Chapter 23

What a difference a couple miles make, living in the suburbs versus living in the city. Instead of open roads to run on where everyone was polite, running in the city was anything but polite as people were constantly cutting in front of my sisters and me and that was Sunday morning.

Monday morning we decided to head to school and do our exercising there, due to the idiots that cut us off going to church would be cutting us off heading to work. It was just not worth it to get hit by a car. Finding the gym was easy, as there were a few cars close by. After joining them, we made our way to the gym where I encountered my next problem of the day, that of the gym attendant who did not want to let me in. The reason he gave was my not being a part of any fall sports teams and the early morning gym time was dedicated to the teams. Looking over his shoulder, I thought that was rather far-fetched as I counted six students in a gym that could support over a hundred athletes at a time.

In the end he did relent as my sisters stated that I was their ride to school as our mother did not want them walking to school so early. Giving up on keeping me out, he suggested, I should talk to the Sports director and get his permission. I promised that I would talk to him. Lifting with my sisters after that was somewhat amusing as not only were they attracting the attention of the few guys in the gym since they were the only girls there. Adding to the looks was that we were taking two stations as my sisters were lifting less than a quarter of the weight I was lifting. By the time we went our separate ways, I smiled knowing that they would be feeling the burn later. I did not see my sisters after that as they had another PE class to start their day so they stayed dressed down.

My schedule was different from what I had been hoping for from my old school. I still had my AP classes in Civics, Language arts, Calculus and Anatomy. What I did not get was that this school did not have a welding class. I ended up in automotive repair. My major disappointment and the counselor did her best to get me what I wanted was that after anatomy the school did not have an Emergency Medicine or a student athletic trainer program. If I wanted the class, there was an associated lab that was only offered at the university, which of course would interfere with my possible tryout for basketball. The decision was easy since I was being forced to sit out the football season. I would take a weight lifting class instead.

Leaving my sisters behind for their class, I headed for my own class and quickly realized that beyond the common courtesy on the road for runners, the difference in school attire were also different. At my old school the girls and guys tended to wear more jeans, since a lot of farming and ranching went on there I learned to appreciate girls in tight fitting jeans. In the city there was no eye to practicality; guys wore jeans only these tended to hang off their butts as if they were gang bangers or something.

The unofficial dress code for the girls was to show as much skin as possible. The ones I passed heading to my first class did that in spades with skirts and tops, which to anyone that looked showed what they were offering. Looking at the girls on my way to my class, I could see that the meat market (one of the colorful terms the younger ranch hands used to describe the bars they went to) was open.

That included me as I caught more than a few girls looking me over as I passed by. Before I made it to my class, I also discovered that there were a number of skateboarders as well as those that would be categorized as Goths as well as the number of girls hanging with them who were dressed about the same. As far as looks went, they were in the lower tier of the talent. I guess you take what you can get and those boys were not getting much by the looks of the girls hanging out with them.

Myself I was quite happy with what remained, as there were over three thousand students at the school with half being female. With the few hundred I discounted as being subpar, I figured I had over a thousand possibilities. I was so looking forward to the new school year.

With that thought in mind, I stepped into my Civics class and after counting the number of students already in the room. I knew I was in trouble with twenty-one girls out of a class of twenty-eight students and half of those in mini-skirts. As if the situation could not get any better, the tables were arranged in a circle with openings on either side to allow students to move into the center. Currently the center was occupied by an older man, who nodded then greeted everyone that entered. Finding an unoccupied seat, I smiled as I took in my surroundings waiting for the bell to ring. When the bell rang, the teacher announced that if you were not seated when the bell rang after today would be tardy.

When two students came in late, he simply took their names stating that they were tardy. He did not waste time after that launching into his opening lecture stating that not only did the late students disrupt the class they were interrupting the time the rest of us had to spend in class, while the class, myself included, looked at each other and for some wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Once he was done with announcing his attendance policy, Mr. Gannon explained that he was a lawyer in a previous life and he was now trying to regain his humanity. The syllabus he handed out looked like he had taken it from a college classroom and modified only what he needed to, the rest of the time, he spent covering the Continental Congress and how our government was formed.

When the bell rang, we were dismissed, exiting the room I could hear several seniors saying they were going to transfer back into a normal class as we already had our first essay assignment due in two days.

Not having time to waste I was off to my second AP class and this time it was Anatomy. Fortunately, my other two AP classes would be on opposing days as this district had the same system of blocks that ran ninety minutes every other day. The Anatomy teacher was not far removed from Mr. Gannon's thought process because as soon as the bell rang she was off reviewing what she had evidently covered the year before, as all of the students except me had been her students in the spring. With the assignment in hand again due in two days, I headed off to weight lifting. The last class of my four was my independent studies/study hall class where I was to work on my daily assignments or watch the lectures online for my college courses as the lectures were given in the mornings.

That afternoon after I finished watching the lecture and receiving the assignment, I met with the athletic department chair. She was a nice lady who after talking to her for a few minutes apologized to me for not making the football team saying that she had had discussions with the coach before but he was set in his ways regarding students who did not attend his camp had no place on the team. I understood and I told her so, I also added that my preferred sport was basketball and I was playing football to help out my old school. We continued to talk for a while longer and what my long term plans were saying that I was planning on doing something in medicine, now though I had no idea.

We talked a while longer and not only did I get permission to use the gym in the mornings. After talking to her I mentioned that I was a student trainer at my old school I received an invitation to be the school's student athletic trainer until the tryouts for the basketball season. I thought it was a fine idea, as it would keep me out of the house and away from my mother with fall sports team practices for cross-country, football, volleyball, and soccer.

Once I had the position, I was introduced to the coaches who thanked me for taking on being the trainer as they normally did it themselves and they had no training. The staff of the school had only showed up for the games as the school budget had cut the trainers first.

That night at dinner my sisters announced that I was the school's trainer, they had found out from their cross-country coach. My mother tried to get me to elaborate and I told her the same thing the AD told me, due to budget cuts, all non-game staff had been cut and the teams had to do the work themselves. She voiced skepticism until I told her that I was doing the same work as before only now it was for a larger school. She would have known that, if she had attended more than one game.

Tuesday morning was the same as the day before with my sisters riding with me to school. The difference today was that my sisters went back to the gym as I went out running. Their excuse was that they did not need the extra time running, as they would get that with the team practice in the afternoon. Saying goodbye they headed indoors while I enjoyed my run unencumbered by my sisters.

Setting a fast pace, I felt good, as I got the chance to stretch out and run, the problem was I had company as in someone following me. Seeing the car for the fourth time I guessed that it was not the government or at least the good doctor as the vehicles that were with him at the ranch were all Suburban's. The vehicle that was following me looked more like a retired police car. Cutting through neighborhoods, whoever was driving was having a hard time keeping up and the last I saw of the driver it was a woman and not a man driving. With my run ending by the school again, I put her out of my mind and went in to get cleaned up for the second day of school.

Classes were the same as the day before with the exception that my shop class had the true idiots as well as a couple of students that were bound to become guests of the state. Until they transitioned out of school, they were our problem. The teacher did the best he could, and evidently, he had dealt with them before. Sending the first one to the office before he finished taking attendance when Mel Keebler, a junior, mouthed off after being reminded that the tools were not there for his personal amusement, after that his two cronies, I found out later that they were his cousins, settled down and we got underway with automotive theory. I will say that it was not the most enlightened class but at least people tried. With class over I returned to my AP classes where people actually wanted to learn. I was grateful for that.

Once classes were over it was over to the trainer's room where I spent the next twenty minutes taping ankles, knees, fingers, and just about everything else that could get hurt. With the parade of guys and girls through the room, I did manage to make the introduction of everyone who sat on my bench while I worked to get them taped up for the day. By the time I finished I was feeling confident that I had my future girlfriend staked out. She was on the varsity volleyball team as one of the outside hitters. Her name was Valerie and as we talked, she told me how she loved volleyball, but since she started playing; she had managed to screw up her ankles and knees. She had braces for her knees she was there for her ankles saying the taping provided better support.