r e s i l i e n c e

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(Love Race - Machine Gun Kelly ft Kellin Queen)

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"It's at the times where you have nothing and no one that you realise how much you take things for granted in life."

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AFTER LUNCH, we headed to the locker room because we had P.E. We changed into one of those really stereotypical outfits in movies. You know, the ones with the tight shirts and way too short shorts. Marwa and I went outside onto the track to join the rest of the group. I was constantly tugging on my shorts to bring them down because they kept riding up like that blonde hoe that was with her two best friends, not far enough from me for my taste. I spotted Noah and made my way to him with Marwa at my side. We started to chat together while the coach finished his conversation with what looked like one of his students from the football team. Noah was talking about how we should all get boyfriends and girlfriends this year. He started to elaborate on a plan to go on a triple date where he would set us up with two of his friends. After a while I stopped listening to him and I let my eyes wander around us. There was a large football field with tall bleachers around it a couple meters on the other side of the property. As I was observing the set up, my heart skipped a beat when my eyes met with the capturing gaze of my nemesis. As much as I hate to admit it, he has captivating grey eyes that hold so much emotion yet none that I can describe. We held eye contact for a long moment until the teacher blew in his whistle to capture our attention. We made our way toward him and then he explained what we were going to do today. Lucky for me, we were doing track and I happen to be very good at that. These past years helped me to be better on the physical side. I am much faster, learned good techniques and developed very useful reflexes.

As the coach instructed, the first group (which consisted of 6 people, including me) took place on the starting line. I looked to my left and saw some random people that I never saw before. I then turned my attention to the right and saw Elijah who was already looking at me, grinning beside me. I flexed my knees and placed my left leg behind my right one. I anticipated the signal of the teacher to indicate the start of the race. The coach screamed

« 3, 2, 1... » Then he blew his whistle the loudest that is humanly possible.

I started running fast but not at my full speed because I want to keep energy for my last blast just before the last lap and because I want to surprise everyone, of course. I passed two guys during the first lap and the others were already behind me, except Elijah. He was not that far ahead of me but enough so that he was already confident that he was going to win easily. I kept my pace for the rest of the second lap and when I crossed the line, I started to speed at my full capacity. I was getting closer to Elijah with each step I took. My lungs started to burn and my calves were getting more painful by each second that was passing. Within another few steps I passed beside Elijah and he turned his head towards me, surprised to not be the best this time. I gave him a smug look and outran him just in time to cross the finish line first by a few meters. Almost immediately, I heard cheering coming from a few other students including Marwa, Noah and the coach. I saw Logan laughing his ass off because of the loss of Elijah. I smirked and walked up to the bench to drink water. Beside mine was a black Nike sport water bottle with Elijah's name on it. I picked it up and threw it at him. He gave me a small smile and then he started to make his way to me. I was a little bit sceptical that he wasn't upset about how he just lost to me in the domain that he was usually best at. Until today, he was the track champion in the school. It didn't surprise me when Marwa informed me of that because he was also the champion before I left.

He walked up to me, still panting from the previous effort, and asked,: « Care for a walk, Aurora darling? »

I raised an eyebrow to him and shrugged in response. He led the way and we silently walked while our bodies recovered. When both of our breathing came back to a normal pace, he said:

« You know, if we're going to do this project together, it would be best if I had your phone number, you know. »

After a moment of hesitation, I gave in and he passed me his phone. I created a contact in it with my name and my number and gave it back to him.

He then asked me:

« So... would you like to share to me how you became such an athlete? » I looked at him and contemplated how I was going to answer his question.

« When did you get so tall? » I asked him back.

« Are you trying to trick me into saying how tall I am? » He responded, chuckling.

« What? No! » I said almost too quickly. I don't know why I sounded so defensive because I swear this was not my intention. Elijah let out a small chuckle and said:

« 6'4 »

I sent him a confused look.

« That's my height. » He continued. A look of realization came over my face.

« Oh » Good. Now I feel really dumb.

« RORYYYYYYY! » Someone screamed behind me.

I turned around and met with an exhausted Marwa coming towards us. Her face was tomato red and she was completely out of breath. After a whole minute of waiting, she finally arrived. She bent down with her hands on her knees trying to catch a normal breathing pace. After a while, she got back up and took my hand in her's.

« Come on, let's go. Coach said we could leave after doing our race. » She said.

« Is that really his name, Coach? » I asked

« Yeah... wait no, I don't know! You know I'm not good with names!" » She exclaimed.

« Yeah, I know. You called me Bestie for a whole month when we met because you forgot my name and was too shy to ask. » I rolled my eyes. Elijah laughed at my comment beside me.

« Bye, I guess. » I said to him.

« I'll see you later. » He responded.