Dedicated to HystericalIrishFreak for giving me helpful feedback on my story!:)
“Tomorrow.” Bryan groans as we jog over to the pool close to my house. “That’s when we have do go back to school.”
“You think I don’t already know that? I do. So shut up.” I say breathlessly as I pick up my pace.
“Shut up is your catch phrase. Half the words out of your mouth are those two.” Bryan tells me matter-of-factly.
“Bryan, please be quiet. I’m trying to focus on the task at hand.” I say, annoyed.
“Kyra, darling. We haven’t even started the ‘task at hand’ yet.”
I move in front of him and stop. “Don’t call me darling. It’s weird.”
Bryan shrugs and side-steps me easily, starting to run again.
Today’s ‘task at hand’ is bricking- a term that means, in short, simulating a mini-Ironman. This consists of swimming a half mile, biking thirty-eight miles and then running six and a half miles. It’s exactly one-fourth of the actual Ironman, and I’m a little nervous about how I’ll do. The whole point of bricking is to gauge where you are in terms of physical readiness for the race. If I do poorly, it means I’m behind schedule- something I cannot afford to be with school starting tomorrow. Being in school will consume most of my time and leave little of it for training.
We reach the pool after a short while. I note to myself that Bryan brought up both our bikes and parked them in the rack earlier, just like he said. As soon as we stop swimming, we’ll start biking.
“Water check.” Bryan says as he opens the door for me. “Where is it? Didn’t you bring a water bottle? Because if you think I’m going to let you do this without-“
I cut him off by clearing my throat loudly and holding up the bottle that’s been in my right hand the moment we left the house.
“Don’t be such a spaz. It’s right here.” I tell him.
“Oh.” He says sheepishly. “I was just worried.”
“It’s just water.”
Unexpectedly, Bryan pulls me to him and kisses me. When we break apart, I look at him.
“What was that for?” I ask, slightly confused, but pleased too.
“We’re bricking. I probably won’t get to do that for the next five hours, so I’ve got to get it in now.” He tells me with a smile.
“You could have waited until after.” I say.
“Well, I was aiming for both, actually.”
I laugh and punch him lightly, playfully, and he fakes like I really hurt him.
“Oh, stop it.” I say, and we walk out to the pool hand in hand.
I swim the half mile with surprising ease. The water is refreshing on my chap skin, which is damaged from the chemo I’m still getting. Even though the doctor has told me that I’m going to live, I still have to receive treatment to make sure all of my cancerous cells are destroyed.
Once we begin our biking route I start to tire quickly. Fatigue is creeping up on me slowly, and there is a dry spot on my tounge that refuses to moisten. My limbs feel oddly numb the longer I bike up the sidewalk along the lake close to our house, and I feel the urge to jump in and drown myself in what must be blissfully cool water. The hot sun beats down on me, reminding me that I forgot to put on sunscreen. As we move along, its rays work its way into my skin and I can feel the burn that will later intensify and possibly blister.
YOU ARE READING
Finishing Crazy
Teen FictionKyra and Bryan have known eachother their whole life, but it wasn't until recently that they've become really close. After spending every single morning biking mile after mile with eachother, Kyra confides in Bryan that she wants to race in the Iron...
