Inevitable (Book One)

Chapter 3

Lyla

The rest of my day seems to pass by at a snails pace. Both of the two classes I had today were basically the Professors going over the syllabus and explaining the outline for the semester before they assigned us a crap ton of reading and our first round of assignments. I walk outside along the sidewalk as I head towards the Athletic building at the backside of campus. I start to feel nervous as I pass by other students, some appear to be rushing off to their next class as the run past panting.

I am on my way to my first track practice. I have been running track since they first offered it in grade school. My parents always supported me in and attended all of my meets, ensuring to find a spot near the finish line to cheer me on. I was lucky enough to get a partial athletic scholarship for College, not that I needed the financial help. Over the last ten years or so that I have been running long distance in track my hard work has been rewarded in numerous medals and podium finishes. I've always been confident in my abilities when it comes to running and competing, it's more so the new teammates aspect that has me feeling nervous.

It's true what the say, girls can be very catty. Well, catty is a nice way of putting it because over the years I have dealt with some real bitches. I've come across a few pieces of work in my 19 years so far. That being said, I still have the same two best friends I met in grade one; Rachel and Paige. The three of us grew up together and were inseparable. We all attended the same grade school and high school, even all enrolling at West Harrington last year. I feel a loneliness spread over me as I think of them both, missing them like crazy and hoping they will be able to come and visit me here soon. They are both still attending Harrington this year.

I arrive at the large building with an 'Oakridge Athletics' sign posted at the front entrance. I had already made sure to do a quick tour of the building and track on the weekend when I arrived here, so I know where I'm going. I enter the building and head down the hall towards the ladies locker room. When I enter the locker room I wander down a few rows of lockers and benches until I find one that's empty. I quickly pick a locker at the end of the row that's labelled number seventy two. It's empty when I check it and I start to get changed into my running gear.

I check the time on my phone once I'm dressed and I am happy to see that I'm ahead of schedule and about 15 minutes early still. I head out of the locker room and down towards the track. I can see a few people already running around the track warming up as I make my way towards it. As my feet hit the track I immediately head into a warm up lap, reveling in the feeling of my feet hitting the rubber track under me. I still find running intoxicating even after all these years. I finish the lap and move into some stretches. A few more people have made their way onto the track, totaling at about fifteen or so now as I glance around counting heads.

I sit down at the edge of the track as I stretch my legs out. I glance up occasionally to check out the new people still arriving. I get caught starring at one of the guys who's running past me and he smirks down at me as he catches my eyes. I feel my face heat up as I look back down at the track, focusing back on my stretching. He wasn't ugly by any means, far from it, but I am not trying to get myself involved with any boys this year. I keep my head down, not wanting to embarrass myself again as I continue to stretch.

"Hey you," I hear a voice from behind me as footsteps approach. I peer up from the ground to lock eyes with the green ones I've been daydreaming about all day. Shawn looks down at me, a genuine smile playing on his lips. I move to stand up to my feet, managing to not make the movement look smooth despite the nervous tremble my legs seem to suddenly being taken over by.