The Last Lap

Chapter Seventeen

Although there were many reasons to skip track practice everyday, mostly from the lack of motivation and absence of friends, I still showed up. I volunteered to sort the workout closet before my run so I could avoid Jia. Each time we connected eyes we would look away and she now sat with Ana in math class.

I placed the massive plastic container on the table in the closet. It was the size of my bathroom, maybe a little bigger. The walls were covered with shelves full of sports equipment like weights, other uniforms, and cones. Alex came right behind me and opened the door all the way, placing a forty-five pound weight in front of it. I plugged in my head phones, almost starting a song before Alex interrupted me.

"Come on, you can't just make me do this without having the privilege of listening to music. That is just torture."

"I don't think you will like what I listen to though," I told him, taking out my phone of my pocket. I looked through my playlist and looked back at him. He gave me a smirk and took my phone out of my tired hands. I let him put on whatever he could find. He turned on "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown. It was one of my favorites. It was nostalgic.

"A girl like you is like a dream come true," He sung out loud. I smiled at him and tilted my head to the side, dumping the uniforms on the table, "How do you know this song?"

He took some of the shorts and started to fold. He shrugged, "My mom likes old music. I think that she listened to this song a while back and I got hooked." He put them in the bin, starting a stack to keep adding to. I started on the other bin. He cleared his throat, "How did you get into this music?"

"Jasmyn introduced me to it. I share the same music taste as her so we swap songs all the time," I leaned my head on one of shelves as I reminisced about the times we would stay up and talk about how colors related to music and what the best songs were. She was a musical spirit in that way.

"She seems quiet," He commented taking another pair of shorts. It was starting to feel uncomfortable standing so I sat on the table next to the pile of clothes.

"Yeah, she is. She is kind of distant until you get to know her. Then she's the sunshine on your hardest days."

Alex chuckled, "That's corny."

"Like you."

"Wow, okay then. I see how it is," He tossed the shorts in and gave me a sarcastic look.

"You better see how it is."

He came closer to me, closing the space between us. I could see every speck of his being from his chin stubble to the waves of his curly eyebrows. I was in a trance. I couldn't pull my eyes off of him. He blinked at me slowly and gave me a look that was unreadable.

"What is it like then?" He asked softly. I took a sharp breath and started to blush. I stepped back a little, grabbing at my phone to play the next song. I shrugged in response and tried not to look at him. He stepped in closer, pulling me to face him.

"Don't be shy around me, Ema. I want you to be open with me."

"I am open with you," I responded, still not looking at him in the eyes.

"No you're not."

"How can I be more open with you? You're scraping the bottom of the pot."

"I don't know maybe text me and hang out with me more," He suggested, lifting my chin to face him, "You're so cute when you blush."

My heart rate started to escalate. It was time to abort mission. I didn't like Alex, I couldn't like him. He was too good for me. We weren't on the same level and I could never reach his. There was no way that we would workout.