The Hockey Player’s Secret Tutor

The first gym session

Sebastian's POV

I look at Lyra while I show her how to stretch and warm up. She is actually very beautiful, and she does not realize it because of her weight. I wonder if she will change if she loses weight.

Most of the beautiful girls in school are vain. I hope Lyra does not become like them. I like her the way she is. She is down-to-earth and easy to talk to. She does not think she is better than anyone else. She does not make fun of me or call me stupid. She gave me confidence in my studies again.

I am understanding maths again, and I found it challenging. Only things that I find challenging interest me. Maybe I will find my love for maths again. I used to love it when my mother was alive, and she would challenge me with a few math problems.

"Earth to Seb! Are you there? Houston, I think we might have a problem. One of our astronauts has gone missing," Lyra says, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Sorry, Houston, I am here," I laugh.

I am surprised at the sound coming from me. I forgot how it sounded when I laughed deep out of my stomach. When I laughed spontaneously. The only person who could get me to laugh like this was my mother.

"Well, I am all warmed up, and my muscles do not hurt so much anymore. What is next?" Lyra asks.

"The treadmill. We will start with easy walking up hill and downhill," I say. I go and program the treadmill. I do not want her to run again. We will start slowly as she is slowly helping me get into schoolwork again.

I program it for twenty minutes. After the treadmill, we will do some rowing on those machines. Yesterday, when I made her jog, I was testing her fitness level as she was testing my ability to learn with the notes she gave me.

"Okay, but do not expect me to talk while I walk. I will be out of breath," Lyra smiles.

We get on the treadmills, and I might as well get a good workout. It will clear my mind so I can study tonight. I hate to study, but I do not want to disappoint Lyra.

After twenty minutes, we stop, but I do not have mercy for Lyra, so we move to the rowing machines and start a session there. I do not want to overdo it on the first night. However, I do not want to give her time to rest as she will cool down, and that is not good while you exercise.

Twenty minutes on the rowing machines, and then we do some stretches to cool down slowly. We have been in the gym for an hour, and it is enough for our first gym session. We walk to the shower, all sweaty. Lyra goes into the girls' locker room and takes a shower while I do the same at the men's side.

We are ready to go home. It is still early, around eight. This is going to be our new routine every school night, but what about weekends?

"Hey, what are we going to do about weekends?" I ask.

"Can we rest on weekends?" Lyra asks.

"Well, most of the time I have hockey games, but we cannot rest. I need to study, and you need to keep training," I say.

"We can meet here after your games, but what about your friends? Wouldn't they find it funny if you did not hang out with them anymore?" Lyra asks.

"I do not care what anyone thinks of me. They will think I am still angry with Victoria and do not want to hang out because she is always around. She is the head of the cheerleaders and is always around the sports teams. Normally, we all play on weekends. Last weekend, we were the only team that played away, and that is why she was at home in bed with Nate," I say.

"Yeah, I cannot believe she did that. You are more handsome than Nate. Not that I am interested in you or love," Lyra says.

"I know I am more handsome than Nate. Hmm, you are supposed to practise to become my girlfriend. I really need to get rid of Victoria. You have to learn to love me," I tease.

Lyra looks at me with a smile. "I will never fall in love with a jock again, especially one like you who is arrogant and way too full of himself."

"Ouch! What did I do to deserve that?" I pretend to be wounded as I grab my heart.

"Hahaha. As if you care what I feel about you. I am the famous Miss Piggy," Lyra laughs bitterly.

I realize that although she does not show it and tells herself it does not hurt her, it does, and it has broken down her self-esteem. I understand now why she was clinging to Nate. He made her feel she was important and that he cared for her no matter the way she looked. It is a shame he broke her down even more.

"Stop calling yourself that," I growl, and I am angry. It makes me angry when people break themselves down.

"Wow, sorry for living," Lyra says.

"Yeah, whatever, if you think I am going to feel sorry for you because you are bullied, you are mistaken. You showed me today that you can stand up for yourself, and you should stop trying to get sympathy. You are doing something about your situation, and that I can admire, but self-loathing is stupid. We should go home," I say.

"Yeah, I will take a cab," Lyra says.

"I will drop you where I dropped you yesterday," I say.

"Thanks, but stop being a grump," Lyra says.

"Then stop feeling sorry for yourself," I say.

We drive away in silence. I do not understand why I am so angry. I like Lyra, but I hate seeing her weak and full of self-pity. To me, she is a strong woman, and I was happy to see her standing up to Nate today. I do not want her to become the pathetic loser I always thought she was when she was running after Nate like a puppy dog.