After The Accident

The New Attention

Of all the terrible things that had occurred because of the accident, one of the few positives was that Alyssa had become a bit of a celebrity around the high school. Far more people had started talking to her, which was good, because it gave the new Alyssa a chance to forge new relationships that old Alyssa had been too shy to begin.

Amongst the many opportunities Alyssa had to socialize, one of the easier ways to do so was during track practice. Originally, Alyssa had been a pole vaulter, however since the accident Alyssa obviously was unable to practice much of anything. That meant that during track practice Alyssa had the freedom to just wander around, helping out coaches and teammates however she could.

This  particular day of practice, she was approached by a cute boy named Tyson. He was a distance runner who she often timed for Coach Darian during practice. He was fast, and very nice. Normally the old Alyssa would have been too shy to make eye contact with Tyson, and while the new Alyssa found this task difficult, she didn't falter as he walked over.

"Hey Alyssa, Coach Woodson was wondering if you could help with time trials? She said it's for the sprinters." Tyson had an uncanny ability for direct eye contact when he spoke, and it definitely made even the new Alyssa uncomfortable.

"Yeah, for sure! You wanna go ahead and let her know I'm on my way? These crutches aren't exactly known for being speedy," Alyssa half chuckled, trying desperately to keep a blush from reaching her cheeks.

"Nah I'll walk with you, that way I can escape some of Darian's hill workout today. How's the leg holding up?" Tyson asked, as they started to walk across the track field.

Surprised that he even asked, Alyssa's response was a bit repetitive of the one she gave Lexi earlier that day. "Oh, it's been better for sure, but I've got a PT appointment tomorrow so hopefully my therapist can help relieve some of the discomfort."

Alyssa smiled at Tyson, trying to maintain her composure as he responded. "That sucks. How much longer do you think you'll need the cast and crutches for?" He questioned.

"Hopefully only another month or so, but this knee was far worse than the left leg, so I can't expect it to heal as quickly."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Back in middle school I remember my dad had to have knee surgery, and it took him almost two months to recover, even though all they did was put pins in the kneecap."

Alyssa winced for a moment, flashing back to her own knee surgery for a moment. The old Alyssa had a deadly fear of needles, blood, and generally anything regarding surgery, so it was easy to say that the surgeries definitely were the most painful and frightening experiences she had to date, and that included the accident. Unfortunately, no matter how hard the new Alyssa tried, she couldn't extinguish those fears.

"Knee surgery definitely isn't fun," Alyssa agreed, "And of all my surgeries it definitely has one of the trickier rehab programs as well. It's crazy, it's been over two months and I'm still dealing with the aftershocks of this accident."

"Yeah, well that was a pretty gruesome hit you took. Carson got a video of the accident, and it went viral around the school for a few weeks while you were still at the hospital." Alyssa tensed up at these words, panic racing through her as she processed what Tyson said. Thankfully, Tyson didn't seem to notice her change in attitude, because he continued, "I'm sure you've seen it already."

"No actually," Alyssa answered truthfully, trying to hide her rising panic. "Is the video still up?"

At this Tyson stopped walking, and turned towards Alyssa. "You mean you want to see it? After you already felt it?" He asked incredulously.

"I don't remember much of what happened," Alyssa paused, trying to gather her racing thoughts.

"Well, its on Youtube so you can watch it for sure, just be careful; it hasn't been censored so it's got some pretty graphic stuff. Then again, it's not like you haven't already been through it." Tyson said, worry creasing his face, as they resumed their walk towards the coaches.

"The one bummer about the video," Tyson continued, "is that whoever shot the video didn't catch the license plate of the car. Carson was more concerned with how you were doing after the accident, that he didn't even think to get footage of the vehicle itself."

At this, Alyssa finally relaxed. There was still hope that her secret was still that: a secret. "That is unfortunate.  Not much we can do about it now though."

"Yeah that's true. Looks like Coach Darian is calling me over now. Guess he won't let me miss the hills workout then." Tyson grimaced.

Alyssa turned and saw that he was right; Coach Darian was waving at Tyson to head over.

"Yikes, good luck with that." Alyssa laughed.

"It's unfortunate, but thanks for giving me a quick breather at least," Tyson flashed an award winning smile toward Alyssa, one that she couldn't help but return.

"No problem, I'll see you later then!" She replied.

"Definitely," Tyson called, as he started to jog over to Coach Darian.

The smile that remained on Alyssa's face didn't disappear all afternoon.