The Exception

Chapter 45: A Chilly Jog-Walk

I woke up early, but groaned hard.  As I stuck my foot out, the cold air clung tightly, and I snatched my foot back inside. I really did not want to go jogging today. After my second snooze, I finally decided to get up and get dressed. I was barely ready when the door knocked. I opened the door to see Keith with ear muffles, hoodie, scarf and all. He looked at me and smiled.

"I really hope we can make this more of a jog-walk for today..." he said, and I nodded.

"Boy, your are reading my mind," I said and walked out. I rubbed my hands together and we started walking down the street. I heard Keith's teeth chatter. "You better not catch pneumonia on my watch."

"Not easily, I'll warm up..."

"Do you need my jacket?"

Keith laughed. "Traditionally, it is supposed to be the other way round."

"Yeah, but I'm cold, but not teeth-chattering cold," I said. "The city I used to come from was a little chillier than this one."

"Yeah," Keith spoke and smiled. "Do you miss your previous home?"

"Not as much as I thought I would," I muttered. I tucked a strand of hair out of my face and looked at Keith. "Back then, I wasn't the popular girl, but neither was I the so called 'nerd' either. I had friends, I had boyfriends, and I had my hobbies. But I also had too much of a routine. You'd be surprised how many people are your friends just because you see them often."

"Are you still in contact with them?" Keith asked, and I shook my head.

"I guess they moved on," I spoke softly. "And I don't blame them. I mean, I still occasionally message them. It used to be a lot, but slowly the messages just got less and less."

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how much that happened to me when I started home-schooling...these friends of mine are the ones who have stuck through with me, and some of them are new...I guess, it's just a part of life," Keith spoke. 

"Yeah," I agreed. My phone buzzed and I took it out. I groaned. "My history assignment is due in three days, and I still have no clue what to write about."

"What's your assignment?"

"The history of this town, and considering I'm new here..."

"You don't really know where to look,"

"Exactly," I said and shook my head. "I suppose I could search the library."

"Or you can ask my grandma...she'll be super eager to tell you any story about this city...been here all her life..."

"Wait, are you offering me to meet your grandma?"

Keith laughed and shook his head. "I know it's a little strange, and order for you to meet my grandma, my mother would have to organize it, so you'll be meeting her as well."

I smiled. "If you could organise that for me, you'd be my literal life-saver."

Keith smiled. "It's really not  a problem. Getting my grandmother to speak about her past is really easy. Getting a nice way to tell her it's midnight and you really want to sleep is another."

I shook my head at this. "You're lucky at least to still have a grandmother. Mine passed away from cancer many years ago. Never really got the chance to get to know her..."

"Well, you are more than welcome to get to know mine, and trust me, I know I am blessed to have her and her sweet soul," Keith winked at me. We carried on with our jog-walk and sprinted a mile back to my house.

"I'll call and let you know,"

"Thanks Keith," I said before closing the door. I needed to get ready for school, and really glad that I actually did go exercise. I was wide awake now, and more or less ready for the day.