[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 06

{Tay}

Tay wipes sweat off of his forehead as his feet carry him across the track. He's not even sure what number lap he's on; he just knows he has to keep running until Coach Barry blows his whistle for them to stop.

He's pretty sure the coach hates them, because instead of running laps inside the gym, where there's air conditioning and less area to cover, he's making the team run outside, along the giant laps the race track has.

"If anyone walks, everybody gets another lap!" Coach yells, prompting all the boys to pick up their pace and groan.

Tay just keeps his pace nice and steady, determined as he feels his shirt sticking to his back. He continues to tell himself that this is the hardest part, and that he just has to get through this so that the rest of practice will be a breeze.

Tay glances over his shoulder at his teammate Arm, who's a few feet behind. "Come on!" he shouts, urging the boy to speed up. "You're supposed to be my running partner!"

Arm catches up to Tay with some difficulty, and he's breathing far more heavily than Tay is.

"Coach is being brutal today," Arm pants as he jogs.

"He's just trying to help us," Tay says through steady breaths.

"I don't think I can keep running," Arm whines, already starting to slow down again.

Tay turns his head back to look at him, his expression resembling disappointment. "Arm! If you make us get extra laps, I swear---"

He gets cut off by the sound of Coach Barry blowing his whistle to signify for them to start walking.

He clasps his hands on top of his head as he starts to walk his last lap, closing his eyes and feeling Arm's footsteps catch up to him again.

"What was that?" Arm asks teasingly.

"Shut up," Tay says.

They get a ten minute break after they walk one last lap, and Tay uses that time to go over to his bag and check his phone for texts (New) as the Coach yells at them about endurance.

"Also, let's all clap for Tay," Coach says, his volume loud enough to catch everyone's attention. "He made a total of 17 points at our last game!"

Tay ducks his head as all of his teammates applaud him. "Thanks, guys."

He gets numerous pats on the back from everyone as they pass by him, and he feels overwhelmed with flattery.

He pulls his phone out of his bag after digging for quite a while, and sees that he has a text from New. He takes a gulp out of his water flask as he reads it.

New: whyy do u think the sun leaves just in time for the moon?

He stares at the text for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows. Another text makes his phone vibrate as he's holding it in his hand.

New: does it know the exact time the moon will arrive

A deep breath is exhaled from Tay's mouth as he runs a hand through his hair. He takes another large gulp of his water as Singto comes next to him and peers over his shoulder.

"I didn't know New was such a deep thinker," he comments, causing Tay to laugh.

"He's just high," Tay says with a shrug, tapping his screen in order to text New back.

Singto's jaw almost drops to the floor as he stares at Tay, and Tay contemplates reaching out and closing his mouth himself.

"New---your New? High? Doesn't sound like him," he says.