Where Two Collide

Chapter Thirty-Three - Alice

Chapter Thirty-Three

Alice

The last class of the day was PE and we were doing cross country with a couple of the other classes in the year. Having PE at the end of the day had its upside and downsides. The upside was that I could go home and shower and not be sat in class feeling gross all day. The downside was that, on the days I had running after school, it was a bit of an energy drain.

The boys started their run before the girls, so that meant they finished long before we did and were all sat on the side-lines watching. It was kind of embarrassing in my polo shirt and running shorts with the boys very clearly taking advantage of the opportunity to ogle the girls. I tugged on the bottom of my shorts, hoping I was showing off too much flesh, whereas some of the other girls were tying their shirts to expose their midriff.

"How have you still not broken a sweat?" asked Rachel, who had beads dripping down her chest in long streaked lines. "I hate you."

I shrugged. We were going at a pretty mellow pace for me. If I was on my own, I'd be near the front of the pack, but because Rachel and Tia were with me, I hung back to keep pace with them.

"If I ran as much as Alice did, I wouldn't sweat either," said Tia. She ran the back of her hand across her forehead and then flicked sweat away from her. Tia was fitter than Rachel and was still breathing steadily though we'd been jogging for twenty minutes or so. All being said, we were still managing to keep within the top twenty percent of runners.

"What do you girls think about me throwing a beach party for mine and Cat's seventeenth?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the boys, who cheered and catcalled as we passed them. I could see Owen there with Ashton and Dan, he jumped to his feet when he saw me and whistled with his fingers to his mouth. I looked straight ahead, focusing on the track.

"Isn't your birthday in like a week," replied Tia. "Is that enough time to plan?"

"Two weeks actually, and yeah I think it should be fine."

"Totally," said Rachel flicking her hair over her shoulder. It was beyond me as to why she hadn't tied it up, I'd even offered her a spare hairband, but she'd insisted on keeping it down. She watched too many movies, which was hypocritical of me to say, but she'd gotten all of her sexy moves from movies. Her favourite move was playing with her hair, as she believed it enticed boys to her, which she couldn't do if it was up in a ponytail. Then again, it was never boys she was interested in, just Dan. The act of flirting with other guys was just another thing she learned from movies to make Dan jealous.

Rachel glanced back over her shoulder at the boys and ran a hand sensually through her hair as she locked eyes with Dan. She had his attention for all of two seconds before Jess came speeding up the track behind us. "God I hate that girl," said Rachel and threw me a look. "Don't you dare invite Jess to your birthday party, or I won't help you plan it."

That would throw all sorts of drama at my party, which is far from what I wanted. "You know Dan won't go if she's not invited right?" I replied, hoping I could sway her with my logic.

"She's not wrong," said Tia.

Rachel looked like she was about to throw a tantrum, but she conceded with a huff. "Fine, don't you girls dare be friendly to her though. I expect full coldness from both of my side bitches."

I rolled my eyes. Tia and I agreed to her psycho terms as we usually did.

From the group of boys chilling on the grass verge a voice yelled, "Go on Jess!" We all looked back to see Dan now on his feet, clapping his hands above his head. Rachel didn't react which honestly shocked me.

Jess gained on us with a fresh burst of speed, and she was suddenly behind us in a flash, moving to overtake us.

It all happened so quickly, that all I could do was watch with wide eyes. Rachel stuck out her foot in front of Jess. Jess, who seemed to have been prepared for this, hopped over her foot. Instead, Rachel took out Tia, who in turn brought Rachel down with her. They both landed in a pile of jumbled legs and arms.

"What the actual shit, Rachel," cried Tia, rubbing at her elbow which had crashed directly into the ground.

"I swear to god I wasn't trying to take you out," said Rachel, making zero attempts to get up from the heap she had fallen in. "It was supposed to be Jess, but the cow is tricky."

I paused, jogging on the spot, uncertain what to do. "Do you guys need me to get you the nurse?" I asked. The people behind us were now gaining, chances of us all coming last was pretty high if they didn't get up soon.

"No just go on without us," said Tia. She dusted off her arms. "I'm tired and you'll do better without us anyway."

I hesitated, torn between getting a good time and not abandoning my friends. "Are you sure," I pressed, looking between them both.

Rachel, who still had her head on the floor staring up at the sky yelled, "Just go already." And that was all the encouragement I needed.

I turned and sped away. My feet pounded the track and my pace soared. Without my friends I could let loose, I could let the wind rush in my ears. I could swing my arms so fast that I could have thrown a thousand punches. Soon I was overtaking the other girls, they were just a blur as I passed them, some even jumped to the side, shocked at my rapid appearance. I breathed the fresh air into my lungs, felt the sun warming my skin, and finally droplets of sweat began to form on my skin as I urged myself onward.

When I reached the finish line, the teachers there waiting blew a whistle as I passed, and I slowed to a stop. I leant forward. I was breathing hard. I wasn't sure where I'd come, but my competitive nature needed to know. As I caught my breath, I straightened, just as Owen came bounding toward me. He picked me up and whirled me around like we were dancers at a ball, except I was in my PE gear and was really gross.

"Where did I come?" I asked him, desperate to know.

"You came first, my running star."

I couldn't deny I wasn't pleased. I loved to win. He finally put me down, then dropped me dramatically into a movie star kiss, right in front of everyone.

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