"Why are you mad?" My question came out in parts, heavy almost, as I worked on slowing my heart rate, which seem to have sky rocketed after whatever that was that we just did.
With heated eyes his hands pressed me closer to him "Mad about how I sho...
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"NO POINT RUNNING River!" Derek shouted behind me. He seemed to run faster and faster every second and I wondered if he was ever on a track team. Though then again I was half jogging, half walking.
I let out a laugh at what this scene must look like, but I soon regret it as I begin to wheeze and have difficulty breathing.
Most of the boys stopped to pick up their clothes instead of chasing us. Tiana and Toby are still running up ahead and like the smart people they are, they dropped their taking of the boy's clothes way back at the courts.
I, on the other hand, am still holding onto some. In my pile, were still Dereks, and God did he look determined to get them back, especially his underwear.
The strain on my heart builds little by little, not the most intense pain I've had from exercise but enough to make me stop. I clutch my chest and focus on taking deep breaths as Dr Winton showed me.
In for eight seconds.
Out for five.
In for eight seconds.
Out for five.
By the time Derek reaches me my heart rate had slowed to a more bearable rhythm.
"Give me my clothes." His jaw ticks and he holds his towel tighter around his waist. The fire in his eyes dulled, a more childish sparkle taking its place.
Straightening up, I realised he didn't notice that I couldn't breathe for a couple of seconds. That made me feel a little closer to a normal teenage girl, even more now that I'd taken a liking to his chest muscles.
A small smirk, almost imperceptible tugs at his lips. "You done checking me out?"
My eyes flit up to his brown ones, I hadn't realised I was staring that long. "Checking you out?" I covered. "I hadn't realised you were a book in a library. I'll make sure to remember my library card next time."
Derek shakes his head and chuckles softly.
"Here." I chuck him the pile of clothes and he ruffles through till he finds his.
"Speaking of libraries, I thought you were studying there this lunch."
He pulls his hoodie over his head in one effortless movement. "A couple of guys came by looking for more people to try out."
Standing felt like a bit of an effort right now, so I sat down fatigued on the grass. His eyebrow cocks upward as he looks down at me breathing a little too hard.
"You're not much of a runner are you?" He throws on his pants, the towel still safely wrapped around his waist as he does so.
"I do exercise if that's what you're implying."
He raises his hands like I'm holding a gun to his heart. "No, no, of course, you do. I'm just meaning running as in track work."
I pick at individual blades of grass. Derek sets himself down on the grass opposite me and flings his towel over his right shoulder.
I still don't want to tell him about my CHD so I settle for a different reply, one that is practically still the truth. "Guess I've just never taken the chance to try it."
Through thick lashes he observes me. His curls are still damp from the shower, one drips water onto the side of his face. I watch as he flicks it away. "You should try it sometime. No time like the present," he finally said.
But it's not like I can just try it sometime. What I just did was hard enough and I'd barely call that jogging. "So baseball?" I bring back the old subject.
"Yeah. I pitch."
I look at him thoroughly. "I would've picked you as a soccer boy, not a baseball pitcher."
Ever since Toby first started out at soccer I've been to all his games. So I've seen my fair share of soccer boys over the years. Derek has the physique and the inexplicable vibe that comes with being one.
He smiles. Who would've thought that a couple of minutes ago he was angrily chasing me for his clothes and underwear? "I play soccer too," he confirmed. "More than baseball actually."
I pull my socks up over my swollen ankles, a habit. But with a boy other than my dad and Toby in front of me, they're not the most flattering thing. At the movement, Derek glances down at my ankles but doesn't say anything.
"They're looking to fill spaces on the soccer team if you're wanting to try out."
I was doing Toby and the team a favour wasn't I? So why did I feel as if I made an un-loyal decision?
Shifting his weight onto one hand he leans back. "Is your boy on the team?"
My eyebrows furrow together, my boy? There's only one person I could think of that anyone would refer to as my boy. "Toby Miller?"
"Whatever his name is."
"Well, his name is Toby," I answered. "But yes, he's the captain."
A challenging glint crawled across his face. It was mischievous, yet seemed normal for him, maybe even suited him a little. "Maybe I will try out."
I pushed a couple of black locks behind my ear and stood up. "Tryouts are this weekend," I said while brushing grass off the back of my thighs.
Derek rose to his feet and we walked off the field. "You know, I didn't take you as the type to steal boys clothes."
"I'm not."
He looks over at me. "Why the sudden interest?"
Shrugging, I glance at the ground and speed up. "We should get to class," I say, deflecting the question.
A/N: we got our puppy!!! I've been feeling kinda down lately so I might spend some time writing this weekend.
