Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"You Might Think I'm Crazy"

I kept my strange marathon fantasy to myself for the duration of the shopping trip. I mean, how could I take part in a marathon? I couldn't even stand, let alone run! Would they even allow someone in a wheelchair to be in the race? When we got home from the trip - after Valerie ordered a bunch of furniture - I looked it up online. I was surprised to find that there was a separate race for people in wheelchairs, but somehow, that wasn't enough for me.

The truth was, I wanted to prove I could still keep up with Stephen. That I could beat him. But unless Stephen suddenly became dependent on a wheelchair, that probably wasn't going to happen. But I just couldn't let it go.

"Everything else should be here within a week or so," Valerie said as we all sat around the room eating Chinese takeout. She was staring at what we had gotten today. We couldn't fit much in the car, but we managed to squeeze in a few kitchen and bathroom supplies, and a couple rugs. So not much.

"Guess you'll just have to survive until then," Keto said with a shrug from where he was sitting against the wall. "You're at school and work for most of the day, though, aren't you?"

Valerie nodded, then took a sip of the coffee she was holding.

I was barely paying attention to the exchange. I had all these things swirling around in my head that was making it incredibly hard to concentrate. I wanted to see what my mother was up to, but then a big part of me wanted to forget I ever saw her until that proof she wanted to see me came along. Then I was worried about Arjun, because he hadn't texted or called all day. While I was thinking about it, I got out my phone and texted him to ask how he was doing, then tried to banish it from my mind. He'd talk eventually.

Then there was everything with the Boston Marathon. As much as I tried to forget about it, it wouldn't stop nagging at the back of my mind. But it was silly to think I could be a part of that. I couldn't have done it before the car accident! No matter how hard I tried to concentrate on something else, the idea stayed there in the back of my mind, annoying the crap out of me.

Finally, in the middle of whatever conversation the others were in, I blurted out, "What if I did the Boston Marathon?"

Everyone stared at me with this look on their faces. But then Ms. Harlow smiled.

"You mean like the one for people in wheelchairs?" she asked. "That would be interesting, to say the least!"

Valerie just looked worried. "But are you sure you're up for that? That's a lot of work..."

They didn't get my real meaning, but I let that slide for now. "I'm sure if I worked hard, I could do it," I said. "Besides, don't you get money for winning? That could be a big help!"

"Yeah, but it's like, hard to go for that long and get first place," Keto said, his eyes wide. "What even made you start talking about this?"

Veronica set aside her empty plate and nodded. "Yeah, where's this coming from?"

Valerie must have caught on, because she groaned and rubbed her hands over her face. "Please don't tell me you're thinking about this just because I said Stephen was going to do it. You don't have to one-up him anymore! You never did."

My face started to heat, so I was sure I was blushing like mad. "This isn't...about Stephen!" I forced out, even though it was a complete lie. And geez, she knew it.

Valerie rolled her eyes, then shared looks with Ms. Harlow, Veronica, and Keto. "Can you believe him?"

"Hey!" I said.

Veronica just laughed. "Honestly, Randall, I can't blame you. Even I wanted to one-up Stephen sometimes. He was a big jerk."

That was not the right thing to say, because I saw Valerie's expression fall further out of the corner of my eye. She was quiet for a moment, then got up and excused herself before going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

"Oops," Veronica said. She flopped back on the floor. "Me and my big mouth."

"She just needs some time," Ms. Harlow said. "She might even feel guilty. For dating him, I mean, when you all thought he was a jerk."

"But he was!" Veronica said.

Ms. Harlow nodded. "I have to agree with you, but there's no need to rub it in."

I leaned back in my wheelchair. What a day this was turning out to be. First my mother, and now we were arguing. And that last part was mostly my fault for bringing up the Boston Marathon. I mean, what was I thinking? It was stupid! I shook my head, trying to get out of my ridiculous thoughts.

"Maybe we should just go to bed," I said. "We're all just tired."

"Amen to that," Keto said, and he got up to go start blowing up the air beds.

While that was going on, I decided to go out for some fresh air. After telling them where I was going, I left the apartment and headed down to where there was a small, outside courtyard. There were a few lightbulbs here and there to brighten up the place, but with the sun gone, it was still pretty dark. I could just make out the stone patio, and the overgrown shrubs and whatnot.

But when I looked closer, I spotted my mother sitting in a chair away from the lightbulbs, and my heart sank.

She saw me before I could get away.

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Thanks for reading!

Listen to "You Might Think" by The Cars!

Peace✌️~ A.J.