Can't Run From You

Chapter 1

"Hustle!" Coach Clark screamed as she looked back and forth between Lila and her stopwatch. 

God she was running so damn slow. Her time had to be at least 15 seconds maybe even 16. That wasn't going to cut it at a real track meet especially in the 4x1. I was waiting on my mark, waiting for her to get to me so I could run the fourth leg of this relay. As she got closer I set my feet and focused on the piece of tape I'd set on the track so I'd know when to take off. As soon as Lila hit the tape I kicked off as fast as I could. After I counted out 5 steps I threw my right hand back and waited for her to hand me the baton. My hand was back but I never felt the metal hit my hand, next thing I know the whistles blowing. I rolled my eyes and came to a stop and turned around.

"What happened?" I asked walking back to Lila, trying not to sound annoyed, even though I was actually pissed.

"You... took off too...fast." She panted as she put her hands over her head trying to catch her breathe. Lila and I weren't great friends, and if she could blame this on me she was going to. She's hated me ever since the 8thgrade when Will got I started dating. Not my fault he chose me over her, it was obvious why though. She's a bitch. In the corner of my eye I saw Coach Clark walking towards us. This should be good.

"What was that?" she asked dramatically throwing her hand in the air. Coach Clark was a former college track star, that was before she blew out her knee in long jump. She was tall and young and pretty. She was also a hard ass coach.

"Thea took off too fast." Lila said finally catching her breathe. Coach Clark just looked at me and then back to Lila.

"You act as though I wasn't watching the whole hand off. Lila you were half-assing it so you couldn't keep up with Thea when she took off." Clark said while crossing her arms. God, I loved her.

"Now go do it again. And get your time down, it was 16 seconds. If you keep running that time we're going to have a run off and find someone faster. Now hurry up and do it again." She said sending Lila back to the other side of the track. Lila just blew out an annoyed breath and started walking. I watched as she dragged her feet all the way back to the other side of the track.

"Don't we have anyone faster?" I asked Coach Clark annoyed as I went back to my mark.

"If we did I would have put them in her place already." Coach Clark told me as she got her stop watch ready.

"We still have long jump after this." I groaned as I lined up my toes with the lines on the track.

"Well then let's hope she gets it this time, I don't want to be here all night." Coach said as she blew the whistle for Lila to take off.

Practice ended up taking an extra hour for me because Lila couldn't get the hand off right and then Clark still had a whole long jump workout for me. I kept screwing up my mark because I was tired already, so when I finally finished my work out I was dead. I walked to the fence where my bag was and switched my spikes for my jandles. I pulled out my phone and called Will. The phone only rang maybe two times before he answered.

"Hey babe you're barely getting out of practice?" he asked through the phone. I just started walking to my car.

"I would have been done like two hours ago if freaking Lila could just get the stupid hand off right." I screamed through the phone as I tried to find my keys in my bag.

"Thea calm down. It's going to be fine. Track season hasn't even really started. I'm sure some girls from other sports will come now that their seasons are over." He said it so calmly and surely that I actually believed him.

"Yeah, I guess." I said as I turned my car on and waited for the cool air to kick in.

"Why don't you come over and we can just take a nap." He asked. I could hear him shuffling papers on the desk that was in his room. He must be doing homework.

"Mmm yeah okay." I said as I connected my phone to my car.

"Okay great. See you in a little bit. Drive safe. Don't need any more tickets." He joked. I've never actually gotten a ticket, just a couple of warnings. Somehow cops had a soft spot for me. Either way I backed out of the parking lot and started driving to his house. On the drive to his house I kept thinking about practice. Lila was such a pain in the ass. She has always been jealous of me and Will. Whatever.

When I pulled into Wills driveway I grabbed my water bottle from my track bag and opened the car door. I had to shield my eyes from the sun because it was so bright. It was only march but it was already about 90 degrees outside. I loved the way the sun felt on my skin. I loved that it felt so warm but sort of burned just a little bit. After I felt as though I'd had enough sun, I had just spent 3 hours running in it, I walked to the door and rang the doorbell. A couple seconds later and Will was standing in front of me. Will is a good 5 inches taller than me. I'm 5'6 and he's 6'1 maybe 2. He always likes to say he's 6'1 and a half but then just say he's 6'2. It must be a guy thing. I looked up at him and he just smiled his crooked little smile. Will was blonde with deep blue eyes, which was the opposite of me. I have brown hair but green eyes.

"Hey babe. How was practice?" he asked widening the door so I could come in. I just rolled my eyes and groaned.

"That bad huh?" he asked closing the door behind me and laughing just a bit. I walked straight up the stairs, past all the pictures of Will and Will and his family. There's one in particular that always made me smile. It's of will on his 14thbirthday. He's surrounded by his family and he just looked so happy. I remember that day. It was the first time I met his family. We'd been together a really long time.

I walked straight into Wills room and collapsed on the bed. Will just followed me, closed the door and laid down next to me. He didn't say anything he just laid by me. As we laid there I couldn't help but feel like everything was exactly the way it always was. It has always been Will and I for as long as I can remember. I know I love him, but sometimes I wonder if I'm actually in love with him. I know I need him but do I need him in the right ways? I put the thoughts in the back of my mind and stared up at the ceiling fan. I watched as it spun around, blade after blade, going counter clockwise. I could hear my own heart beating in my chest, reminding me that it was still there.

"I need a faster runner." I said out of nowhere, trying to stop thinking.

"Don't worry babe. Lila will either have to get better or someone will take her spot." Will said still looking up at the ceiling.

I rolled over and looked at him. His hair had grown out since football season. He does this every year, he shaves it all off right before the first football game and then doesn't cut it again until baseball season is over. I have to say I prefer baseball season Will. As I looked at him I realized he had his glasses on. To me he looked cute when he wore his glasses but he hated them, he said they made him look dorky.

"God, I hope it's the second one. Lila annoys the crap out of me." I whined.

"Just take a nap." He said getting up. "I still have some homework to finish."

I watched as he walked back to his desk. Will only had on some Nike shorts, no shirt. He looked so different now than he did when we first met. I mean I know I did too but his glow up was amazing. When we first got together Will was this short blonde headed kid with eyes that just seemed to see right through you. After our first year of high school Will started working out in the gym, or running, batting, every day. He pushed himself because he didn't really have anyone that would. After he grew about a foot and his arms were the size of my head everyone started noticing him. In our relationship I was the one with the good personality, and that because half the time I feel like a terrible person.

I watched as he sat at the desk doing some homework, but after about fifteen minutes I did end up falling asleep. When I started to wake up again I looked down to see Wills arm wrapped tightly around me. I didn't feel like waking him up so I decided to just go back to sleep. I wish this felt the way it was supposed to.