The Hidden Sun

Chapter V

The next couple of weeks were the same. I dragged my feet through school, ran for hours after school, and barely got any sleep at night. Jessie tried multiple times to get me to go out somewhere with her and do something, but I could never bring myself to feel normal again.

To distract myself, I buried myself in training for my next cross meet that Saturday. On top of practices, I was running after school everyday. Jessie had gotten used to it and didn't expect me home until after dinner.

One early Tuesday morning, I decided to get up and run instead of sitting in bed. I had two hours to kill before I was supposed to wake up so I figured I would make the best of them.

After getting dressed and leaving a note for Jessie, I went out the back door and started running towards the park. The park has been my favorite place to run ever since we moved to Newport Valley. It was beautiful with a deep blue lake and many trails that run beside it.

When I reached the park, no one was there except for the sounds of birds singing. The sun was just starting to rise and everything seemed peaceful. My mind was anything but. I hated how everything was going. I felt like a new person. What really bothered me was that nothing really changed. I knew the truth about my family- so what? I'm still the same person and Jessie didn't seem like she was going to move us anytime soon. What are we supposed to do now anyways? Why hasn't anything happened?

I also detested the fact that I was too chicken to ask Jessie about anything. I didn't really want to know, but I knew that I had to at some point. I couldn't even look at my mother's diary. I knew that Jessie was waiting for me to tell her what's in it, but I couldn't bring myself to read it. It would feel too real. I actually had a mother and father. I had a twin sister that I will never get to meet. What am I supposed to do with this information?

I had picked up speed now and was full on sprinting down the pavement trail. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't realize how fast I was going until I ran straight into a wall of warmth. No, not a wall. A person. A very sturdy person to be exact.

I tried to hide my horror as I looked up and recognized the person I had hit, but by the smirk on his face, I was sure that he knew how mortified I was.

"Hey, Jennings," Chris said with a lazy smile. "You're up early."

"Yeah," I answered awkwardly. "Couldn't sleep so I thought I would prepare for this Saturday."

He made a small tsking sound. "You work too hard. You're the best on the team yet you still run everyday on the track after school."

He must have seen the shocked look on my face because he answered my unspoken question.

"I'm usually still doing paper work in my office when you come in. Peter is way behind," he explained, referring to coach.

I looked away, not wanting to explain why I stayed so late. "Oh," I replied softly. "I just love running, I guess."

He was quiet for a moment and I fought with myself to not look up. Eventually I lost the battle with myself and hesitantly looked up into his eyes. I could tell that he obviously knew that I was deliberately not telling him, but it quickly faded to a smile. Suddenly I was fighting the urge to smile back. It was just so contagious.

"Do you want to run with me?" he finally asked.

This time I did smile back. "Sure," I replied. "If you can catch me." And with that, I took off running.

It wasn't two seconds later when I heard feet slapping on the pavement behind me. I risked a quick look back and noticed that Chris was three feet behind me. I let out a small squeal as I picked up the pace, but I couldn't outrun him. Suddenly I felt him right behind me before he grabbed me around the waist.