Author's note: This is an updated and edited version of my previously published original story.
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Emily's senior year in high school was supposed to be a breeze. She was 18 now, on her way to independence, most certainly on track with her college career, and caught up on all her credits, which left her with only a few classes she needed to attend for the rest of the year. And yet, her one mistake of skipping out on her gym credits the year before was really stomping on her parade.
Now, she was required to take the last gym class of the day if she wanted to graduate and not only did she have no friends in the class, but she didn't know anyone either. Well, that wasn't entirely true.
There was Harper Fletcher and her friends. Harper was only a few months older than Emily but they could've been decades apart with how much confidence and success she exuded.
She was the school's softball captain and star player. Anyone who didn't know her would have to have lived under a rock or never attended school. She even made the district newspaper one time because she nearly won the softball team the nationals. Everybody said the other team cheated.
She was also popular and pretty, so really, you couldn't ignore her if you tried. As for Emily, that was even more so. In all her time as the yearbook's Chief Editor, she couldn't recall even one year where she hadn't covered something without Harper in it.
Every school event, every interview, every shoutout, and almost every picture, there she was. So yeah, Emily knew her, but until now, she'd never actually shared a class with the Queen Bee athlete.
On the first day of class, Emily saw her in the corner of her eye; walking out the gymnasium doors with her friends onto the big football field. Instantly, she regretted her stupid decision to take a culinary class back in junior year in an overly optimistic way to "improve her cooking skills." The class was a waste of time and evidently, a waste of credits.
She couldn't believe the bite on her ass - it was goodbye smooth sailing and hello suffering. Emily wasn't exactly an athletic person, and now, having to be subjected as a loner as well as having to be in the blinding presence of the school's biggest celebrity only rubbed the salt in the wound.
As always, Harper radiated beauty and confidence and it made Emily grunt in vexation. It wasn't that Emily had a dislike for the girl. In all honestly, that wasn't the case at all. It was just that they were polar opposites - like water and oil. Not to mention she cast an even darker shadow over Emily's already non-existent presence in the class.
The period was just warm-ups and stretches until the last bell that day, but anyone would've thought they'd underwent some intense cardio circuit with the way Emily sluggishly crawled back to the girls locker room.
"What a shitty first day," Emily bemoaned. She lamely hoped she would eventually see the bright side of things. Soon.
A couple of months later, and before Emily knew it, love was in the air. It was almost Valentine's Day, a sickening excuse for mass PDA and torture porn for all the singles left on the holiday. But even so, Emily had a job to do.
Every year for Valentine's Day, the yearbook club would make a page for the school's "cutest couples." Hundreds of couples would submit their application to be on the page and then the school would vote for the top 20. It was just another way to entice more people to buy the book.
At the same time, the club also helped the student council with their Valentines sales by making posters advertising reminders to buy roses and chocolates before the big day.
It was still a couple of weeks before the holiday, and as far as Emily knew, the club was still in the middle of handling the application process and making those posters. The application bit was the easy part - all filing and organizing. The posters, however, required a little field work.
What they usually did for the posters was snap candid photos of anything remotely romantic and print out 24" x 36" images of them. As long as the theme was the same, anything could be used, really.
However, the yearbook club didn't own the equipment to print large images with most of the school's funds pouring into the sports programs year after year, so they'd send them to a printing company to be expertly enlarged and finely laminated before there return to their possession. Real professional shit.
In addition, the posters would be plastered with "important" information at the request of the student council regarding their flower and cocoa sales.
"Exactly as we've written for you. Word for word. No deviations, please," as the student council would pompously command every year the holiday came around.
Emily herself wasn't tasked to scout for pictures nor was she in charge of overseeing applications. She just monitored, really. She trusted the other members and her Managing and Photo editors who were also her best friends for the success of that process. Emily still had the actual yearbook to manage.
But enough of that, that was just another day to Emily. What was and had been stressing her out was her dreadful gym class. It was a big downer considering it was her last period, so she always ended the day on a sour note. She really tried hard to be positive, but as the days went by, she found herself more sweaty and isolated than the first.
Emily wasn't a shy girl in the slightest but she wasn't overly outspoken either. Her journalism skills relied more on her stubbornness and guts, not her social tactfulness.
She had a close circle of friends along with some close acquaintances and that was her bubble and she stuck with that bubble. If every once in awhile there was an easy opportunity to make a new friend, Emily was all for it. However, this class was really pinning her to be some kind of anti-social nerd.
It was really hard to insert herself amongst her gym peers since it seemed everyone had already formed their cliques, and being seniors, nobody cared for new additions.
"What the hell," Emily thought. It was beginning to feel like she was some new student who'd transferred in in the middle of the year. How was it possible she didn't know a single person in the class besides Harper and her friends? It seemed almost ridiculous.
Whatever the case, she couldn't change her situation, so she supposed she might as well deal with it.
It was just one lousy class.
But after some time, things began to look up. And eventually, even sharing the same space as Harper Fletcher didn't unnerve Emily anymore.
She hardly ever noticed Emily, yeah, but still, she felt better. The class steadily started to become less of a pain and everyday she managed to quietly get it over with. Before she knew it, Valentine's was almost around the corner.
"There's that face, again. Em, if it sucks that bad, maybe you could appeal to find another alternative? Maybe do some volunteer work in exchange like picking up trash around the school or helping out the lunch-ladies?" Cassidy, the yearbook club's Photo Editor and Emily's best friend, jested as she nudged Emily's arm.
"Hardy har-har. It's not funny, that class is such a joke. All we do is warm-ups and whatever sport of the day Mr. Hannigen decides to throw at us so he doesn't actually have to do his job. Yesterday, it was ping pong." Emily uttered, rolling her eyes at her short haired friend.
Cassidy was a troublemaker and jokester by birth. Even her appearance was wild with her rose dyed messy pixie hair and nose piercing.
She snorted a hearty laugh, one that was unsympathetic to Emily's peril, which earned her a harsh jab in the ribs. She yelped in between her uncontrollable laughing.
Julia, who was walking on the other side of Emily, patted her on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. "You're gonna be fine. Want to hang out afterward when class lets out to make it up?" Julia was always the sweet angel of their trio. Being the Managing Editor in the club, Emily could always trust her to help her out.
Emily glomped on her and pouted; hugging her in a tight exaggerated embrace. The girls mousy brown hair floated lightly around Emily's forearms. "No, my love, that's ok. This poor soul has things to do after, anyways. At least you love me, though!" Emily cried dry tears as she shot Cassidy daggers. Cassidy only laughed louder as Julia blushed with that shy smile of hers.
"Anyways," Cassidy continued, wiping away some tears, "how's hanging out with Harper Fletcher? You guys best friends, yet? Buying each other lattes?"
"Shut up," Emily retorted, "we don't even talk like we haven't since the start of the year. Stop asking about her, I don't even care anymore."
"But it's Harper Fletcher! The big shot, the wowser. Hey, you think if you touch her you might be able to deadlift a car?" Cassidy joked with a smug grin. Emily rolled her eyes. "At least tell me if she's a bitch or not." She chuckled.
Emily slowed down a little and thought about it. Harper Fletcher a bitch? She'd hardly considered her attitude until now.
In her experience and from what she saw...no. Harper didn't come off as one. Whenever she saw her in class with her friends, she was always smiling and laughing, and whenever she overheard her conversations, she was never gossiping or bad mouthing anyone.
Now that she thought about it, Harper was kind of an okay person. So, why was she so anxious and uncomfortable around her?
The tardy bell rang its first warning signal; interrupting Emily's train of thought. "Shit! I gotta run, catch you guys later!" She exclaimed as she sprinted down the hallway into an adjoining building where the gymnasium was located. Cassidy and Julia waved her goodbye and headed off to their respective classes, not before Cassidy could yell out one more tease in ear shot, however.
"Say hi to your girlfriend for me!"
