The Gang Girl

Chapter 16- Running

"Lexi."

I grumble some non-sensual shit that sounds vaguely like 'go away.' but you know, it could have been anything.

Someone touches my shoulder.

"Lexi."

I roll away from the pestering voice and tighten the blankets around my shoulders.

"Fuck off, I'm sleeping." I grumble.

"Yeah, I can see that." The voice says, amusement colouring the person's voice.

I roll over, open my eyes and come face to face with a grinning Ivan.

"You, my friend, are not a morning person."

I groan and roll away from the shit.

"What time is it?" I mumble, trying to find my warm spot again, but Ivan yanks the covers away.

"It's 10:30 in the morning." He tells me and once again, I roll back over and sit up.

"Dude, that's way to early!" I exclaim, pushing my hair back off of my face.

He just looks at me with a 'wtf are you doing with your life' look and slides off of the bed.

"I am going for a run, and so is your lazy ass. Get up, put some running gear on and meet me on the forest track in 20 minutes. If you don't, I'm going to come up here with a bucket of snow and tip it on your face." He threatens.

Did he just?

He did.

But, he wouldn't. It's a bed. A magical place of warmth.

Hmmm, it's warm here, cold out there. I think I might just stay here.

If we stay here, we won't have a warm bed to come back to after the run.

Point taken.

I scramble out of bed and dash for my wardrobe.

"I'm going, I'm going." I whined.

I just hear a chuckle and the sound of my door closing.

Okay, 20 minutes.

Warm running gear.

10 minutes, later, I'm walking out of the house and down to the path in my Nike running leggings, sports jacket and free runs.

And, no, I'm not a Nike girl, or an Adidas girl, everything just happened to line up as one brand.

Deal. With. It.

Haha, I beat Ivan down to the forest track. Standing on the edge of my father's massive estate, I begin to stretch and by the time Ivan shows up, I'm all stretched out and ready to go.

"Beat you out here." I tease him as he begins to stretch.

"No need to state the obvious." He rolls his eyes at me and continues to stretch, while I lean up against a tree and look around at the frozen forest, eyeing off the track that looks slippery as shit.

"If I fall over and break something..." I begin with a semi-threatening tone.

"Then I'll carry you back and take the blame before taking you into the hospital." He finishes my sentence for me.

I nod my head, feeling slightly off put that he knew what I was going to say.

We don't speak after that and take to the track, keeping our focus on our feet and the icy ground beneath us.

After about 45 minutes, I begin to feel the burn in my lungs and start pushing myself harder. This is the bit about running that I love the most, the burn, the muscle aches, how it takes your mind away from everything and makes it focus on the screaming muscles and keeping me breathing, no matter how shallow it was.