Ice Bound (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Melissa finished stretching and stood up to start her laps. The morning sun hadn't fully risen, and the morning breeze kept the humidity in check. Melissa was lucky to have Gym in the morning.

"Sadent! How are you feeling today?" Her coach's voice boomed from across the field.

Melissa gave a thumbs up as she jogged. "Great! Just another day!" Her voice cracked slightly from the strain. Coach Elsen was always concerned for his students. He made sure each of them were equally being taken care of. Although, it felt a like bit too much. He had also earned the the school's title of being the 'overbearing mom' type.

Everyone made their way over to center field as they finished up. For the past few weeks, everyone had been preparing for the track-and-field event. Melissa was to run the 100-metre dash for the girls. Coach dished out everyone's assignments and blew his whistle. "If we want this class to win, you better do well today."

"Sounds like we are doing the same event." Ren tugged Melissa's ponytail.

"Guess so. Do you know what Indie is doing for her class?" Melissa swatted his hand away.

The looming male shook his head, "Nope. I don't. She refuses to tell me." Ren let out a deep sigh. "As long as it isn't the dash, we should be fine." There had many rumors about Indie's record running times. Apparently, she was unbeatable.

Melissa nodded and bounced on her toes. "I think I could take her down though." A playful smirk spread across her face. Competition was nothing new. "It's Indie, she's a slowpoke on the ice."

"Stravinsky! Sadent! Who's running first?" Their coach came walking over with a stopwatch. "You two have the best times in class. Show the others how it's done." He gave them a thumbs up.

Ren stepped up to the starting line. He double checked that his shoelaces were tied and made sure to tuck them into his shoes. As soon as the whistle blew, he was off at the speed of light. Everyone in the area froze in awe. Coach stopped the stopwatch as soon as he finished. "10.25 seconds! You should consider joining the track team this spring. Sadent, you're up."

Melissa smiled as she fixed her ponytail. "You got it, Coach!" The whistle sounded and she dashed as fast as she could. The finish line came up a bit too quickly. Pop! Melissa felt something in her left knee crack. She skidded to a stop and dropped onto the grass. "What was my time?"

"10.15 seconds." Their teacher looked at her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yep! I just slipped!" Melissa winced as she got up. Her knee was bright red and swollen.

Ren helped her up, "No, you aren't."

Coach walked over and got Melissa sitting back down. "It's pretty swollen alright. Get her to the Nurse."

Sierra stopped what she was doing. "I can take her." She looked over.

"No, I will." Ren wrapped a supporting arm around Melissa. "You have to take care of your relay team." He said as he helped Melissa walk towards the building.

Melissa looked at him, "I can walk fine by myself." She shrugged his arm off, "It's just a bit swollen, that's all. I've had this happen many--" Her stubborn self was cut off.

"Melissa, you need to stop being stubborn. That's how you hurt yourself." Ren glared at her as he opened the door. "And I don't want any of my teammates getting injured." An angered flame sparked in his eye.

Mel had never seen him like this. She continued to limp down the hallway with her arms crossed. The school nurse had already gotten the call via walkie talkie and had Melissa taken right back.