Andromeda

Chapter Five

The remainder of that period was a haze. Anna did not return to class, still reeling from the humiliation of running out like that. Once the bell rang, she casually slipped into the crowds of students as they flooded the hallways, anxious to get away from classes and move on with the rest of their day. Anna kept her head down, trying not to make contact with anyone who might have seen her little episode.

She wondered what she was going to say to her parents when she got home. They wanted to know every time she had a spasm, but at the same time, she hated the idea of making them worry, considering that this one had been the worst one to date. She sure as hell couldn’t let Abigail know about it. Abigail would never let her hear the end of it. Of course, Tamara was probably having a field day with her sudden departure from the classroom, but as far as she was concerned, that did not compare to what Jason must have thought.

Anna struggled to put it out of her mind. Most days, she would spend her time after school hours in homeroom or the library working on assignments, as Lynn did not come to pick them up until Daisy was let out, which was usually at least an hour. This time, however, despite her embarrassment, she decided to head out to the track and field where Jason said he was having Lacrosse practice. 

There were less people out at the track than she expected to find. There were only about a dozen boys on the field, and Anna guessed that they were conducting tryouts. Of course, with it being such a small town, she imagined it did not involve a whole lot of trying out. There were about twice as many girls sitting around in the stands in several groups, not even paying attention to the boys but just chatting and giggling amongst themselves. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Anna slipped in among the lower section of the bleachers. 

She quickly spotted Jason on the field, practicing passing the ball to one of the other boys. Anna watched with fascination as they caught the ball smoothly in the nets of their sticks. Something about the way they moved so fluidly had captivated Anna’s attention. She almost couldn’t take her eyes off the ball as it transferred back and forth between them. She found her mind going back into Calculus mode, ceaselessly tracking the movement of the ball and sticks. It was almost as though she was out there herself, waiting to snatch the ball out of the air with pinpoint precision.

Barely half an hour had gone by before the boys started packing up their equipment and the girls began to disperse from the bleachers. Anna looked around aimlessly, wondering if it was time for her to move along as well. Frankly, she was beginning to wonder if coming here was worth it.

“Hey, you made it!”

Anna jumped from her distracted trance. She turned back to the field to see Jason approaching. Anna forced a smile on her face as she shifted awkwardly where she sat.

“I wasn’t sure you were coming,” Jason said as he leaned against the short fence separating the field from the bleachers. “Is everything okay? You didn’t seem like you wanted to be bothered when you left class.”

Anna’s face started to go red. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” Jason responded. “What happened anyway? You looked like something was hurting you.”

“You noticed?” Anna said, lowering her head. “I don’t wanna talk about it. To be honest, it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Well, would it help if I told you something embarrassing about myself?”

“I don’t know,” Anna snickered. “I doubt it could compare.”

Jason just shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t think about it. Hardly anyone even noticed. In fact, Tamara was the only one talking about you.”

“Ugh,” Anna moaned under her breath. “What’s her problem with me anyway?”

“How should I know? I figured it was just a girl thing.”

“But are you two, like, together?” Anna asked, hardly thinking.

“Me and Tamara? No. I mean, we went out a little bit last year, but we were never really serious. Why? Did she say we were together?”

“No, but I get the feeling she believes it.”

Jason laughed to himself. “Well, come on! Let’s see what you got.” He backed away toward the field, gesturing with his stick for her to follow him.

Anna’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh, I don’t think so! I’ve never played a sport in my life.”

“How do you know that?” Jason replied with a grin on his face.

Anna rolled her eyes but could not conceal her own smile as she stood up and followed him out onto the field. By now, there were only a handful of boys still out there handling the equipment.

“Hey! Let me get that stick!” Jason called to one of them, who threw the stick he was holding over to him. “Catch!” he said as he immediately tossed it to Anna.

“So what’s the object of this game?” Anna asked.

“Same as any other field game. The players pass the ball to each other and try to put it into one of those nets.” Jason pointed his stick toward the goal net situated at the end of the field.

“I’m sure it’s a lot harder than it looks,” Anna said, getting a feel for her stick.

“No, not really. All it takes is a little practice and anyone can do it.”

“Bullshit, Zimmerman!” one of the other boys jeered at him. “You’ve been playing since the sixth grade and you still can’t quick stick to save your life!”

“Yeah, but at least I can catch the damn ball, Flores!” Jason fired back.

“Oh please. I bet even she could score on you,” Flores laughed, pointing at Anna.

Anna’s eyes widened. “Oh no, no, no!” she stammered sheepishly.

“Actually,” Jason responded, “why don’t you give it a try?”

“Seriously?”

“Sure! All you have to do is throw it at the net like this.” He demonstrated the motion of swinging his stick to release the ball from the net. “And get it past me, of course.”

Anna looked back and forth from Jason to the goal. “I don’t think so.”

“Tell you what,” Jason said as he was already positioning himself in front of the goal. “Let’s make it a little interesting.”

Anna tilted her head. “How so?”

“Hm,” Jason muttered as though he was thinking deeply about something. “How about this? You get three shots to put the ball in the net. If you can’t, you let me take you out this weekend.”

Anna was caught off guard by the proposal. The other boys on the field gave a few “Oohs.”

“You mean like a date?” Anna asked quietly.

Jason only nodded as though he hadn’t been considering it. “Sure, if you wanna call it that.”

Anna’s mind was both blank and racing at the same time. She was not sure how to respond, and her heart seemed to be taking over as she smiled brightly. “Okay, you got a deal.”

“Good,” Jason said, throwing the ball to Anna and taking a stance to defend the goal. It was clear that he was not going to make it easy.

Anna slipped the ball into the net of her stick, trying to ignore the distracting snickering from the other boys. After weighing it in her grip for a few seconds, she swung the stick forward and released the ball.

Her first attempt was so horrendous that the other boys almost keeled over laughing. Jason made a quick gesture to catch the ball, but it did not even make it all the way to his position before it dropped to the grass. He scooped it up off the ground and tossed it back to her.

“That counts as a shot,” he said bluntly.

Anna’s face had gone hot with frustration. She was not going to let that happen again. Taking a more solid stance this time around, she swung with as much force as she could muster. The ball hurled much faster through the air, but Jason snatched it in his stick with little effort.

“Too easy,” he taunted her. “Last shot!”

Anna returned the ball to her net. The jeering from the other boys was getting under her skin, and much of her wanted to call it quits right now. No, a voice rose up in her head. She was never taught by the Tuckers to give up. As if on their own accord, the muscles in her arms tightened. She seemed out of her mind, acting purely on some advanced instinct. Anna took a bold step forward, wound up her arms, and swung.

Jason was caught off guard. He let out a gasp and ducked as the ball sped by his head with blinding speed. It soared right into the goal and tore through the net like paper, continuing on until it hit the hood of a red Dodge Charger in the parking lot and set off the alarm.

“Holy shit!” Flores’ voice cracked as he cried out.

“Are you kidding me?!” another of the boys shrieked as he bolted for the car.

Anna stood in total shock at what had just happened. Jason turned his attention back to her, wearing a similarly astonished expression.

“How did you do that?”

“I don’t know!” Anna squeaked. “I’m sorry!”

“No, no,” Jason responded, a slight but impressed smile growing on his face. “That was incredible! You’ve got one hell of an arm.”

“Really?” Anna’s blood pressure was starting to go back down.

“Yeah,” Jason said. At that point, he looked back toward the goal, which now had a gaping hole in the net. He lowered his stick toward the ground, seeming to accept that he had lost. “I guess a bet’s a bet.”

This was the most triumphant Anna had felt the entire school year so far. Even still, a warm and soothing feeling was welling up in her heart that told her she knew what she wanted to do.

“Well,” she began with a confident affectation. “Technically the bet was I had to get the ball in the net. I don’t see it in the net.”

Jason’s head whipped around to face her again. “Wait, are you saying…”

Anna stood her stick up on the ground and leaned against it. “You can pick me up this weekend.”

That went well, she thought to herself when everyone finally left the field. Jason received a few high fives from Flores and the others, which made Anna laugh to herself. She had almost completely forgotten the seizure she had experienced no more than an hour ago. In fact, she was walking on air as she replayed the sight of sending the ball through the net and the looks of pure shock on the boys’ faces. It did not even occur to her that she had hurled the ball with such inhuman force. Where that strength even came from, she had no idea. She had never experienced anything like it before.

Anna kept her mind on these thoughts as she stood beneath the running shower in the locker room. At this time of day, the locker rooms were empty and gave her a moment to herself to clear her head. She allowed the hot water to cascade over her face and hair, feeling more at peace than she had in a long time. Everything was quiet. So quiet that the sound of the running water seemed to grow louder and louder with each passing second until it suddenly escalated into a roar that sounded like the deafening chatter of a hundred guns all around her.

Anna’s eyes flew open. She let out a scream as she stumbled back and fell over. The thunderous sound she had just heard had dissipated in an instant, as though it had never happened. Anna lied on the floor of the open shower, her heart pounding in her chest, made all the worse when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Wow! Haven’t you ever taken a shower before?”

Anna’s head turned to see Tamara standing at the end of the shower section, accompanied by two other girls, both of whom were giggling obnoxiously. She scrambled to her feet, snatching up her towel and wrapping it around herself.

“And what is that all over your body?” Tamara said in an overly surprised tone. “Are those bruises?”

Anna froze, realizing that the mysterious, faint bruise marks on her body had been visible.

“Careful,” one of the other girls sneered. “It could be a rare skin condition.”

“Someone call Cruella, I think one of her dalmatians is loose!” the third joined in. Anna slipped out of the shower, never so much as glancing in their direction.

“Oh come on, Stacy. That’s a little insulting to the dogs, isn’t it?” Tamara remarked to the laughter of her friends.

“What the hell do you want, Tamara?” Anna growled as she hastily dressed herself. The other girls cooed obscenely as if a showdown was about to begin.

“I’ll tell you what I want,” Tamara’s voice shifted into a threatening tone. “I want you to stay away from Jason. He belongs with me!”

“Oh really?” Anna could not suppress a snicker. “That’s not what he told me.”

“You listen here,” Tamara snarled. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I know your game.”

“You do? Would you mind telling me then?”

“Oh don’t play dumb!” Tamara stamped her foot. “You’re a nobody who came to this school playing the victim to get attention.”

Anna flinched in disbelief. “How have I been playing a victim?”

Tamara proceeded to perform a mocking impersonation. “Look at me, I’m Anna! I’m a sick little girl who can’t remember anything so everyone has to feel sorry for me!”

The other girls began cackling on cue at her impersonation. Anna was burning with offense. “What are you talking about?! I don’t try to make everyone feel sorry for me!”

“Bullshit,” Tamara scowled at her. “I saw you talking to Jason today right before you conveniently faked another seizure.”

That was the line for Anna. “How dare you!” she screeched.

Tamara took a step toward her. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“Hey! What’s going on in here?”

All heads turned toward the exit of the locker room as a middle-aged woman dressed as a gym coach rounded the corner to confront them.

“Nothing, ma’am,” Tamara said, feigning her typical sweet persona.

“Yeah, nothing.” The gym coach wasn’t buying it. “School’s been over for an hour now. You girls don’t have any business being here. Now get on your way.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Tamara chirped and headed for the door with her friends, but not before casting a threatening glare at Anna.

Were it not for the presence of the coach, Anna thought she might have thrown her fist into the locker and screamed. She could not remember hating someone as much as Tamara, and what reasons she had to garner such hostility, she had no idea. As Anna grabbed her backpack and made her way out of the locker room, all she wanted to was to put Tamara out of her head for good. There were more important things to think about as far as she was concerned. After all, Jason had just asked her out, and she said yes. It filled her with so much excitement that she almost found herself skipping down the hall. Yet even with that at the forefront of her attention, a bigger question was ringing in her head: what was up with that hallucination in the shower? Where did it come from, and why, she asked herself, did it sound like automatic weapons were shooting at her?