Falling into the Badboy

Two

The next morning I wake up a quarter after five. School starts at 8:30, and I want to run, get back to take a shower, and then go to school. I put on some shorts and a tank before lacing my shoes, grabbing my phone and earbuds before slowly closing the door behind me. As I walk down to the sidewalk, I scroll through my Spotify before selecting a playlist. Once I'm all set, I turn my phone off and lookup as I start running down the street.

I never actually came here to visit my Aunt Vicki, but the town seems pretty small, and it's quiet. I like quiet towns and backcountry roads; it reminds me of home. The student population is the closest thing this town can get to the word fun, and I wondered what the parties here would be like.

The nearest mall was almost an hour away, and aside from local grocery stores and gas stations, everything you could need was in this town. Unless you wanted to go out for the weekend or go on vacation, you wouldn't need to leave town.

I take a minute to catch my breath and stop running. I've run around the school five times and glancing down at my watch, and it was almost 6:30. Heaving heavy breaths, I look up and place my hands on my hips as I look at the school. It's not too big, maybe houses 600 max students. On the campus side, you could see the tennis court and then to the other side, the track surrounding the soccer and football field.

I start to turn back towards the house when I notice a figure down by the track. I can't exactly make out who it is, deciding to run around the track a few times, I look at my watch and think about sparing another 30 minutes before heading back to the house.

As sweat was already dusting my entire body, I jog down the small hill and onto the track. I can see now that the figure is a boy, most likely a student. Now I can see that he's practicing soccer. He has the balls lined up and is practicing his kicks. I start to run around the track, and the second I'm in front of the net to where I can see the boys face. My heart stops; it can't be him. I stop running and wipe the sweat out of my eyes, shaking my head.

When I look back at the boy, it's not him. Instead, the face is perfectly sculpted, I notice his jaw ticks every time he kicks a ball, and he mumbles under his breath when he doesn't get the position of his kicks right. I've noticed in the short time that I have seen him the way he mumbles under his breath. He did the same thing yesterday with me. Heart still pounding, I start my run again. When I do, the boy seems actually to notice me this time. He stops everything he is doing, and his body freezes up. He looks over at me as I keep my face straight forward. I decide to run the track two more times each lap I notice the boy still watching me.

It's not till I finish up my last lap that I come to a stop and place my hands on my knees, bending over to catch my breath, but that makes me feel a little loopy, so I raise my arms above my head. I look over to the boy, and he immediately looks away. I can see the small coat of redness cover his cheeks beneath the sweat, and as I run up the hill, I can feel his stare on my body. The whole time until I'm out of sight.

I stand under the warm spray of water and tilt my back, letting my hair soak under the water. Thinking back to the field earlier this morning, my heart starts to pound again when thinking I saw him. He looked just like the last time I saw him in a normal place, time, and activity. He played soccer too, but an all-star athlete who was kept hidden to use his talents elsewhere.

Turning the water off, I grab my towel and wrap it around my body. Walking out into my bedroom, I look at the time and see I have twenty minutes before the first bell. I quickly get ready and open the drawer pulling out my medicine, tilting my head slightly, I swallow the pills turn, walking out of my room, jogging down the steps, and into the kitchen. "Morning." I walk behind Aunt Vicki and grab an apple off the counter. "I got to go. I don't want to be late." I squeeze her shoulder.