The chosen [Niall Horan]

Chapter 23

My feet pound steadily against the track, a light sweat starting on my warm skin. Jackson has me running faster then usual, and I must say, it feels incredible to be running again. We've been at this for an hour and a half, me running and him yelling out something like "20 push-ups!" Or " 15 squats!"  Making me stop to do the exercises called and then continuing at the same running pace as before.

"keep going Sybi! You tired yet?" Jackson asks from the bleachers, situated below the track. This area of the gym is strange. The ceilings are extremely high, in the middle is a 50m pool, the pool deck is a clean white tile. Steal bleachers circle the pool. The way that the bleachers are, they're meant to watch swimming, however you can also see the track if you turn around since your back is facing it. 

"Nope, not even a little tired" I reply with a shadow of a grin. "I have no idea how you do this. You're superhuman! This isn't normal! You're barely sweating" he says in awe. I laugh at his comment and continue running. We continue doing this for the remainder of my training time. Running, doing the called exercises, more running.

I walk over to where Jackson is sitting on the bleachers, taking a seat beside him and stretching my muscles out. "Great job today, as always. Any plans for the rest of the day?" He asks. I pull my leg up beside me and bend, lengthening the tight muscles.

"Yeah, at noon I'm meeting Niall at the big fountain in middle town so that we can go get some stuff for the house. Il take a shower here, and I brought some spare clothes to change into." I reply as I finish my stretches.

"That sounds fun. He seems like a good guy, Niall. I've seen him around a few times. I can tell he's quite taken with you."

"Oh...I guess so. Maybe. I'm not to sure yet honestly. I'm still trying to figure stuff out."

"Please just give him a chance Sybil. you have a tendency to push people away, people that genuinely care and love you. You seem to find it impossible for someone to love you without having an alternative motive." He says cautiously, unsure of how il take it.

"Il think about it. I just want to stay focused right now though"

"Fair enough. Go take a shower, it's 10:30 already" he laughs.

I pic myself up and go down to the pool deck, jogging over to the change room. Once inside I go over to the large locker that I put my stuff in and pull out my backpack, setting it on the bench in the middle of the room. I step over to one of the shower stalls and turn on the warm water, stepping in. I pump some shampoo and conditioner in my hand from the dispenser on the wall and run it through my long hair, letting the conditioner settle as I wash my body with the apple scented body wash.

I finish up and grab the soft towel hanging on the outside of the stall, wrapping it around my chest. The room is filled with steam from the hot shower, fogging up all of the mirrors. I go over to my bag and take out the clothes I brought, my black skinny jeans, red sweater and the green military jacket I wore yesterday, along with my pair of black boots. I pull the garments on and put my workout clothes in the bag. One last look in the mirror shows my wavy hair hanging messily down my back. I grab a hair tie from my bag and quickly put it into a braid, leaving little bits out to frame my  face.

A glance at the clock shows that it's 11:35. I only have 25 minutes to get to the fountain. I run out of the gym, the bag bouncing lightly against my back. I slow to a walk as I get further into town. The cool air fills my lungs, calming any nerves I've had about today's events.

It's only shopping, no big deal, he's nobody special. Just the boy that I happen to live with. I repeat these words to myself, although I know they're just empty.