Survival

12. Things Left Unsaid

Dreary dark stared Stephanie in the face, mocking her itching muscles and shortened attention span from without her confinement. Mr. Wilcox was out sick, and so Stephanie had unknowingly walked into the least productive English lesson she would ever have the misfortune to experience. It left her with an enclosed classroom, full of muffled whispers and turning pages.

Though the irony of Of Mice and Men had kept her on target so far, Stephanie couldn’t concentrate on the trials of George and Lennie today. Her lungs ached for fresh air, her muscles strained for the burn of lactic acid and fatigue. No amount of reading and imagination could fool her body into believing it was working on a ranch under the sun. She sighed, taking in the bored expressions of her classmates, the faces that mirrored her own.

That morning, Stephanie had woken up to realize that she was late. After an amused scolding from Jonathon, she had rushed out of the house, leaving spilled apologies in her wake. The weather hadn’t let up, which had made the run to school unfortunately… wet, which was why Stephanie was sitting in English with her hair still dripping and her clothes clinging uncomfortably to her cool skin.

No doubt she’d gotten some strange looks with that entrance. Daniel had only smirked down at his copy of Steinbeck’s novel, finding amusement in Stephanie’s bad luck as only he could. She’d made a point of flicking her hair his way, spraying him with cold rainwater. It was only fair that he take some of what he so readily found funny.

The uncomfortable silence stretched on and, if it weren’t for how damp and cold she was, Stephanie would almost be tempted to go to sleep. As it were, she settled for doodling in the corner of a dog-eared page of her worn notebook. It would at least make her appear to be productive.

Regrettably, the lesson did not improve, until perhaps the bell rang. Eagerly, Stephanie shoved her stuff haphazardly back into her backpack and bolted, enjoying the feeling of simple movement way more than she should.

“Do you not know of that thing we normal people call an umbrella?” Kirsten scoffed with a raised eyebrow, catching up to Stephanie in the din of the school post-lesson.

Stephanie shot her friend a sidelong glance. “No, but I’ll be sure to look it up when I get home,” she replied, even if it was a little heavier on the sarcasm than she’d intended. “I was late.”

“And you didn’t have enough time to just, I don’t know, grab a raincoat?”

“I didn’t think about it,” Stephanie shrugged, hitching her bag onto her collarbone. “Why’s it such a big deal?”

“Just doesn’t look comfortable,” Kirsten conceded with a glance at Stephanie’s midsection.

Blushing slightly under the bravado, Stephanie tugged down her wet shirt nonchalantly back over her slightly exposed stomach. “It’s not, but I’ll try to remember modern invention the next time it decides to throw it down.”

“So, ready for gym?” Kirsten asked.

“Of course,” Stephanie answered without missing a beat. “What’s the deal with switching English and Gym?”

“Don’t know, honestly, it’s probably just for today for whatever reason.”

Stephanie took the answer without complaint, just glad that she had a chance to work out some of her energy now.

After changing quickly and entering the gym, coach paired people up. As fate would have it, Stephanie’s partner was someone called Dave- a total stranger. Stephanie struggled to keep her anxiety levels down. Forcing a timid, yet what she hoped was an approachable, smile onto her face, Stephanie walked toward the guy who was also heading toward her.