Chapter 7.1: Despicable
886 Words
Riley POV
My first impression of Mr Mathews was not favourable to say the least. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with Sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. I estimated him to be in his late thirties. There was something about his eyes, though. Something about the way he looked at me when I entered the gymnasium instantly put me on high alert. I felt uneasy, disliking the attention.
One by one, students gathered in front of him. Violet stood beside me, a mixture of nervous energy and apprehension.
"All of you, give me 12 laps around the gymnasium," he barked.
I went to take off, but he shook his head at me and pointed. "You, come here, new girl."
Violet shot me a sympathetic look and took off as I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk over to the teacher.
"I need to do a fitness assessment of you," he said bluntly, "so we'll start with some pullups and then move on to squats."
"Is that really necessary?" I said irritably.
He shot me a look. I fell silent. We walked over to the bars. I jumped, grabbing it with ease, and then slowly began to raise myself up and down.
The coach stood behind me. I felt his eyes raking over my form.
"Give me as many as you can and remember your form," he shot out.
"That's not right. You need to keep your elbows tucked in slightly," he said, exasperated, and then moved around the front, fixing my posture, his touch lingering a little too long for my comfort.
I did twelve and dropped to the floor. The teacher grunted. "Acceptable. Now squats, same as pullups, do as many as you can."
Again, he moved behind me. I gritted my teeth and began to squat, going low and then rising, the rest of the students still running.
"Straighten your back," Mr Mathews groaned, coming behind me and pulling my back straight as I tensed.
His touch repulsed me. I tried not to pull away. Tried to remind myself he was trying to teach, but the little voice inside my head screamed that something wasn't right. Then again, he was hardly going to molest me in front of a group of students now, was he?
I managed thirty and paused.
"Good work. Now let's do a plank," he said, glancing at his watch and frowning at the students who had started to slow.
I sighed and dropped down to a plank. My muscles strained. He gave a huff. "You need to rise up a bit more. You're starting to dip when you should be tightening your core and pushing your hips slightly more. Like this," he growled and put his hands on either side of my hips, raising them.
I flinched. He took his hands away, and I breathed a little easier. Students gathered back in front of Coach Mathews, eyeing him questioningly.
I dropped, breathing heavily. He didn't even glance at me.
"Right, drills. Grab a basketball and a teammate and start practicing dribbling. One goes on offense," he grunted.
They dispersed.
"Stretches before you join them," he advised me, "let's see your flexibility, touch your toes."
I didn't like him behind me, but he wasn't moving. I slowly bent down, touching the floor, and then quickly straightened back up. I felt dirty for some reason. He was being blatant. Using his power of authority to eye me as though I was some sort of candy being offered right in front of him. I couldn't react, though. Could hardly hit a teacher without being expelled. My parents would just love that.
"Downward dog," he said.
He demonstrated when I stared at him quizzically. I followed, and he straightened, moving in front.
"Hold," he said firmly.
I held for what seemed like an insurmountable amount of time. My arms shook as I kept my body still. Eventually, they gave out, and I fell, panting. Even as a shifter, I wasn't invincible. None of us were.
"That will do for now. Go and grab a basketball and find a teammate," he growled, "practice dribbling. I want you running up and down the court, swapping roles."
Thank f**k. I was so close to punching him right in his smug face. I spotted Violet holding a basketball, patiently waiting for me. I grabbed the ball, a scowl on my face.
"Is he always that well, pervy?" I exhaled.
"Not usually," she frowned, "maybe he just wanted to ensure your posture was perfect," she shrugged, "he can be pretty intense when it comes to that."
Intense my ass. Violet was too damn innocent for her own good. I wondered how many other girls had been put through such scrutiny. Judging by how comfortable he had been doing it, I suspected a whole damn lot. f*****g bastard.
"Come on, I'll be offense and you dribble," Violet perked, trying to distract me.
I grinned. "You don't know just how good I am at this. You're about to find out firsthand," I boasted, putting the issue of Coach Mathews aside for now.
"Bring it on," she shot back, moving in front, hands on hips, a look of determination on her face.
We paused as cheerleaders began to file into the gym, heading to the back court, Sofia amongst them.
- Writer
