who had lost the confident aura he'd been sporting before, much to my delight.
Unfortunately, Tyler wore the same expression that Reese had, and a little part of me shrivelled. This was not the senior year impression I was going for. Mentally, I cursed my impulsivity, and looked up to Eva when I felt her squeeze my wrist.
"Hey, come on, nothing happened, no harm, no foul. I think I have an extra sweater in my locker, and you are going to look hot as hell in it anyway." Eva smiled at me, an empathetic shine in her eyes as she slipped her hand in mine, urging me down the hall.
I nodded, surrendering to her. "All right. Thanks, really"
As we began down the hall, I threw one last glance over my shoulder. Reese's eyes were still fused onto me, that dumb look written all over his face. I narrowed my gaze, gesturing from my eyes to him, and mouthed, "I'm watching you."
This was not the end, Reese Powers.
****
And so as I endured the rest of the school day, feeling as if there were more eyes than usual following me down the hall. Tyler and I's conversation during Geography was non-existent as per usual, and so I spent most of the period wistfully staring at the back of his head and wondering why he'd soil himself with Reese's presence in the first place.
A sigh built up in my throat as I turned the corner outside of school, the rain had let up but its wet remnants still touched everything I saw. I made my way towards the parking lot where I knew I'd find Savannah's car.
She'd proposed that the three of us spend the day together, mostly because she probably knew that if I wasn't distracted there was a ridiculously large chance I'd end up on Reese's front porch with an AK-47 and the craving for death on my tongue.
"Hey, Stella!"
I paused in my step, a frown settling on my mouth as the familiar voice floated past my ear drums. Turning my head, I shot the owner of the voice an incredulous look.
"Are you serious? Are you calling my name? Do you want me to rip off your balls and force feed them to you in spaghetti form?"
Reese had a sheepish smile on his face, small and guilty, a look I was not at all familiar with. His eyes bore into mine as he took a tentative step towards me.
"Stella, I just wanted to- I'm sorry, and I wanted to ask for a truce?"
I always knew the alien invasion would happen in my lifetime.
***
DEDICATED to the super wonderful iwearheelys, not only is she an amazing writer she's also lovely person! xx