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Post by alyssa on Jan 29, 2007 22:24:48 GMT -5
Alyssa's mouth fell open at the mere thought of running with her teacher. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she stood there staring blankly for a moment. A small smirk crawled onto her lips, settling itself as her expression. "If you can keep up. I'm not gonna slow down. You are the coach after all. You should have to match my speed," she told her teacher with a smug grin. Stretching her arms above her head, Alyssa faced the direction the others were running. "Ready?" she asked, pulling her thick, wild locks into a ponytail, leaving one strand hanging in her face. With a questioning and almost amused glance cast at Miss Lorretti, Alyssa took a deep breath before dashing forward. Hell if she was going to run at the same pace. The older woman was the coach, after all. She should be obligated to meet her, the student's, speed.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 29, 2007 22:32:13 GMT -5
Tommy laughed quietly and nodded. "That's probably a good reason. A very good one. But they wouldn't know what they would be missing. Actually...I wouldn't be surprised if they just did it...everyone just following teachers like they were dictators...not that I have anything against them. Miss Lorretti is all right..." He paused worrying that maybe he was talking to much. He might scare away the kid.
"What?" Tommy glanced over at him. "Oh yeah...just thought I saw a friend of mine is all."
Miss Lorretti shook her head at the girl. "Nice try, Jones." She ran after her and match her speed easily. The students didn't know it, but their teacher was on the USA volleyball team for a few years. She was more than fit.
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Post by Angel Schunard on Jan 29, 2007 22:39:48 GMT -5
Angel had to bite his lip in order not to laugh too hard at the mental images. "All the big strong jocks skipping after skinny little Ms Lorretti...that, I would love to see," he risked smiling up at the senior, his voice tinted with a laugh. A high laugh. Angel coughed.
He raised his eyebrows but nodded slowly...he didn't exactly believe that, but he wasn't about to pry.
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Post by alyssa on Jan 29, 2007 22:39:53 GMT -5
Chocolate eyes narrowed in concentration as Alyssa sped up her pace. She wasn't running as fast as her legs would carry her, that was for sure. Her father always made her run every day of every week before praticing for volleyball. It was no wonder why she detested the activity with a passion. But all the afternoons of sweat and aching legs had made her much quicker than people thought she was capable. With a quick inhale of breath, Alyssa raced around the gym, gaining distant on Miss Lorretti. Passing other students was almost too easy, though the coach was proving to be competition.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 29, 2007 22:47:47 GMT -5
"I would like to see it too," Tommy admitted with a nod. He looked down at Angel when he coughed. "You ok?" He asked wondering if he was going too fast for him. "I can slow down some more if this is too much for you," Tommy offered.
Ms. Lorretti had to laugh. She called out to one of the other gym teachers to watch out for her students. Now, she had something to prove. She picked up her speed and reached Alyssa's side. "You better take it easy, Jones. Remember the original reason for this exercise?"
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Post by Angel Schunard on Jan 29, 2007 22:53:55 GMT -5
"Hm? Oh no...this is cake," Angel assured Tommy with a smile. With a burst of confidence, he added, "Really, it's you I'm worrying about...I don;t want to wear you out!" he laughed again, this time not bothering to cough over it. He had no clue why he could feel so comfortable around Tommy...but he liked it.
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Post by alyssa on Jan 29, 2007 22:58:05 GMT -5
"Take it easy?" Alyssa laughed before listening to the rest of what Miss Lorretti had to say. "To buddy-up and run with someone at the same pace," she answered, briefly turning her line of sight to the coach before back ahead of her. "Not sure why you chose to do this. I find this activity rather pointless," she said, pausing her statement to quickly look around the blur of students around her. "For most of us at least," she added with a grin. Speeding up once again, Alyssa continued to race around the gym. Miss Lorretti was fast, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let the coach win. Call it her competitive side talking, but this had become more than just a buddy-up activity for physical education class.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 29, 2007 23:04:19 GMT -5
Tommy laughed and looked down at the kid's legs. They were...well...Tommy tried to focus on the floor instead. But that's didn't seem to be working. He snapped his head up. "I can tell...yeah I'm not so much with the running. That's another reason I quit football. They made us run...which was stupid for people like me who just jumped on people..." He grinned slowly. "You gonna go easy on me?" When he realized what he said, he blushed slightly. That could be interpreted in many different ways.
The gym teacher groaned. It wasn't that she was getting tired, it was that she was getting bored. But she ran after the girl. When they were neck and neck she said to her, "It's to gain trust in your partner and learn how to work together. It's in the PE curriculum," Miss Lorretti explained with a nod.
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Post by alyssa on Jan 29, 2007 23:10:43 GMT -5
"Sorry but you're a teacher. It doesn't exactly work that way," she said. Running, this time in step with Miss Lorretti, she stopped abruptly at the bleachers. Climbing up and reclaiming her abandoned seat, Alyssa once again took up her same position. "That was...fun I guess. But like I said before, running around in circles isn't my thing." Her legs dangled off the edge for the second time that day, and they swayed back and forth in time with the music that was continously blaring in her mind. "You really should find a new activity," she said, looking down at the coach. "One without partners," she added after a long pause under her breath.
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Post by Angel Schunard on Jan 29, 2007 23:12:51 GMT -5
Angel's jaw dropped, and had the urge to slap the boy's arm...but figured he'd better not. As much as he was enjoying his time with the boy, he couldn't help but feel a bit...suspicious. It was like he was being just a bit too friendly. He wasn't used to it. There was that awful thought that maybe Tommy was put up to it, trying to get him comfortable so he could be embarrased. But he didn't want to believe that...Tommy was too nice for that. Maybe it was naivety talking...maybe if he were just a little more cynical he'd be able to believe that. But for now, he simply laughed.
"You're not in football anymore?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 30, 2007 0:02:55 GMT -5
Collins laughed along with Angel nervously. "Sorry...I can stick my foot in my mouth sometimes...and I don't mean to be too...too talky." He said with a nod. "Yeah. No more football for me. It was too much work. That and I started to feel bad for the guys on the bench. Pee wee (little league) was the greatest. We just rotated. Everyone got to play. The non-athletic kids got a chance. Now...it's only about winning." He shrugged assuming that the boy he was running with would find him a little bit more than odd.
"Get up, Alyssa," Miss Lorrietta said shaking her head. "Walk off what you just did. Just walk." She pointed towards the floor with a real serious look in her eye. As an athlete, she had seen her peers pass out because they didn't cool down after working their bodies hard.
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Post by Angel Schunard on Jan 30, 2007 14:37:51 GMT -5
"No, it's alright, really," Angel assured him with a smile. His best friend was Mimi Marquez; he was used to the talking. "But...why should it matter whether of you're one of the better players?" Angel looked straight ahead as they ran. The whole reason he'd avoided gym until his last two years was the boys with ideas exactly opposite to Tommy's. The ones who figured that they were better than everybody else because they were gonna be some sort of famous athlete in the future.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 30, 2007 22:25:00 GMT -5
Tommy smiled gently. At least Angel didn't mind if he talked his ear off. That was a good sign. It was one of the best parts of his relationship with Maureen, his own best friend. Both of them could talk for hours at end and never get tired of listening to the other.
"It matters because it isn't fair I guess," Tommy suggested his breath starting to get heavy a bit. He never was good at running. "You're playing a sport to enjoy the sport. Enjoy playing with your peers and forming relationships. Sure, we get enthusastic about this team or that, but that's because we form an attachment to the players. If we allowed the kids who weren't NFL material out on the field, we would still have that community. Sure, we might not win as many games, but we would still have the sense of community. And because of that we would encourage the kid. And because of that he would preform better and push himself harder...have more self-respect." Tommy finally stopped and then decided that he was very happy that Angel didn't mind the talking.
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Post by Angel Schunard on Jan 30, 2007 22:40:04 GMT -5
"Not competitive, huh?" Angel asked, taking in all that Tommy was saying. For all the reasons he could think of for a guy quitting football; bad grades, injury, even loss of interest...the need to be fair wasn't one of them. He had to admit, he wished the coaches thought that way. Much as he loved to watch football for...reasons he wouldn't voice...it sort of marred the whole thing because he knew that a good percentage of the team on the field wanted to win just for the sake of winning.
"You need to slow down more?" Angel asked, jogging a bit slower as he noticed Tommy's loss of breath.
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Post by Tommy Collins on Jan 30, 2007 22:44:16 GMT -5
Tommy laughed and shook his head. "Not at all. I mean...I guess it's important. It throws people out of themselves...to make something...but you know...teamwork and community can get you there too. And frankly, if you ain't pushing yourself to begin with, then you aren't taking control of your life..." He paused at that notion. So much for pushing oneself in life. Tommy was the closet when he could be out there and being who he was. Maybe actually having a boyfriend. Having someone...but he was too afraid of loosing the people around him. Tommy took a deep breath and right there decided to live for himself. And if his friends couldn't handle it, he'd find new friends. Because if he was letting others rule his life...it wasn't much of a life at all.
"Oh...I'm sorry...spaced out," Tommy said pulling the collar of his shirt up to wipe away the sweat on his neck.
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