Hype

~Chapter 18~

           Later I sat down at my computer, exhausted and sweaty.  My first order of business for the night was to go update all my fans.  I went online and posted this as my status: 

        “My second day at Newpoint went pretty well.  Gym class was actually a lot of fun, but I still miss all of you over at Mercy!”

         Let me tell you my gym story.  I get changed, and there’s a ton of other people in the area that my locker was in.  No room to move.  I was just glad that I got changed fast, before ten other girls went into the same place that I had to be in.  I sat on one of the light wooden benches, and waited before going out into the hallway.  I didn’t want to be the first one to class, you know?  So I’m sitting there, and I was starting to feel awkward.  I thought:  gym clothes. 

          Okay, I’ll bring a t-shirt and sweat pants.  Of course, it looked like nobody else had on the same outfit as me.  Here’s what most of the girls had on:  tank tops and shorts that went up to their behinds.  And there was me, sitting on the bench in my bright yellow t-shirt and grey sweat pants.  I tried not to let it bother me.  I would never want to wear anything like that, but somehow it was bothering me that I was the odd one out.  Then again, I thought back to the Bible.  Step out and be different.  I was glad that I wasn’t walking around like that. 

           When some other people started leaving, I got up and went with them.  I looked around, and found Coach Arnett standing with a small group at the end of the hallway.  Since it was net sports, we were playing volleyball.  The crowd grew to about fifteen and we went inside the gym.  She split us up into two groups.  The whole class had to be involved.  And I mean, the whole class.  Coach Arnett decided that she wanted to get in the game with everyone.  One of the girls told me that that was a normal occurrence. 

            The only downside was I was on the team that was playing against her.  Personally, I like volleyball.  It’s not as great as basketball in my eyes, but it’s still pretty fun.  My favorite part is the fact that my height allows me to jump up and spike the ball over the net.  Which, even though I did that like ten times, our team got destroyed.  Coach Arnett, I swear, was the only person on the other team that was actually doing something. 

           The rest of the girls were just standing there.  It wasn’t even necessary for them to move.  Coach Arnett wouldn’t let anyone else get the ball.  The whole time she ran all over the place, slamming the ball over to us, looking like she was about to kill someone.  After a while I wanted to shout out and tell her “It’s only a little game of volleyball!” 

          Somehow, through all the dread, gym class was better than I thought.  It was very entertaining watching Coach Arnett.  I got yelled at a couple of times though.  Some of the girls on my team were pretty fresh and started getting nasty with me if I missed the ball or something.  Like I said, it’s just a stupid game of volleyball in gym class.  Apparently, it only meant that to me, but not everyone else. 

           After two days at Newpoint, I was feeling confident in myself.  I felt like I knew what I was doing, and was proud that I managed to make two friends.  Things looked like they would be okay from there on out.  That was, until Wednesday morning.  For some reason I didn’t really feel like my bubbly, fun self.  Maybe it was just the fact that it was a gloomy, ugly day outside.  On the way to school, Mom went the usual way to Newpoint by taking a left out of our street.  Why can’t you just take a right?  If we went right, that would take me back to Mercy.    

           Homeroom was just awful.  At Mercy, homerooms were always a good occasion.  We would all get up, hug each other good morning, do our pledges, and then Mr. Basil would talk to us.  Right before the bell rang to start our day, we would pray together.  Homeroom at Newpoint was such a dull, cold time of the day.  Everyone just sat at their desks with their eyes half open, looking down at their phone.  If you were Mai, you’d be staring at a book.  Our teacher acted as if we didn’t exist.  The only good part about it was that it was quick.