Run

Chapter 16

We ran for a solid 20 minutes.

20 minutes in which my heart was pounding and my legs kicked endlessly. Every couple minutes, I turned around, making sure no one was following us.

The weird part: No one followed us.

Aidan and I ran and ran yet we saw nor heard anyone behind us. And you'd think with our weird super hearing ability we'd know if someone was behind us.

"Lauren..." I heard Aidan's rasping voice from behind. "I think we should stop... and rest."

I slowed down my pace and turned around. "Good idea." I saw his tired figure leaning against a large tree. In the moonlight, I could see his face, which was as red as a tomato. "Are-are you alright?"

"I just ran-" He took a deep breath. "-for 20 whole minutes-" Another breath. "-without stopping." He collapsed to the ground and leaned against the tree. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" I ask as I walk over and sit next to him.

"Look at you. You're barely tired. You look fine." He said between breaths. "You'd do fine on the beep test."

"What test?"

"Never mind." He leaned back against the tree and let out a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Does it look like I have a watch?"

He groaned. "Sometimes you can be so helpless, Lauren. You know that?"

"Yeah, but I'm extremely helpful at some times too." I reached for Aidan's backpack, which was placed beside him. I grabbed his phone to check the time.

"Wait." Aidan yelled. "Don't-" He tried grabbing the phone from me. I pushed him away.

When I turned the phone on, I saw a photo of two people.

"-turn on the phone." His voice trailed off.

It was a photo of the two of us, when we were younger.

I put the phone down, aggressively. "You know something." I spat out. "Something about before all of this."

"Lauren, I can-"

"You knew me from before me coming to the institute." I stood up. "You-you didn't think that we were in each other's lives before all this," I waved my arms around. "You knew. I thought you remembered nothing about your past, Aidan."

"Lauren, it's just one photo." Aidan said.

"Why didn't you want me to see it?" I asked, in a gentler voice than before.

He bit his lip. "I-I-"

"You, what?"

"I have my reasons."

I lowered my eyebrows. "I heard that so many times in the last five months. 'I have my reasons.'" I mocked him. "Are you trying to say that you're working with them." I point to the direction we came. The direction the Institute is.

"Lauren, are we actually fighting about a photo?" Aidan asked, his tone angry.

"It's not just that!" I said loudly. "You know who your family is."

His eyes widened, like I just exposed him. Instead, he said, "What are you talk-"

"Don't think you don't know what I'm talking about." I continued. "That day we got caught in the office. You called someone 'mom'. I heard it with my own two ears, Aidan."

"There was a lot going on. You probably misheard." Aidan said bluntly.

I created fists and kept tightening them. This boy and his lies. I felt my face turn red from anger.