little love

1

maddie

i hurried to turn the alarm off before it woke up mom and dad. 4 am didn't feel so early now that i'd been doing this for a while.

after quickly brushing my teeth and grabbing a protein bar, i grabbed my bag and hopped on my bike and made my way to the gym. i unlocked the door and started getting everything ready for the early classes.

"goooood morning mads!" lauren says in her cheery song song voice. how she has that much energy this early in the morning i will never know. she's nice though. i like opening with her, she always picks me up a cup of coffee on her way in.

"is maddie really so long that it needs to be abbreviated further?" i roll my eyes and gratefully take the starbucks cup from the older woman. my full name is madison, but everyone calls me maddie. there are very few people i let call me mads.

"it's a term of endearment kid" she says as she heads into the studio to set up for the first class. "oh- happy birthday" she adds with a wink before popping into the locker room to change into her coaches gear.

i head back to the desk and set out the forms needed for the first class. i check my watch: 4:45. i go unlock the door as the 5 am class will start to roll in any minute now.

______

"happy birthday maddie!"

i turn away from the water bottles i'm stacking in the fridge and greet the gym manager, anna, as she walks past me to the office.

i started working here about a year ago before school, after school when i could, and weekends. anna was really understanding of my schedule and helped make it work. i opened the gym most days and took off around 8:30 when anna got in so i could make it to school on time. it was good to have a steady source of income.

"anna! i gotta head out- remember, sam is covering the opening tomorrow. i'll see you on wednesday!" i poke my head into the office.

"lock up behind you will you? it'll just be me for the next few hours. see you wednesday- try to have a happy birthday will ya?" anna says, looking up from her laptop.

"i'll do my best" i chuckle as i grab my bag and head out.

today i turn 16. 16 meant freedom. 16 is why i had been taking off jobs like pet sitting, coaching kids soccer and what ever else i could do to make a buck since i was 11.