Can you keep up?

Chapter 8

Charlie's POV

"Hey dad, sorry I'm late," I panted as I stopped in front of him.

"Can't afford to be wasting time Charlie," he reprimanded me as he folded his arms across his chest. He's a relatively tall guy, my dad. He's like 6"2 I think, and he has light brown hair that is slightly curly and gentle blue eyes like mine. He's in good shape for a 50 year old... I mean, if I'm as fit as he is when I'm his age I'll be thrilled. 

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry, I got distracted by Tay and Hallie."

"You seem to be getting a bit too distracted lately," he furrowed his eyebrows at me and started walking towards the track.

"Uh, what do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Coach said you missed the gun on Monday, what was that all about, huh?" He sounded pretty frustrated with me. I can't believe Coach Carlton actually called my dad! What the heck? He's going to push me so hard today now. 

"He called you? I don't know what happened, I was just tired and my concentration was slipping I guess... I'll make up for it today."

"Yeah you better... you haven't been putting much effort in lately. It's your dream to run, Charlie, you can't let anything get in your way," he stopped walking and turned to face me putting both his hands on my shoulders. "I know you can go all the way, but if you're gonna be a lazy ass then don't bother."

I gulped, "dad, I want this, I'll get better I promise." This pressure was a good and a bad thing. Sometimes, I felt like I was running for my dad and not for me. But, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have running. It's like this way of letting myself just be free, like it feels like my heart and my mind just become one almost, do you get it? I feel like nothing can harm me, like I'm indestructible. 

He smiled, "that's my girl," he smacked me on the back, "now let's get going!" He started jogging towards the track with his backpack on one shoulder. I ran after him and when we reached the track I could see a big group of people on the grass. Damn it. I thought we'd have the track to ourselves today. Ugh, great, it's the cheerleaders. Most of them are nice girls but cheerleaders just get irritating sometimes and their cheers can be super annoying. 

As we got closer I saw they were all in a formation doing some routine to 'No' by Meghan Trainor. Dad and I jogged close enough to be able to see their faces when I saw someone I really did not want to see right now... Lauren. Wait... Lauren's a cheerleader?! I had no idea she did cheer, that was news to me. She looked so freaking good though, ugh man, that outfit looks so hot on her. I swear this girl would look good in a trash bag. 

Still... seeing her here after last night hurt so much. I couldn't help but rethink back to her kissing Jason. Here I was needing to train at my absolute best to prove to my dad that I really did care about this competition and here she was ready to distract me again. No, Charlie, you cannot let her affect you like this anymore. I won't let her. 

I dumped my bag on the grass next to my dad's and just watched them. Lauren was looking at me and she suddenly started messing up. Hahaha I couldn't help myself from laughing, she was literally banging into people and messing up all the moves, it was hilariously adorable. 

NO CHARLIE.

"Hey Charlie! I can't believe you're here, that's so great because we wanted to show you our cheer so far for the semis!" Stacey squealed as she ran over to me and pulled me into a hug. "Hey Mr Hershall, it's so nice to see you here!" She shook my dad's hand and he greeted her as well and then she turned her attention back to me. 

"That's so nice of you, thanks for all the support," I smiled at her. I really did appreciate it, it was really sweet and it made me feel a lot more confident about myself.