SHORT STORY - THE INITIATION - GRANT EAGAR
Prompt: Three girls following her.
The Initiation
Jennifer thought How exactly do I get a boy to ask me to the homecoming dance? I finally plucked up the courage to ask Johnathan, and he has a video game tournament that night. How lame is that? High school boys are worthless. She glanced at the three girls following her: Andrea, Susan, and Mia. They had mischievous smiles on their faces and were whispering to one another. What are the little demons up to? They were all in the same gym class, but the girls were a year ahead of her in school. The three were following her in from the track where they had just run the mile. Jennifer didn’t like the feeling of having them behind her; it made her feel uneasy. They were up to no good, and she had the feeling she was their target.
She slowed down so they could pass, and they slowed down as well. She felt a tingle go down her spine. Everyone else had already gone into the locker rooms. When they passed the boys' locker room, Mia said, "As you know, Jennifer, today is the initiation day for the drill team, so we decided to have you run through hot coals, per se, for your initiation."
"What's this thing about the hot coals? Well, whatever it is, hurry and get it over with," said Jennifer. Andrea and Susan grabbed her arms. “What are you doing?”
“Like I said, you’re going to run through the hot coals, i.e., the boy’s
locker room. We’re just helping you out,” said Mia. “We know your love
life is in the ditch, so we felt it would be good for you to spend some time
with the boys.”
"You mangy crows let me go!" yelled Jennifer.
Mia raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to announce yourself to the
boys?"
She was shoved into the boy’s locker room, and the door was closed behind
her.
She pounded on the door and was going to yell, “Let me out, you slimy turds!” But she did not want to draw attention to herself. No one had noticed her yet. She hid behind a bank of lockers. She listened and could recognize Jason and several rowdy boys on one side of the locker room, and she peered around the lockers and noticed Jonathan by himself in an aisle close by. She did not want him to see her, but if Jason and his fellows saw her, she would never hear the end of it.
She took a deep breath and walked down the aisle to where Jonathan was, and when he opened his mouth to say something, she quickly raised her finger to her lips to shush him. She whispered, “Could you help me get out of here. I was shoved in here by Mia and her minions.”
He whispered, “I’ll see what I can do for you. Someone is coming, hurry and get in the locker while I go check to see if the aisle is clear.” He opened a locker, and she wrinkled up her nose, "Just until I check things out." She frowned and stepped inside it, and he closed it.
She considered the light coming in from the vents. This could end up bad. What if Jonathan betrays me? What if Jason and his pack of degenerates find me? She peered out of the vent and noticed the feet of several boys walking by. She held her breath when they stopped in front of the locker and began talking with Jonathan, something about the video game party. After a minute, they left. Why were boys so infatuated by video games? What does it take to get their attention?
A minute later, Jonathan got up and left, and when he returned, he opened up the locker, then motioned for her to join him, and he led her to a hallway. Several boys were coming, so he intercepted them and asked them about their times in the mile. When they were facing the opposite direction, she ran down the hall and out the front door. She quickly ran into the girls’ locker room.
She walked up to the cleaning hose that was neatly coiled up next to a faucet and considered it. The corners of her mouth turned up. A bit of revenge is in order. Since Mia and her pups are hot and sweaty, a little sprinkle should cool them off. She twisted the spray fitting off and then turned the handle to full blast. She opened the outside door to the girls’ locker room and saw the three girls still holding the boys' locker room door shut.
They were laughing, and Mia opened the door an inch and yelled, “There’s a girl in the boys’ locker room!”
Jennefer twisted on the hose and hit them with the full blast of the hose. They were soaked to the skin. "I thought I would help cool you off since you're sweaty little pigs. Don't say I never did anything for you, now you won't have to take a shower." She twisted the end to turn the water off, quickly walked over to her locker, and began changing.
The three girls burst into the locker room. Mia picked up the hose and yelled, "Jennifer! We're going to soak you to the bone then . . ." She then noticed the teacher standing nearby.
Just then, Mrs. Bennett, a gym teacher, entered the room. “Why are you messing with the hose? You know our equipment is not to be played with. Now get out of those wet clothes and get dressed. Since you're so fond of water, you can help clean the locker room.”
Jennifer struggled to hold a straight face as she dressed for her next class. She waved at the three girls who were busy cleaning. When she walked out of the locker room, Jonathan was waiting for her.
“Thanks for the help, you’re quite the gentleman.”
“No problem, I’m glad I could assist. Now, about the homecoming dance thing, maybe we could go ... after all … ah, if you still want to. The party can wait.”
She grinned and hugged him. “That would be wonderful! We could play some Minecraft for our pre-dance activity.”
“You play Minecraft? That would be awesome.”
The End
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