Sometimes

More Practice

Brayden

Now that track season has officially started, I get a lot of time to reflect on the year. I remember the beginning of it all, walking into that room and seeing Linus with his stud earring. I remember inviting him to our lunch table, which led to the best day at the beach I've probably ever had. I remember the boundless picking that Liam and Thomas used to do, and while it's still very much there, it's different now because Linus is my boyfriend.

It's still weird to say it, but it's absolutely true. 

These thoughts are usually more subdued than they are today and for a few minutes, I had wondered why. That was until I remembered that Linus is practicing for that tour that he was going on with Mr. Jones and that his car is in the shop again. That means I get to drive him home. It reminds me of that one football practice all those months ago.

Everything has changed since then, and I still can't get over just how good most of that is. I mean, my parents don't even acknowledge my existence anymore, but it's okay by me. It's actually a little bit better than their constant judgment. Now they just don't care.

My eyes turn to the high jump pit, the bar standing at an even six feet. It's taller than I am, and I shake out my arms and legs. At our school, the record is 6'2". I'm so close, I can taste the victory on my lips and feel it deep within my heart. Thoughts of Linus stir up in my mind again as I make my approach. I feel myself pushing against the wind, mustering up all the speed I can before throwing myself into the air with a cry.

I extend my body and feel myself fly into the air. I feel myself soar over the bar and land on the pit, followed by a tell-tale thud, and I know that somehow, somewhere, I had hit the bar, and it came down onto the pit with me. I roll my eyes and pull myself off of the mat and walk over to where I had set down my bottle of water, take a long drink from it, and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

I feel a soreness in my legs, and I know that I've worked myself hard enough for the day, and I wipe the sweat off of my brow. Maybe instead of going home after practice, I'll just bring Linus to the beach and we can hang out in the water, share a few kisses, and then I'll have dinner at his place like I have for the past few weeks now.

My coach walks over to me and asks me how my practice has been going. I say, "Fine," which is technically true. After all, I'm still pulling off state-qualifying jumps, and it's still only the first week of practices. I'm just being dramatic, pretending that clearing 5'10" isn't an accomplishment. I mean, it's taller than I am, and if that doesn't say something, I don't know what does.

"Brayden, you've been jumping for an hour and a half," Coach says, interrupting my train of thought. "Go jog around campus with the distance guys cool off, get stretched out." I nod, grab my water bottle and stand up before scanning the area and jogging toward the small group.

"Brayden!" Kadyn says as I approach the group. "You missed the workout, man!"

I give him a fake laugh and a glance that makes it obvious that I have no interest in running any further than 100m. I'll leave that to the psychopaths. Like Kadyn.

We run around for a while before we come around to the softball field, where the girls are practicing. I take a glance over to see what they're up to and Bianca is at the batting cages. She's hitting every single ball that the coach pitches at her, and I can't help but be impressed. I think back to last year, and I realize that she must have been practicing a lot over the past year. She could hardly hit a single ball last year, and now, she's hitting them like it's nothing. Those skills don't just come overnight. Maybe it was a coping mechanism. After all, she did think I had cheated on her until just a few weeks ago.