Jake Addams March 30th, 20XX

A series of harsh thuds echoed around the thin wooden walls of the gym, and a flurry of clothes clouded my vision as I slammed one competitor after the other into the ground.

“Next!”

My throat was hoarse with exhaustion and made me sound savage and angry. I saw the younger kids flinch at the sound and frantically avoid my gaze by finding other activities to occupy themselves with. The older ones tried to disperse into teams and work with each other, but it was clear by their awkward movements that they were just avoiding me.

I was the ex-captain of the high school team and a part-time coach for the younger students. I’d already fought my last competition as their captain for three months and had ‘retired' from the team last month. The university that had accepted me had clarified that they expected me to join their team, but at least they’d agreed to let me continue as a coach here.

There was reason from the newer kids to avoid fighting me, but what about the ones that would constantly harass me for a spar every three days?

“I said next! You guys that begged me to come spar with you, well here I am.”

Showing more unity as a team than they had the entire season, they all sent me the same baleful expression and avoided my stare. Before I could look around and pick someone out, the assistant coach poked his head out from his office and yelled at me.

The assistant head coach stumbled as he came out from his office and shook off the scared-looking kid that had pulled him out. He looked around the gym before looking back up at me on the platform and scowling.

“What the hell are you doing, Addams? You were the bronze medalist of the regional competition this season. It’s fine to pick a fight if you’re in a foul mood, but you won’t find one by traumatizing my kids. ”

He gestured to the huddle of challengers that had just lost with an annoyed glare. They all stood in a pile of resentment and licked each other’s wounds while cursing me out.

“If you’re that bothered, then go hit the track or the pool until you feel better. Don’t use my students to get rid of your frustration.”

The older man didn’t leave any room for me to complain firmly, saluted me and sent me out. I thought about challenging him, but the slightly excited look on his face made me decide against it. He’d been in the office doing paperwork the whole day. He was itching for a better fight than I was able or willing to give.

Now that I’d calmed down a bit, I sent an apologetic look to all the juniors and saluted him in response.

The pool was in the same building and thankfully the swimmers season was going to start soon. That meant that the pool was clean but wasn’t full. I bought a pair of trunks from the in-store and dove into the pool. They were expensive and were an unnecessary purchase, which only made me angrier.

My lungs burned as I tried to swim my thoughts away, but they kept replaying in my mind.

It wasn’t working.

Vanessa and Alice’s voices still echoed through my head, and the conversation I’d accidentally overheard looped through my mind.

I only had three classes today and had the last period off, but I’d promised to give Alice a drive home. Since I had to work at the gym and couldn’t go home right away, I’d went to one of the empty clubrooms and take a nap. While the rooms were pretty open, they had large closets and spare tables that could double as a cot.

That was when I’d heard Vanessa’s piercing and high-pitched voice wake me up from my nap. I’d closed the door to the closet, so I doubted they’d known I was there, but then again, I doubted they would have said as much as they had if they’d known I was there.

“Everyone except the Technical department and Jake is ignoring him. A few of the Jocks dumped a bucket of water over him today.”

“Jake? but wait. Why did they dump water on him? Who dumped water on him?”

Alice sounded a bit too worried about someone she’d purposefully ostracized, but I chalked it up to her being a kind person. She was nice enough when she got over her pride and would often use her influence over others for good.

“They must have gotten the wrong idea and thought you meant they should mess with him. But about Jake-”

“I can talk to Jake later, but what’s up with Finn? Does he look like he’s about to apologize?”

Being brushed off like that. Even if I was just one topic in a lost list of them put me in a foul mood.

Vanessa sounded thrown off as well but tried her best to answer Alice’s questions.

“No, but it's only been one day. And have you heard all the new rumours about him?”

“New rumours?”

Vanessa took the chance to share new gossip and spoke quickly, but her tone was flat and unlike her usual excitable self.

“After what happened with Mr. Medley this afternoon, I heard someone say that he caught the attention of a rich family. I couldn’t get my hands on any details, but he’s been coming to school in a super nice car and someone saw him coming out of a well-known company a few days ago. After putting everything together we think he’s being groomed to run a company on the behalf of the rich family. There was even talk of him getting engaged to someone for legitimacy since he started wearing a woman’s locket around.”

This was the first time I was hearing most of this, but since Vanessa was telling it to Alice, then she probably believed it was true. Vanessa wasn’t always right, but she had a higher batting average than most of the baseball team at our school.

“A wealthy family?!”

She coughed out a scream and her voice went shrill. It was shocking news, but not so much to elicit such a reaction.

“Do you have any names? Or proof?..... Not that I care. I’m just curious.”

Panic laced her voice like lace on a dress and put me in a fouler mood than ever. Vanessa responded with a few family names before finally catching the wrongness in her friend’s reaction.

“Alice… What about Jake? You guys have been together for a while.”

She trailed off, afraid to say what she was saying. I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine the awkward expression she had on her face. Vanessa was ironically afraid of confrontation and would avoid it at all costs.

Alice paused for a few moments as she realized how she was coming off. The silence was so thick I could have cut it with a plastic knife, but Alice refused to break it until Vanessa prompted her again.

“Alice?”

“Look. I’m not saying I don’t like Jake or anything. But we’ve been together since we were 15. Even back then, we’d just wanted to try dating and decided we were each other’s best option. Not that I like Finn or anyone else for any matter! But even if I went to Jake right now and told him I wanted to break up, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

My restricted visibility frustrated me, but I couldn’t risk them knowing I was here by opening the door to the closet more than I already had.

The poignant silence returned as Vanessa took in Alice’s harsh words. She was the sort of person to keep talking, even if she had nothing to say, so her silence was more valuable when she used it.

“You’re judging me.”

Alice’s voice was flat and I could hear fabric ruffling as she got up and threatened to leave. Vanessa got up as well and spoke in a more careful tone than I’d ever heard her before.

“Wait! No, I’m not judging you, I’m just confused. It’s fine if that’s the type of relationship you’re in, but… does Jake know? He…. He just seems pretty serious about you. And I didn’t want to bring this up before, but aren’t Jake and Finn friends? It wouldn’t look great if you ended up dating Finn after breaking things off with-”

“Why don’t you just call me a nasty whore and save the extra words!”

She snapped at her best friend and sounded extremely defensive, but she didn’t try to correct any of the things Vanessa had said.

Alice had then snapped and perhaps it was from guilt as well but she used much cruder words than she usually would as she justified herself and her actions.

Vanessa quickly backtracked and attempted to defend herself but Alice didn’t calm down and continued lashing out.

“And Vanessa, I already know you liked Jake in the past, but is that still going on?”

“Alice!”

She sounded hurt as Alice said whatever she could to hurt her feelings. I’d known Vanessa for a long time, and while she may have liked me in the past, I highly doubted she still did. She was a loyal person and prided herself on that trait; I was sure that regardless of the truth, Alice just wanted to make her feel bad.

“Can you blame me for thinking so? You’ve taken his side so much that anyone that was listening would think you were dating him! This whole time I don’t think you’ve said a single full sentence without saying his name!”

“Alice you need to calm down before you-”

Vanessa’s voice was colder than I’d ever heard it before, but Alice barrelled past it and kept going.

“Besides! You know Jake’s background. If not that we’d grown up together, do you think we’d even be dating now? Heck, do you think I’d even be friends with him?”

“Alice you’re just saying that!”

Alice had a lot of bad habits and a lot of flaws, but she rarely, if ever, said things she didn’t mean. Angry or not, she wouldn’t have said it if she hadn’t been thinking about it for a long time.

“You know my dad’s been pressuring me to dump him for so long? Its only because we’ve known each other for so long that I’d argue with my parents for him!”

She’d gotten so worked up that she breathed heavily and I could hear her little gasps from my short distance away.

“My dad said something the other day that got to me. He said that no matter how many awards and medals they earn, a peasant and a princess could never be together. I’m not calling Jake a peasant… but we all knew that we wouldn’t last forever. I already feel bad about it, I don’t need my ‘best friend’ making me feel even worse.”

I’d completely shut down after hearing that and had listened to Vanessa chase Alice out of the room as the school bell went off. The two had walked off with a slightly damaged friendship, but they had left me with the knowledge that the girlfriend I had invested so many years into didn’t even see me as someone worth being friends with.

The swimsuit I’d bought was heavy on me as I climbed out of the pool and headed to the track ring. The entire memory looped itself in my mind, and I battled one question over and over again.

So what do I do now?