Nowhere In Particular // H.S.

Twenty-One: "It All Feels Right"

Sophomore year of high school, Laurel and I were forced to join the debate team. We were both very bitter about it and she even tried to have her dad get her out of the entire thing. She hates using her dad's money and the power that comes along with it, so it was pretty obvious we were getting desperate.

The district came up with a new rule that year where every student needed to be in some sort of "sport", even though we were also already required to be in a gym class. I'm clumsy, have almost no hand-eye coordination, and frankly I hate sweating, so that put me at an extreme disadvantage when it came to picking a sport to join. Laurel's simply stubborn. She's actually pretty athletic and probably would have been an asset to at least half of the girls' sports they offered, but she was too hung up on the fact that we were being forced to do it and refused to give in.

Somehow debate team was lumped into this category. Sure, it could be classified as a sport in the sense of competition. But I'm fairly certain that the entire purpose of this new rule was to get kids moving, build a little stamina... and reduce the rate of obesity in the United States. So I found having this as option was fairly counterproductive, which is exactly why Laurel and I joined.

The majority of other people didn't seem to realize this would count as a "sport". When I signed up for it I thought for sure it would be packed with other kids who didn't want to join the soccer or basketball teams, but there was only a handful of us.

Laurel tried to act indifferent to it for the first two weeks, maintaining the bitter mood. But soon enough she was hooked and was taking over the reigns as a captain. I was average at it. I had plenty of experience arguing with Pat over the years that gave me some experience, but Laurel really came into her own. In fact, she became so skilled in it that she managed to debate why forcing students to join a "sport" was unethical and cruel to those who physically weren't capable. The school board was convinced and the rule was soon revoked.

I was hoping with the few things I learned in those short four months of debate team, I'd be able to convince Harry to stay in bed for another hour. That's all I wanted, one more hour. However, I wasn't successful... at all, and now I'm following him up a steep rocky trail, trying to figure out why listening to him is ever a good idea.

"You know," I huff out, breathing heavily as I try to keep up with his pace. "My dad always said the most important thing when hiking is a good pair of shoes, well, besides the whole bottle of water thing," I quickly add. "He said you should be able to live in your shoes, run in them, and rely on them to keep a grip on the terrain... only causing a minimal amount of blisters."

Harry turns around with his hands on his hips and his bottom lip between his teeth as he listens to me. He stops walking all together, pausing our trek up the hill to listen to my complaints. I point to my shoes once his full attention is on me, gesturing to the pair of Converse I've had since I was fifteen.

Not only are they old and torn in more than one place, but they are one of the worst possible shoes I could be wearing for Harry's brilliant idea. They have almost zero traction from the years of wear and tear, and there is absolutely no support to them. I wouldn't be surprised if I slipped and sprained my ankle sometime in the near future. Then Harry would have to carry me back down... but that'd show him.

"These shoes are not cutting it," I continue, still pointing down with a stern voice. I try to stay as annoyed with him as I possibly can, but it's difficult with the way he's looking at me. "Umm," I drift off as he continues to stare.

He barges in before I have a chance to say anything else, smiling down at me with a quiet laughter coming from his mouth.

"And you know what my dad used to say?" he asks and I shake my head. "Harry, you can never have too much bacon. Screw what scientists and doctors say, it's good for your soul."