Secret Admirer

Chapter 8: FALLING for me

"Hey, Anna! We can be a pair. Jule wanted to work with Elliot instead of me. I think she has a crush on him!" Ethan smiles up towards me.

"Great. Anna, you work with Ethan." the gym teacher responds while he keeps sweating for no reason since he's not moving or lifting anything.

"Thank you," I say to Ethan for saving me from being alone.

"You're welcome! Oh, and I'm so sorry for not showing up yesterday! Something really important showed up so again I'm really sorry for that." Ethan looks down while he's talking to me.

I sigh.
What should I tell him? I must lie since he doesn't know that his friend planned a date for me and him.

"Well ... Your forgiven buddy. It's okay. It was not like I was alone or something" an ugly nervous laugh comes out of my mouth. That is what happens to me every time I lie about something.

"Good. So ... Can we start on the treadmill, please! I love running!" Ethan begs me.

"Okay!" I smile.

"Ladies first. You can start and I'll be here to support you. Come on!"
Ethan and I walk to the treadmill section in the gym.

Ethan starts the treadmill.

"How good are you at running? Be honest!" Ethan studies me.

"Uhm. Not so good." I look down afraid to meet Ethan's gaze.

"Alright. I think level 10 might be good for you. It's a bit challenging, but at the same time, you can handle it because 1-5 is like the speed when you walk and 5-8 is like jogging speed. So 10 would fit you I think, but if that's too much I can totally lower the level to like 7 or something if that feels better for you."

Level 10! How well does the boy think I'm? I have never run on a treadmill ever in my entire life. Even though I have not lived that long yet, but I guess it wouldn't hurt me to try to impress Ethan. I mean, how difficult can it be to run on a treadmill.

"It's good. Um. How do I step up on it?" I ask and that ugly nervous laugh was back.

"I can show you, here you step up on this side, then slowly put one foot at a time on the treadmill. See like this!" Ethan talks while he starts to run.

"Then you just jump off or stop it when you are done. We can do five minutes each and then switch if that's good for you?" Ethan asks me.

Five minutes! Oh gosh. My cardio stamina is not that good, but I do like how Ethan seems so supportive about this. I hope he will be a good coach if that's his dream.

Breathe Anna.
You can do this. 
Running is not hard, is it?

I do like Ethan told me to. I step up on the side of the treadmill, then one foot at the time.

I'm surprised at myself. This was not so hard.

"Great Anna! Keep it up!" Ethan shouts.

Oh ... My breathing starts to get heavy, but it's just three minutes left until we switch so I will be fine.
This is going really good. Maybe I should consider training more often. It's good for the health.

Suddenly I lose control over my feet. I fall, my head hits the treadmill, which is moving really fast and then I can hear how someone else is falling as well.

Boom.
Ouch ... my back ... Ahhh. PAIN! It feels like a sack of bricks has fallen on top of me. 

I'm trying to lift my head up, but I can't. Someone is on top of me.

"Sorry, Anna!" Ethan says as I feel a weight lift up from my back.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I wasn't prepared for this. I thought you weren't going to fall and when you did, I lost my balance and I fell on top of you. I'm so sorry. Really, I am!" Ethan looks shamefaced and he's blushing as well.

"I think I'm fine!" I say while I'm still on the ground.
My head is hurting and I have so much pain in my back. 

"Can you stand up?" Ethan gives me a hunted look.

He holds his hand out and I grab it. I'm trying to stand up, but I only fall to the ground again.
"You are definitely not okay. I will look for the gym teacher!" Ethan says and then he leaves me.