chapter 53 *Wingspan*

five minutes elapsed after class formally began.

once dressed and properly fitted we reconvened in the gym where majority of the girls huddled by the bleachers whilst ms. pratt performed roll call.

if i had full sovereignty over the next sixty minutes i would not about to be playing volleyball, that was for certain. -i was like any girl who liked watching sports, but from the sidelines.

i wasn't any good at side-blocking and bypassing with fake plays.

and for this reason i stood with my foot up against the red brick wall far far away from everyone. standing next to the exit door was pure coincidence.

they'd talked and laughed while i studied and analyzed the fake bimbos with their equally fake tans, mentally checking off those who i wouldn't want to be grouped with for obvious reasons.

"You any good?" Josh, Ms. Pratt's assistant for the day, stood with me by the brick wall that conspicuously hid us from the entire class. that synchronicity was plain bad timing is what it was.

sometime during my independent segregation and my sudden fondness of hanging back and claiming the wall as my lame attempt at being truant, josh had slipped inside the gym carrying a net of white balls and had settled himself next to me as if i'd invited him over to keep me company. 

i snorted. as if i needed a man for comfort and support. Psh.

nevertheless, having to talk was throwing me off kilter. "not even a little bit." I was too anxious to think about anything else.

"you know you could ask for Tylenol and say you forgot to wear any undies." Josh squeals. "Hold on. Hey! ow! why'd you hit me."

Pft.

it didn't hurt.

josh was such a baby that i sometimes wondered how he didnt get hurt when he got into a fight with Mason and Toby.

during each of those disputes, (two of which i'd seen first hand), controversy was met with a few disagreeing words followed out by a stream of disturbing threats by Mason that, from what i saw, were never followed through with.

-or maybe josh was being josh and would let a girl hit him on purpose.

josh snorts, rubbing his free hand on his opposite arm, grinning.

since mya was hanging around her usual sixth period crowd i didn't want to intrude so i kept my distance.

crossing my arms around my chest i waited for ms. pratt to complete her comparison of faces to names.

when i'd tried to bring my sweatshirt with me into the gymnasium ms. pratt had candidly said in plain english for everyone to take off their sweaters and sweatshirts.

i'd walked out of the locker room with a silent prayer that ms. pratt would go into labor soon thus cancelling gym at least for the hour until some other teacher substituted.

now i was cold and if the heater was on in the gymnasium my body couldn't make up the difference.

"hey, that's my cue. see you on the court, ebony." wearing button track pants and a black shirt josh hauls the net of volleyballs in one hand and pushes off the wall, jogging over to ms. pratt.

with a purposeful search of the room i noticed mya was talking to a tall caramel skinned girl. Chelsea was uber competitive not to mention assertive on the playing field and she had the body type for it.

it didn't matter which recreational sport we were doing for the day. Chelsea was team leader who sometimes played against her equally matched rival, mya.

Mya and Chelsea were the best of friends.

whenever time ran out and one team made the win, both girls would clap one another on the back, and they would go into the locker room talking about what topic Mya chose for her term paper that was due this Monday and if Chelsea should ask out a certain single cutie.

i tune everyone out and skim over the heads of untroubled ignorant teenage girls that only cared about the unsafest fad diets and owning the newest designer fashion not yet on racks in department stores.

i was wracked with nerves and guilt because i was the worst friend.

Chanel was trying to find a way into the portal that for some odd reason had gone off grid.

like Houdini performing a magic trick with his handcuffs.

here i was playing the 'excelling student' role with teachers and eating lunch with mya and company like everything was okay. when what i should have been doing was generating research that could explain this phenomena.

the portal to heaven shouldn't be missing. i couldn't explain it rationally but something deep down told me that things were only going to get worse.

in the back of my mind there was something vaguely familiar about it all but just when i could put words to sentence i forgot what i was contemplating about.

my brain completely shut down and it took a while to remember what i was thinking about in the first place.

Chanel wasn't the only one who couldn't pass through this world and into a separately exclusive portal.

from what i knew no one in my family could see dead people so it wasn't like i could ask my grandma for advice. i couldn't help but wonder if the beginning to the end started here at Starkhouse.

with nothing to do but asses, scrutinize, and check over clique and economic class, i focused my study and observation on ms. Pratt who carried a basic conventional whistle around her neck.

not a flashy one with rhinestones or a biker chain necklace.

ms. pratt was legendary for her fondness of and general interest in disciplining her students using routine practice.

standing next to Josh, Ms. Pratt was shorter in stature compared to Joshs lean build that was high in length.

that small winded instrument around her neck grabbed our undivided attention. but it was ms. pratt that commanded silence.

"lindsay Harris."

here

"Joan Margeret."

here.

"Cynthia Murphy."

in the building.

"that's not a proper acknowledgement. are you Cynthia Murphy yes or no?"

Yesssss i'm here.

i move away from the wall and take a step closer. ms. pratt would want to situate faces to names. mine should be called anytime. better to come out of hiding now.

"Parker, Beatrice" Ms. Pratt continued down the roster. "Edith Phyllis."

"here. here."

another step. -already passing the sidelines.

"Amy Richardson-Cox."

a hand flew up. "that would be me." Amy was a girl with a deep voice.

"Janet Marie Smith".

....

"Is there a Janet Marie Smith."

"here. sorry, sorry. im not absent im right here." said Janet, a Hispanic girl with square glasses.

advancing my stride i take one footfall after the next, passing over the three point marker, not stopping until i stood center circle along with the rest of my class.

ms. pratt was even more huge up close, her belly proportionate to the dimensions of a basketball.

today she wore red sweat pants and a double fleeced hoodie that cleverly obscured her belly.

from the looks of it she was still in shape plus the twenty extra pounds of weight concentrated on her abdominal region.

josh turned and grinned at me, a spherical sack of volleyballs next to his cross trainers.

"Striker." silence "aislin striker?"

i avert my eyes and clear my throat. "here." my ability to speak funny and unfamiliar to my ears.

Josh inched away from Ms. Pratt, opened the sack that he brought with him and stuffed two balls under his arm.

Ms. Pratt puckered her lips and forced a breath; a shrill clear note produced far and wide throughout the gymnasium.

"Alright ladies, listen up! This is how this is gonna work; Sportsmanship performance will be taken in consideration as I post grades. I don't care if you have the sniffles i want all of you to pitch in and have a great game." Ms. Pratt then beckoned to Josh, who threw a ball at her, and exchanged the clipboard for another volleyball.

Ms. Pratt grinned, her chocolate track eyes brimming wide with excitement.

I got the feeling that the mother of now two children had a thrill-seeker adventure streak in her.

"Now, i don't have to tell any of you, but i will anyway; No hair pulling, spiking, or target practice, you got it? I want a nice clean game. Be non-discriminating and play fair. Now lets have some fun!"

Fun. i snicker.

On what planet is throwing a ball at a persons face considered a good time?

"I need two captains, who wants the job?" Ms. Pratt looks around and fixates her gaze on two budding competitors. "Mya, Chelsea, pick your teams!"

All at once the 'inner circle' meandered en mase and as a group migrated to the division line, expect for our two voluntary captains, as they pressed both feet forward and hustled to stand shoulder to shoulder, waiting.

Begrudgingly and because i didn't have a choice i followed after.

i wedged myself in the middle of two semi-pretty girls who hadn't accomplished the barbie doll silicon perfection yet.

they didn't care that i pushed my way in. instead, they kept on talking as if i weren't smack dab in the middle.

-"this is so gonna rock." the girl to my left grins.

the one on my right cracks her knuckles and strongly agrees. "i know. i can't wait to flex my arm i haven't worked all day." a curve of well defined muscle bunched underneath her tight short sleeved tee. "Giovanni would chew me out if i didn't give it my all. Lately he's been pushing me to the bone."

someone clucks their tongue.

"straightforward and elementary." says girl with raven bangs.

a short-haired french girl with small boobs snorts. "a mediocre wedge of cake." she wasn't standing next to me but i could still hear her.

i rolled my head forward and tried my best not to let them get to me.

i listened whenever Mya called first dibs on a girl that she wanted on her team.

this match would either turn out okay or result in a trip to the nurses office.

i was damaged goods; a shadowed soul. Ms. Pratt would realize her mistake in sending me out onto the court.

Chelsea was being more selective. there would be an even amount of players on each team when they finished.

when mya picked the girl on my left, my heart did a flip flop in my throat.

i wouldn't mind begging mya to choose me if that's what it took not to be on chelseas team. luckily chelsea decided to go with Amy Hall instead.

mya motions with her head for me to join her group. i tried gauging her emotions but all i could think about their promises of whoop ass and whether they knew what they were getting into. my teammates clapped one another as they formed into their positions.

i shook off my nerves and caught up to them. mya couldn't switch teammates. they were stuck with me.

"hold onto your butt girlie." mya turned around and grinned my way. "you ready to party or what?"

"lets get it on." i smirk, chuckling.

it didn't take long for the game to start.

from my deficit perspective Beatrice was in the best place to be without getting hit by the ball.

i looked out to see if beatrices hand would slip the other way but that never happened.

in charge of allotting tallies to a white board, Beatrice remained out of the way, a mute judge that didn't show a hint of excitement.

i wondered if she had a specific team she was silently rooting for. maybe she was bored and sports didn't matter to her.

i didn't hate sports.

it was the running and the dribbling that i hated.

i had to seriously work on strengthening my core if i wanted to nick a score.

if the remaining minutes continued on the same unproductive manner then i was looking at a zero for the day. i couldn't let that happen.

Ms. Pratt impatiently blows her whistle three consecutive times. "Lets go... hustle! Striker, why are you just standing their?! Get moving now or you'll be doing laps for the rest of the hour, or until i say you can leave!" she yells, her round cheeks exploding with hot air.

i tie my ponytail up high and jog to where the action was.

Tia, one of the girls on my team, had the ball in hand and was running for a point shot.

two opposing forces came out and blocked her. fearing time slipping past her fingertips with each second, Tia looks around for an open shooter to pass the ball to.

i glance over at the rectangular scoreboard that was supported to stand upright on four wooden legs with wheels. we were 12 to 9 and needed to beat the other team if we cared about forgoing a tie.

-i would have rather got stung by a bee than go for one more round.

Tia was on the outer perimeter of the center circle not far from the division line before she got ambushed.

now on the defensive, Tia was backing up to get away from her adversaries that were getting more aggressive in their attempt to retrieve the ball.

thanks to the new-found confidence our rivals possessed, my teammates had no opening.

it was upsetting to see them get bullied and yet i was standing free with no one around to stop me.

that was just wrong.

i may not have been a force to reckon with on the court but i was playing. you'd think someone would come and guard me even though i wasn't a threat.

i had to do something.

tia glances over her left shoulder and sees that she was not the only one trying to break away and take back control in a more assertive position.

quickly tia looks to her right but her standard point guard, Mya, was busily trying to outsmart a blocker that was every bit as good as her.

i didn't know what i should do.

the clock was ticking down from thirty seconds and i was the only available player left without a blocker standing in my way.

tia sees me out of the corner of her eye and fakes a left tactic. she elbows one of the players to create a small opening and quickly shoots...

i catch the ball with both hands and hasten my pace attempting to gain a closer advantage to the basket that way someone didnt have to travel far and wide and run out of time before they could gain a score.

at the pace i went there was not enough time on that clock to go any farther. i would loose the ball if i kept going.

i glance around and noticed Mya standing on a three point line with her arms outstretched waiting for me to pass the ball to her.

i did so without much forethought on my part. everyone knew to pass the ball over to mya if we ever wanted a chance at winning.

and just like that the hyenas jumped on mya.

it didnt matter how many hands grabbed for the ball because in just a matter of seconds our people had the upper hand and effectively blocked the other team from getting to Mya.

with twelve seconds left and counting Mya evades prying hands thanks to her quick feet and slim build. she reached the two point line and immediately jumped in the air and threw the ball.

it fell through the net without hitting the rim and bounced on the floor until the coach stopped it with her feet.

it didn't take long for miss pratt to give the signal; a very high and loud sound was made by forcing her air through her teeth and into the small metallic device.

"Alright, listen up real quick. i want to see everyone on of you be humble and gracefully shake hands and then its off to the showers."

mentally exhausted i stay behind the pack as both captains hugged it out.

when the line started to move i scrambled my way to the back.

further along Mya was a couple bodies stretched apart from me, laying out high fives to our matched adversaries.

when it was my turn to reciprocate a job well done i shook hands with the losing team on my way to the lockers.

my hand meeting theirs one after the next, i went past the row of girls dizzy by the butchering smell of dank perfume.

empty headed and woozy i step away from the girl with the cool black hairstyle and advanced forward until i came face to face with someone i had never officially met, only stole glances of her almond paste skin from afar.

it was danika, the asian that was in the same orientation i went to.

when i realized that i was holding the class up i forced a smile to hide my embarrassment and walked over to danika.

pointing my fingers down i connected my hand with Danikas for like a second and to complete the show of quality sportsmanship tell Chelsea 'good game'.

ms. pratt stood close to chelsea so i knew she'd heard.

i leave the gymnasium and change out of my uniform to have lunch with Mya and the others.