October 12: Alexander

Alexander

“Hurry up, Evelyn!” I stand in the hallway squeezing my legs together as tight as I can. She takes her time and comes busting out of the bathroom in a huff.
“Shut up, Frosh.” She pushes past me. “I’m leaving in fifteen minutes. Don’t think I won’t leave you.”
“Whatever,” I mumble and slam the door in her face. After my dad found out Evelyn was making me take the bus, he talked to Jules and she made Evelyn promise that she would take me to school. Evelyn argued with her for an hour, but when Jules threatened to take her keys, Evelyn obliged and thanked me for ruining her life.
Ditto.
I brush my teeth and wash my face quickly and groan when I drop toothpaste on my shirt and have to change. I do so quickly and barely have time to eat two cherry poptarts before Evelyn is grabbing her keys and pushing me out the door.
We don’t talk on the ride to school. She still hates me and I still hate her, and despite our parents’ wishes, we don’t try to change that. I stare out the window, trying not to breathe in her strong perfume. When we get to school, I slam my door and don’t wait for her.
“You’re welcome,” she sneers as if today is different than any other day and I am going to thank her.
By this point, people have started weaseling their way into some cliques. The preps have picked out a few athletes and potential snobs that will replace last year’s graduates and make for future Five Point royalty. The blacks and Hispanics of course hang out with their gangs, hard and cold as any snake or pit bull. The nerds have found their way to the library and the fall play hopefuls have made their way to the thespian stairs. I still have no one, minus a few guys from gym that I sit with at lunch.
I run into Crash on the way to my spot. He reminds me about support group and I tell him I'm just busy. I head to my corner, a spot I found during the first week of school. It is devoid of any bullies or assholes, so I nestle myself in the corner and lean against the wall for a few extra minutes of sleep before the bell rings.
I get through homeroom, Spanish and geometry easily, but after physical science my teacher asks to see me after class.
“I’m a little bit concerned about your first couple of homework and lab grades.” Mrs. Locker looks at me through thick glasses. “Have you considered getting a tutor? Audrey Oliver is a science whiz, and she does tutoring after school if you-”
“I know.” I stop her. “I’ve already talked to her. She’s going to start helping me out. I’ll get my grade up.”
“Great,” she smiles. “I like students who take initiative. Let me know how it goes and we’ll see how your grades improve.”
“Alright,” I say and head out of the classroom. I already know I suck at science; I don’t need her reminding me.
In the cafeteria, I sit at the freshman tables with Dane and Miles. They are already eating by the time I get through the line with my lasagna and baked potato.
“Sorry bro, we were hungry.” Dane wipes his face and looks at me.
“No biggie,” I assure him. “Had to talk to my science teacher. She wants me to get tutoring.”
“That sucks.” Dane shakes his head.
“Hey, the science tutor is pretty hot.” Miles laughs. “She tutors my brother in chemistry and I have to wait around for him to drive me home. Her name’s Audrey and she’s kind of cute.”
“Yeah, that’s who I have.” I take a bite of lasagna and shrug. “We’ll see how it goes. You guys coming to the game tonight?”
“If I can find a ride,” Miles says. “I can’t miss the first game of the year. I hear everyone’s gonna be there.”
“Well you know I will be there,” I tell them.
Dane laughs. “That’s right, water boy. Are you going to get any playing time tonight?” Miles joins him in laughing.
“Shut up,” I say and curse myself for blushing.
I’m still pissed that I didn’t make the team. I worked my butt off at tryouts, but apparently Anderson Stone was right. Freshmen don’t make the varsity team. So Coach Barnes told me that since I had such a good work ethic, he could use me on the support team. Basically I wash the towels and jerseys, keep the water bottles full, and get a t-shirt that says Boomer Football. Not exactly a skyrocket into the popular crowd. But at least I have somewhere to be on a Friday night.
My conversations with Miles and Dane don’t ever get very far. They are pretty dry, a lot different from my friends back home. But they are all I’ve got, so I keep talking.
“I’ve got to get going.” I look at the clock. Lunch is almost over. “We’ve got to get ready for the pep rally.”
“Oh yeah.” Miles nods. “That school spirit shit is getting us out of running sprints today in gym.”
“Yeah,” I mumble and throw my trash away. “Maybe I’ll see you guys tonight after the game.”
“Definitely, dude.”
When I get to the gym, I head into the locker room where the team is supposed to be meeting. A few of the players are already in the back and I walk past them towards the closet to make sure everything is ready for tonight.
“What are you doing in here, Frosh?” James asks.
“Getting the towels for tonight,” I mumble and avoid eye contact. I open the closet door and go into the back of the locker room to grab a stack of clean towels. I bring them back out and Anderson snatches one before I stuff them in the closet.
“Give me that,” I say impatiently.
“Who are you talking to like that?” Anderson raises his eyebrows.
I sigh. “Can you just give me the towel please?” I have no patience for their bully bullshit today. “Seriously, how old are you?”
“I told you to watch the way you talk to me, freshman.” Anderson unfolds the towel and twirls it. “Now you’re going to have to pay the consequences.”
“Whip him,” Ethan encourages him and the other guys laugh.
Anderson snaps the towel quickly and the tip of it slaps against my leg, stinging and leaving a big red welt. It hurts like hell, but I don’t wince or move.
“Do it again!” James claps his hands. “I don’t think he’s learned yet.”
Anderson recoils the towel and slaps at me again, this time in the arm. “You’re pathetic,” I manage.
“Ohhh,” the other guys moan and Anderson turns red. I know he’s pissed now and he lunges towards me.
“What the hell is going on?” A female voice disrupts the thick testosterone atmosphere.
We all turn around and see Samantha, standing there with her hands on her hips in her red and white cheerleading uniform. Her long blonde hair hangs down her back and she looks fresh out of the tanning bed. She’s hot as hell.
“Baby, what are you doing in here?” Anderson asks her.
She ignores the question.“Leave him alone.” She steps towards Anderson. “You guys need to leave that poor freshman alone.”
“Don’t be such a girl,” James teases her. “We’re just initiating him, making him part of the team.”
“Did you get your ass whipped with a towel when you were a freshman, James, or did they skip that part? Maybe you need a spanking too.” She clucks her tongue and eyes him.
“You can spank me any day, sweetheart.” James laughs and the other guys join in.
Samantha doesn’t let it faze her. “I expected more from the captain, Anderson.”
“It’s just the way it is,” Anderson says and shrugs. “It’s my job as captain to put these freshmen in their place.”
“Alright, well maybe I didn’t expect more from the captain. I expected more from my boyfriend.” She taps her foot and looks at me. For the first time since the bullying started, I am embarrassed. A girl, a skinny blonde girl, is standing up to these big-headed jocks more than I can.
It’s easier for her because she is one of them.
“If you want a place in my life,” Samantha says, “then you’ll put that towel down right now. My boyfriend is not a bully.”
The guys all look at Anderson and Samantha waits patiently for him to make a decision. After several seconds, he clenches his jaw and throws the towel down.
“Whatever,” he mumbles and walks out of the locker room. Samantha smiles at me before following him out.
I can barely breathe a sigh of relief before James is up and in my face. “You better get out while you still can, freshman. Not all of us have a girlfriend that can boss us around like that.”
“I’m leaving,” I say quickly and hurry past him. I go out into the gym and sit down on one of the bottom bleachers next to Ruby St. Clair. She’s looking at a piece of paper.
“Hey,” I mumble.
She looks up from reading and smiles. “Hey.” I guess she notices that I’m pissed off, because she asks, “You okay?”
I sigh. “Just the team. They’re all assholes to me for no reason. I guess their reason is I’m just the water boy. I don’t really matter.”
“Of course you do.” She shakes her head. “Without you they would all pass out and die of dehydration. Hey, maybe you should do us all a favor and quit.”
She laughs and I can’t help but smile. “Maybe. I’ll get them one day, though. Their time is coming,” I assure her and my face gets hard.
One day, Anderson Stone will pay.
Before we can talk about it further, her friends come up and she starts talking about pep rally logistics. When the bell rings, I will myself to go back into the locker room. Luckily, Coach Barnes is in there talking to a few of the players so I don’t have to worry about anything.
“Alright, you guys go ahead over to the east entrance and I will be over there in a few minutes.”
“Okay Coach,” Tommie says and eyes me as I pass him.
“Reid,” Coach Barnes smiles at me. “Is everything ready for the big game tonight?”
“Yes sir,” I assure him. “I just have to put the jerseys in each locker and get the coolers from the cafeteria after school.”
“Excellent.” He claps his hands. “Alright, I guess you can go ahead to the gym and sit with the freshman class.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well we don’t really have any use for you right now, so you can go out and sit with the freshmen and just enjoy the pep rally.”
“Don’t I get to go out with the team?” My face gets hot.
He sighs and looks at the ground uncomfortably.
“You said I’m a part of this team, Coach. An important part of this team.”
“You are,” he assures me. “It’s just… It’s complicated, Reid. It’s complicated.”
“Yeah,” I mumble and grab my book bag. “I get it. I’m just the water boy.”
He doesn’t stop me from walking out and I don’t look back. I go into the gym and try to find Dane and Miles in the sea of freshmen. Finally I give up and sit next to a weird-looking girl with stringy brown hair and orange fingernails.
I sit silently through the entire pep rally. I don’t cheer during the games and I don’t clap for the band. I almost clap for the cheerleading squad, but most of them look like sluts. I’ll congratulate Samantha some other time. I definitely do not clap when Ruby introduces the football team and they come charging into the gym howling like wolves and dancing like drunken idiots.
Anderson’s speech is a bunch of bullshit and it takes everything in me not to run out onto the floor, snatch the microphone from him, and call him out on being the world’s best bullshit-er.
Once it’s finally over, I follow the masses out of the gym and head to the bus parking lot. Riding the bus home is better than waiting for Evelyn to make out with Riley for thirty minutes, and she usually doesn’t go straight home anyway. I agree to keep her after-school sexcapades a secret as long as she gives me money to buy the gummy worms I sneak into my room and hide under my pillow. The only good thing that has come out of my step-sister thus far.
I usually sit with Crash on the bus, and he reminds me about the support group.
“It’s a great way to meet people,” he assures me.
“Maybe.” I shrug. “I’ve got to start going to tutoring, so I may not be able to go.”
“Alright,” he says and doesn’t push the issue any further.
“You going to the football game?” I change the subject.
“Maybe,” he says. “I might take my little brother. He likes football and he loves marching bands for some reason. So maybe we’ll stay through halftime if I’m up for it. I don’t really like to give my money to support those idiots.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Well I’ll be there tossing water to those idiots. Maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He gets up at his stop and we say our goodbyes.
When I get home, Dad has ordered pizza and is reading a fishing magazine in the living room.
“Hey Dad,” I say hurriedly. “Smells great in here.”
“I bought a couple pizzas,” he says. “Don’t get used to it, but I thought it would be something quick that you can eat before the game.”
“Are you coming?”
“I might,” he says. And I know that means he won’t. “Depends on what your mother wants to do.”
I can’t believe he just said that. Your mother. Insinuating that Julisa, his girlfriend, is my mother. I can’t even speak so I shove a piece of pizza in my mouth and force myself to bite my tongue.
“I mean Julisa,” he says quickly. “Sorry.”
“Yeah,” I mumble with a mouthful of pizza. “Well can you at least drop me off at school in an hour or so?” I remember that I forgot to get the water coolers and cuss under my breath.
“Of course. Get whatever you need for the game now and you’ll probably have time to get in a quick workout before we leave. You can use the treadmill if you like.”
“Great,” I groan and choke down another piece of pizza before going into the back room and running on the treadmill. He checks on me periodically to make sure I’m still running. I flip him off every time he leaves the room.
When he drops me off at school, I don’t bother asking again if he’s going to come. I hurry to the cafeteria and get the water coolers and drag them down to the field house. I fill them up with ice and water and load them on the trailer and drive them around to the front of the field, where the team has started warming up for their last-minute practice.
Pretty soon, the rival team pulls up in their ugly white buses. Several minutes later, they come out onto the field in their practice gear and Coach Barnes calls our team off of it.
I hand several of them bottles of water as Coach goes over a few details. I follow the team up to the locker room and while they change, I wait outside. I avoid Anderson at all costs and take my time refilling the coolers.
“Alright, Reid.” Coach pats me on the shoulder. “Forget what happened earlier. You know I need you out there. Put those coolers in my truck and we’ll drive them down.”
“Yes sir,” I say and follow him out to his truck with the coolers. We ride down to the field and I set everything up on the sidelines; coolers, first aid kits, head sets, everything Coach or the team could possibly need. The team trails out onto the field and both teams take to their final warm ups in the in zones.
After the band plays the Star Spangled Banner, the team rushes out onto the field, ripping through the big painted banner. The crowd goes crazy and I clap too. Now is my time to be enthusiastic and spirited. I run around for the majority of the game, giving out water and helping Coach Barnes and the rest of his staff keep everything together.
Anderson and the rest of the team play a great game, and as much as I would have liked for him to fall and break both of his femurs, he doesn’t. He rushes off the field and towards the stands once it’s over and we’ve won. The band plays our Alma mater and Coach Barnes pats me on my back.
“Great work tonight, son.”
“Thanks,” I mumble and start to clean up, ignoring the thundering applause and cheers.
Once we are back in the locker room, Coach tells the team that they played great. He says he is proud of them, and he wants them to get better every game. He tosses Anderson the game ball and they all cheer for him.
“Here’s to a great season, boys. I can’t wait.” Coach holds a fist up and the players do the same. “Get some rest this weekend. I’ll see you boys on Monday.”
The guys cheer and immediately rip off their uniforms, throwing the jerseys on the floor and running to try to be the first in the showers. I wait patiently in the corner as they take their time changing. They are on such a high that they barely notice I’m even in the room.
“Let’s go out and celebrate fellas.” James pulls a tight Hollister shirt over his head and runs his fingers over his wet hair.
“I bet there are some pretty ladies out there waiting for me,” Ethan slams his locker and laughs. “Let’s go get ‘em. Shots on me, alright?”
The guys all cheer and whistle. They leave the locker room a sweaty, dirty mess with a floor covered in red and white jerseys and dirty socks. Once they clear out, I take my time picking up all of the dirty clothes and put them in the big cloth bin by the door.
I wheel the cart into the laundry room and stuff the jerseys into an over-sized washing machine. The cycle is forty-five minutes, and I’ve got to stick around to put them in the dry. Otherwise they will grow mildew, Coach says.
I sit against the washer and find pleasure in the way my head rattles during the spin cycle. While everyone else is out celebrating the great game, I sit alone in the hot laundry room, wishing I was a part of what they were celebrating. But I’m just the water boy. I don’t matter, and they make sure to remind me of that fact on a daily basis. I decide to make a change, whatever it takes.
I vow to make them remember who I am.