Delirium

Chapter Seventeen: The New Beginning

Track season started the first week of February. There was still snow on the ground when Beverly and Liv walked out onto the track. Liv wore a pair of black sweats, her studded cleats, and a Harrisville hoodie. She chewed on the string as she squinted against the harsh sun reflecting off the dirty snow. "Why does Track have to be a spring sport? I hate running in the cold. It hurts my lungs."

"You have weak lungs," Bev teased her, though she lifted her hood above her box braids and tightened the string to pull it tight around her face. 

Liv elbowed her before meeting up with the rest of their team. Sine Harrisville was a small school, their track team consisted of twenty people- which was impressive for them. Liv and Beverly had been on the Track team since their Freshman year, meaning they knew everyone else on the team. They had won and lost with all of them- mostly won. 

Coach Wilson met them with a clipboard and his spot watch around his neck. "Alright, some logistics before we warm up." He squinted as he looked from the upperclassmen who had been through several seasons of Track, to the lower classmen who had yet to try out. "We have a couple of Seniors who will be running for their last season. Despite the inevitable case of Senioritis you will come down within the next few months, you are not to skip out on practice. Some of you are working your way up to a scholarship, others have potential. You need to show up and do the work. Every day. I don't care what your life is like outside of Track. When you are here, you are here. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Coach."

He nodded. "Good." He looked down at his clipboard. "We voted for Co-Captains at the end of last season. I scored the votes. Congratulations to Toby and Liv. You are Co-Captains." He gave a proud grin as he looked over at Toby- whose nose was not crooked- then to Liv. 

Liv pulled her shoulders back at the sudden honor bestowed upon her. She spat the chewed-up string from her mouth as she gave a shaky smile. Beverly and Kim grabbed her arms in congratulations. 

"Now, as Co-Captains, it is your responsibility to warm your team up, work through stretches, and cool down. You will be their leaders when we're at Track Meets. They are your babies. Congratulations. You just became parents to an entire house of anxious runners."

Liv laughed and looked over at Toby who shrugged and laughed with her. 

"Co-Captains, begin your warm-up. You have ten minutes then we're running drills."

Liv immediately stepped forward and clapped her hands. She and Toby met up before turning to face their eager crew. "Alright ladies and gents, you heard Coach. We gotta make sure our muscles are nice and loose before the torture. Fresh meat-" she looked at the lower classmen. "Keep up, remember your breaths, and you'll do great."

"We're starting with four laps. Let's go!" Toby jumped and pumped his fist in the air. Liv ticked her head back before turning and sprinting after Toby. 

The chill slapped against her cheeks. It pushed her hood back and made her ponytail whip around behind her. 

Her cleats dug into the track, giving her ample traction as she kept close to Toby's heels. The entire team collected behind them and began their warm-up. 

As her muscles warmed, she sped up. Soon enough, she was flying around the track- hair whipping behind her, hot breaths fanning out in white clouds with every exhale, her feet slapping against the track. There was a single moment when the sun touched down over the top of her head. Despite the cold, it felt its warm touch and she thought, so briefly, that there was a break in the terror. For a single breath, she felt like everything would be okay. 

***

Liv walked Beverly to her car in the parking lot on the opposite side of the track. The lot had emptied out as everyone else left for the day.