After lunch is my girls weight training class. I signed up for this elective hoping it would be a nice outlet for me to workout my stress. I haven't been training since we moved and I miss being in a gym. Plus it was either this or pottery class and I hate the feeling of clay on my hands so it was a no brainer. Kelly actually signed up for girls weight training too so I have a friendly face to join me. She may be the boy crazy friend in the bunch, but she's also a serious athlete, I've seen the ripped arms she's got to prove it. Honestly, all of Payton's cheer friends I met at lunch are in incredible shape. I'm quickly learning these girls are a lot more fierce than I initially gave them credit for. They mentioned Romeo's gone to the High School Cheerleading State Finals for the last eight years consecutively and that blew me away. I may not have ever competed in cheerleading, but I have gone to the State Finals for Gymnastics the last two years and I can respect any other sport that can do the same. I understand the kind of dedication and skill that it requires. I'm feeling a lot more intrigued about going to see their cheer practice after school today.

Payton gave up her chaperone duties and let Kelly walk with me to the girls locker room since we were both headed there. It feels so great getting to change out of my floral pink romper and into my athletic shorts and baggy t-shirt. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy looking nice and dressing feminine, but being the refined tomboy at heart, comfy workout clothes are where I feel most like myself. My mom always gave me a hard time when I was younger because all I wanted to wear was my older brothers' gross hand-me-downs. She would whine to me that she waited all these years to finally have a girl she could go shopping with and dress in cute outfits but I would protest and never let her. I was too stubborn and only acted like another one of the boys. Poor mom, luckily I grew out of that stage, or at least mostly.

Kelly and I walk into the gym after we are changed. The rest of our classmates are seated at the bleachers waiting for class to begin. There aren't many of us in this class, only about a dozen girls give or take. I guess Girls Weight Training wasn't a popular elective to pick which is a little disappointing. The sound of a loud whistle blowing stops all of the small talk going on. A pretty, young, blonde woman is walking over to where we have gathered in the gym.

"Afternoon ladies, welcome to Girls Weight Training."

I'm caught off guard. The Weight Training teacher is the youngest teacher I've had today by far. If she wasn't wearing a whistle, ID badge and carrying a clipboard with the attendance list I probably would have thought she was another student. She must barely be out of college, I can't imagine she's much different in age then Charlie.

"I want to start off by saying I hope you all signed up for this class because you are planning to work hard and push yourselves. This isn't some blow off class for you to gossip in the corner like I won't care. If you aren't prepared to work hard, then I suggest you find yourself another elective.....Now that we have that clear, if you don't know me, my name is Ms. Hatcher or you can call me Ms. H if you prefer. We'll run through attendance real quick and then go over a couple things before taking our fitness test to establish each of your baselines."

Ms. H begins running down the list of names. She stops when she gets to my name.

"Lila Daniels"

"Here." I raise my hand.

"Welcome Lila, nice to have another non-Romeo native at this school. When I started teaching at this school two years ago you would have thought I had three heads the way everyone starred at me at first. Believe me, it gets better....eventually."

Ms. H gives me a knowing smile as if she knows exactly how strange my day has been going. We both laugh to ourselves and she continues taking attendance. I guess it's not just me who's been through the ringer as Romeo's "new girl." I find it comforting to know that Ms. H went through it too and has come out on the other side unscathed.

"Alright ladies, since we have a small class the principal decided we would have to share gym space with the boys weight training class throughout the semester. Most days we will alternate between the weight room and gymnasium but today both Coach B and I want to capture baselines so we thought we might as well do it all together."

The girls around me break into a nervous chatter and Ms. H has to blow her whistle again to gain control.

"That's enough." Ms. H looks underwhelmed by the totally typical response she got from a room full of high school girls.

"They are just boys, ladies. Most of you have grown up with these same guys your whole lives so don't act like this is a big deal. What I do want you to focus on when we walk over to the weight room is being yourselves and trying your best. There is absolutely no reason to be nervous or intimidated by the boys weight training class being present. Most of you are varsity athletes in your respective sports of choice, so make me proud and act like it. I've designed this class to strengthen each of you in targeted areas to make you all overall better athletes. Don't let something as silly as a couple of boys distract you from that. If you do, then you aren't the kind of serious athletes I thought you were."

Ouch. Ms. H didn't hold anything back. I don't disagree with her at all though. Female sports will never get as much respect as male sports because of stupid crap like this. Luckily for me, I'm not really bothered by having the other boys' class present. I'm used to working out around my brother's and their friends so it's no big deal to me.

Ms. H walks our class to the weight room which is down the hall from the main gym. No surprise, the guys weight training class is a lot larger than ours. They have over double the amount of guys in class than we do. They are all huddled in the corner listening to the man that must be "Coach B" that Ms. H had mentioned earlier. I'm pleasantly surprised at the impressive amount of equipment I see in the weight room when we file in. The walls are lined with free weights, bench presses, rowing machines and the like. It smells like sweat and rubber. Maybe not the most appealing smells, but to me, it smells like home.

"Ready to see what these kids are made of?" Coach B says when he walks over to meet Ms. H.

"Yep, let's get started."

"Gentlemen, come this way and join your female classmates. Ms. Hatcher and I will be counting everyone off into groups for the evals."

All of guys from the boys weight training class head towards us. That's when I see him.

Tyler Johnson is in this class. Of course he is. First English, now this. I can't get away from this guy today.

I shouldn't be surprised really. He is on the football team and by the looks of it, ninety percent of the guys taking this class are on the Varsity Football team. My heart rate begins to pick up. Instinctually I sink back behind a couple girls in my class who are taller than I am, trying to hide. I'm about to spiral down the rabbit hole of panic when I catch a glimpse of Ms. H. The words she spoke only a few moments ago echo in my head.

That's it, stop it Lila! He's just a guy! Two seconds ago you were totally fine. Ms. H is right, you're better than this. Forget he's even in the room if you have to. It doesn't matter how cute he is or how embarrassed you still are being around him, you have no choice but to pull yourself together!

"When you hear your number go stand with the other students in your group to wait for further instructions please." Ms. H announces to everyone. "Everyone take an eval sheet. Today is about establishing a baseline for each of you. You'll see the list of exercises on your paper. Your task is simple. Complete each exercise to the best of your ability and mark it on your sheet. You will be partnering up with the other members of your group to help test one another. If there is anything you aren't familiar with, just ask. Easy enough?"

I get placed in group three. I'm one hundred percent relieved that Tyler is placed in group one and not mine. Also luckily for me, Kelly ends up in my same group. All the other members in my group introduce themselves to me since I'm the only they one they don't know. My group is Kelly, another girl named Lexi who plays varsity soccer, and three guys, Chase, Will and Tanner who are all on the football team. Our group is supposed to start at the wall sit station. We each grab stop watches from the basket and head to the wall to time our partners. I could tell Kelly would rather switch eval sheets with Chase instead of me, but because she was being nice she kept her natural flirtatious spirit under wraps and partnered with me instead.

"Hey, actually we could probably all do this one at the same time? I mean there is enough wall space and stop watches. What do you all think? Up for a little friendly competition or too afraid a girl might beat you boys?" Kelly asks with a devilish smile. She is effortlessly bold which I admire.

It doesn't bother me at all. Not to brag but I could sit in a wall sit all day if I wanted to. My old gymnastics coach used to like torturing us with them at the end of long practices for conditioning. If somebody on the team dropped out of the wall sit before she said we could then we had to start all over again. Her theory was if we could hold a wall sit as a team when we were dead tired, then we could accomplish just about anything together. Wall sits are more about mental toughness than anything else so I think that's why she liked them so much. She was one of those real intense types that said 'pain is just weakness leaving the body' and stuff like that. I guess there had to be some merit to her coaching style since we were number one in the state.

"We'll see about that. Come on boys, let's show these girls what we're made of." Tanner challenges back arrogantly.

We each find a spot along the wall close to each other to get ready. I'm sandwiched between Chase on my right and Tanner on my left. Kelly is on the other side of Tanner, Lexi and Will are next to her down the row. I don't know if it was part of some intimidation tactic by the boys or mere coincidence, but we lined up guy, girl, guy, girl down the wall. Either way, I'm not afraid of these boys. Bring it!

"Everybody ready? Hold your stop watches up so we can see we all start at the same time. On your mark, get set, start!" Kelly instructs us all and we begin.

"So you're the new girl I've been hearing about all day....I'm Chase." He reaches out his hand. It's a little hard to shake hands from this position next to each other on the wall but we make it work, sort of.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lila."

"So I've heard.....How's your first day going?" I think Chase is trying to make small talk so he doesn't think about his legs that are starting to shake a little bit. I try not to laugh because I check the stopwatch around my neck and we are only 25 seconds in. I'm not even feeling it yet.

"Not too bad." I answer him. "I'm not great with names and I've been introduced to a lot of new people so that is a little overwhelming, but so far the day hasn't been too horrible. I like my classes so far which is nice."

"Good, I'm glad you're liking it here so far."

Chase gets quiet again, probably trying to focus on his breathing since he is struggling with the wall sit. I look up from my lap and see Tyler across the room at the rowing station. He looks powerful and focused. His muscles ripple with each row he pulls. I feel an involuntary flutter in my stomach as I watch him. His eyes meet mine when he's getting off the machine at the end of his set so I have to quickly turn my head away. I really hope Tyler didn't catch me starring at him. I don't' need anymore embarrassment with him.

"Lila I need you to distract me. Tell me something about yourself. You obviously must play sports or something. You're not even breaking a sweat right now." Chase looks back at me. "I thought I was in good shape but I'm literally dying right now." He laughs.

You don't meet a lot of guys that will openly admit when a girl is killing him at something athletic. Most dudes would rather pretend like they are fine even if they're not. I like Chase, he seems genuinely nice.

"Thanks, yeah I used to be a gymnast at my old school so I got a lot of practice at these. My coach was pretty brutal. Don't worry, you're doing fine though. You've got this." I encourage him.

Just then the guy on my left, Tanner, buts into our conversation.

"A gymnast, huh? No wonder you have such sexy toned legs."

Tanner reaches his hand over to grab my bare thigh. I slap it away. Instead of getting upset at me for deflecting him, Tanner smiles an arrogant, skeezy smirk, then eyes my body up and down. I'm immediately heated. I've never had some guy openly treat me this way before. My brother's being around meant nobody ever messed with me at my old school because they would have had to answer to them. I'm still in shock, processing my disgust when I hear Chase raise his voice.

"Quit it Tanner! Leave Lila alone."

He says it loud enough to catch the attention of a few others around the room, Tyler is one of them. He looks our way with a serious face trying to assess what just happened. Meanwhile, Kelly jabs Tanner in the ribcage real quick since she's on the other side of him.

"Ok, ok, no need to get so feisty Kelly. That hurt by the way. Ya'll are being so uptight. I was just giving the new girl a compliment." Tanner puts his hands up in a fake surrender.

"Everything ok over there?" Ms. H yells from across the room.

She clearly didn't see what happened but can tell the vibe of our group shifted. I don't want to cause a scene for a second time today so I just shake my head that I'm fine. We all go back to silence on the wall. I check my stop watch, we're at 1:37 minutes now.

"Ok I'm calling it." Chase announces and stands up. He looks so relieved when he stretches his hamstrings in front of me. "Ahhhh, so much better. Ya'll are crazy for still going."

It doesn't take much longer for more members of my group to begin dropping out after Chase. I guess nobody wanted to be the first one but once he was out, they no longer felt like they had to keep going. One by one they call it. It's down to only me, and you guessed it, Tanner. *Insert major eye roll* Kelly, Lexi, Chase and Will gather closer to us to cheer us on while we finish. Kelly locks eyes with me and without saying anything I know she is telling me to stick it to stupid Tanner. This isn't just for me, this is for all us girls! There is no way I'm going to let an arrogant pig like Tanner objectify me and then beat me. I'm way too competitive for that to happen. I face forward with laser focus.

3:00 minutes down and I'm in the zone. I don't even notice a few more groups who have finished their first exercise stations walk over to watch the stand off between Tanner and I.

4:00 minutes go by and I glance over at Tanner. He's trying his best to hold his composure but a little bead of sweat rolls down his right temple. I have him right where I want him.

We make it to the 5:00 minute mark and I must say, I didn't think Tanner would last this long. It must be his sheer desire to not let a girl defeat him that's gotten him this far. This dude's ego is unreal.

Just to be a brat I decide to pick up my left leg and place it over my right to do a one legged wall sit. A sly smirk creeps onto my lips when I see Tanner's face after I do it. The crowd, which is now our entire two classes and both teachers, takes an audible gasp. All eyes are on Tanner to see what he'll do next. Like I suspected, he can't turn down a challenge from anyone. Tanner starts trying to put his left leg up like I did. That's all it takes. He gets a cramp in his right hamstring, loses balance and hits the floor. The room erupts. Kelly grabs my arms and pulls me to my feet in a victorious hug. Ms. H grabs my shoulder in approval before she yells "Alright everyone back to work."

I'm getting high fived and congratulated by a bunch of classmates as they head back to their stations. Tyler smirks at me and I try my best to keep my composure. He's just being nice like everyone else. Don't overthink this.

********

"Good work today everybody. We have one final challenge before class is over." Coach B announces as everyone is turning in their eval sheets. "We don't have time for everyone to try this exercise today but we thought having one representative from the girls class and boys class would be a fun way to end things."

"Yes, Coach B and I talked it over during class and we were each impressed with these two students in particular so we would like them to represent our respective classes in the rope climb." Says Ms. H. "This girl may be new, but I can already tell she doesn't take crap from anyone and is a fierce competitor so that is why I have chosen Lila Daniels to represent the girls. Lila, come on up here."

All the girls in my class erupt in cheers as I walk forward. Even though I don't love attention, it does feel nice to have my peers rooting for me.

"And for my guys, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I have chosen the guy who continues to lead his teammates on and off the field. This year's captain and leading quarterback in the school's history....TJ, get up here!"

All thirty guys from the boys class hype Tyler up in an explosion of chants as he walks forward to join me. Tyler extends his hand out to shake mine. I hate the way just touching his hand makes my stomach flip inside out. Pull yourself together, now is not the time!

"Let's show the girls class how things are done. You're up first, TJ." Coach B says, motioning for Tyler to take his stance in front of the rope. "This is a timed race. The person to reach the top and ring the bell the fastest, wins."

Tyler looks back at me and smirks. Does he know each time he does that he makes me melt? Is this a way for him to get the upper hand? I clear my throat and look away from my competition, afraid I may start blushing if I don't.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" Coach B calls out.

Tyler jumps on the rope and starts climbing as fast as he can. He's so tall he has a literal foot advantage over me. Like a true guy, he forgets to use his legs entirely and only uses his upper body to carry him to the top. Even so, he gets up there fast. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. My upper body is strong, but not like his and it's been awhile since I've done this. Tyler gets down and looks proudly out to his classmates. He's kissing his biceps while the guys chant his name again. Coach B has to settle everybody down again so we can hear Tyler's official time.

"Time: 29.7 seconds. Nice job Johnson!" Coach B says.

Now it's my turn. All the girls in my class are cheering as I step up to the rope. I appreciate the support even though most of them don't know me yet. My hands are sweaty since I'm nervous. I take a deep breath, focus my mind and then turn to Ms. H to let her know I'm ready. The room goes silent in anticipation.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" Ms. H yells out when she starts her stop watch.