moon river ; g.d.

three

The fall breeze seemed to grow colder and colder the more that I ran, pushing my hair into my face. I tucked my ponytail into the back of my hoodie and kept running, knowing that if I stopped it'd be hard for me to start again. Leaves fell from trees, a majority of the branches on each already bare. We were on our last few weeks of fall, winter getting closer day by day. Winter break was in four weeks, and then school was out until January 4th.

I had a track meet the week after school got out in Plymouth, the town that Isaiah attends college in. Plymouth College was a pretty big deal, but Plymouth High School wasn't necessarily the place to go if high schoolers were looking to be noticed by bigger colleges. That is, unless you were just that good that they felt obligated to get in touch with coaches. The track field they have was where most of the meets were held, for not only my school but schools even remotely close to it. I'd gone to several in the years I'd been running track, but this one was different.

As a senior in high school, it was time for me to start thinking about the future, because it was only right around the corner. I knew for a fact that I wanted to continue to run track no matter where I ended up going, but that was easier said than done. I had no outside experience other than high school track, which was a huge downfall. The best ways athletes can be noticed by colleges is by participating in club teams, doing races in more populated cities, etc., and I hadn't done any of the above. I was used to traveling at most a few hours away for meets, and couldn't run with club teams if I wanted to because of how expensive they are.

Isaiah was noticed by a college coach that happened to see a highlight video of his on YouTube. It was a lucky shot, since the video only had around five thousand views, but a recruiter saw something in him and contacted our school a few days later. He was given a scholarship, and the rest is history. I knew this wouldn't happen for me, so I was dead set on finding another way.

The thought of getting to a D1, even D2 school was a huge motivator. I began pushing my legs faster, making sure to stay focused on my sprinting form. My feet pounded against the pavement and my heart was racing, but I felt no need to stop. The road seemed to grow longer and longer, and I barely even slowed down until I reached the city park.

The sky was growing dark, and I could tell I was the only one here. Houses all around the park had most of their lights off, and the only sound coming from around me were crickets and the sound of swaying leaves. I took out my earbuds and leaned against the building that contained toilets and urinals, right on top of a giant graffiti of a penis. I scoffed and leaned back up, placing my hands on my knees and taking in deep breaths.

I made my way over to a nearby bench, and the moment I sat down my phone starting ringing. I flinched at the volume of my ringtone, and pulled it out of my pocket. It was Paige. I considered denying it, but answered anyway. I'd heard one too many horror stories about situations like this. Situations that could've easily been avoided by one little thing.

"Hello?" I breathed, still trying to catch my breath.

"Hey, you!" She yelled. I removed the phone from my ear and put it on speaker.

"What do you want?"

"Didn't you just come in?"

I bit my bottom lip and leaned against the back of the bench. "No," I snapped. "I did not, actually."

"Oh, could've swore you did. Thought maybe you'd come to your senses."

"Bye, Paige." I clicked the red button near the bottom of the screen and put my phone back in my pocket. I never called her by her first name, and saying it out loud felt wrong. I don't think I've called her that since middle school. A rush of guilt came over me the moment I hung up, so much so that I didn't even remember what I hung up on her for. I could tell she was drunk by the slurring of her words, and something in me always kicks into high alert when I know someone is in such an easily manipulated state of mind. I've heard even more horror stories about that.