breaking rules [ open ]

[GEMMA AISLYNN TAYLOR]

Friday evenings were the most glaring reason Gemma despised being grounded. Being grounded meant no car, which in turn meant that she had to walk home alone from her recreational cheer practice. Thankfully, the class was always over by six-thirty, so she still had enough light left to get home by without becoming too paranoid. She preferred to cut through the park along the well-lit sidewalk, following the shortest path from the cheer gym to her neighborhood. Tonight, however, she felt like taking a bit of time before returning home. If her parents asked, she’d just say that she stayed late at the gym to work on a section of the routine. That was, if her parents even noticed. They were rarely anywhere to be found on Friday evenings, which was why she had to walk home in the first place.

Practice had let out nearly fifteen minutes early this evening, with most of the coaches having become too frustrated to continue. Gemma had seized upon the opportunity to slip into the bathroom as quickly as possible and change into a pair of yoga pants and a jacket before beginning her trek home, ponytail swinging behind her. The sidewalk lamps hadn’t come on yet, and Gemma turned down this sidewalk or that as they came to her. She passed various sports fields, including the tennis courts that she knew quite well. There were fewer people out than she had expected; then again, there was a fair chill in the air – enough to keep mostly people inside. Gemma liked being out in the open after spending an hour and a half in a single room with fifteen other girls with raging hormones. It gave her time to relax before she was confronted with whatever chaos her little brother was undoubtedly causing at home.

It wasn’t long before Gemma was nearly regretting her decision to roam the park. The sweat of a good workout had dried, leaving her cold and slightly shivering. She folded her arms across her chest, and began to walk a little faster, duffel bag bumping against her leg. She was practically on the opposite side of the park from where she needed to be to get home and had a long way to walk. The lamps were beginning to come on as the sun went down, further prompting her to push aside the feeling of wanting to curl up in a one-woman huddle in favor of power-walking. As she walked, she became more aware of her surroundings with each step. Gemma knew very well that she seemed like a rather easy target, especially when she was all covered up, hiding the otherwise easily seen muscles in her arms and legs from many years of cheerleading and gymnastics.

All of a sudden, Gemma longed for companionship – someone to spend the evening with. She looked around at the few other people in the park, most in couples or groups. Gemma hated feeling alone – she was almost always connected in some way or another. Even when she was grounded, she was allowed to keep her phone, even if only so that her parents could keep up with her whereabouts. However, she highly doubted she would find anyone here. Of all the places her friends would choose to spend a Friday night, the park was definitely at the bottom, maybe just above a chess club meeting. Gemma sighed, taking a seat on one of the park benches so that she could browse various social networking websites to discover what all of her non-grounded friends were up to that evening. She looked up at every passing face, hoping that someone she knew might come along.

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