if you're not red-handed ›› peter

[Victoria Camilla Welsh]

(( what she wears ))

Ugh, why did physical education have to be mandatory in school? Victoria thought of how, if she had gone to Phillips Academy or any of the other boarding schools she'd applied to, she wouldn't have had to partake in such ridicule. Then again, her father would have missed her dearly, and he never missed the opportunity to remind her that being active would be good for her, as any parent would say, whether they wanted to or not. She made a mental note not to turn into one of those parents, and that she would respect if her kids hated gym class. Throwing her purse down in anguish, she dropped to the bench near her locker and unlocked the door. 11-14-27, her mind mumbled. There was a click, and her clothes were waiting inside in a heap.

Changing, she realized she was the only girl in her row and breathed a sigh of relief. She always felt antsy about undressing in front of people, and would even cry when her parents tried to change her as a child. Remembering her mother yelling, walking off in a huff... It was enough to make her rush to finish. Slipping on her shoes, she pulled at the laces so tightly, she winced, and went on rather reluctantly to tie the strings in a neat little bow. It was too much of a hassle, so why did the school bother? They'd only play for forty minutes, and then they'd be released back inside. She stepped out of the locker room and went down the short corridor into the gymnasium; so far, she was the only one there, minus two boys from one of St. Helena's minimal sports teams. Chewing on her cheek, she was left alone with her mind, yet again.

Everything about this class was pointless, and she wondered if anyone had ever tried to overthrow the bureaucracy of high school. Someone probably had, and that'd probably why some kids were home-schooled, and too bad for her that the suggestion wouldn't help her case: her father already taught there, so she technically was home-schooled in a way, wasn't she? There was also the point that it would have made it more difficult to get into Yale, or Princeton. Oh, Yale... Remembering the pictures of the campus, the image of her walking across the quad and reaching for her diploma; it all would seem worth it in the end. First, she had to get through high school gym, and that would lead her on the path to graduation. Maybe she could convince her father to take her to Yale's campus during spring break, so she could breathe the same air as some of The Greats, touch the same flowers of the future...

More people had come out by then, but it didn't seem to matter. Pining for a proper education was what got her through the day. Of course, her thoughts moved on to Rory, but she shook those away quickly. He was cute and all, but he must have had someone better out there for him. No, they were friends, and that was all, wasn't it? Perhaps she was only thinking about him because of their project. Victoria made a brief mental note to go to ask her father if she could run to the bookstore in town after school. After all, the library was so limited, and... What was she thinking about again? Her eyes widened as she stared into space so blankly. That had... That had never happened before. What was getting into her lately? She twirled the end of her hair nervously, balancing her weight on one straight leg, while the other was kicked easily behind her. What was happening?

[Peter Ayden Barry]

GYM CLASS | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 14TH | AROUND 9 AM | OUTFIT

Peter sat on the bench in front of his gym locker and stared dismally. He had absolutely no desire to attend this class. From the general attitude of the class it seemed like no one did. The guys around him were horsing around and getting undressed like it was no big deal. Last year he had taken to changing in the bathroom stall, but that only led to extra attention... such as wolf-whistles. This semester he was going to try to buck up the courage to casually change like it was no big deal. But of course the school had to throw a curve-ball. This year they had uniforms. It was said that the privilege for students to wear their own clothes was being taken advantage of with "non-gym appropriate ensembles". So now they were forced to wear a standard white t-shirt along with shorter than average gym shorts. When Peter first saw them he thought they accidentally gave him a girl's pair. Nope. It was a complete 360 from the sweats and long sleeved shirts he used to wear. Making sure no one was looking directly at him, he pulled off his clothes in a hurry and put on the unfortunate uniform. His legs were so exposed. He couldn't believe they were expected to dress like this every class. Well, at least it wasn't just him.

With a sigh he head out of the locker room into the large gym. It seemed to be fairly new and had a distinct scent of rubber and sweat. People were gathered around in their little groups talking, flirting or laughing. There were a few souls like himself standing by themselves, but he didn't really want to approach anyone. Peter was never quite sure who he could trust around here. You might have an intriguing conversation with someone and find out later that they're a pathological liar. These factors made him even more paranoid than he was back home. With that said, he made his way over to the end of the bleachers and sat on the floor.

The whole gym class scenario would of been much bearable if they let them have their ipods. Music could transfer Peter to a completely different place. It was one of the only things that relieved his anxiety in public places. He could just tune everything out. Unfortunately for everyone the gym teachers tended to put on tacky radio stations on a little boom box. Did they actually think anyone wanted to hear Katy Perry while playing indoor kickball? Well, Peter never wanted to hear her in any situation but that was besides the point.

He wished they could just start already. The class was dragging and it hadn't even begun. Finally, the gym teachers entered from the supply closet with a big bag of rubber balls. Shit. They were playing dodge ball. Peter had a lot of history with the game. Last semester the same guys who harassed him at lunch were in his gym class. Dodge ball was the perfect excuse to attack him physically. Peter wasn't the most athletic person in the world. He tended to be clumsy when it came to throwing balls, running and all those sorts of gym activities. It was the perfect battleground of humiliation. Luckily, there was no one he knew from last year here. No one looked too intimidating.

It was then that his eyes caught a glimpse of a girl standing by herself. She was in the girl's version of the uniform and looked just as enthused to be there as he was. He couldn't deny that she was pretty. Her hair was shiny and healthy while her eyes beamed a light of energy. There was something a bit too normal about her. Then he remembered. She was the teacher's daughter. How peculiar, he thought, it must be to be among all the troubled kids and crazies. The better question was why.

The bottom line was that she seemed genuinely nice. He could use someone positive in his life. But the problem was starting a conversation. His social anxiety was getting the better of him yet again. It didn't help at all that he found her to be attractive. She would probably think he was mentally challenged. However, he knew this might be his only chance before the brutal activity began. Nervously he walked in her direction.

"Uh, hi. Do you... know what time it is?" he struggled.

He wanted to kick himself. Had he really asked her for the time when there was clock blatantly up on the wall. All he wanted to do was walk away and pretend it never happened, but at the same time he didn't want to be rude to her.

[Victoria Camilla Welsh]

Victoria snapped out of her thoughts when the boy asked her a question. Did he really just ask what time it was? There was a clock clearly on the far-side of the gym, and was in plain view of everyone on the shellack-coated floor. Looking him up and down, she wondered what he was up to, asking her a question like that. Maybe she should give him a chance, and considering the motion, she peered up at the time. "It's about 9:04 in the morning," she replied. Eyeing him over again, she smiled: he has this cute, kind of awkward demeanor about him, though seemed more socially inclined than Rory ever would be. His blonde curls fell delicately on his forehead, and he has this permanent expression of resembling a dejected puppy-dog. She couldn't deny that he was attractive either, but that wasn't important, and she cleared her throat at the idea.

It was then that she noticed the dodge balls. "Oh no," she sighed, her eyebrows furrowing. Hadn't they banned dodgeball in most states? She didn't ever think private schools could get away with such recklessness as well, and she reasoned that she should probably tell her father about this horrible experience when she went to his office later that night. Then again, would it be the proper thing to rat? Her father had better, more important, things to worry about... Either way, it didn't change the current situation that all of the royals were on one team, and she seemed to be stuck on the other. Or was it 'every man for himself' in dodgeball? She couldn't remember, and honestly didn't want to.

"Maybe this is our cue to leave." Suggesting it, she imagined that, through the array of flying projectiles, the teacher would never notice their absence. Her heart beat faster as the coach explained the rules. "Quick, I'll pretend I have to throw up, and you can offer to take me to the nurse." Her presumptuous nature dawned on her then, and she withered. "I mean, unless you want to play. Then I'll just ask to leave." Her mouth moved back and forth, deep in thought. "I'm Victoria, by the way." Glancing up at him, she felt terrible, but how was she supposed to include people without assuming they wanted to be included? The whole idea of it was ridiculous, and she was just making a complete fool out of herself in the process. "Maybe we could stick this out, I don't know." Pause. "I hate gym class." She laughed at her own statement. This boy must have honestly thought she was out of her mind. Then again, wasn't everyone?

The whistle sounded, and the balls went flying from the other side. Victoria realized she was completely unarmed and panicked. One rubber device went hurling by her, missing her head by mere millimeters, and she crouched down and screamed. She wasn't the only one yelling, which was a relief, but her chest felt like it was going to explode with sheer and utter terror. She clutched her head protectively and kept close to the floor. One girl on the other team yelled in a rage, and she was so overwhelmed. How was this even legal? Her father would hear about this, that was for sure, but whether it came from her teacher or not was the real question.