Safety

Chapter 8

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Soundtrack

Wolves - Selena Gomez
I've looked for love in every stranger
Took to much to ease the anger
All for you, yeah, all for you

Turpentine - Brandi Carlile
These days we go to waste like wine
That's turned to turpentine
Till it's 6 am and I'm all messed up

***

Monday morning, after changing into my gym clothes, I bound excitedly over to Jace.

"How was Homecoming?" I ask, grabbing his hands and attempting to spin him in a circle. He laughs at my antics, but remains rigid, refusing to spin with me. It's probably for the best, because as soon as I begin to turn, I feel a little lightheaded. Frowning, I take a sip of water as Jace answers my question.

"It was great. Would have been better if you were there-"

I smack his arm lightly, rolling my eyes. "Shut up about me. Tell me about Trinity! Did you hit it off? Did you guys make out? Oh, I can see it now- you two have a shotgun wedding since she's knocked up with twins, and yours truly gets to be your best man!"

"You're a girl."

"Shut up."

He chuckles, shaking his head at me. "Trinity was great. We talked the whole night and-"

"Blah, blah, blah- did you kiss or not?"

He makes an obscene gesture with a certain, inappropriate finger, before saying, "Yeah, I kissed her when I dropped her off."

"That's it? No making out in the back seat?" I pout, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're no fun."

"I prefer to take things slow," he says, shrugging.

"I know," I say. "I love that about you. You know, sometimes I wish I could be more like you. You're a good guy."

He smiles at me. "You're a good girl, Grace. You've just had a lot of bad stuff happen to you."

I frown. "I've done a lot of bad stuff, too."

Before he can ask me what I mean, Coach Myers blows the whistle and calls us all to circle up.

"We're doing our first mile run today," he tells us, seemingly only half paying attention to the words I'm sure he's said a million times to a million different classes. "We'll be repeating it every three weeks till the end of the semester. Hopefully, you'll all make some progress. But, since this is your first time, don't sweat it too much. As long as you finish, you'll be fine."

He instructs us to line up, and like usual, I position myself at the head of the group, wanting to get as far ahead as possible as soon as we take off. Unsurprisingly, I spot a familiar blonde blur in my peripheral vision.

When the whistle sounds to set us off, I quickly take the lead, putting a good couple meters in between me and the rest of the group. I finish the first lap quite quickly, while half the class has already fallen into a walk.

As I'm halfway through my second lap, the lightheadedness returns. I blink a couple times, effectively shaking it off for now. Rather than slowing down like I know I probably should, I push myself to go faster.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I spot a flash of blonde hair trying to pass me. A small grin appears on my face, and I quicken my pace, trying to maintain my lead.