Five Years Later

25 | Legacy

🎙2022🎙

Race day had arrived faster than I initially had expected. This morning, I was woken at six am sharp by the alarm that I set up last night. Before going downstairs, I hopped out of my bed and took a quick shower. As a result, the shower helped me to wake up a little bit more.

I exited my bathroom with a towel covering up my body. I walked to my closet to retrieved my track uniform. I got dressed in my team with my last name and my team number on the back. I picked up a black rubber band from my desk and placed all of my hair into a high ponytail.

To bring my entire outfit together, I placed a red box on top of the rubber band. The next thing that I did was to put on both of my running shoes. I picked up my bag from the ground and put my bag over my shoulder then I walked down the stairs.

"There she is, good morning my race track runner." My father greeted me, standing in the middle of the kitchen as he was making breakfast for the three of us. "How are you feeling this morning, sweetheart?"

"Good morning, dad." I responded sitting down on one of the bar stools. In front of me, there was a place mat with eating utensils and an empty cup. I took off my bag over my shoulder and placed it on the wooden floor next to the bar stool. "I am feeling both excited and a little bit for the first race of the season and maybe help bring another gold home."

"Even if you are feeling a little nervous,  I just know that you're going to do amazing. Speaking of the race, any athlete needs to eat a good breakfast." My father said, placing a place in front of me. "My love, breakfast is ready!"

On my plate there was two french toast with a small side of scrambled eggs and there was another side of my favorite fruits ( strawberry and pineapple ).

"Dad, I know this is a normal feeling to have. But thank you for trying to make me feel better." I told him, picking up the fork from the table. "Thank you for the amazing breakfast." As I finished speaking my mother entered the kitchen and sat down on the bar stool next to me.

"Good morning, honey. Are you ready for today?" My mother asked me while she looked at my father, showing him a kind smile which my father happily returned. Then my father turned around, walked to the refrigerator and opened it then he began searching for something inside.

"Good morning, mom. I feel ready for today's race." I replied to her question. "Hey Dad, can I have a glass of choco-" I wasn't able to finish saying my sentence because my father placed chocolate milk inside of my cup.

"Aubree, here is your chocolate milk that you were going to request." My father said, placing the two remaining plates in the other two place mats and then he sat down on the bar stool beside my mother.

"Thank you, dad." I thanked him before I started eating my breakfast.

"Sweetie, this breakfast is delicious, I love it. You always make the best breakfasts." My mother spoke, sharing her thoughts out loud after she had eaten her first bite of her breakfast.

"Yeah, dad, I agree with mom, you need to make it again." I added, picking up the cup and took a sip before I set it back down on the counter.

"Thank you, the both of you. Maybe, I will make it again very soon, who knows." My father said before he took a bite off the breakfast that he made.

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This time my mother was driving us to my high school.  My father was sitting on the passenger's seat and I was sitting on the seat behind him. I was listening to music from my running playlist. I was reading the unread text messages from the team's group chat. Some of my teammates said they were on their way while the others said that they had arrived at the high school. I quickly sent a text message to the group chat letting them know that I was on my way.

I closed the messaging app and began scrolling on Instagram. On my feed, there were multiple posts from some of my classmates posting about how they are watching the race. As I liked some of the posts a smile appeared on my lips.

"Aubree, sweetheart we have arrived!" My father announced, looking at me in the rear view mirror. I took my air pods out from my ears, put them in the case and locked my phone. I placed them inside of my bag as my mother parked the car into an empty parking spot.

"Aubree, your father and I wish you good luck." My mother said as she turned off the car, turned around in her seat to look at me.

"Thank you, mom and dad." I thanked her, taking off my seat belt, I placed my bag over my shoulder. "I should get going, my teammates are waiting for me. Mom and Dad, I will see you soon."

"Goodbye, Aubree." My father told me as I opened up the door and hopped down from the car. I gently closed the door and started making my way towards the track field.

To anyone else, it would be a surprise to be at school on a Saturday. But at this point, I am used to it after being on the track team since my freshman year. It's crazy to realize that this would be my last first race of the season. These four years have been an opportunity to leave a sort of legacy behind me as I move into a new chapter of my life.  Also, it's important to have fun and make memories while doing something that I enjoy while being surrounded by people who love doing the same thing as me.

"Look everyone, the co-captain is here!" Allison, one of my teammates said as I walked onto the track."Hello Aubree."

"Hello Allison, good morning." I greeted her, placing my bag on the metal bench next to the other teammates bags. Then I walked towards her and pulled her into a quick hug. "I love your hairstyle, how are you feeling about today's race?"

"Thank you, Aubree. I love your bow, it brings your outfit together." Allison said, returning my hug.  "I am feeling excited and I feel nervous also. I just know that our team is going to do great today."

"Thank you, Allison." I said, smiling at her while the two of us walked towards the middle of the track where the rest of our teammates were standing alongside the coach.

"Good morning, Aubree and Allison." The coach greeted us with a bright smile on her face. "How are you girls feeling about today's race?"

"Good morning coach, I feel ready for today's race." I replied to her question, taking a quick look at the bleachers.

Right on the second row, I saw Peyton, Tristan, Samuel and my boyfriend had sat down on the right side as they waited for the race to start. Right beside them, I saw my parents, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin and Kaylee. All of them were wearing the school's colors, showing their support to the school. In the left bleachers, I saw students, parents and friends from our school's rivals wearing their school's colors.

"I feel ready as well." Allison spoke after me, bringing my attention to the conversation.

"That is the answer I was hoping to hear." The coach said while she looked down at her clipboard. "Everyone, we have thirty minutes until the race starts. Please, this is the time to start warming up." The coach announced, speaking a little bit loud which caught the attention of the rest of the team. "Aubree, Allison, May and Evie, you four are going to be starting in the 100 meter race. I wish you the best of luck, bears."

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Aubree's relationship with her father is one of my favorite things to write, at the beginnings stages of writing this book, I wanted Aubree to have a good relationship with both her father and mother.