Faults, Scars, and Guitar Strings

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Just a little farther; I'm almost there. I can do this. I pushed myself a little harder and ran a little faster. I know the girl is right behind me, but we're not even a quarter mile from the finish line and I'm in first. This is the third meet and it would be amazing to be able to say I got first at least once. I could see my friends on the other side of the finish line yelling my name and cheering. I could also see David with a camera in his hand videotaping me. I rolled my eyes and smiled; he always has a camera in his hand. He probably wants to make more videos of my journey. That's what he's been doing since he found out I had problems. I got so used to it that most of the time I didn't even realize he had a camera in his hand. I passed the finish line ahead of the girl behind me and slowed down to a stop. I walked back to my friends and family and they all took turns hugging me. "Dylan is starting soon," I told them, "I have to go wish him luck."

"Okay, we'll stay here," Maria said, "But meet us back here."

"I will," I told her, "I want to see him finish."

I ran to catch up to where Dylan was starting before the race officially started. He spotted me in time and jogged over to me. I pulled him into a hug, "Good luck!"

"I saw the end of your race. Great job Kay."

"Thank you," I smiled. "You can do the same thing."

"Will you be waiting at the finish line?"

I nodded, "Our friends are there too."

"I have to go," he kissed me quickly, "The race is starting."

"Good luck!" I smiled.

I jogged back over to our friends to watch Dylan race. Things have been crazy since school started; I feel like I haven't gotten a lot of quality time with my friends even though I know that's not true. They come over when they can so I'm not alone for too long: I do hate being alone most of the time. Our Danes Over Bullying group still tries to get together whenever we can, but our schedules are so busy there isn't a lot of time to have a meeting, especially one every week. We still hang out with most of them, but we've started to form our own groups again. My group now mostly consists of Dylan, Lolita, David, Maria, Anastasia, and Jack. I think everyone else in the group formed their own little group. I feel bad because I don't have enough time to become their best friends, but at least they have each other. They're still part of the group and I'll always be there for them. I hope they at least realize that. We'll have to find a way to schedule a meeting again sometime soon.

I waited next to Maria while we waited for the race to finish. Maria and Anastasia have come over almost every day and they come to all of our athletic events too. I don't think I've ever had friends who are as caring and loyal as those two. Anastasia proved herself after the shooting. I'm glad there are genuine people like her who start out in a bad life that are able to turn their lives around. Anastasia left her brother for good after that whole event and she stayed with us for a while before working something out with Maria's parents. She seems so happy now.

"There he is!" Maria said to get my attention.

I looked up to see Dylan running behind two others. He caught up to one of them just in time to finish second. "I'm going to go congratulate him," I told Maria and Anastasia, "You want to come with?"

"Yeah," They both nodded. We walked over to where Dylan was walking around trying to cool down.

"Great job," I told him.

He put his arm around me and smiled, "You did pretty great too."

"Picture," Maria said.

They stood in front of us and snapped pictures of Dylan and I. "I want a copy of those," I told them, "I want to make a scrapbook to remember senior year."