Playing Games

New Girl

Sat in a small four bedroomed detached house in a typical American suburb, two teens talked, one braided the hair of the other, the one doing the braiding was Mona, it was in her room in which they sat. Her room, which now she shared with her cousin Maria. At the same age born to sisters the girls were raised closely together, they looked, for all appearances as twins. Both had long dark hair, thick and straight, both had curvy figures, the first signs of womanhood emerging from their bodies. Both were tall at 5'8, both athletic in build. The latino pair had a kind disposition but fiery tempers.

Maria was quieter in nature, but perhaps that was simply nerves. For her, her world had changed, she had lacked the stability that her cousin was raised with. For her mother had passed away when she was young, and her hard working father a medic had never quite managed to move on and find love again. How could he? he would say, when her mother had been his soul mate.

Although they had moved around a lot, he had been until recently an army medic and spending times stationed around the country and meant she adapted quickly to new surroundings. But her father's family was small and cousins were all older, so he actively kept in touch with his late wifes sister. Sending his daughter to stay during the holidays, letting her learn about her mother in a way that he couldn't describe her.

It was Mona who spoke now, her fingers moving quickly through her cousins hair, two braids were being formed either side with a skill that one only learns from practice, in truth she had been waiting to practice on her cousin for months. Learning different styles from Pinterest, ** and t****k she was quick to adapt and the speed in which she could produce a full face of make up or sophisticate hairstyle was something her cousin could only admire.

‘So, are you ready for your first day tomorrow? How are you feeling? Nervous or excited or both?’ Mona asked, a cheeky smile on her face already sensing the answer. Maria looked at her cousin in the mirror and smiled, it was the beginning of their final year of the school, but her father had been offered his dream job as a doctors against boarders medic. It was something he had always wanted and when the opportunity came there had been no hesitation from Maria, he had to take that job, after all, it was only for a short while and he had promised he would be there for her graduation. She assured him that his work made her proud, and she hoped that graduating with good grades she could return the favour.

In truth she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, she knew the medical filed wasn't for her, she wanted a family and stability. Taking in her cousins room again, her new home for the year, she felt a small stab of envy at the memories this room had collected.

‘Of course I'm both, but then again, why would I be nervous when I have my favourite cousin in my class to keep me company’, Mona smiled at her reply. They were so close, like sisters, and Maria was finally settling for the remainder of her senior year and perhaps even more excitedly, they were doing the same courses so their schedules would be almost identical. Something that was a comfort to both of them.

Although easy to mistake for sisters, with their soulful brown eyes and sallow skin, their styles were so different. If Maria had been lucky enough to have a permanent home she was sure she would have decorated her room in a white, minimalistic style, with plush cushions on the bed and a neat dressing table. Her cousins room was not, it was cluttered (even more so with the edition of Marias things), two single beds on opposite walls, posters of bands Maria vaguely knew adorned the walls, fairy lights hung across the ceiling and red paint covered the walls.

Even their personal style was different, Mona stood in a Van Helen t-shirt, with black shorts whereas Maria currently wore long, silky, white pyjamas. Mona has spent the last couple of weeks helping her cousin settle in, and telling her all about her new school.

Maria didn't feel too worried though, spending her summer holidays with her cousin, aunt and uncle had meant she had already met several of Monas' friends, plus they had been to a few parties together, and last summer Mona had introduced Maria to Andrew.

Tall, fair, with sparkling blue eyes and a dimple in his left cheek Andrew quickly fell for Maria and the feeling was mutual. Throughout the year they had managed to stay in touch and had even began a long distance relationship, he was one of the reasons she had been keen to move in with Mona when her dad went away.

Kind and clever, Andrew was like the prince from a fairytale. They had quickly become serious and his charm and easiness was infectious. He was also a swimmer, second in the swim team and with his decent grades he should be getting a much needed, and he had confessed to her, desperately wanted, scholarship to college. His family didn’t have much money, so he worked down at the local café after school and on the weekends, the manager was flexible, letting him work around his swim schedule and since Maria had arrived back in town, she had quickly become a loyal customer. Even Mona had given up trying to sway her cousin to go out on a Saturday shopping, knowing that she would rather sit in the cafe and flirt with her man.

The next day had been as easy as Maria has expected, she started the morning meeting with her new principle, Mrs Chapman, a women Maria quickly decided she didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Tall and slightly intimidating with sky blue eyes that pierced through you, Maria could imagine those students that misbehaved quickly regretted it.

Mona had gone with her to the office agreeing to be her guide, and after Maria had received her welcome pack and her new timetable she had quickly joined in her cousins classes.

This school was huge. Various out buildings surrounded the main one and it was easy for her to get lost. She felt lucky to have her cousin with her and was looking forward to seeing Andrew at lunch. Her second class of the morning was Gym, she didn’t have her kit and Mona had forgotten to tell her to bring it in, her last school hadn't made them actually take part in a gym lesson during the first week but this one was different. Fortunately, Monas friends quickly stepped up helping their newest addition, Natalie had her cheer outfit with her and leant Maria her booty shorts and Mona had a spare dance top, it wasn’t exactly modest but Maria didn’t feel too shy, she had the girls with her and loved working out. She had been a dancer before, never staying long enough to join the cheer team.

As she headed into the gym she suddenly felt a bit exposed, the shorts weren't that long and whilst the top covered her body she still felt awkward. The gym teacher, a thirty something, fit man did a double take when he saw her. ‘You must be my new girl’ he said, clearly eyeing her up. She nodded, ‘you a cheerleader? The teams always looking for a swing incase of injuries’ she shook her head, ‘dancer’.

He smiled, holding a clipboard, ‘well Maria, in this school we are big on sports. Every year we get scouts coming to check out our teams and in the few years I’ve been here I’ve already managed to get the highest percentage of my players on scholarships, it’s the top school in the state. Aside from dance you play any sports? Cause if you do we will get you on a reserve team and that will be your class, Mona and Natalie are off to cheer practice now,’ he gave them a pointed look and the two girls scuttled away.

‘umm no I moved around to much to join any teams,’ she sounded apologetic. He just nodded, ‘right well the girls are off to cheer outside so why don’t you follow me and you can put those dance skills to use,’ he smirked as he spoke. She didn’t like him already.

As the lesson went on it was clear he was biased, the boys were playing football outside and any geeky looking kids were basically running around after the more athletic students, getting them water and towels.

Maria followed him and was about to join the girls when he said, ‘on second thoughts Maria, you can help me coach today, it might be better for you to get a feel for what we do here’, she followed his lead. It was obvious they really did take sports seriously, the facilities were probably the best she had ever seen. A full sized football pitch, brand new gym equipment, even the uniforms were sparkling.

Following the couch to the football field she quickly saw that these guys were huge. Like insanely big. They were all around or above 6ft, they were all ripped and as she approached they all started leering at her. ‘Nice assistant coach,’ one said and they all laughed. Maria licked her lips nervously, her wide eyes taking them in then looking down, letting her dark hair fall over her face.

‘Didn’t ask for your opinion Klazowski, thanks to that you’ve earned your team some extra laps, I want thirty from all of you, start at the finish line and the last one gets the water, GO’ he barked at them and they started setting off. It was clear they weren’t in a hurry, they all took the time to look at her as they sauntered past, there was only one guy left standing and he watched Maria, eventually she looked up meeting his gaze.

‘Problem Chase?’ the coach asked, his student smirked still watching Maria, she couldn’t look away and he walked towards her slowly, he purposefully brushed based her, touching her bare arm, ‘no problem at all’ he said, running backwards and joining the guys, still staring at Maria as he went.

If she had been less self conscious she would have realised that for the remainder of the game, he kept stealing glances at her. And if he hadn’t been distracted playing, he would have realised she kept stealing glances at him.