Sommerstall Academy

I hate volleyball. Honestly, why? It’s not like I love sports that involve a ball in general but I can tolerate most. But volleyball? No. First off, it hurts, and not in a good way. Every time I deflect the ball, or however you’re supposed to call what I’m doing here, my wrists feel like they’re burning up. My skin is red and the way my bones beneath hurt can’t be healthy.

Second, there’s a net dividing you from your opponents. The only fun thing about sports is running into and pushing the people you play against.

‘Come on, dude! You should have gotten that one!’ Marcus yells at me after we lost another point.

‘One more attack coming from Orion and my arms will fall off,’ I mumble, hoping no one hears me whining. I’m not proud of my behavior but this really isn’t fun.

‘Oh, we’re so sorry, Princess. Do you want us to kiss it better?’ Jamie asks in between breaths. Of course, the sarcasm is still intact while his asthmatic ass is fighting for air.

I flip him off as I walk towards the ball but my eyes move to the gym’s doors on their own accord, gravitating towards her as always.

As I look at Florence, I realize I’ve never seen her with a high ponytail before. She often has her brown hair pulled back by a hair clip but this is different. It looks good, of course, but less like her. It’s too rigid, not soft and light enough without any strands to frame her face.

I scan her outfit, hoping I don’t come off as a creep. When my eyes settle on the small pattern of daisies on the sleeve of her shirt, I can’t help but smile. There’s always, and I can’t stress this enough, always some kind of flower or plant to be found somewhere on her clothes. When that’s not the case, she’s probably wearing her customized Convers. They’re white with little sunflowers all over them which I’m sure she painted herself.

Even her necklace, the one she never takes off, has a flower pendant.

‘Dude, we’re waiting!’ Marcus suddenly pulls me out of my daydream and I realize I’ve been staring for too long. I raise my eyes to hers to check if I’ve been caught only to realize something is wrong. Her eyes are heavily-lidded and she starts swaying on her feet. What the hell? I think.

Before I can react, the pretty girl sits down on the floor and her body goes limp. I wince when the back of her head hits the stone and rush out of the gym without another thought.

‘Florence,’ I ask uselessly as I kneel down beside her. I hear the guys coming after me.

‘What the hell is wrong with her?’ Benji asks and I don’t think I’ve heard this alert in a year or so. He kneels down at the other side of the girl, gently cupping her face while telling the others to get a teacher. My irritation spikes as I look at his hands on her even though I know it’s irrational. Still, I want to push him away from her.

Instead, my attention is pulled back to Florence as her body starts jerking wildly.

‘Hey what is going on here? Get away from her!’ our gym teacher, Mr. Bonks demands as he rushes over. My blood runs a little hotter at the accusatory note in his voice. Like me or my friends would have hurt her.

‘I saw her fall, sir. I don’t know what happened,’ I explain while Benji keeps calling her name. Her body twitches twice more before she goes limp again. My heart races faster and I reach for her wrist, calling her name again. Her pulse is strong enough and she’s breathing normally but her skin is an unnatural shade of white.

‘Back up. Give her some space to breathe,’ Mr. Bonks says before pushing me to the side to take my place. He does exactly nothing to help her and I’m fighting down the urge to push him away.

Finally, a soft groan sounds from Florence and I step closer to her once more, my anger forgotten.

‘Florence?’ I ask softly. The girl’s eyes flutter open weakly and I’m so relieved to see those emerald eyes I could hug her. I don’t, of course. Instead, I smile down at her. She looks dazed but it slowly gets better. Then her eyes leave mine and move to my chest and arms. I try really hard not to smile because she looks so confused as she takes her time checking me out.

She clears her throat, swallowing a few times before bringing her eyes back to my face. ‘You have tattoos,’ is all she says.

I hear Benji laugh quietly and Mr. Bonks clears his throat. ‘Are you alright?’ the man asks her.

Her pale cheeks grow slightly pink as she nods and tries to sit up. I notice her mistake at the same time as she does since she curses quietly before going limp yet again. Thankfully, Benji was able to catch her head so she didn’t hit it again.

This time her body doesn’t jerk around but she does groan quietly before reopening her eyes with visible effort.

‘What the hell, Flo? Tell us what you need,’ Benji says as he wipes the sweat off her forehead. I’m so confused right now.

Florence swallows a few times and I realize her throat must be dry. I turn towards Marcus and tell him to get some water.

‘Legs,’ the girl whispers quietly, still looking dazed. I look at her legs, trying to stay on topic as I wonder what she means.

‘Oh, of course. Lift her legs a bit. And someone get a piece of chewing gum or something. She needs sugar,’ our gym teacher says. I do as he said, lifting her legs on my lap while Benji holds her head and Marcus helps her drink. As soon as she’s chewed the gum Jamie brought her a few times, some color returns to her complexion.

‘Sorry,’ she says shyly, looking anywhere but me.

‘Do you need anything else? Should I call someone?’ Benji asks her.

‘No, I’m good, thanks. I’ll just eat something at home.’ She smiles at her friend and I feel something twisting slightly in my gut. Why won’t she look at me like that? Whenever I meet her eyes in class she looks away after a second but at Benji, she smiles for several beats.

I softly lay her legs back down to the floor before getting up and returning to the gym. She should be fine now and I imagine she’ll be more comfortable with a smaller audience.