Scars

Nine

The piercing sound of my alarm pulled me from my sleep. I glanced at the time on my clock and saw 4:45 starring back at me. I jumped out of bed and changed into a sports bra and some shorts, pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. I like to run, every morning, and today I don't plan to do it alone.

I grabbed my car keys, since Ashton brought my car over yesterday, and ran out the front door. I turned my radio on and drove to Ashton's apartment complex, singing along to every song I heard on my drive.

I used my key to let myself inside and found Ashton sleeping in bed. The way I see it, I can be nice and politely wake him up or I can be his little sister and I can jump on the bed to wake him up. Jumping on the bed it is.

"Wake up Ash!" I called as I jumped.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he groaned.

"Good morning," I laughed, "get up, get dresses, we're going on a run."

"You come into my apartment before 5am, and tell me to get up to go on a run? Yeah, fuck off," Ashton scoffed before he pushed me off onto the floor.

"Rude, get your ass out of bed," I laughed, "go running with me big brother."

"Fine," Ashton whined.

When he was dressed and we got back to my car, I drove us to a trail on the outside of town.

"Are you going to kill me?" Ashton asked.

"No," I scoffed, "we're going on a run."

I dragged Ashton out of my car and together we started running down a cemented path that weaved through trees.

"You know I love you baby sister, but please don't ever wake me up like that again."

"Yeah, yeah," I brushed him off, "aren't you glad you're here to see the sunrise though?"

"I could've seen the sunrise from my bedroom window," Ashton shot back.

"And this is better," I insisted.

We kept running, following the three-mile path until the sun started to rise. We slowed to a walk and watched as the sun began to peak through the trees.

"Okay, maybe this is better," Ashton agreed.

"I love watching the sun rise, it's so much more beautiful than a sunset."

"Why?" Ashton asked, "I'm pretty sure the general population would agree that a sunset is better."

"A sunset is like ending a book or finishing a movie. It's the end, the closing of a chapter," I shrugged, "a sunrise is the beginning. It's the start of another day, another chance."

"Okay Shakespeare," Ashton scoffed.

Chris would've appreciated my views on a sunrise. I don't think he would ever go on a 5am run with me, but he would appreciate my viewpoint.

We walked together, just enjoying the sunrise and until the sun had completely surpassed the horizon.

"Race you back to my car!" I challenged as I took off sprinting.

I pushed Ashton slightly and ran ahead of him, taking a shortcut through the trees, getting back to my car first. Ashton pouted once he got back to my car, and didn't stop until I parked outside of our favorite smoothie place.

"You're buying," Ashton insisted.

"Whatever," I laughed.

I got both of us a large smoothie and brought Ashton back to his apartment. He huffed some more about how I woke him up to have him exercise with me, but he can get over it.