All Of Your Flaws

Part Eight

Addison normally finished early on Friday afternoons. She didn't have any classes after lunch and she had plenty of time before she needed to be at Niamh's house. With an afternoon ahead of her, she changed into her running clothes and headed out onto the fields surrounding the school.

The weak sun peaked lazily through the clouds as Addison sat in the bleachers and tied her running shoes. Of all the things Addison had given up over the past few years the only thing she found it impossible to give up on was running. She never felt happier than when she was running. It was something she didn't have to think about, like when she was sketching, it was just something that happened. Sometimes, it was almost like flying.

Grabbing her iPod and earphones, she selected one of the many playlists she had made for when she was running; it was a mix of classic rock that she'd grown up with hearing during one of many 'who can play their music the loudest' competitions that Aaron and Mark had been involved in over the years. Addison had grown up with battles of Metallica verses Led Zeppelin, The Who verses Ramones and even Fleetwood Mac verses Grateful Dead. By the age of eleven Addison had invested in many pairs of quality earplugs while Mark and Aaron battled it out. The worst by far had been the three hour battle of Celine Dion verses The Clash.

Her feet pounded against the track making the familiar sound that she'd loved since she was young. Her muscles complained for the first few minutes as she hadn't been running since the last track meet the week before. Eventually, they grew quiet and she fell into a steady pace. Part of her wished she had a stopwatch with her to record her time but they were all locked up back in the gym and she wasn't in the mood to be caught trying to break into the gym cupboards on a Friday afternoon. She didn't really have to worry about her time though; she had been the fastest at the track meet the week before just like she had for the last several months.

Running was something that came easy to her; there should have been some bitter irony in that but it was a truth really. Throughout school Addison had always been one of the fastest; she always won first place trophies on sports days and so by the time she got to high school Addison joined several running clubs and she'd practically waltzed onto the track team back in year nine. It didn't matter on the terrain or the weather conditions, Addison was a fast and highly determined runner and she always would be.

Her legs slowly began to burn with each step as Addison realised she'd been running for nearly thirty minutes. It didn't matter that her calves burnt because the feeling of running and the sound of her running shoes hitting the track made her feel free. When she was running the only thing that mattered was the track. There was nothing outside of the running track, none of the troubles and problems. When she was running Addison was free.

The phone in Addison's pocket beeped loudly making her slow down to a steady jog then a gentle walk. An unread message from Brigid came up onto the screen. She was nearly finished for the day and would be ready in about fifteen minutes. Addison began doing a mix of jogging and walking back towards the bleachers where she had placed her bag. She stopped when she saw a familiar figure in that damn worn leather jacket sitting on the first row with a drinks can in his hand. Addison couldn't help noticing how damn relaxed Dylan looked sitting, how carefree and uncomplicated he seemed as he sat in that stupid jacket with that fucking smirk.

Addison wasn't sure if she was starting to dislike Dylan because of his tendency of always being there or if she was just starting to hate him because Dylan was fucking attractive and it didn't help matters really. Hopefully Addison could blame the jumbled up thoughts racing through her head on the fact that she'd been running...and perhaps she would believe that was the only reason why she was having jumbled up thoughts.