Hard To Handle

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

Cannon lay on his bed, unable to motivate himself enough to get up and get Bully out for another self-training ride for their upcoming competition. They'd been training non-stop for the past month and decided he'd take his self-allotted monthly day off today. He sat up and looked around his room, spying his running shoes which dawned an idea on him. "Let's see who wants to play some ball." He said to himself, seeing as he didn't have a roommate yet; which could be more of a reason for his constant training than simply wanting to get better.

He stood up and changed into basketball shorts and a black beater, sliding into his barely used running shoes and grabbing his phone before he left D28 of White Ribbon house. He ran down the stairs through the mostly empty common room and headed out the door. On his way over to the gym, he could see some students going for a run, others headed down to the stables, and some just lounging around in the grass, enjoying the sun. He reached the gym right behind some girls in their gymnastics warm-ups and had to kept himself from rolling his eyes at their backs. In his opinion, gymnastics was a fun sport to watch and all, but when you looked at the athletes, they were sickly thin.

He walked into the building and headed for the courts down the hallway. Most of them seemed to be empty, so he grabbed a ball from the cart and started dribbling over to the basket, dodging invisible defenders before stopping, planting his feet, bending his knees and jumping as he sent the ball flying through the air for the net. It hit the backboard and fell right in. He ran over and grabbed it again before dribbling back to take another shot.

[madison]

Working out, it was something she forced herself to do. Riding was a good form of exercise but it didn’t provide the cardio she needed to stay in shape and actually ride to her fullest potential. Cardio was her least favorite thing to work on, but oddly one of her stronger suits – while she hated the burn she liked the feeling that running gave her when she finished. The best way to run in her opinion was in a controlled environment, she liked indoors for this type of activity and found suicide drills to be the most effective. Running on a treadmill made her nauseous and she didn’t like elliptical machines either, she would occasionally pull out a bike and take it for a spin but this fall weather made the gym and it’s controlled temperature a much more tempting form of exercise. She got dressed to workout, pulling on a pair of purple shorts and yellow bra both by LiveStrong, a black Nike shirt wound up going over top as it was the only workout appropriate shirt she could find. She threw a jacket over her shoulders and slipped her Ugg boots on over her socks. Heading out the door she grabbed her i-phone and some headphones, she worked out the best when she had musical motivation.

She stopped at the lockers, sticking her jacket in there she hung it up, pulling her Ugg boots off she switched into her sneakers. The courts with the best lines were the basketball courts, and they were usually empty when there wasn’t practise or something going on. Sticking her headphones in her ears she cranked the music, lots of people like to play things to pump them up when running. Madison didn’t exactly listen to what most kids her age did, she was in love with Mumford and Sons, Ron Pope, The Arkells and Bon Iver. She had recently downloaded Mumford and Son’s new album, it would last her the entire workout. She pushed through the gym doors, long blond hair in a high pony tail pretty much on top of her head and a headband to keep her bangs out of her face. She was surprised to see a lone tall individual, a boy who she thought was a student – just a really tall one compared to all 5ft3 of her. Pulling a headphone out of her ear she waited till he finished his shot, smile lit her face as she spoke to him.

“Mind if I use the other end? I’ll stay out of the way.”

She headed to the other end of the court, though didn’t go too far. She started stretching out, she could leave and find another empty court if he wanted this one to himself. Either way she would have to warm up, sitting on the floor she put her feet together in front of her and let her legs fall flat to the floor, stretching forwards with her body she could basically put her face to the floor cold. Holding it for 10 seconds she released the stretch slowly before repeating the process a few more times. Her music still playing, but just in one ear so Madison could hear if need be.

ooc- I assumed it was open, if not I can delete.
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

He didn't turn to look as he heard the door open, just continued shooting, making it in every time. He was about to run over to the hoop to retrieve the ball when he heard a voice from behind him. He turned on a dime and saw a petite girl standing before him, ponytail high in her head, dressed to work. He smiled back to her and then shook his head, "Go right ahead, I don't own it or anything." He said to her, a small grin in his face as he turned back around to grab the basketball which was still bouncing from when it landed after falling through the hoop.

On his way back to the center of the court, he saw her begin stretching her muscles, and for a second, he could have pinned her for a gymnast. That was absurd however, considering the fact that she was here instead of the gymnastics hall, and just because a girl is flexible for not mean they do gymnastics. Plus, she seemed too healthy to be a gymnast. He reached the center circle and turned around, giving the ball a bounce or two before bending his knees again and sending it flying towards the hoop. He wondered who else might play basketball at this school, and then realized that pretty much every kid had learned to play at some point in his or her life.

[madison]

Working through a few more stretches in that position she stood up to stretch out her hamstrings and then her arms, she was the running type, she had no interest in gymnastics and while she had danced ballet when she was young the girl gave it up by the time she was 12 when everyone else shot up to a respectable height for a ballerina and she remained midget like. It didn’t bother her, she wasn’t as committed as she had once been due to the horses and she liked having pretty feet. Aside from that the individual had been involved in sports most of her life, mostly only through school because riding took up most of her time. She had also managed to miss lots of school in the past few years so sports besides riding had fell to the wayside, it was for that reason that she hadn’t asked to play with the boy. She hadn’t played in a while, it was never her sport of choice due to her height but she had a decent shot and had played “horse” with her brother on more than one occasion. Standing still for a moment before she started her set Madison heard him speak, smirk lit his features.

“Thanks, its habit, not everyone likes to share.”

She thought of her time in ballet, people had spots on the bar that were theirs, certain girls always danced front and center. Madison could not have cared less where she danced, she did it for fun and would have fun anywhere in the room. She smiled to him for a final time and got to work on her suicides, taking it slow to start she jogged the first few lines feeling some pull in her ankles she knew it had been too long since she ran last but adjusting to school had taken more time than she realized. Right now she should be spending time with Ava her rescue project or Suede the mare from her reproduction class. Madison did remember that she had promised to take care of herself too – which was what she was doing at the moment. She would shower and then hit the barns to see her class horses, and then somehow find time to school her horses. Picking up the pace in the drill she ran it for a little while longer but found herself distracted by the basketball. She pulled out her headphones and wrapped them around her phone, before sticking it in the pocket on the side of her bra. She jogged over to the surprisingly tall individual and spoke.

“Hey I’m Madi by the way, and what you’re doing looks more fun than my drills. You play horse?”

Sure he could brush her off, make fun of her or say no but she figured there was no harm in asking – she didn’t think shooting hoops alone would be as much fun as a good game of horse, but then again she frequently realized people didn’t always agree with her.

ooc- weee
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

He chuckled at her response and nodded slightly before continuing with his shots. He'd never missed a shot before in his life; though he wasn't sure why exactly. Maybe it had to do with his logic-centered brain, which always calculated distances and probability before he had a chance to think about it. He heard the ball swish through the net again and snapped out of his thoughts, jogging over to pick it up before repeating it again from a different spot.

As she started her workout, he looked over, seeing her run her suicides and couldn't help but frown slightly. There were studies beginning to release results and information proving that kids running suicides would have hip pain later in life... for the rest of their life. He was glad he'd never had to run them more than once or twice in gym class, but his thoughts kept nagging him to tell her, see if she knew. Then again, it was her decision, she'd find out later.

He was about to throw the ball again when he heard her voice from behind him and whipped around, seeing her standing in front of him, seeming surprisingly hopeful about joining into the game. "I don't usually have the chance to, but yes, occasionally. You wanna go?" He asked her with a smile, tossing her the basketball to start off. He hadn't played with someone else since the past school year during a free gym period. Playing with someone else made it much more entertaining, and allowed for competition with someone other than yourself. He loved competition. "Pick a spot." He said to her, backing up to see where she'd go first.

[madison]

Madison wasn’t concerned about being embarrassed, growing up with her family – Sam especially it was something you were broke of pretty young. While she truly was self-conscious and uncertain who exactly she was, Madison made up for it by acting the way she did. Trying to converse with others and enforce her presence. She liked to talk, it was refreshing when people didn’t ask about Alli or even realize that Madison was still mourning for her sister on the inside. People here didn’t know who her sister was and Madison hadn’t gotten to know anyone well enough to discuss family. The petite blonde hadn’t decided how she would talk about her family if someone asked, would she fail to mention a second sibling at all or just dance around the topic entirely? Either way she didn’t have to worry about it at the moment instead she should focus on the potential of playing horse. She didn’t want to challenge the guy to a game and then lose focus and end up the horse in a matter of shots. Having an older brother was paying off at the moment, she was quick naturally that wasn’t going to help her in this game but she did have a pretty decent shot when she tried.

She smiled to him, when he asked her if she wanted to go. No she had just asked to play but had no interest in actually being competitive – pfft; She held her tongue, he didn’t know her and she didn’t want to say something that would come off as rude or mean. Instead she held her hands out, ready to catch the ball and when he tossed it to her she dribbled a few steps and looked up at the net. She decided to not go crazy with the first shot, a simple one handed toss from the free throw circle – the ball hit the rim hard but wobbled in – she smiled and some relief waved over her, she hadn’t actually shot a ball in a couple weeks.

“Yah, let’s go.”

She retrieved the ball and tossed it to him with enough force to prove that just because she was a girl, and a small one at that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of throwing a ball around. Truth was all the boy had to do was dunk the ball and she would be beat. Madi was competitive though, it didn’t matter what she was playing she played to win and went hard no matter how skilled she was. It was in good nature though, at least it was for now.

ooc- done.
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

He laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him, shaking his head lightly. Yes, of course she wanted to play. When she caught the ball and chose a spot, he waited for her to take a shot, and had to admit, he was slightly impressed when she made it on the first try, even though there was a moment where they both held their breath as it took it's time going in.

He nodded to her, before grabbing the ball from underneath the net and dribbling it back to where she stood. "Alright, game on." He said to her, turning around, bending her knees slightly, and then releasing the spring, jumping slightly off the ground and releasing the ball into it's arc to the basket, where it rolled off the backboard and into the net. He hated when he did that, but he'd get the trajectory down one of these days. He turned to look at her before running to get the ball again, a smile on his face. "Too easy." He chuckled, then turned around to grab the ball and throw it back to her, high in the air.

[madison]

Laughter, that was a good sign – even if she still didn’t know his name Madison could fairly argue that they were having a decent time, it was better than running drills alone. She was even off to a decent start, basketball was not her game – it was fun and she had a decent pass and shot on her but it didn’t really evoke the same passion and drive riding did. She found most sports boring when compared to riding, some people blamed it on the horse factor. While she loved horses and they were obviously a huge part in the sport Madison didn’t know if she could have a horse just to ride, if she didn’t get to compete the girl would go crazy. She loved her horses and wanted the best for them but at the end of the day they were a team, a competitive team and both her mounts loved to hit the show arena – adrenaline was an addiction of sorts. Focusing back to her game with the tall boy, Madison watched him make the shot and smirked, she had expected it. When he smirked and called her shot easy Madi just grinned, her tone light in the air.

“I didn’t realize I was playing with a pro!”

Her brother had been good a basketball, not university or college good – but decent enough to play on his high school team. Madison remembered going to games with her sister and cheering Sam on, her smile faded lightly at the memory. She saw the ball coming, it was a high toss and gave her plenty of time to re-act. Smoothly she jumped to meet the ball a few feet above her head, landing lightly she absorbed the shock in her knees and looked to the basket – still planning this next shot. Dribbling to the basket, on a slight angle she tossed the ball so it hit the backboard and re-bounded to her – jumping to catch it she went for the rebound but was disappointed when her shortness got in the way. The ball hit the rim, just a little too low and toppled to the side as she missed the shot.

“Ah shoot, sometimes I forget how short I am.”

She collected the ball that had rolled a few feet away and tossed it to the boy, her pass was direct and smooth – had some kick too it. She was getting competitive already – worried that she would be the first to get a letter it was enviable actually as he obviously had more talent and training for the sport that she ever would.

ooc- weee.
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

Cannon laughed at her comment, rolling her eyes. "I doubt I've ever played more than you." He said to her as he waited for her to take her next shot. He'd never played more than 10 times in his life, but when he did, he played hard and did well. It was a fairly easy concept, once he figured out what angle he needed to shoot the ball at.

He watched as she went to toss the ball and shook his head at her words. "Nah, it doesn't matter how short you are, just matters how you throw it." He said to her with a smile. He caught the ball which she had thrown to him -- a little hard, he might add -- and dribbled it a few times as he made his way over to where she had been standing. He glanced up at the basket once before bending his knees and hopping up, releasing the ball and then watched it swish through the net. "You've just got to get good at realizing how to throw it." He said to her as he chased the ball down and then took it back to her. "Want me to show you?" He asked her, sensing that she was getting a bit angry, and that she had to be quite competitive.

[madison]

Madison smiled forcing herself to simmer down, it was true – she was competitive and it wasn’t always in her best interest but it was nothing against the boy – it was all her stressing herself out. Wiping her hands on her shirt Madison pulled her pony tail tighter, the long blonde hair was a total pain but at the end of the day she knew she would look silly without it. She had this knack of putting an unrealistic amount of stress on herself, no matter the sport or her experience she expected herself to raise to the top. Even if the boy wasn’t trained formally in the sport his build alone gave him more aptitude than she would ever had, but she wouldn’t let that be an excuse. When he spoke Madi nodded, smiling lightly her tone hit the air lighter as she composed herself.

“It’s possible, not exactly my game – I ride for a reason.”

She wasn’t a Debbie downer, she could handle a fun game but winning was just so much more fun. Madison wished she could blame someone else for her naturally competitive nature but she brought it on herself. Her parents liked it when she did well but aside from school they didn’t exactly push her to be at the top. As far as they were concerned seeing Madison happy with the horses was money well spent, they didn’t care if she won or not. Madison on the other hand had no interest in filling the class and wasting everyone’s time, she didn’t like to lose. Not that anyone really did but she especially despised it and sometimes found it affecting her negatively, it didn’t take her long to check out and remind herself that having fun was as important. So as the boy spoke to her again and made a comment about height she smiled and nodded. While in effect he was correct in the game it was of great advantage to have the added height, there was a reason most ball players were giant. She just smirked, watching him make the basket with ease she grinned to him. Ready to be completely schooled, she had accepted the chance of losing fully but it wouldn’t keep her from trying. When he offered help she was silent for a second, then her tone hit the air, light and fun.

“Now that I have my H please show me.”

She smirked to him, waiting for him to explain the arc to her it was simple she hadn’t calculated the arch in the shot quite right – watching him was a help but in a limited manner as he was taller so his shot would vary from hers – the technique would not though. She waited patiently for the lesson to commence, if she was going to lose she may as well learn something.

ooc- weee.
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

He smiled in return when she nodded and smiled lightly to him, seeming to calm herself down a bit. 'It's possible, not exactly my game - I ride for a reason' She said to him in return to his comment about height not mattering. He chuckled at that. "You're pretty funny, short stuff." He said to her with a grin as he stood with the basketball.

She seemed to be debating whether or not to agree to his offer in showing her how to throw it, but then she responded as if she had never hesitated, 'Now that I have my H please show me'. He nodded and stood next to her, dribbling the ball a few times before tossing it to her. "Hold it in your right hand with your left hand mostly just on the side of it." He said to her, watching to make sure she held it correctly.

[madison]

Madi had to remind herself to be graceful at all times, it was something her brother was much more talented at. Keeping herself composed she managed an honest smile, relaxing in to the now relaxed environment. Why she always had to make things so competitive the short blonde would never know – not that it mattered anyways. When it came to riding that competition fueled her, it made her work harder and kept her competitive. Funny how it vanished when it came to school, even her horse oriented classes were giving her grief these days. Her grades were good, well good for her but she felt like she was drowning slowly and surely. She considered going to see the counselor but knew talking about Alli was going to open a whole new can of worms, so instead she held her tongue and kept distracting herself. His comment snapped her back to the present, she smirked at him laughing lightly alongside his chuckle. Her own tone hit the air,

“You’re not too bad yourself, giant stranger.”

She still quite honestly didn’t know his name, it didn’t bother her – or maybe it did but she just wouldn’t let herself realize it. Watching him carefully she paid attention to his hands on the ball, when he passed it to her Madi caught it with ease – she was naturally athletic after all and even if she had been holding the ball incorrectly she was comfortable with it. Paying attention to his words she nodded, concentration distracted from her natural smile for a moment though as she seemed to grasp the concept and the ball the smile cracked back over her face. Her hands were fully stretched, they were quite small so she struggled to hold it with the ease other people might but she seemed to have a firm enough grip. Adjusting it slightly she moved her left hand from under the ball to the side, balancing it this way she turned to the boy and nodded – smile played at her features once more.

“Okay, now I just dunk it. Right?”

ooc- slow again, sorry.
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

ooc: not a problem, haha, haven't been on this past week, so it worked out well.

He laughed as she responded to his comment, and then realized as she called him stranger, that it wasn't just a nickname, like his was for her. He hadn't told Madi his name. "Oh, shoot. I must be spacing a lot today." He sighed with a chuckle. "Cannon. I'm Cannon." He said to her with an embarrassed smile. He normally didn't take that long to tell someone his name, but for some reason, he didn't feel the need to introduce himself to her at first. It was almost as though he felt like he already knew her or something.

Once she caught the ball and held it the way he had showed her to, he laughed at her comment. "Exaclty. And then you hang off the rim too." He winked to her as he watched her hold the basketball. "Alright, here's the nerdy part, so don't laugh at me, okay?" He said to her with a slightly shy chuckle. "You're 5 foot... what? Two-ish? So from where you're standing, you want to hold the ball at 65 degrees," He walked over and moved her hands to about that angle, "and throw it about 17 miles an hour... so pretty fast, but you'll get nothing but net if you do it." He said to her as he took a step back to see if she did it.

[madison]

Madison was smiling and enjoying the day now more than she thought she would, as far as Madi was concerned time at the gym wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t her idea of fun either. Though this game of ball was more fun than running drills, and naturally she got along with most people. It was nice to think she might actually make some real friends here, then again she didn`t know the strangers name so perhaps he was trying to tell her that this was one time deal. It didn`t matter she was enjoying herself and living in the moment. Then he spoke, something about spacing and Madi smirked, he must have simply forgotten. His name was Cannon, she liked it – a smile spread across her features and she nodded to him, the ball still in her hand so she didn’t offer him one to shake. Instead she spoke,

“Happens to the best of us, nice to meet you Cannon.”

Her attention returned to the ball, she looked from it to the hoop – at this point she would normally just toss it and hope for the best. Though when he played on her comment about the dunk she smirked and laughed lightly. Watching him wink Madison nodded, though he continued to speak taking her attention from the joke and to the goal once more.

“Right, no laughing."

She promised, and hoped she could keep it, something told her he was about to impress her once more. She listened carefully and tried to do the math in her head – she got lost. It sounded a lot like her physics homework, he was moving her hands before she realized it – 17 miles an hour hey? Well if this worked it would be impressive. Madison nodded to him and went for it, she tossed the ball forcefully at what she thought might be too much speed but quickly realized it was the right amount. The ball landed in the net with a smooth swish, Madi’s eyes lit up and she looked to Cannon – smiling now.

“Well I am impressed! So physics is something your good at then?”

ooc- weeee
outfit

[Cannon Eric Ryland]

He saw her smile and he ended up smiling in return. It must have been contagious. He nodded as she responded to his introduction and then watched as she turned her attention back to the ball. He hoped she wouldn't laugh, and when she acknowledged it, he let out a sigh of relief, soft enough that she couldn't hear. It was something he didn't really share with others too often, because really, he hadn't found a place that embraced the nerds, and he didn't expect any different here. No teenager liked to feel like they weren't as smart as someone else, but the person who was smarter, always felt like they didn't want to be as smart. So he hid it, tried to party as much as he could, and hang out with all the people who weren't quite as smart as him, blend in a bit. It was just when report cards came out that he couldn't hide it.

He saw her shoot it, and knew right away that it was going fast enough and it'd be going in. The second it went through the net, he saw her smiling to him again, purely happy. She then asked him about physics, which made him laugh somewhat shyly. "I guess you could say that. I just like school in general, really, so I don't exactly find any subject all that hard... except for English. I really don't know how to deal with all those books." He chuckled. "What about you? What's your favorite subject?" He asked her as he went over and got the ball again, bringing it back to the three point line.