5. Stroke (1/2)

a/n: thank you for the lovely reviews, and for the reader messaging me on tumblr... you know who you are :). not much is going on, i pretty much sit at home all day and go to the gym to workout every other day. all of my friends are currently out of town :(

the olympic opening ceremony was odd but great :)

check wikipedia and other a/n's for information on rowing.

everything belongs to it's respective owners.

stroke/stroke seat - the rower sitting nearest the stern/coxswain. the "stroke" sets the rhythm for the boat; all the other rowers follow his or her lead. also referred to as 8 seat.

"so, arya, did you go to the iron cup championship at your old school?" gendry asked.

it was friday afternoon, and arya was sitting with gendry, hot pie, chris, and alex at what was now their usual spot for lunch. on the days where she didn't have lunch with the boys, arya would sit with elizabeth and some of the other first eight girls.

arya took a moment to think her answer through; she still hadn't revealed to anyone that she had previously gone to king's landing, who happened to be the two year reigning champion of the iron cup.

"uh, yeah, my old school went. we didn't win or anything. my boat, the men's freshmen eight, placed fourth in our final race." this was a lie, as arya's boat had gotten first place. she still had her medal hanging on her bedroom wall.

the iron cup championship was the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition. competing crews come from all over north america. for almost a decade, targaryen preparatory school was the reigning champion, until kings landing defeated them two years ago.

"well, yoren told me we are going this year! isn't that awesome?" gendry beamed at her.

"ohmygodthatisamazing," travis started flapping his arms and hyperventilate. chris had to calm him down.

"does he really think we are good enough?" hot pie asked.

"i mean, our boat placed second at states last year, and the booster club has raised enough money, so why not?" gendry elbowqed arya, who had a distant look on her face. "aren't you excited?"

arya looked to him and smiled. "yeah."

it was 7:00 friday night when gendry's mom was home, an hour late then when she usually got home. she unlocked the locks on the front door and came through with bags filled with groceries. gendry was lying on the couch, watching tv, when his mom came in. she was a whirlwind of long, blonde hair, her uniform for her hostess job ruffled from working all day.

"sorry i'm late! i had to drop by the grocery store, and the bus came to the station late, and-"

"here, mom, let me help you-" gendry reached for on of the bag's in his mother's arms.

she swatted his hands away. "no, no, i'll put these away. could you just start boiling some water for me and throw these meatballs in the microwave while i cook some peas?"

after doing what his mom asked, gendry set their small table where they ate all of their meals together. it was the same table he ate at when he was a baby and as a child.

he sat in his seat, and told his mom about school while she stirred that pasta. he told her about crew and their new named arya, and how she almost punched hot pie when they first met. this earned a laugh from his mother.

once everything was cooked and the food was set on the table, his mother sat down. she bowed her head to say grace, a ritual gendry hadn't participated in since he was ten. she opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"let's eat."

they filled their plates with dinner. they ate in silence for a few moments until his mother spoke.

"how are the college applications going?"

and there was that dreaded question that had been hanging over his head since summer started.

"fine," he said shortly.

she set her fork down and sighed.

"gendry, what have we talked about-"

"mom! i just need to work on my essays, i have everything else filled out. hot pie hasn't even printed his applications out!"

"i don't care about what hot pie does! this is important, sometimes i feel like you don't care, that you don't even want to go to college!"

"what if i don't want to? would that be so horrible?" he set his own fork down.

"gendry, we talked about this. you could join rotc once you are in college, but you are not joining the military when you graduate, do you hear me? i have worked too damn hard these past seventeen years for you to just hop on a ship and join the navy, do you understand me?"

gendry stared at his plate and didn't answer, but his mother knew that this didn't mean she had won the war they had been fighting, just the battle.

they ate the rest of their dinner in silence, both of them too stubborn to be the first one to talk.

his mother sat back on the one armchair in the apartment while gendry cleaned the table and washed the dishes, ignoring his mom, until she started having a coughing fit. he turned to see her, sitting in her chair with her eyes closed. he walked over and stood over her.

"you doing alright, mom?"

his mom open her eyes and looked up to smile at him. "of course honey. god, you have gotten tall, haven't you? i am just a bit tired, and i am probably coming down with something. don't worry."

"alright, tell me if you need anything. and mom, i'm sorry for being snippy with you."

"i know you are, darling. it's okay. i'm sorry too, and i love you, okay?"

"i love you too." gendry leaned down and kissed the top of her head.