The Summer Everything Changed

Chapter 3

Come on, girl. You can do this. Just a half a mile to go, then you'll be done. Why aren't you breathing? BREATHE.

Deciding to follow the words of my conscience, I took a breathe. Multiple breathes, actually.

I had been jogging along the bike path near my house since four a.m. It was now five thirty. I'm not sure what kind of crazy person I am, but I often do this when I need to release the anger that bottles up inside of me. Plus, I feel good afterwords. Like I've actually accomplished something in my life. Not to mention I've lost a ton of weight just jogging alone.

Pausing my music that I had been listening to prior, I sipped my water bottle ( I read somewhere that if you gulp water, you'll get cramps ) and took a seat on the ground, just taking in my surroundings.

Surprisingly enough, the bike path was quite pretty. Stunning, actually. It's like you were traveling on a road through the jungle or something. Needless to say, it was one of my favorite places to go when I needed to escape from my problems.

I looked down at my phone and saw that it was five forty eight.

"Get up loser. Forget that other half a mile. You need to go home and shower so you're not late for school." I said aloud to myself.

Man.. I could be quite the lunatic when I wanted to be.

The jog back had actually been a lot easier than I thought. Maybe it was because of my self-motivation? I don't know. But my breathing definitely wasn't as ragged as it had been when I started.

Just as I was about to make it to victory, a shoulder suddenly collided with mine, and I fell to the ground with a hard thud.

"Jesus! Watch where you're going." I hissed while still lying on the ground in the position I had fallen in, looking like a complete idiot.

"What is it with people saying "Jesus" whenever they get a sudden burst of anger? It doesn't make any sense." A deep, husky voice said.

Well... That certainly wasn't the response I was expecting.

When I looked up to see whom it was exactly that I was dealing with, I noticed that this particular individual was... let's just say very good looking. His toned arms were lying limply by his side, and he had an annoyed expression on his face. Weirdly, I couldn't seem to keep my eyes off of his face. Oh, his amazing face. He had dark chocolate hair, with the bluest eyes I'd ever seen.

"Umm.. Hello? You ok?"

Oh, damn it. He must have noticed me staring at him.

"What?" I dumbly asked.

"Oh, nothing... You just look like you're... confused."

Yeah, I probably did. Reality suddenly hit me and I became reminded of the actual situation I was in. I had bumped into this gorgeous guy pretty enough to be a model while jogging... Gosh, I probably looked like a hobo! Not to mention I was still a bit overweight. I suddenly became self conscious, and stood up quickly.

"Yes. I mean, no. I'm not confused. I'm just late. I have to go. Bye."

With that, I started speed walking away. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps behind me.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name."

I turned around, feeling so confused on the inside. Why would some complete stranger even care to know my name?

Hesitantly, I answered his question.

"...Lilianna."

His straight face morphed into a small smile. "Pretty. It seems to suit you."