Coach Penny set her water bottle next to the food-drive crate. She centered herself at the front of the gym, pinning back her short brown hair away from her face as she nodded her head to the beat of the electronic music that vibrated the mirrored walls.
The HIIT class quieted, each person with a pair of weights in hand.
Penny called out over the music to her class of twenty, “Ready for the harder part of our workout?”
Over the cheers and “let’s go” from class, Ember shouted, “You assaulted me!”
“I didn’t assault you. If anything, you assaulted me,” John said, his voice level, but his eyes to the ground.
“Liar,” Ember retorted. “Look, you’re already sweating.”
John shook his head, but his jaw length brown hair was noticeably damp even pulled back in a ponytail. “That is because I ran two miles before class, like I always do.”
Laney stepped in front of Ember, eclipsing Ember’s small frame, and pointed her finger at John. “If she says you hit her, then you hit her.”
“Except I didn’t,” John replied, his gaze lifted to Laney.
Students circled the trio.
Laney laughed. “Just like you didn’t trip her when she broke her ankle. Resorting her to only arm workouts in class for weeks?” she said.
Millie, a little taller than Laney, stepped in front of John. “Listen Laney, John said he didn’t do it. None of us saw it. So why do you believe Ember over him?” she asked.
Penny interjected, “Alright class, let’s take another water break. Laney, Millie, can I speak to you?”
“I’m going to need a mega pint of water,” John mumbled as he and others dropped their weights before fishing their water bottles from their bags.
Millie’s long brown ponytail swayed as she and Laney followed Coach Penny to the corner.
“What’s going on? I’ve noticed tension between those two for the last six months.” Penny asked.
Millie took breath but Laney spoke before she could.
“They used to go out, but Ember wasn’t happy near the end. She was actually scared of him. There is a Tiktok of him slamming his bag down at class. He even called her a cunt. He’s one angry person.”
“Seriously? He lost his mother that week,” Millie said, her mouth open, looking to Coach to interject.
The rest of the class had gathered around Penny, Laney, and Millie.
John stood off to the side but within earshot with only a few people standing near him.
Penny sighed and nodded. “Laney, please just stick to the facts. What else?”
Laney smirked, but continued. “He also tripped her a few months ago. She broke her foot. You remember her only being able to work her upper body. For weeks. Then today, he pushed her.”
Penny nodded, then turned to Millie. “Anything else happened?”
Millie spoke calmly, “First off, none of that happened. Ember never brought a doctor’s note and she was walking in unassisted everyday those weeks. Her foot wasn’t broken.”
One person in the crowd spoke up, “Yeah, I sprained my ankle and had skip class.”
Ember whipped her head to the voice. Her blond hair fixed in a braided headband and frozen bun. “Well, I had a broken foot. I was in pain but still came to class.”
“I was asking Millie, at this time, Ember,” Penny said.
Millie continued, “Also, shall we mention how Ember pledged 100 cans for the food drive but has only brought in 10?”
“I donated 100–,” Ember said.
Millie cut Ember off. “No, you pledged 100 and only donated 10.”
“Pledged is as good as donated,” Ember said, never once looking at Millie but at the class.
A few people meandered closer to John.
Millie moved on, “oh, and that Tiktok was edited down to remove her smile at the end of the recording. She showed all of us in the women’s bathroom last week. John was mad and he did call her names, but it was self-defense with all the names she called him. Like when she followed him into the men’s restroom.” Millie folded her arms when she finished speaking.
Laney cleared her throat. “Actually, John followed Ember into the women’s restroom.”
Penny nodded. “Anything else, John?”
John shook his head. “Nothing that hasn’t already been mentioned,” he said with a shrug.
Penny asked, “Ember, anything—”
Ember interrupted, “I just want to say it has been really hard on me these last few months. Everyone is acting like I’m making this stuff up and I’m not.”
She sniffled and wiped her dry eyes with her sleeve.
“Yesterday, my dog stepped on a bee plushie, and it has just been really hard. He even stole my Airpods.” Her gaze swept across the gathered audience.
All but Laney stood with John.
John looked at Penny, his hands up in surrender, “I just bought myself a pair of Airpods. I still have the receipt in my wallet if you want to compare the serial number,” he said.
Coach Penny’s observed the crowd. “Well, the class has spoken. So, I hope we can put this behind us,” she said.
Her watch beeped. She pressed the screen and the beeping ceased. With a sigh, she said, “Alright, class is over. I bet your parents are already waiting for you outside.”
The children gathered their bookbags and dispersed, their chatter quieted as they exited the gym.
Coach Penny picked up the weights left on the floor and said to herself, “I don’t get paid enough for this. I should’ve become a judge. At least I’d deal with adults.”