Page 4 of My High School Rebel Boyfriend
We had just started our volleyball training and Miss Barber had us doing court drills with resistance bands around our thighs. On her command we were in a semi-squat position doing two steps to the left, or right or back. I’m sure it looked anything but glamorous; the noise we were making sounded like a herd of elephants were loose in the gym.
That’s when the doors swung open, and in lumbered Titan and Mitchell, dressed as if they were going to basketball practice.
“Think you’re in the wrong gym, boys,” Tanchia muttered, making all those aroundher giggle.
This alerted Miss Barber to spin around and she addressed Titan and Mitchell with a curt, “You’re five minutes late. Didn’t Coach Cairns tell you 3:15?”
We’d all stopped moving as the boys approached Miss Barber, their heads down, though we couldn’t hear what they were saying. There was a multitude of frowns as we wondered what Miss Barber could possibly be planning.
“I bet they’re here to apologize to the twins,” Maddie whispered and we all breathed easy. Having Titan and Mitchell at our training was an unwanted distraction.
“Right, girls,” Miss Barber announced, and she gestured for us to approach the net. We shuffled forward with our legs still restricted in the bands. “Mr. Dell and Mr. Finlayson have something to say.”
With his hairstyle, Titan’s height equaled Mitchell’s, and as seniors they would be the undoubted stars of the River Valley basketball team this season. Their reputations around campus were well known; height unfairly improved someone’s stature, earned or not. Nobody messed with‘The Titan’ as he was fond of calling himself, and Mitchell’s glare was permanently fixed on his face making mere mortals back away. If there was trouble or scuffles in the hallways, you can bet the two of them would be right there amongst it.
Though standing in front of us, they looked like scared little boys.
Good! They would get their comeuppance.
“Gentlemen?” Miss Barber prompted.
They both cleared their throats, obviously waiting for the other to speak first.
“Uh,” Mitchell started, and I was surprised to see his cheeks blushing, “uh, Ebony and Shavaun, we wanted to say sorry for-”
“For getting you into trouble,” Titan finished the sentence, and continued with an air of confidence. “Yeah, we messed up the equipment room and we apologize. Y’all girlshave done River Valley proud with your volleyball, and we don’t wanna jeopardize your chances in the tournament.”
We all looked at each other in amazement—who knew Titan Dell was such an articulate speaker?
Miss Barber gave Maddie a nod, and as captain she stepped forward.
“Apology accepted,” she said, shaking their hands. “It’s just a shame you didn’t come forward and own up yourselves.” Trust Maddie to get the last dig. I was about to break into a satisfied smirk when she carried on. “Thankfully Harper uncovered the truth.” And she turned to me with a wide grin.
Uh...whaaaat? There were unwanted pats on my shoulder and smiles all around. Except from the boy with the golden hazel eyes which were shooting deadly laser beams in my direction. I moved slightly to my right, hiding from his penetrating gaze behind Tanchia.
“As part of their restorative justice, Titan and Mitch are going to help with our volleyball trainings until we go to the tournament,” Miss Barber declared.
Several of the girls, including me let out a groan. Why couldn’t they get detention like normal students? Having them here was going to be more of a hindrance than a help. They were basketballers, not volleyball players.
“What do they know about volleyball?” Maddie asked, stating what most of us were thinking.
“Hey, I played in my freshman year!” Titan chuckled. An unimpressed murmur spread through the team. It seemed they weren’t going to take it seriously at all.
“Attention!” Miss Barber shouted, followed by a shrill blow of her whistle, followed by a triple hand clap. “Listen up, now.” We instantly fell silent. “What I believe we need help with is our movement. Footwork. Explosive movements. That’s where the boys can help. We need to be quicker and faster. Okay now, let’s get going.”
Miss Barber divided us into three groups of five, one going with her, one with Titan, one with Mitchell. She consulted with the boys and they set up some stations. I was sent to Mitchell’s team first, where he had laid out a ladder and some cones and steps.
Like Titan, he was unexpectedly well-spoken when he demonstrated the drills, in total contrast to his taciturn mumblings to me the other day. He talked us through each exercise, capably performing each one first. His calf muscles popped with definition as he ran through the ladder on his toes, and as he raced around the cones and stopped to do pushups I was taken aback by his strength and speed. Impressive how someone so tall and lanky could be so mobile.
I sped through the ladder training with ease and was able to do the agility around the cones, but after two pushups I found myself battling. Miss Barber always let us do knee pushups when we were struggling, so I adjusted myself to complete the ten we were required to do.
“What’s this?” Mitchell’s voice boomed above me, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure he was talking to me. Shavaun was next to me doing box jumps. I prayed she was being reprimanded and pushed myself up from the floor.
He cleared this throat with a sarcastic tone. “Pushups. On your toes,” he said. Well, he didn’t say it, heordered.Like a crazed drill sergeant.
“What?” I turned my head upwards to see his eyes blazing down at me with complete loathing. How, a few days ago, I’d thought they were stunning was beyond me; now they flashed with sadistic vengeance.
“You don’t get to do knee pushups,” he said, the toe of his sneaker nudging my fingers on the mat.
