Chapter 20 - "Please go away."

Courtney left her history class at the end of the day Friday feeling like she could dance her way to Coach's office. Dancing might be a poor way to go since her ankle wasn't fully healed and could set her back.

Fine, she'd float to Coach on a cloud of excited eagerness. The best way to travel... The third best way to travel, there was By Map and teleportation after all.

"Today's the day!" Aubrey said, bouncing next to Courtney.

Bounce away dear Aubrey, I don't mind for I will bounce with you very soon. Okay maybe not right away, but I'll be a literal step closer.

"Today is the day!" Courtney echoed, beaming.

Her smile seemed to radiate from her and attracted the attention of everyone she passed. Hellos and heys flew to her and she responded with chipper greetings. She wasn't sure she'd ever used chipper before but it felt right with the occasion.

"See you on the other side!" Aubrey said, splitting ways with Courtney.

"See you on the other side of the war!"

Courtney headed down the hall to Coach's office, forcing herself to reign in the desire to skip there. Disastrous endings would come of it, no doubt. Too close to the end zone to not finish the sprint right.

"Hey Doc," Courtney said.

Coach Ramirez smiled at Courtney and nodded to the exam table.

"Take a seat," she said. "And we'll check up on that ankle."

Don't skip, don't skip, walk like the normal, slightly injured, human being you are. Courtney did allow herself the pleasure of hopping up to the exam table. One concession to her excitement. Human again, I'll be human again, knickknacks and whatnots no more! I'll be human again.

Woah, Beauty and the Beast lyrics, really throwing it back today.

She settled her ankle on the table and waited, though not very patiently since her body seemed to be a phone on vibrate and her nerves were repeatedly calling.

"You can lie back," Ramirez said.

Courtney did, staring up at the ceiling, willing herself not to wiggle. She wasn't much of a wiggler but maybe today would be a first.

To calm herself, she thought of the practice to come, getting back into the gym and assessing how the team was coming together. How was Rosa doing with her timing? Had Kimber learned how to smile instead of frown in concentration? Ashton still needed to work on her point. The routine would have to be reworked since she would reclaim-

Ow!

Courtney lifted her head, eyeing Coach. More poking why was is there always more poking? The poking should have been over.

Ouch! Jeez, stop the poking. I'm not a pincushion.

"Cory, go ahead and sit up," Coach said.

Courtney did. Where's my clean bill of health, Doc? I have some bouncing, dancing, skipping, and wiggling to do!

Ramirez pulled out her chair and rolled it over to the exam table. When she sat and looked at Courtney, the feeling of wanting to wiggle vanished. I don't like that expression. Change it to something more hopeful, please.

"Okay," Ramirez said with a sigh.

Nope, so not good. Abort, abort! Abandon ship! Run, Cory, run! Ha, that was a joke because pretty sure a sigh has just winded me.

"Cory," Coach said. "Your ankle isn't at the state I thought it would be by now. I hoped you would be walking out of here with only a brace. But it's still delicate enough that that's not going to be the case."

Breathe, Cory, breathe. Don't throw up. Why would I throw up? I don't know! Just don't!

"Here's the thing," Ramirez said, staring at Courtney with a soft gaze. Really not good. "I know you planned to go back to practice today. But the thing is, everything in your body is connected. It's not individual parts but a whole. That means stress on one area takes away from another. I know you are already working hard on Homecoming, a huge project. If you added practice into the mix, the time it takes for your ankle to fully and properly heal would be extended."

She clapped her hands together once. "Here are your options. Sit out from practice for another two weeks, until Homecoming is over. Or add practice and expect it to be longer before you can get back to cheering with the squad. I'm going to put this decision in your hands because it is your life."

Great, thanks! Give me no way to make you the bad guy...bad woman in this scenario. Well played, Coach, well played.

Facts. Think of facts.

Facts won't change the obvious answer. Breathe, Cory. It will be fine.

Setbacks are ways to challenge you to rethink a situation.

"I understand," Courtney said, surprised by how calm her voice sounded. "Will I be able to walk with a brace at all, or should I be off my ankle for the entirety of the two weeks?"

Don't think about crutches and still having to use them. Don't think about it. Stay with the next step. Step... Yeah, not that. Think of the next move.

"You can walk with the brace and use the crutches to support you. The brace will mean you have more freedom. You can drive again. But if that ever feels too difficult then back off."

Drive. That also means I can sew again. A positive.

"Let me get you the brace."

Ramirez walked to a cupboard at the other end of the room and Courtney used the isolated moment to take in a deep breath and let it out. She felt her eyes prick but she clenched the edge of the exam table. Not here. It will be okay. What's two weeks in the grand scheme of life. Nothing. It's longer than the life of a bee. Is it? Who cares!

"Here," Coach said. She unwrapped the ace bandage from Courtney's foot and slid the brace on. It was stiff and bulky. Worst things in life, right?

Like a bionic foot.

"Slowly put weight on it and we'll see how that is."

Gently sliding from the table, Courtney stepped onto her foot. A spasm of pain shot up her leg but she gritted her teeth and kept it from showing.

"It might be tender at first," Coach said. "So go easy."

Courtney rested her foot on the floor again, holding her weight off it. Painfully slow...ha no pain yet, she put pressure on her foot. The pain pulsed but with less intensity than last time.

"How does that feel?" Coach asked.

"Hurts but not too bad."

"Good. It will take time but slowly your ankle will be able to hold more and more weight. Don't push it, if you do it could set you back. Take it a little bit at a time. Here."

Ramirez held out Courtney's crutches for her. Oh, and I was hoping we could burn them later.

Swallowing hard, Courtney took the crutches.

"Walk about and see how that is?"

Pretty sure I know how to walk with these infernal things but sure, I'll go on a walkabout.

Courtney moved in a circle around the office, testing out how much pressure she could put on her ankle. Barely anything. So happy to have this brace, it takes care of all my problems. Bleh. My pissiness is pissing me off.

"A good test drive, I'll take it!" Courtney said, brightly. Or as brightly as she could manage while residing within a storm cloud. Oh, poetic.

Ramirez smiled at Courtney kindly. "I know it's rough. But remember, we're nowhere near Spring competition. Making this choice to rest will mean you're a part of that. And keep applying the arnica cream and that will help it to keep healing."

"Of course. The bigger picture. Thanks, Coach."

Coach walked to the door and opened it for Courtney. Courtney held firmly to her untroubled expression as she walked out. She almost dropped it when on the other side, she found Lynn shaking her pompoms in greeting, wearing a happy smile.

Lynn did drop her smile and lower her pompoms when she saw Courtney's crutches.

"You're...I thought...It's Friday," she said, dispiritedly.

Breathe, Cory, breathe. Courtney managed a smile.

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Lynn sagged. "You're not coming back?"

"Not for now." Courtney swallowed down the boulder lodged in her throat. Weird time to have swallowed a boulder. "But hey, I know you're taking care of the squad."

"But I'm not you."

Courtney could see the strain in Lynn's face. "What you need is a co-captain right now. I think you should bring Aubrey on to support you. She's been on the squad as long as we have and she has the pep to bring to practice. Talk to her."

This seemed to help Lynn relax and she nodded. She looked down at Courtney's ankle.

"How long?" she asked.

"Hopefully, only two weeks. Then our dream team will be back in action."

Lynn looked at her. "How are you doing with it?"

Hold it together, don't break down. Only two weeks. You've made it through thousands of two weeks before. This should be nothing.

"I should be able to start walking on it a bit more so that's a relief. I had planned to melt the crutches to symbolically represent my recovery but that will have to wait."

"I'm so sorry," Lynn said.

"For what? We're cheerleaders, it comes with the uniform. Do you mind telling everyone what's going on?"

"Yeah, I can do that," she said. "Can I do anything for you?"

"Yeah, hold down the fort till I come back. I will come back."

Lynn headed to the door to the basketball court. "I know you will, Cory, you're strong. You'll get through this."

Strong was that what this feeling was? She could have sworn it was complete brokenness. At the sound of the squad all talking at once, Courtney left the gym through the back door. It was as far as she made it before she had to stop.

The boulder in her throat was now choking her and her eyes were stinging so hard she had to close them. Stupid sunlight, making my eyes water.

She turned to the gym and rested her head on the wall.

It's fine, it's fine. It's only two weeks. Made it through the last ones, these should be a breeze.

Courtney pinched her eyes tighter but that only succeeded in making a couple of tears escape.

Setbacks are not dead ends.

One failure does not mean...

Perspective is seeing the...

Challenges are what make life...

What are the facts? Focus on the facts.

Screw the facts. Facts suck.

She heard footsteps and wished for invisibility. But since her teleportation power hadn't kicked in the other day, she held little hope for this ability to manifest.

"Hey."

Why does Micah's voice have to sound so kind?

"What are you doing here?" Courtney asked the wall. Which it should have been to Micah since she knew why the wall was there. To support her in her time of need.

"I wanted to see...uh...your triumphant return as captain."

"Well, you're seeing it." Courtney took a breath but her throat didn't want to work. Made sense, first her ankle, now her throat, why work when you saw someone else slacking off? "Please go away."

He'd already seen her worst moments, those had been enough.

"Is that a 'go away, go away'? Or is it a 'go-away-but-please-actually-stay go away'?"

The question was so bizarrely specific that Courtney turned her head, looking at him, wanting to laugh. Micah shrugged.

"I have two teenage sisters," he said.

Courtney let out a tiny laugh that sounded more like a choked cry.

Micah stepped closer and pulled her into a hug.

Courtney let her crutches clatter to the cement and held onto him. She buried her face in his shoulder. He smelled like fabric softener and Mexican food. A strange but amazing combination.

He hugged her tightly enough she didn't feel unsteady on her one foot. He might not have Aiden's strong arms that always made Courtney feel small and delicate but he held her so closely she felt precious.

Eventually, Courtney pulled back and hastily wiped at her face.

"Thanks," she said.

Micah bent down and picked up her crutches.

"Want to get out of here?" he asked.

She nodded, trying to find her smile but not managing to. As they rounded the gym, the door to the boys' locker room opened and Aiden walked out dressed for football practice. When he saw Courtney, he instantly hurried over.

"Hey," he said. "Are you okay?"

Before he could get too close, Micah stepped in his way. "Look, right now is not the best time."

Aiden stared at Micah with hard eyes. Though they were the same height, Aiden outweighed Micah by fifty pounds, all of which was muscle. Still, Micah didn't move.

"Who are you?" Aiden asked.

Micah put up his hands in a calming gesture but still didn't move.

"I'm a friend of Cory's. I'm simply helping her."

Aiden looked like he wanted to demand more information from Micah but he glanced at Courtney. She couldn't be sure what he was seeing but everything in him softened. Wow, she must look pathetic.

"Yeah, okay," he said, quietly as he backed away. "I hope you feel better, Cory."

He walked off, rubbing the back of his neck, and glanced at them one more time.

"Thanks," Courtney said.

"I figured an ex-boyfriend wasn't what you needed right now."

Courtney shook her head. "I don't even know what I need right now."

No, she did. She needed to stop feeling like this: weak, and sad, and untethered.

"Come on," Micah said. "I think I do."

**********************************************************************

HOLY SWISS CHEESE!! 🧀

(Wait a minute! ☝️That's redundant and means the same thing!)

Who cares?! THIS IS HUGE!! MICAH HUGGED CORY AND FENDED OFF AIDEN!! AHHHH!! THIS MUST MEAN... COULD THIS BE... OH BUCKETS IS THIS... *faints*

If you're still conscious then please, feel free to scream out your excitement in the comments or voice your continued denial that you are abroad this ship even though we both know you secretly are. 💬🗯💭

*wakes up* (Which doesn't make any sense since I ask you to comment your thoughts after passing out, so I feel like it negates my passing out... I'm overthinking this author's note, aren't I? Yup, I am.)

*rubs a smudge off the bow of the ship* I have to admit, it's looking pretty shiny and sea worthy to me. I think it's time we push it out to the ocean and watch it sail.

But first! It needs a name. Vote on your pick or give me a new suggestion.

Micky

Corah

MC

Haha I think the first one is really the only that could be used. The others are not great.

*sigh* I have a good feeling about this. I really do.

Now the question is: am I saying that because it's true or am I easing you into a false sense of security?

Oh the power I wield with my words. En garde! 🤺

Glasaj, prokomentariši, zaprati! (Serbian)

This worst is knowing that there will be books written that you might never be able to read because you just don't know about them.