School was going all right thus far, Alexa decided. Her morning classes were about what she expected. Lunch was better than she thought it would be as she sat at a table with Frances to the right of her and Logan to the left of her with Miriam across from all of them. It was perfect.
Now, though, she felt as though she’d run out of luck. She hated gym class. She never saw the point of doing physical type things under duress. She liked working out because she liked having a strong body. She didn’t work out to look model thin or anything like that. She thought that was ridiculous. Her body wasn’t model thin material nor did she want it to be. She liked it just the way it was.
Next to her, Miriam had taken off her shirt and was rummaging through her locker looking for the t shirt she had stashed in there during open house night a couple of weeks back. Alexa had tsked. She knew Miriam stuffed *everything* in her locker and then expected what she wanted to show up in her hand when she asked for it. Alexa wished that she had a wand and that ‘accio’ anything would work because it would save a whole lot of time and energy on both their parts. Usually, Miriam would start swearing under her breath and Alexa would reach in, dig around a little, and pull out what Miriam wanted. It was an old routine between the two.
‘Come on, woman,’ she chided. ‘We’re going to be late for huffing around the track.’
There was a giggle and then a not so quiet comment. ‘Take your time. Like we want to see her fat whale ass huffing around the track.’
Alexa looked over to see one of the girls from lunch snickering at Miriam. She looked at Alexa and widened her eyes dramatically. ‘What’s the matter? See something?’
Alexa lifted her chin. ‘Yeah, I see something. I see a bitch who needs to shut the fuck up.’
‘Oh, that’s tough. You going to come over here or is your fat friend going to sit on me?’ asked the girl, tossing her long dark hair back.
Alexa’s hands curled into fists. She stepped forward but a tug at her arm stopped her. She looked to see Miriam shaking her head at her. ‘It’s OK, Alexa. Don’t get into trouble,’ she pleaded.
‘Trouble hasn’t started, babe,’ retorted Alexa but relented when Miriam shook her head. She turned her back on the other girl and looked into Miriam’s locker. After a moment of moving some toiletries over, she found the t shirt nicely folded on the bottom. She took it out and handed it to Miriam. Miriam shut her locker door with a wry look on her face.
She put on the t shirt and then turned to the girl, thrusting her hip out. ‘Honey, if I sit on you, you’re going to be begging for it.’ She blew a kiss towards the girl who just stared at her in shock.
Alexa laughed and then took Miriam’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go huff around the track like whales.’
Miriam smiled. ‘I’ll make whale noises at you,’ she warned.
‘That’s how you get all the boys,’ Alexa said with a grin.
They left the locker area, making their best whale noises at each other.
Alexa slowly jogged around the track next to Miriam, thinking about how Miriam handled things back in the locker room. Alexa knew she’d have started a brawl. She always was more physical and wasn’t afraid of a good scrap. Miriam had always preferred to fight with her wit and brains. Brains over brawn has always been her motto.
Miriam has always been a large girl. Or, as she put it, ‘I’m fat and so what?’ Alexa had met a couple of Miriam’s aunts and the body shape ran in the family. The aunts were comfortable with their bodies and didn’t try to hide their thick waists, dimpled knees or large arms. They wore what they pleased and felt beautiful in whatever they chose to dress in that day.
Miriam had the same policy; her body, her choice. She wore clothing that clung to her curves and exposed vast expanses of pale creamy skin. She was gorgeous to Alexa with her rebellious curls and mobile mouth. She had large brown eyes that were surrounded by thick long lashes. She moved with the grace of a dancer and wasn’t self conscious at all.
Alexa stopped at the finishing line with Miriam. They began to walk slowly, breathing in and out with practiced, measured breaths. Alexa made a whale sound under her breath and Miriam snickered.
After they’d cooled down, they walked into the locker room and grabbed shower supplies and a towel out of their lockers. Alexa washed up quickly and gave her hair a perfunctory shampoo and condition. She only had so many minutes to get ready before the next class started and she wanted to be dressed and waiting
Miriam had washed up as well and was grumbling about her curls as she twisted her hair around her head and secured it with a hair binder. She slipped her feet into her sandals and adjusted her top and tugged at her jeans with one hand.
‘You look beautiful,’ commented Alexa, reaching over to smooth out a wrinkle on Miriam’s shirt. ‘I like the new sandals.’
‘Thanks, hon. Got them on sale, too. It was a good shopping day,’ grinned Miriam, walking towards the gym door with Alexa.
Alexa glanced around as they walked out when the bell rang; the girl who’d insulted Miriam was nowhere in sight but Alexa wasn’t naive enough to think it was all over. Alexa’s mouth firmed as she parted ways with Miriam and went to her next class. That was OK with her. Alexa wasn’t quite finished yet, herself.
No comments:
Post a Comment