whirlwind (an Eddie Munson x OC love story)

3. gym class

I sat on the ground with my head in my hands when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side, I yelped and fell sideways clutching at my rib. Mitchell looked down at me. I screamed at him to go away but suddenly, he was on top of me, hand over my mouth again, pinning my hands underneath my own body. He pulled at my top and started to undo my jeans, I was trying to get away or knee him or yell or anything, but he was too strong. Then he was off me. I scrambled backwards, looking up at Eddie who had pushed the boy off me. I got up quickly, fixed my jeans and ran. I did not want to deal with this. I ran into the trees and disappeared. I could hear footsteps behind me. Mitchell was chasing me. In a panic I turned around to hit him, but it wasn't Mitchell, it was Eddie. He reached me and stopped.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked. I shook my head. He had hurt me, but Eddie didn't need to know that. I sobbed and Eddie looked at me sadly.

"Come on, follow me. I know somewhere we can sit and hide for a while." He started walking through the trees and I hesitated but ultimately decided to follow him. He led me to a picnic table, and I sat on the bench. He sat opposite me and looked at me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I didn't want to tell a stranger everything, but I found myself sobbing and telling him everything. He sat quietly, listening as I broke down. He reached out his hand and put it on my arm, I flinched, and he pulled away.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay, I'm just..." I trailed off but he nodded. He knew that I was just not ready to have anyone touching me right now.

"Holy shit man, that was scary." He grinned at me, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled at him softly.

"Yeah, it was. Thanks for saving me."

"Thanks for running, I do not like fighting." He grinned at me. We sat there talking about middle school. He reminded me of how a boy had once pushed me over and he had helped me up and told the teacher. I giggled, remembering how caring he was. He had looked different back then, but he was still the same caring person. He was awkward and very theatrical. He talked about his band, and I mentioned how I wanted to learn the drums. We talked about music for a while, and I almost forgot everything that happened until I heard the faint sound of the distant school bell. He grinned at me and stood up.

"See you 'round Roberts." He called me by my last name.

"Bye Munson" I said back, smiling as he walked off. I headed back to school and started walking home. Cheerleading practice tonight meant I wasn't getting a ride from my friends. I arrived home and went to my bedroom. I kicked off my shoes and grabbed one of my 'Sweet Valley High' books. I settled into my bed and started reading. I found these books were a good distraction. They were short and generally not too suspenseful or heavy. A short, lighthearted was exactly what I needed right now. I finished the book after several hours and realized the light was starting to fade. I switched on my lamp and placed my book on the 'read' pile next to my bed. I grabbed my sketch book from my desk and a pencil and started sketching what I imagined the girls in my book to look like. I did this often. I would sketch movie or book characters, mostly just to practice. I had successfully distracted myself for several hours. I got ready for bed and that's when the feelings started creeping back. I couldn't fall asleep and spent most of the night tossing and turning. By morning I had barely slept. My mom knocked to wake me up and walked into my room. She took one look at me and realized I was unlikely to make it to school on time. She sighed,

"You can take the morning off, I'll call Amanda. But I am driving you to school on my way to work. No arguing, you have three hours." That gave me two hours to catch up on sleep and meant I'd miss two and a half hours of school. I nodded at my mom, and she left to call Amanda for me. My mom started work a bit later some days. She worked at a clothes store, and mostly did it so we would be a bit more comfortable and now that I was older, she had less work to do around the house. My father worked and we could live off his income. We were comfortable but mom decided she wanted some extra money for clothes and trips. It wasn't a lot of money, but she saved up and it made her happy. I had been considering getting a job too. It would mean I wouldn't have to ask my parents for money every time I wanted to do anything. I let my mind wander until I dozed off to sleep. I woke to a sharp knock on the door.

"One hour, Get up Elizabeth." I groaned and slowly got up from my bed. I made my way to the shower and slowly got ready for school. I was ready with 10 minutes to spare so I quickly ate a banana, so I wasn't so hungry for school.

When I arrived, I waited by my locker for the bell to ring for the next class. When it rang, I moved through the crowd to my gym class. Amanda and Sarah were both in the same gym class as me. When they got to the locker room, they questioned my absence. I told them I had a bad sleep and needed a sleep in. They nodded and accepted my answer. I wasn't lying, I just wasn't telling them everything. I was about to pull out my gym shorts when I remembered the cuts on my thigh. I shoved them back into my bag and remembered my spare long bike shorts in my locker. I left the change room in my jeans and gym top and found the teacher.

"I'm really sorry, I forgot my gym shorts. They were being washed and weren't dry when I packed my bag, and I must have left them in the dryer. I do have some spare bike shorts in my locker, could I get them instead?" The teacher sighed but nodded, most students would try to use it as an excuse to not do gym but at least this one had an alternative option and was still willing to participate. I ran to my locker and pulled out the bright pink spandex shorts. They were tight and went right down to just above my knee. I ran to the toilets to change so no one else could see me. They covered the cuts nicely. I ran back to gym class and joined my friends just as the teacher started talking. We were going to be in the gym with the boys who were playing basketball. We were playing netball because apparently basketball was for boys. The teacher led us in some yoga and stretches to warm up. I heard some wolf whistles from the boys as we all bent over. I recognized Mitchell's voice saying something to his friends about my shorts. I turned around to see who he was talking to and caught Eddie moving in between me and Mitchell. He did it casually, almost like it was just a coincidence but he looked up and winked at me grinning so I knew he had purposefully stood in Mitchell's line of sight so he couldn't keep staring at me. I smiled back at him and continued stretching. I heard several boys commenting on my shorts, I got a few creepy stares, but I ignored them. At least they weren't Mitchell. We got started in class and I was subbed out at the start along with three other girls. I watched the boys play a bit and Eddie was very bad. It made me laugh. He pushed his hair out of his face and reached his arms up in front of a boy to block him. His top rid up a bit and I caught myself looking. I looked back at the girl's game and was soon subbed on. I was actually pretty good as goal defense. I wasn't tall, I was an average height at best, but I was feisty. I would have been much better at basketball.

The class ended and we all went back to the change rooms and showers. It was lunch next so I wouldn't be late for any classes if I took my time. I waited for everyone to leave and had my shower and changed. I met up with Amanda and Sarah and I told them I was just slow because I was tired. We went to lunch, and they filled me in on some news I'd missed during the first class. There was going to be a senior camp. I was unsure about going but they begged me, and I gave in. They had grabbed me a spare information sheet and handed it to me. I thanked them and put it in my bag. It might actually be fun. We were going to do a range of activities and could choose our cabin mates. Obviously, girls and boys would be separated. We discussed the camp and decided to help each other pack. It was still a few weeks away, but we were excited. We decided to go shopping after school later in the week for some cute but practical outfits. A girl from the cheerleading squad came over. Jessica. She was reasonably nice although a bit quiet and not very bright. She asked if she could be in our cabin as they were cabins of four. We agreed and told her our brilliant idea of matching pajamas. She giggled and agreed that it was a great idea. We agreed to all go shopping on Friday after school. I didn't mind that Jessica was going to join us. Amanda had a birthday sleepover a few years ago and Jessica had been there. She didn't snore and she brought snacks and nail polish to paint our nails. She was going to be good addition to our group for a little while. She had good friends on the cheerleading team, but we all knew the others could be a bit louder at night. We liked to talk and gossip while they played spin the bottle and truth or dare. They were great at parties but not so much at sleepovers.