Bon Bons to Yoga Pants

Chapter 35-Death. Like Death.

"Whoa, Lexie. You look great. Did you get a new outfit or something?"

Megan walked up to me in the gym later that week with a wide grin, her hair swinging in a braid. I glanced down to my outfit with a sheepish smile.

"Mira made me go shopping." I gestured to Mira, who puffed away on the elliptical and waved. "We bought me some new workout clothes. Are they too tight?"

The new shirt felt like it hugged my shoulders and chest, but Megan shook her head.

"No way. It slenderizes you."

"Thanks."

"Hey, Dana had to bail on me today, so I just finished my workout early. I thought about going for a run. Want to join?"

I reared back. "A run?"

"Yeah."

"You want me to run with you?"

"Of course."

I bit my bottom lip. "Well . . . uh, I don't really . . . my run is more of a . . ."

"I've seen you run." She motioned to a treadmill. "If you can run on the treadmill, you can definitely run outside. There's a little park in back with a loop that is exactly a mile."

My throat had gone dry, so I had to clear it before I could form a semi-coherent response. "I've never run a mile before."

"It's a beautiful day to start."

Her optimistic attitude would have been infectious if we were talking about drinking Starbucks vanilla bean Frappuccinos. But running?

Really?

"I could try," I said, clarifying with a quick, "but my run is more of a wog. Less gazelle and more hippo."

She shrugged. "I'm not running for time. Sometimes it's just nice to be outside exercising with someone."

Surely horns would grow out of her head any minute now.

"Enjoyment?" I scoffed, snorting. But her expression didn't change, so my amusement quickly crashed. "Oh," I whispered. "You're serious. You really do enjoy running."

"I do! Now c'mon. Let's just try it."

I hesitated, glancing to Mira, who had zoned into an episode of the Golden Girls while sweat poured down her face.

"Okay," I drawled. "But this could get ugly."

#

Megan led me to a small park behind the gym with a winding path that disappeared into naked, snow covered trees. At least I wouldn't get massive pit stains from the heat.

Megan stood on one leg while stretching the other, pressing her foot into her butt while holding the ankle. I imagined myself trying, but would likely fall flat on my face.

"So what's the secret?" I asked, mimicking her actions as she stretched her arm across her body.

"The secret to what?"

"Enjoying running?"

She laughed. "Practice. You'll hate it at first, but just keep going. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Pretty soon, it's kind of a zen thing."

Megan definitely had a few more hippy tendencies than I, but she also had a lot more muscle and a smaller pant size, so I decided to believe her.

"I'll let you set the pace," she said, starting to walk. "The path loops around to make a mile."

I started slow. Running under my own power, and not with the guidance of the speed control on the treadmill, was so different that at first I felt disoriented. The bottom of my shoes scratched the cement as I shuffled along.