dixie 'baby' sawyer
"Are yinz serious! Yinz won't let Dixie play because she has a fainting problem? She's one of the best players out there!"
Dixie Sawyer stood outside the huge conference room in the most fanciest hockey rink the young girl has ever seen, listening to her mother and step father argue with the 'directors' of the Junior Olympics. Her best friend Bonnie Dixon sat by the girls side. She went with her everywhere, constantly making sure her friend was okay. Dixie always joked that she was her bodyguard. Their friendship was cute to everyone around them.
"Look, Mrs. Dawson, your daughter is a really talented player and we would love to have her on the team," the girls heard Mr. Tibbles speak.
Dixie bit her lip out of nervousness, leaning up from the uncomfortable wall. She traveled over to the wooden bench on the other side of the door, plopping herself down on it. The bench creaked which caused the girl to jump. She let out a sigh. Her friend laughed. A small smile crept onto Dixie's pale freckle covered face.
"Then why isn't she on the team?" Mr. Dawson snapped, his southern accent strong. The room became silent. There was shuffling of paper before more silence.
The girl in the hall leaned forward, placing her elbows on top of her thighs, and her chin in her hands. She closed her eyes and hummed.
"What if she faints during a game and gets hurt?" Mr. Adams spoke up. The young blonde girl had no idea who the man was, but she knew that he was important, and that she didn't like him. She could tell her parents didn't like him either, nor her best friend. He didn't seem like a well-liked guy.
"Honey, she knows when she's going to faint. She can immediately excuse herself from the game and someone can take her place. It's not that hard. We've been doing this for years, Mr. Adams!" Mrs. Dawson argued. She would fight as hard as she could for her daughter and she wouldn't give up until she got something out of it. Usually it was what she wanted, but other times, whoever she'd be fighting with would tend to start feeling guilty and she'd get more out of it.
Dixie Sawyer has been fainting out of the blue for years now. She had played hockey since she could walk, and it had never stopped her before. Never. She knew when she was going to faint. She would get a pain that felt unbearable in her shoulder, and her left foot would twitch in an odd way. She could easily catch herself before anything happened. She played it the safe way.
"We just don't want her getting hurt," Mr. Tibbles said. Dixie let out yet another sigh, this time full of defeat.
Team USA Hockey tryouts have been going on for around a month now in Washington DC. Dixie thought it was an odd place to have it, but she didn't mind. She just wanted to play hockey. The board was down to seven final players. However, they only need six and the young girl was part of that seven. It was between her, and a kid named Austin Hyde from Wisconsin. The seven of them were all friends. They all got super close the past two weeks. Especially Julie Gaffney and Dixie, considering that they were the only girls on the team. But Austin didn't seem to be a fan favorite.
Everyone in charge of the Junior Olympics were leaning towards Austin being on the team though, only because he didn't have a fainting problem like Dixie had. But for some reason, Austin really wanted Dixie to make it. She really wanted him to make it.
The meeting that was being held at the moment in the building where Dixie and Bonnie sat depended on wether she'd make it or not. She hoped for the best but knew not to get her hopes up. As time passed, She felt someone sit beside her while she listened to the arguing continue. The girl glanced over and saw Dwayne Robertson and Ken Wu sitting on the bench beside her. She flashed both of them warm smiles. She could tell they had just got done practicing at the open rink.
"How's it going?" Ken asked her sweetly. It wasn't a lie that she absolutely adored Ken. He was small, innocent, sweet, and she absolutely loved him. Just looking at him made her smile because he always had a certain warm charm to make anyone smiled so, she smiled. She turned her view over to Bonnie, who attempted to hold her laughter back. But she couldn't.
Dixie quickly apologized for her friend, "they've been yelling for awhile now," she said, "I honestly don't know how it's going to turn out, but if I don't make it the whole way, it's alright. I can always try again."
She then furrowed her eyebrows when she realized what she had said. If they wouldn't let her in now, then she wouldn't be able to try again. She sighed, apologizing again.
"Just think positive," Dwayne chirped. She smiled at him as well. He was another one just like Ken. A gentleman too that knew how to treat a lady with respect. Like her, Dwayne was a fellow Texan. Dixie was from El Paso, while he was from Austin. He was such a sweetheart, yet a little shy and awkward, but weren't they all?
Dixie anxiously turned her attention back to the arguing in the room beside the group, looking down at her dirty white converse. The group of teens sat there in silence to listen to the loud commotion next door.
"Yinz have seen Baby play! Yinz have watched her tapes! She's only gotten hurt once at a game and that was because she was pushed into the net! Not because of her fainting problem," Mrs. Dawson snapped at the bunch in the room.
Dixie closed her eyes. She wanted to block out the yelling, but at the same time all she wanted to hear was the gossip. It was rare for her to hear her parents yelling, but when it came to their babygirl, they would make sure they got their point across.
"Sir, I apologize, we don't mean any disrespect, but being a part of Team USA means a lot to Baby. It's always been her dream. The day I first met her all she talked about was hockey and being a part of this team. This fainting problem is not going to get in the way of this for her. It never has, and she won't let it," she heard her step father calmly say, "now, we know you have to make a decision by the end of the day because y'all are flying out this weekend, and we respect whatever decision you make."
A small smile crawled onto Dixie's lips. She opened her eyes.
"If this is goodbye," Dwayne spoke up, looking at the blonde beside him, "I'm glad I met you. You've been a great friend."
The blonde smiled widely at her friend beside her, "awe, thank you, Dwayner's," she said in complete awe. She gave him a small side hug before pulling away. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She quickly moved her hand upwards and gripped onto where it hurt. She looked down at her foot, feeling and seeing it twitch uncontrollably. She glanced up at Bonnie across the room and started to laugh, something she has always done before she fainted out of nervousness and awkwardness. Soon enough, her bright eyes shut and her body became numb and cold.
"Wha.. What do I do?" The southern boy stuttered nervously as he saw the girl's head drop. He looked at her scared and worried, having never been around something like that before. He wanted to panic.
"I usually just hold her, make sure her head is secure," Bonnie told the boy calmly yet in a rush at the same time. Dwayne nodded his head, removing the tan hat from his head. He set it on the empty spot beside him on the bench and turned back to Dixie. He carefully placed his arm around her shoulders, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. He brought her close to his body and held her, making sure she was alright. He then brought his hand up to her face and moved her bright blonde locks out of her face.
"How long is she usually out?" Dwayne whispered while looking back up to Bonnie. She shrugged her shoulders at the curious and concerned boy.
"Anywhere from 2 minutes to an hour, but it's usually only an hour when she's super tired and sick, but she wasn't today, so you're good," Bonnie chuckled. She saw Dwayne sigh in relief, "she should be up in a few minutes."
Dwayne looked down at Dixie with complete heart eyes, observing her face carefully. He'd never tell anyone but he thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in the full fourteen years he had been living. He smiled to himself. The girl stirred in her sleep. Her eyes began to flutter open. Dwayne felt relief wash over him once more.
The girl in his arms look down tiredly at her blurry lap, trying to regain consciousness which was hard for her to do each time she had fainted. It took awhile for her to do so, but she eventually woke up. She tiredly looked around at her surroundings and looked up at Dwayne, sitting up.
"I'm sorry, Dwayne," she apologized, starting to tiredly laugh. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment. She always grew embarrassed when she fainted, especially when she was around new people.
He nervously looked at her with the same amount of red on his cheeks as hers. His eyes glistened brightly, "you're fine.., Baby."
She smiled wide and started to feel extremely exhausted. She looked back at her best friend Bonnie across the room who stared at her sorrowful.
"How long?" Dixie questioned with curiosity. Bonnie glanced down at her shiny leather wrist watch her brother bought her before the trip just for times like this. She looked back over at her friend while shrugging.
"Hardly two minutes," she told her. Dixie's smile grew. She threw her fist in the air with excitement.
"My new record!" She cheered. Her friends laughed at her excitement.
Mrs. Dawson suddenly stormed out of the room beside them full of anger. A few seconds later, her husband ran after her, staying calm and collective.
Dixie took the sudden actions of her mother as bad news. She started to frown, looking at her parents standing there. She slowly got up from the bench and wiped her sweaty palms on her ripped jeans.
"Momma, Pops, thank you for trying," she sweetly told her exhausted parents. She knew her mother wanted to cry. Mrs. Dawson quickly turned away from the bunch so they couldn't see her.
Dixie looked over at her step father who gave her a sympathetic smile. He placed his hands gently on her arms.
"They'll call us tonight, sweetheart," he chirped, "they still can't decide."
"Well, I think both of y'all got your points out there. Now, um, Momma Dawson, how do you spell those words you were saying in there?" Bonnie spoke up while trying to lighten the mood like she always would.
Dixie felt herself smile. She saw her mother turn back to the bunch with a smile creeping onto her face. Her mood lightened.
"Were we that loud?" Mrs. Dawson nervously asked. The four kids nodded their head in unison causing the adults the groan. Mrs. Dawson sent all of them a stern look, pointing her finger, "now yinz better not repeat any of those words I said in there."
Dixie grinned, "Momma, I don't think any of us have even heard those words before."