Alison Harold

Chapter 12

Alison's legs moved swiftly, her arms pumped backwards as she made each stride long and smooth as though she was dancing with the wind. The wind rushed through her curls, sending them behind her face as she weaved effortlessly between the students in front of her like a nimble pronghorn. With each step she took, she could envision the sound of her footsteps over the others', echoing in rhythm with her pounding heart.

It wasn't a race or anything. They were just jogging. Cardio, the P.E teacher called it. He'd told them to make sure they ran around the pitch a good five times before they could play any sport games they wanted. Even though he'd said to take their time and not push themselves too hard, Alison didn't listen. She didn't want to. Everything here now seemed like a competition to her. Every time she passed a student, she would hear them complain.

"Why's she taking this too seriously?"

"This isn't a race, Harold."

"Show off!"

With each complain, her muscles flexed and her body propelled forward with incredible speed. It felt like she was chasing after her dreams and goals, fueled by passion and determination. With this thought in mind, she kept her head held high and pushed forward, increasing her speed. She wasn't going to let their negativity get to her.

She had two more laps to go and one more person to run past. She tried to catch up but this person was fast. Really fast.

Within seconds she caught up with the person. He was tall, and even with the P.E uniform she could see how physically fit he was, what with the shirt being a bit tight on him. They were running side by side now and she took a quick peak at her opponent. Her eyes went wide in surprise for a second but she quickly controlled her expression.

It was Flynn Hawkins.

Flynn took a look at her too and his face hardened when he saw who ran beside him. He made longer strides, creating a good gap between them, one she struggled to close. His legs were faster, his form was almost as perfect as that of a professional sprinter and this did nothing but piss her off.

He finished first, she finished second. It wasn't a competition, she tried to remind herself but she couldn't help but think that she'd just lost to Flynn Hawkins. She grabbed a bottle of water from her backpack and sat by the bleachers. Flynn did same but he sat far away from her, not even sparing her a single glance. She tried to ignore him but her eyes betrayed her. She watched him gulp down the entire bottle of water and then wipe his sweat with his towel. The sight of him drenched in his own sweat was... fascinating. It did something to her and she hated that. She kept staring at him without meaning to and maybe he sensed her gaze or maybe he didn't, either way, he kept that laid back blank expression on his face with his eyes focused on the others trying to finish their laps.

She forced her eyes away from him, redirecting them to the floor in front of her.

What is wrong with me?

Could it be that she wasn't used to seeing him wearing anything that wasn't a hoodie? His hood had always covered his hair. After realizing his hair was golden blonde with really neat undercuts, she could now see how well it complemented his hazel eyes. He was actually good looking— but then she disliked him. He was her competition. And he was an arrogant, rude asshole.

But even as she told herself this, her eyes were drawn to him again. He was now laying down on the bench with his towel over his face to block the sunlight. From where she sat, she could see that his really fair skin was taking a beating from the sun and he was going to have a good tan later on.

Jace appeared out of nowhere and blocked the sight of Flynn from her eyes. He sat next to her and grinned stupidly.

"Damn, you're a runner alright," he said and then grabbed her bottle of water and gulped down the remainder.