Hearts, Scars & Horseshoes

Chapter 15 - Toby

I was trying to fold myself into my pigeon posture, my ass muscles straining from the stretch. The oxygen left my body in a short, burst as I tried to hold myself up to alleviate some of the discomfort.

"Focus on your breathing Tobias." My mom said from her own pigeon position, which looked immensely different than mine. "Give your body permission to let go into the position."

"We talked already, my body said fuck this." I muttered, my inhale just as strained as my exhale.

"If you would be more diligent about it, you wouldn't struggle so much." She took a long inhale through her nose like she was just waking up from a restful sleep. "Yoga is so beneficial not only for your body but your mind."

I rolled my eyes, I'd heard it all before. My hips were screaming, my butt was on fire, I wasn't sure how much longer I had to go into the two minutes but if it wasn't ending soon I was about to quit.

"How much longer?" I asked, squeezing my eyes shut as my shoulders began to fatigue from holding most of my weight.

"Two more deep inhales and slow, controlled exhales and we can release."

"Thank god." I groaned, trying my best to get my breathing right.

I wanted to get back to my phone. I had left Faith a voicemail late last night. She still hadn't returned my call or texted. Maybe leaving a voicemail was the wrong approach, maybe I should have just texted her. I was starting to wonder if she had in fact given me some random number and was just really good at pretending she had no idea what I was talking about.

"Alright, lets flow it out." My mom said.

I dropped like a sack of potatoes from the plank I had found myself in after coming out of pigeon. My arms and legs were splayed out on on the hardwood floor of the sunroom. I watched my mom shift through the movements effortlessly before ending in downward dog. She glanced up at me.

"You stopped." She stated.

"Yeah I'm done." I confirmed, the side of my face smashed against the purple yoga mat I was on.

"It was only fifteen minutes." She lifted a leg into her three legged dog.

"Fifteen minutes is better than no minutes, right mom?"

I smiled at her, pleased AF with myself. She was always saying "5 minutes Tobias, 5 minutes is better than no minutes". And every time I got to use it against her I felt like king of the world.

She sighed, swinging her leg through to a high lunge. "Yes, it's better than nothing."

"Perfect." I shoved myself off the mat in lightening speed. "It was fun. Love you."

I dashed out of the sunroom, jumping over the giant black ball of fat and fur in the middle of the hallway. He didn't even stir. I had purposely left my phone in my room incase Faith called me back while my mom was torturing me. I didn't want to have to explain who was calling. I clicked the lock button, the screen coming to life.

It was blank. Still.

Elijah's heart had gotten all excited in my chest. Little did it know, we were getting shot down. Even if it was the right number she had clearly changed her mind. I sat down on the edge of my bed. Maybe I should just call her again. It had gone straight to voicemail when I called the first time. Maybe she hadn't checked her messages. But would I look like a crazy person calling again? Did I even care if I looked like a crazy person?