Starting Position

Chapter 3

One week down. Twenty more to go.

Tuesday morning found me inside American Literature with hopes of beginning our first novel. The syllabus had listed the books in their reading order, and one of my favorite classics was first. I thought of my personal copy stuffed into a bookshelf in my bedroom and could almost smell its worn pages – a rare feeling of joy tingled through me.

Suddenly, a rough motion reverberated in my peripherals. It was unnecessary to glance in the direction as I instantly knew who I would find.

Ben Harrison, an official member of the track team, took his seat. Our first practice had been yesterday evening, and things had gone about how I expected, maybe even a bit worse. Ben's event was going to be the sixteen-hundred meter. Four laps around the track. At a competitive speed. Once Ben had determined this was the race he wanted to compete in, Nelson had instantly tried to convince him to run a shorter distance event. Rodriguez, on the other hand, swooped in and assured Ben a place in his chosen event. The look on Nelson's face had been nothing short of terrifying.

Rodriguez's words replayed themselves in my mind: "This is only a junior college level track team."

While he was right, at the junior level, no one was really competing for star status. But they were still competing, some with hopes of being slotted for a collegiate district division. If I pushed myself, I could run the sixteen hundred meter in under eight minutes, and the men's division could run it even faster. And from what I had seen at practice yesterday, Ben could hardly run at all; he had jogged, quite coarsely, barely twice around the track. How he was going to manage three other laps before our first track meet - well, who was to say?

Proving true to his nature, Rodriguez offered Ben a lot of encouragement and stuck with him as much as possible. Nelson on the other hand, kept clear of them both and cast his his attention off of them when they entered his sightline. 

The opposite was true for everyone else:  they gawked at Ben as if stumbling upon some strange, exotic animal at the zoo.

Ben had seemed unperturbed by the onlookers, and despite how painful it was to watch him run, he still carried on. And that was more than I could say for most people when attempting something new.

Class then started, and my mind zipped to reality. Professor Williams stepped into the front of the small class and offered her greetings. I snuck a glance towards Hudson who had arrived seconds before, muttering a quick 'hello' to me as he sat down. Currently, he was doodling in an open notebook and I could see Professor William's words going in one ear and out the other. Classic Hudson. Not that I was much better at the moment. I couldn't recite a single thing she had said, but immediately snapped to attention when I heard "group project."

"So, I will be pairing you up and it will be your job to schedule times to work together and complete the project. Got it?"

No, I didn't have it. I had no idea what the group project entailed; my mind had been elsewhere. It was listed in the syllabus but there were no instructions or guidelines.

A hand shot up.

"Yes, Shonisha?" Williams asked.

"Does the visual aid need to be anything specific?"

Williams pushed the small, round glasses up the bridge of her nose. "No, nothing specific. When you select your book, you will work with your partner to create something which is to relay the main plot point and theme of the novel."