East Side Academy

by K. E. Woodward

  “So, I guess I'll see you around then,” I say to James as we stand just outside the library before we have to take opposite directions to our lockers.

  “I hope so,” is what he replies with and I can tell that he is being sincere. “See you later,” he says and turns away to go to his locker before he says or does anything more.

  Chapter 10 – Woman Up

  “'Cause you're more than good enough / You gotta woman up, woman up / All my girls, we show, we groove / Just make them remember you / This one for all my girls / My girls who woman up, woman up” – Woman Up, Meghan Trainor

  No POV

  “She was the best player at West Side Academy,” Henrietta says. “There’s no way Mr. Sprout is going to keep her off the team.”

  “She just thinks she can come to this school, with her expensive clothes and pretty face, and just take over!” Isabella yells. “I’m not losing top player in my last year to some Grade 11 who just came here like, what, two months ago? She shouldn’t even be allowed to play! She just transferred here!”

  “But with Arya on the team, we would win the championship easily,” Henrietta replies.

  “We can win without her,” Isabella says. “Our only competition has ever been West Side, and now that they don’t have her on the team, we can easily beat them.”

  “But they beat us last year when she was a junior,” Henrietta says.

  “Yeah, because they got Arya to sub in for the final,” Isabella says irritably.

  “Either way,” Henrietta says. “She should be on the team, we should have the best team possible and we need Arya on the team for that. And as team captain, you should want what’s best for the team.”

  “Are you saying I’m not a good team captain?” Isabella asks.

  “You are a great team captain,” Henrietta starts. “But you can’t just think of yourself, you need to think of the whole team and what’s best for all of us.”

  Isabella slams her locker in frustration. “You think that know it all West Sider is what's best for us?”

  “With regards to soccer skills,” Henrietta says, “yes.”

  “She’s just so goddamn annoying!” Isabella says.

  “Why do you dislike her so much?” Henrietta asks.

  “I just know her type and I don't like her,” Isabella says.

  “You don’t even know her!” Henrietta says.

  “She's just another rich kid from that stupid preppy school that thinks they are better than the rest of us,” Isabella says. But Henrietta can hear the words that Isabella is not saying. That this new girl is a really good soccer player and Isabella is scared of losing the spotlight. It probably doesn't help that she's super pretty either. Henrietta knows that Isabella has been irritated by the guys in their grade making comments about the new girl. “And she should go back there. There's no reason for her to transfer here when she's already in Grade 11.”

  Arya

  “Ready?” Eleanor says in the changeroom, fully dressed for our second and last soccer tryout. By the time you’re a senior, it’s generally the same players as it was on the junior teams. There’s almost no point in tryouts at this point, any girl that maybe wanted to try out now has been scared away by not making the team in their junior years. Who wants to put themselves through that humiliation again? Especially since the girls that have already played and have always made the team aren’t going to be thrilled about you trying out. Why? Because to them if you weren’t good enough to make the team last year, you’re not good enough this year, and you would just bring the team down.

  However, some people still try out because other than the super popular kids, the athletes always seem to dominate the school. No one else matters in comparison, and it's not like the teachers or coaches help with that stigma. They favour and joke around with the athletes and will make others feel insignificant without even realizing it. I hate it.

  High school is pretty much a terrible place if you are not popular or not athletic. But you can be lucky and have really good friends that make it not such a terrible ride. But you can also have bullies, which can make it even worse. I hate bullies. I hate them more than anything and there are many different types of bullies and bullying. Some people may not even realize they are bullying someone. Putting people's ideas down, ignoring someone because they are difficult to deal with, being short with people, it's all a type of bullying and it can weigh people down, whether you can see it or not.

  Some people are just very good at hiding when they have been hurt, not wanting the world to see. Not wanting people to know that someone else had the power to hurt them, not wanting to admit that they were bullied. That the ‘cool’ kids didn’t think of them as someone worth anything. It has to stop. Being a teenager is tough enough on its own, adding a bully into the mixture just makes it unbearable.

  I pull an old t-shirt over my sports bra and tie up my hair in a high ponytail. “Yeah, I'm good,” I say to Eleanor.

  “Then let’s go!” she says, and we head out the changeroom with the majority of the other soccer girls.

  Walking out the school doors towards the fields, the sound of cleats on the pavement is rhythmic and almost comforting to me. I feel a hand slap me on the back and turn around to see the culprit. And I see him. James smiles at me and I can't help but feel like the luckiest girl that I can grab his attention, that he is paying attention to me when there are so many other girls he could be with. He is so gorgeous that I question why he's trying to get my attention, why he's trying to spend time with me. “Good luck,” he says with a smile. “Although you don't need it, superstar.”

  “Superstar?” I say. “I like the sound of that.”

  “I thought you might,” James says. “Listen, Arya, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Shoot,” I say, curious what his question is going to be. I imagine all the different scenarios in my head, but then tell myself not to get too excited.

  “James!” I hear a male voice call in the distance. It’s one of his soccer guys trying to get his attention.

  James just rolls his eyes in response, not turning away from me. “I just wanted to ask you if you were free this Saturday night?”

  Really? Is he really asking me on a date? Has the exact scenario in my head played out in real life? “Yes, I'm free,” I say, trying not to sound too excited.

  “Great, I’ll…” James starts.

  “James!!” the yelling is louder. “You better get moving or we’re all going to be doing laps!”

  “You better go,” I say and he smiles and then winks at me before he turns to run to his teammates.

  Tryouts pretty much went the same as last time, but the scrimmage went infinitely better, although it wouldn’t take much to beat it. Eleanor was on my team, and as she said, once she started making all her passes to me, the other girls followed suit, despite how much it irritated Isabella. Isabella and I still fought hard against each other, but thankfully no slide tackles this time. I think even she realized that she can't get away with that more than once. She should have broken my leg the first time if she wanted to get rid of me.

  After tryouts and back in the school, I fill up my water bottle at the fountain before heading into the change room and as I turn, I see him. “Glad I got to see you before I left," James says, carrying his bag on his shoulder. “I have to head out, but I'll pick you at 4:30 pm on Saturday. Can I have your phone number to keep in contact and get your address?” he says as he hands me his phone. I can tell he is in a rush, so I just do what he asks, not wanting to delay him any longer than necessary. As I hand him back the phone, he puts it in his pocket and then looks at me again with those kind eyes. “I promise I'm not blowing you off right now,” he says, worried that I might think that he is.

  “I know you’re not, James.” I say. “Now get out of here!”

  “Thanks,” James says. “I’ll see you Saturday, if not sooner.” And then he runs out the door and I just watch him.

  “Did
I hear correctly, or does someone have a date with the James Fox?” Eleanor says behind me. I turn to her with a big smile on my face.

  “You did hear correctly,” I say excitedly.

  “That’s awesome!” Eleanor says. “He’s a really good guy from what I hear, although I am surprised because he hasn’t dated anyone since Grade 9.”

  I wonder why it changed with me, why am I an exception, or maybe this isn’t a date? I mean, he never used those words, but what guy asks a girl to hang out on a Saturday night as friends?

  “Don’t overthink it,” Eleanor says, clearly reading my thoughts from my face. “I’m sorry I mentioned it, you must be special to him is all I meant.”

  Chapter 11 – Cautious

  “The closer I get to you / Deeper I fall / And I'm treading slowly / But I'm still lost in you” – Cautious, Tyler Shaw

  No POV

  “So, what are you doing this Saturday?” Samson asks all of the guys at the lockers.

  “History project that’s going to take me all day tomorrow,” Richard says. “But I’ll be done before the evening.”

  “I’m helping my dad build a new fence around the cottage.” Malcolm says. “But we’ll just be doing that during the day. Why?”

  “My parents just told me they are out for the evening Saturday, and so we’d have the house to ourselves,” Samson says. “We could have a bonfire by the lake.”

  “Yes!” Malcolm says. “I’m so up for that, we should invite some girls over too.”

  “Just keep it small,” Samson says. “I don’t want to be responsible for a bunch of drunk teens by the lake. No more than ten and I mean it.”

  “Why did you look at me when you said that?” Malcolm asks.

  “You know why,” Samson says.

  “I promise I will abide by your rules,” Malcolm says. “An exclusive party is much better anyways.”

  “Great!” Samson says but then turns to his friend James that has been quiet, and on his phone this entire time, facing his open locker. “James, what do you think?”

  James

  “Hmm... About what, sorry?” I say, putting my phone away and finally joining the conversation.

  “Bonfire, my house, this Saturday night?” Samson says.

  “Sorry, I can't,” I say automatically because for me it is an automatic response to being invited anywhere. It doesn't stop my friends from trying to get me to come out, but they rarely succeed.

  “Why?” Malcolm asks.

  “I'm busy,” I say.

  “With what?” Malcolm pursues.

  “I’m busy okay,” I say, getting a little irritated that Malcolm won’t let it go, but really, I just don’t want to tell them what I’m doing. “So just drop it.”

  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a date with a certain West Side chick?” Samson asks. I turn on him. What has he heard? How does he know anything? By my look, I confirm what he has asked. “News travels fast in this school, James. Especially when the hot-shot soccer player is taking out a girl from West Side.” Samson smiles at me, glad to have confirmed something that was only a rumour until now.

  “You’re going out with a West Sider?” Richard interjects.

  “She's not from West Side, she goes here,” I say knowing that I can't keep Arya a secret. I don't know why I thought that she and I could just get to know each other first without having to deal with the pressures of our friends. High school is terrible sometimes.

  “Then why did Samson say that you are taking someone from West Side on a date?” Malcolm asks, confused.

  “Well, she doesn’t go to West Side anymore,” Samson says. “But I guess people still think of her as a West Sider, even after two months.”

  “She’s not a West Sider anymore,” I say. “She goes to this school, she belongs here.”

  “You can take the girl out of West Side, but you can't take West Side out of the girl,” Samson says, almost as a warning.

  “Wait, are you talking about that psycho bitch that attacked me for hitting on her sister?” Malcolm says.

  “Don't you dare call her that,” I say, instantly on the offensive when it comes to someone insulting Arya. Like if they were insulting someone that I deeply cared about.

  “Really, James?” Malcolm says. “That girl may be hot, but she is crazy. On the hot-crazy scale, she’s definitely off the charts.”

  “She only acted that way towards you because you pissed her off,” I say, getting heated with anger.

  “She’s just one of those spoiled princesses from that preppy school,” Malcolm says. “She’s used to getting what she wants all the time and doesn’t know what it’s like for the rest of us. And when things don’t go her way, she goes all crazy like she did on me.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. “You don’t even know her.”

  “And you do?” Richard asks. “Do you know her?”

  “I’m trying to,” I say.“But I do know that I like her, and I want to spend more time with her.”

  “She’s from a different world to us,” Samson says. “I have no idea why she transferred to East Side, but I don’t think it was her choice. She belongs in that preppy, Catholic school, James. Not here.”

  “And not with me,” I say, reading between the lines of what my closest friend is saying to me.

  “I never said that,” Samson says. “I just want you to be careful with her. You haven’t dated in so long and now you decide to go out with a girl you barely know. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “So, it’s okay for you guys to push girls like Lisa down my throat, but when I’m interested in a girl who is, yes, different, and that you don’t know, you want to pull out all the stops?” I say. “I didn’t expect this from you guys. I thought you would be supportive.”

  “Yet you kept it a secret from us?” Richard says, not trying to be rude or unkind.

  I just wanted to enjoy her to myself for a while. Is that so selfish?

  “James, you don’t get it,” Samson interjects. “We just want you to be happy, we don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “She's not going to do that,” I say truthfully, staring at Samson so he can see that I mean every word I say. “I trust her.” Samson looks at me and after years of friendship, he just nods in understanding. He knows that I mean it and I know that they are just looking out for me.

  “Okay,” Samson says. “Then you should bring her out to the bonfire on Saturday.” Richard and Malcolm nod in agreement.

  “I’m sorry, James,” Malcolm says honestly. “If she’s important to you, then she’s important to us. If you like her, then she’s always welcome. But if she goes crazy on you, don’t come complaining to me!” I punch Malcolm on the arm.

  “Thanks, guys,” I say. “I don't know if that's a good idea though.”

  “Why not?” Richard asks.

  I don’t want to put Arya on the spot. I don’t want her to be surrounded by a bunch of people asking her questions and I don’t want her to feel out of place, but I don’t want to tell the guys this. “I’ll think about it,” is all I say.

  No POV

  Eleanor leans up against Arya's locker while she's not there and turns her head to look at Diana.

  “Should we tell her?” Eleanor asks Diana.

  “About his dad?” Diana says as she grabs her books from her locker. Eleanor nods. “Apart of me wants to. The other part thinks that he should be the one to tell her.”

  “It messed him up,” Eleanor says. “He hasn't been the same since.”

  “Well, maybe a West Side girl that’s just like him is what he needs to...” Diana says and then bites her lip. “I don't know. Help him become himself again?”

  “So, we aren't going to warn her?” Eleanor asks.

  “He probably likes that she doesn’t know,” Diana says. Eleanor gives Diana a look. “He'll tell her when he's ready.”

  Chapter 12 – Cheap Thrills

  “Come on, come on, turn the radi
o on / It's Friday night and I won't be long / Gotta do my hair, put my make up on / It's Friday night and I won't be long” – Cheap Thrills, Sia

  Arya

  “Longest road!” Diana exclaims. “Hand it over here, Teddy!” She opens up her hand, waiting for the card to be placed there. After double-checking the count of Diana's road, Teddy reluctantly hands the longest road card to Diana.

  “I will get it back,” Teddy says.

  “Good luck with that,” Diana replies. “You’re blocked on both sides!”

  “I’ll just make a new road then!” Teddy says back to her.

  “Are they always like this?” I whisper to George who is sitting next to me.

  “When it comes to Settlers of Cataan, they become very competitive,” George whispers back.

  For our Friday night board game night, we are all in Diana's basement, which is complete with a bar, a small kitchen, two game tables, a pool table, a large screen TV, and plenty of couches and chairs. While George, Diana, Teddy, and I play Settlers of Cataan, Sarah, Eleanor and Lincoln are playing Dominion. From the yelling coming from their table, I can tell they are getting competitive, or at least Eleanor is and she's getting frustrated with not being able to use her turns. Not enough action cards maybe?

  As our game comes close to the end, I know that having the largest army will be my only way to win and I don't think any of them realize that I have a lot of knight cards. When my turn comes, I purchase a development card, praying that it's a knight. When I flip it over and see that it is, I jump out of the chair. “Ha!” I yell. “Ten points! Better luck next time!”

  “What?!” Teddy yells and then when he looks at the cards I show him, he sees that it's true.

  “Largest Army!” I say excitedly.

  But then, I hear a “Nooooo!” coming from the other table. “Stupid curse!” Eleanor yells standing up from her chair. “I was one point from winning!”