Unfolding

Chapter 3

Eyes up here, asshole!

"I hate every minute of training. But I said, don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." – Muhammad Ali

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I am currently sitting in my last period Economics class, listening to Mr. Murphy drone on about the importance of how exchange rates work. It was only Wednesday and I was ready for the week to be over. The teachers wasted no time with diving right into senior year, and I already had a biology quiz on Friday and a history essay due on Monday.

I was deep in thought when I felt something touch the back of my neck. I quickly turned around only to be greeted by Aiden's smiling face. I shot him a glare before returning my attention to Mr. Murphy.

Aiden on the other hand, seemed to have other plans. He took a strand of lose hair into his hand and began twirling it around as he leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You've got some sexy bed-head, princess."

I couldn't help the involuntary blush that crept on my face. For the record, it's almost three in the afternoon and what Aiden was referring to as my bedhead, is actually the messy bun I had tied my hair into last period.

I quicky reached behind me to slap his hand away in the hopes he would just shut up, however, no such luck. Deciding I didn't want to get yelled at by Mr. Murpby I tried my hardest to ignore Aiden messing with my hair for the remainder of the period. Once the bell finally rang, I was the first to jump out of my seat. "What is your problem?" I asked Aiden.

"Nothing." He shot me a sweet smile. "You just had something in your hair."

"Oh cut the crap!" I let out a exasperated sigh, as I reached across to slap his arm. However, he was quick to dodge my action. This only made my frustration grow. Luckily Mr. Murphy had already left.

As Aiden finished packing up his stuff, he was already near the door when he turned back around towards me. "Careful, princess. Or I'll have to punish you at practice." I watched in horror as the students who were still in the classroom turned towards me with amused and curious looks.

Oh my god. He did not just say that out loud for all these people to hear! "Fuck off!" I yelled as I flipped him the bird. He just chuckled before he walked out, leaving me behind to face the curious stares of our classmates.

..............

The girls and I had just finished running the five laps around the field when Coach Garcia and Aiden told us to gather round.

"We're going to do things a bit differently this year." Coach Garcia started. "After talking with Aiden and observing you guys the past two days we've decided that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we'll be focusing on cardio and strength training. Meanwhile, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we'll focus on drills and skills training."

We all nodded and hummed in agreement. Truth be told, it looks like the girls soccer team is finally getting in shape and unfortunately it looks like we have Aiden to thank for that.

Despite Coach Garcia coming from a professional background, she's never been given the funding or the go ahead to have us train like the boys team. Usually the boys varsity team spends all year round training for their season in the spring, while we just start training in August right before the start of the season.

"Natalie, you and I are going to be working on your goalie training." Aiden piggybacked off Coach Garcia. "We've also been granted permission to use the school's weightlifting room for the remainder of the season, so that's what we'll be doing today." I have to say I was surprised because the weightlifting room was usually reserved for the wrestling team and all the basketball players trying to get in shape for the upcoming season.