Mr. Golden God crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled, “Hey, I just needed to warm up.”
Hip? I thought his name was Clark?
“She didn’t need to warm up!” Beady-Eyes laughed, pointing a finger at me.
“Yeah, but you heard, she’s a professional.”
“Well, you’re warmed up now and I bet you’d still fall on your ass.” Beady-Eyes mocked.
“I would not.” Hip growled, yet looking at him I saw mischief in his eyes rather than fire. “In fact, I bet you twenty bucks I could beat you in a race.”
“Anyone could beat Jeremy in a race. He’s as fast as a walrus. You should race the new girl,” Another guy piped up and all eyes turned towards me.
I shook my head. I did not want to be brought into this! The group of boys all stared at me expectantly. Clark, or Hip, whatever his name was, looked at me with those big begging puppy dog eyes which were brown with hints of yellow and green in this light.
“Come on, Atalanta. We’ll give you twenty bucks if you race Hip and win.”
I perked up and held out my hand for the cash. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Hey, what about if I win?” Hip/Clark whined.
Beady-Eyes sneered. “Then you’ll get the twenty bucks. But you’re not gonna win.”
At this point, I was tempted to let him win just to shut the asswipes up, but I could use the twenty bucks to buy a pair of sneakers, as I didn’t actually have any money and honestly didn’t want to ask Dad for it.
I looked back over to the coach who just shrugged. “I don’t condone the betting, but I’ll always say yes to a good race.”
What the fuck? She would literally let students place bets as long as it encouraged us to do some form of exercise? How lazy was this class?
Setting up again at the starting line, I looked over at my opponent. “Good luck.”
He nodded. “You as well.”
The coach counted down:
3…
2…
1…
And she blew the whistle.
I once again shot off, sprinting around the track, my feet pumping against the rubber. I could feel Hip/Clark close behind me for a few moments before I heard him stumble and fall not even at the quarter mark of the track. Looking behind me, I saw him desperately trying to get up.
This would be an easy win! Those twenty bucks were mine!
Or so I thought, until I caught a glimpse of the class laughing again.
Curse my self-righteousness.
In the last half of the track I purposefully slowed my strides, putting on a big show of being tired with loud panting and bending over, giving my opponent enough time to pass me till I picked up my speed again. Something weird happened when he passed me though, his strides weren’t slow and clumsy as before but quick and sure footed.
He was booking it down the rest of the track like a seasoned runner!
“Holy shit!” I gasped and picked up my speed, chasing after him now.
Even at my top speed, I was a good six feet behind him when he crossed the finish line. He had beaten me fair and square. Or had he?
I walked up to him and held out my hand. “Good race.”
He smiled and took my outstretched hand, his was warm and calloused against mine. “Thanks. You too.”
I let go, my fingers tingling with his residual warmth. “I gotta ask. What’s your name? Is it Hip or is it Clark?”
“Both. My full name is Hip Clark. Really only the teachers call me Clark,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck, his expression showing that he knew how weird of a name was.
I raised an eyebrow. “Is Hip short for something?”
“Maybe,” He grinned and walked off, leaving me thoroughly confused and curious at what kind of person he was.
The rest of the class, I watched Hip carefully as he interacted with the students. If he were to live up to that golden godliness going on he would be Loki. Despite acting like a bit of a bumbling baboon, this guy worked people like a skilled marionette. All of the students were his friends but they treated him as some sort of goofy side hand. Like the town fool who could trick them out of the shirt on their back if he wanted. I watched the way he observed people, the same way I was observing him. His expression was serious and calculating.
Apparently our little bet had drawn the attention of most of the class. They had all thrown in some cash to the pot, and they had all bet against him. I almost blew a gasket when I saw him pocket the wad of cash at the end of class as students walked out of the locker room.
Unable to keep quiet anymore, I stalked up to him and poked him in the back. “What was that?”
He turned and looked down at me, feigning innocence. “What was what?”
“Was your tripping an act or something?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He chuckled and leaned his back against the wall. “I’m naturally clumsy.”
“Are you sure? Because what I saw in there was a classic hustle.”
“Listen Speedy, I’m just as surprised as you that I won that race. I got lucky. I’m sorry if it hurt your pride.”
“I’m not upset about being beaten. I just don’t like being used for your personal gain,” I growled getting as close to his face as my five foot frame could.
It was then I realized that he wasn’t super tall, probably only 5’8”, 5’9”? He was around the same height as my sister. But with that underestimation I also realized that me standing up on my tip toes this close to his face I was at the perfect height to kiss him, my lips only an inch or so from his.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at least slightly tempted to go in for a kiss. Looking up into those ever changing eyes of his, I saw that they were a deep brown green at the moment, almost as if they were reflecting my own. And he looked temped to kiss me too as I watched his eyes flicker down to my lips and back up again.
My anger superseded the urge to kiss him. Stepping back, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down.
For once, that easy smile fell into a real expression. Neutral, empty.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I saw a chance to make some extra money and I took it. Here,” He took the wad of cash out of his pocket and counted out a few bills. "this should be enough to get you the tennis shoes you need. Go to Gail’s in town. She will sell them cheap to you. See it as payment for helping with my little scheme. Next time, I’ll let you in on it first.”
“How did you…?”
“I happened to know you got your schedule from the secretary yesterday. I heard her talking to my Gran about the new pierced up punk girl that moved to town. I also noticed your clothes are old and you jumped at the chance when they mentioned money. Ergo, you didn't forget your shoes. You just didn’t have any.”
I blinked, surprised by his deductive skills. Though that didn’t really explain how he heard what the coach had said to me when he was jogging and tripping down the track at the time. I decided not to question him on it now.
Taking the cash he gave me, I clutched it close to me. “Thank you.”
He smiled and this time it was a real smile, one that reached his eyes. "You’re welcome, Speedy.”
My stomach flopped at seeing that smile. I almost had to resist one of my own.
“You know, while acting like an idiot may come with some advantages, it won’t get you any real friends. See you tomorrow.” With that, I jogged off down the hall to my next class.