I Sell T-Shirts to my Crush

Chapter 9: Track

Tyler's POV:
IT HAPPENED!!! OH MY GOD, SHE LIKES ME!!!

I walk into the locker room, smiling the biggest smile you'll ever see. I get to my locker and see Jax is already changing. "Hola Tyler, tu ves feliz." He greets me.

"English please." I tell him, opening my locker. While I'm switching clothes, Jax sighs.

"Aren't you in Spanish?" He asks me.

I start laughing, then slam my locker shut. "Like I'm good at español. Let me guess," I sit down and untie my shoes to switch Nikes. "Well guess what I said." Jax tells me.

What does tu ves feliz mean? You ... something ... something.

I finish tying my shoes and sigh. "I don't know man." We head out of the locker room and jogging out to the track. "You look happy is what I said. Also, you should know that by now." He says. "Whatever, let's do our laps." I say, speeding up.

We arrive on the track and I already see other people on the track team jogging their warm-up laps. I run out to lane 1 and start pacing myself. I breathe consistently while running, looking behind me from time to time to see Jax right on my tail. Jax can do his own thing; I need to just jog two laps without stopping, which isn't too hard.

It doesn't take me long to finish the first lap and the second one, I go a little faster, pushing myself to keep a constantly good speed going.

While turning the bend back, I run to the finish. With my lungs feeling congested, I take a second to take some deep breaths.

Breathe in ...

Breathe out ...

I watch Jax jog in while continuing to uncongest my lungs. "Man ... You really c...can run Tyler." Jax breathes out. I smile, see him out of breath already. "Are you sure you can go on anymore?" I ask him, rubbing his back.

Jax huffed. "Yes I can go on! I ... just need to breathe." He gets out , putting his hands on his head.

"ALRIGHT BOYS, OVER HERE!" I turn around to see our coach standing by the starting line, yelling for us to get over there. Coach Thompson is an amazing coach. He's the one who got me into track in the first place, watching me running after school for fun. I joined and here I am on the Varsity Track team.

"Let's go Tyler." Jax says, walking over. I follow, watching Jax breathe. He isn't like himself after running; more out of breath and ill looking.

Everyone on the boys track team huddles around coach. "Ok boys today we're running the mile." He announces. "Four laps around, but don't push yourself to the max Ok? Today is all about keeping good form and speed while you run."

Some guys near me and Jax comment how hard this is, but miles are no sweat. Long distance is what I'm good at, so miles are a breeze.

"A mile, am I clear?" Coach Thompson asks everybody. "Yes!" The team answers together. "Alright then get in position." He orders us. Everyone immediately fills all the lines up.

Me and Jax line up next to each other. I look at him and he still looks out of breathe.

"Maybe you should tell coach your not feeling-"

"I'm fine Tyler. I can do this!" He cuts me off. He faces forward, ignoring my concern for him. I don't reply back, because Jax will just be angry at me afterwards, so I just get in position and wait.

"Ready ..." coach says, putting his arm in the air. Everyone gets in position, ready to run looking at the track or person ahead of them.

"GO!" We take off running, everyone fluctuating between speeds. By the end of the 100 meter mark, everyone's running in lane 1.

I'm towards the front of the crowd of running people. I take a quick look around me, but don't see Jax. Where is he?

I slow down, letting majority of the people behind me pass me up. I glance at each guy, but none of them are Jax. Ok, this isn't good.

The group leading is already turning the bend, but I'm still running the straightaway, looking around like a lost dog. I peer around the entire track until I see Jax.

He isn't on the field, but on the bleachers watching everybody run.

I'm losing the race for him and he isn't even running. This definitely isn't fair. I start speeding up, passing the starting line. I catch up to last runner in the group running the track. I wink as I speed past him and a few others.

By the time we're passing the starting line again, I'm halfway to the front, but I'm tired!

Running, not in pace with yourself wears you down. Throughout this lap, I stay where I am in place and take the lap nice and steady. I control my breathing and make sure the person ahead of me doesn't slow down.

"Come On! Last lap!" Coach yells as we're running by him. I glance at Jax in the stands and see him watching me. He sees me and smiles slightly before I turn my head forward and start speeding again.

I past 5th through 2nd until I caught up to the guy in first. He doesn't look tired at all; probably since he's so tall.

I wish I could slow down ... But no, I gotta prove I'm the fastest mile runner, in class at least. I push through the aching pain in my legs and push harder and harder until I cross the finish line. Did I do it? My eyes were closed as I sprinted with all power left in me. I rest my hands on my head and look back at coach.

His jaw is dropped and he's staring at me. Everyone's staring at me actually, with either a shocked or impressed expression on their face.

I turn around to Jax, breathing hard, and see him running down from the bleachers.

"Tyler Forrest!"

I immediately spin around, hearing coach Thompson yell behind me. I swallow my spit as he walks over to me.

He's quiet, straight faced, and everyone around me is quiet. "Did I do something wrong?" I ask, breathing in-between words. Coach's mouth slowly starts rising in the corners. "Your amazing Tyler!" Coach yells. He puts his hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes.

"You're the best mile runner I've seen ... in a long time." Coach tells me. 

"Tyler! You were like super fast catching up and getting in first!" I hear behind me. I turn around and see Jax. His skin is back to normal and he isn't out of breath. "You didn't run." I say aloud.

"Yeah ... I actually listened to you instead of running and passing out."

"Which is the right thing Tyler." Coach speaks again. "You are the definition of a good sport and a good friend. You will definitely be an asset to the Varsity team." He announces. All the guys cheer, getting around me and congratulating me.

Best

Practice

Ever!

A/N PLEASE READ:

Yeah, I know, I haven't updated in like ... forever and I'm so sorry. School is just getting worst as we're getting into finals. Since I haven't updated, I've added a song that I've been addicted to for like a week now, Technicolor Beat by Oh Wonder.

 I hope all of y'all are doing great, still reading my book, and ready for my upcoming book. Other than that, vote, comment, and Enjoy Every Book You Ever Read!