Story Plot -- Lacy Pittman

 

In The Beginning

      I mopped the sweat from my brow and licked my lips. The hot sun made the back of my neck feel as if it were resting atop a stove. The rest of the team was getting a drink, but I was never the type to need a rest. I figured I'd be tougher and a better player if I went the entire practice without rest, and without water. Why should I show the rest of the team that I was weak? Everyone knows that you can't be weak and be a soccer player at the same time. These people would need me on the field to be strong and to be a leader. Showing that I was weak would make me a target for the other team. The spring was gradually turning into summer, and it was getting hotter everyday. Practice was getting tougher and tougher to outlast, and the more I ran, the more I desperately wished that I didn't care about being weak. I was tough, and not only that, I was stubborn. I would never give in to the weather. I jogged my last lap until I felt that my lungs were on fire. I was so thankful that practice was ending so that I could go home and end this horribly hot day with a cold shower, some dinner, and my comfy bed.

      The days were stretching on and some drama was beginning around my school. It had 4 floors and a basement, portables, and absolutely no air conditioning. The football team was amazing, but my school had a reputation for being "ghetto." Mostly the kids that went there were thugs, or just plain mean. There were regular fights and regular police visits. We had about 6 burly security guards that watched our every move. Even though all of this went on, kids like me could still feel kind of at home there, because it had a great athletic program, and there were strong bonds between the school and the students. I was a Varsity soccer player, and I had it all. My best friend Katie and I did everything together and we had so many memories. I hoped with everything that I'd be able to look back at these high school years with joy and happiness.

Fat Chance.

About 6 months into my freshman year, Katie changed. She started sleeping around with different guys at the school. I felt stupid when she asked me what all it was that I'd done with boys, because the list was very short. Next to nothing actually. The sad part was, I'd been dating the same guy for more than a year, and we'd hardly done anything. We'd kissed, and there's where it stopped. I never felt comfortable around guys the way that she did. She always had this natural action, and this natural flirt with guys. They started really noticing her after she lost her virginity. She was ok with touching guys. When she flirted she'd put her hand on their arm or lean into them as she talked. She'd put her lips near their ears and whisper things that sounded as if they came from a soap opera. I just continued being me, and continued hanging out with her even though we were so different. I never really cared much about appearance anyway. I was one of those girls that would hang out with you as long as they were fun, and funny. I was always "one of the guys" and I had a wide range of friends from every group. Everything seemed easy, until I ran into the wrong crowd.

I Was Only Looking

      Katie and I went to the Reserve football game because my friend Austin made the team and I'd known him forever. He asked us to come and watch so we made a trip to the game and cheered. It was a pretty great time. We got up and headed towards the lunch concourse for a bottle of water because the heat started pounding on our cheeks, and I could feel the sweat start to bead at my hairline. I needed nourishment badly.

      We scrambled off of the bleachers trying to avoid stares from the rest of the people there watching the game. I always felt nervous in crowds. As I headed through the parking lot towards that school I spotted a group of girls screaming obnoxiously. They were throwing things at the cheerleaders and yelling things I'd only heard on the Real World at the football team. They almost looked drunk they were acting so crazy. There were 5 of them and as we walked by they spotting me staring at them.

      "SLUTS! WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU STARING AT, ARE WE DOING SOMETHING F***ING FUNNY?"

One of them screamed at me. I looked away, but that would've been too easy. They started walking towards us. One of those girls was a mammoth. She was bigger than any girl I'd ever seen. I immediately began to quicken my pace, but Katie's new personality was taking over her again and she just had to open her mouth.

      "Who the f*** are you calling a slut? All we are doing is walking into the school to get a G** D*MN drink. You and your fat a** friends need to turn around and continue being irritating as you were before."

I suddenly felt a spark of bravery. I opened my mouth, but people always made me so nervous, nothing would come out. Finally, after a few seconds of the girls staring Katie down, I opened my mouth and said the dumbest thing you could ever say.

      "Ya, you guys don't have much room to be calling OTHER PEOPLE sluts.....look at the things you're yelling at the football team....it's kind of pathetic."

From that moment on I sort of recognised that the rest of my high school experience would be drastically different.

Why Did I Say That?

      The next week at school was a little awkward. It's funny how after you have a bad experience with someone, you see them everywhere. The first few months of my freshman year were going to change....Big Time.