Why I Can't Rule The World

No. 5

"People are going to come into your life that need you,
and being there for them
makes the day worth living.
People are going to come into your life
that you need,
and that's the really crazy thing."
--Amy Grant

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[] October []

The cross country season continued on as it had my previous years of running. I began to grow and run faster than ever before, beating my personal records and finishing first a lot of times during practice. I was psyched.

"So I hear you're the fastest kid on the team, yeah?" Jimmy said to me one day at lunch.

"Yeah, I'm getting up there," I replied, pride spreading in my chest.

"There isn't any Seniors running this year, is there?" Marcus asked.

The table was oddly quiet, hanging onto every one of our words. Honestly, I didn't think anything of it, I just thought I was that interesting and people actually cared how I was doing in the only sport I participated in.

"No, not this time. But coach says I'm the fastest runner they've had in a few years, even above the Seniors," I showed off.

"You know, my brother was a Senior two years ago and he broke the record," Shelly tried. She hated when the attention was off of her and Ace, so she tried to "relate" to any topic discussed at the table.

"I bet I can beat the record at the next meet, which is tomorrow if you want to come, by the way," I dared. Shelly gave me a hard stare and I smiled at her. It was a legit bet, I was very close to the record.

"Tell you what," Ace started. "If you beat the record, I'll get the whole varsity football team to wear dresses on Friday, the night of our home game."

"You sure you want to make that bet?" I dared him. "I'm literally two tenths of a second away."

"As sure as Marcus is about getting all A's on his report card this year," he answered, raising his eyebrows. I grinned. There was no way I wasn't beating the record tomorrow.

"Fine," I said, "deal."

I went back to my sandwich, barely taking notice of Ace winking at Shelly at the last second.

[] [] []

That evening, I went home and found Mom setting the table.

It was the oddest thing for me to see. I've never come home to a dinner and Mom setting the table. I walked into the kitchen, smelling something really good. I didn't know she could cook.

"Mom? What are you doing?" I asked, readjusting my duffle bag and standing awkwardly by the stairs.

"Making dinner," she said shortly. She began to stir something on the stove vigorously, not looking up at me.

"Why?" I asked, completely confused.

"Because you father is coming home and we have some things to discuss," she huffed, looking up at me pointedly.

I nearly rolled my eyes, but decided against it. I just looked right back at her and sighed slightly.

About an hour later, I found myself sitting where I rarely sat: at the dinner table with my family, actually getting ready to eat dinner. It was completely awkward and silent, unlike Sawyer and Alivia's family dinners. Suddenly, I noticed myself longing to go back to that evening.

We began eating. I honestly was in shock on how well Mom could cook. Sure, she had made stuff before, but that was just stuff like brownie mix from the box. I glanced across the table at my father, who sat straight in his seat, eating his broccoli. Pearl was to my right. I desperately wanted to get out of there.