Aria's Story

~ Chapter 20 ~

"Alright, class," Mrs. Swon says to us as we gather around her on the field, "We are going to be running three and a half laps today for our warm up. After that, we will be playing volleyball in the gym," People around me groan but I just smile. I like running because it helps me lose more weight. Mrs. Swon rolls her eyes and continues, "Don't take too long because we don't have all class to do this. When I blow the whistle, you may begin."

We were all standing at the beginning of the field, waiting to start. It was the last class of the day, and I love when we run because I love running and being able to escape my life for a little bit. When Mrs. Swon blows her whistle, Hunter and I make a huge run for it and are instantly in head of everyone else in the class. He looks over at me and gives me smile. I smile back at him and give him a sweet and loving face expression before looking back at the field.

I run faster, passing Hunter. As I pass him, my sneaker clad feet formed a rhythm as they slapped against the tarmac. I feel my arms effortlessly moving up against my sides, the wind slapped my hair straight to my scalp. I concentrated on my breathing and nothing else as I round the last corner to the first lap.

Let's go. You're absolutely disgusting. You need to finish first so that you won't look as fat and weak as you really are. Pick up your pace. run faster.

In the middle of the second lap, I could hear Hunter quickly coming up behind me. He looks over at me and gives me one of the most gorgeous smiles I have ever seen him give me. I smile back at him, and for a second I find myself looking into his eyes. 

Hunter stands more closer to me and he never breaks his smile. He reaches over and holds my hand, kissing it and then letting go. "Hey, you've gotten much more faster, you know that?" He laughs, but it didn't come out as he planned it to come out like since he barely had any breath at the moment because we were running.

I smile and look down, "I guess. I just really love running and it helps me forget about things for a while."

You like running because it helps you lose weight and that's the only thing you need to do. You are too fat for anything else so this is good for you.

We began our third lap in silence as the others were still on their mid-second lap. While running, I look down and notice that everything seems blurry and my concentration went from my breathing to my dizziness and I didn't know what was happening. Blinking several times did nothing to soothe my panic, if anything, it made it worse.

My breathing picks up and my heartbeat went skyrocket as the fatigue took over. The blood was rushing to my head and I couldn't concentration anymore. It was like everything was upside down and I began having problems with breathing. As I try to catch my breath, Hunter looks over at me and says, "Hey, are you okay?" I nod and then try to focus back on my breathing even though nothing was working.

That's pathetic, you know? Running is like the only thing you're good at and now you just screwed that up. Hunter must think you're pretty weak since you can barely catch your breath right now. He'll probably break up with you by tomorrow.

That was harsh. The demons in my head made me feel like pushing myself harder and motivating me to finish. I push myself forward and try my hardest to finish this lap, but that wasn't exactly the best thing to do. My legs start to ache really bad and they slap harder against the track. I could hear my breathing become really loud and rapid, the sweat was practically pouring out of me. I try my best to ignore the pain and move forward. I need to be the strong one, I need to keep going.

"Aria." My head snaps up at the voice, and I see Hunter's eyes on me. I must have slowed down because now he was right next to me again. He looks at me with worry and concern and says, "Oh my, let's take a break. You really need one because you look like you're about to pass out.

See?

I shake my head and say, "Uh, no. I think I just want to get this over with."

He tries to stop me but I ignore him and keep moving forward. I can hear him calling my name, but I try my best to stay focused on the field my running. As I was about to finish the final half of the third lap, dizziness starts to overthrow me and everything around me becomes very blurry. Soon enough, I find myself becoming weaker and weaker. I can hear Hunter's footsteps catching up to me and I can hear him calling my name. 

Soon after that, I feel myself fall to the ground and everything goes back. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the screaming of my name by Hunter.