Athy

Chapter 8

"..." I nod off during physical education class, my head rolling off my hand with my elbow propped on my knee. We're currently sitting on the bleachers as the boys finish their run to qualify for the festival coming up.

"Princess!"

I roll my eyes and turn my head in my hand. My nails dig into my hair. "Agh, not this again."

"Pst-!" Lucas calls out to me in a whisper through the fence behind the bleachers. "Hey."

"..." I groan silently.

"Prin-cess~!"

"I told you not to call me that. It's condescending." Finally, my eyes blink back at him. A stupid grin is plastered on his face and his bright eyes widen at me in amusement. Lucas is always full of it everytime we speak. I don't know why. He thinks everything is a comedy. It's like it's his world and we're living in it. "What do you want, Lucas?"

"Nothing." He pouts, "Just wanted to say Hi. What's your class doing anyways?"

I give him a look of disbelief before answering, "We're getting ready for the track meet. The boys are competing for the long distance run and then we're next." I mutter after sighing.

"Is something the matter my lady?" He glances up at me through the fence.

"..." I rub my forehead before answering. The truth is that Jennette was supposed to stop by today after school but something came up. Apparently her relatives stopped by for a visit and now her trip here is postponed until who knows the hell when. For crying out loud...

I squeeze my eyes before looking back at Lucas. His eyes are focused on me and his lips are straight; trying to figure me out. I'm not sure how I got his attention but he hasn't been leaving me alone the last few days. I don't know what to call this-whatever this is but if I'm being honest... my days have been a little more interesting to say the least.

"My cousin was supposed to visit today but I won't get to see her for a while." He's totally going to think I'm being dramatic.

"Okay?" He says, confused. He must have too many friends to miss any of them after a while.

"She's my best friend." I explain, "And I haven't seen her since I moved." I pull my sleeve down on reflex. It's a thing I do when I'm anxious or depressed.

"I'm assuming something came up?"

"Family stuff." I don't elaborate because I don't want to sound like a child in front of him. I'm sure he would tease me if he knew that she had a legitimate excuse for postponing. "I was so looking forward to seeing her again."

"You're disappointed."

I nod and he looks around, "Yep." I turn my back to him and rest my head against my hand again.

"Hey, uh-"

"We're up next soon." I say, hearing the gym instructor whistle for the boys to line up. "Maybe you should go before they see you."

"Not yet."

"What class are you missing right now?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Not important." He grins.

"...?"

"I have something for you. Maybe it will cheer you up... Take this." Without thinking, I extend my arm out through the fence without looking back at him so the teacher doesn't suspect. I hear plastic crinkle in my hand. His fingers gently press into my palm for a second. I close my hand into a fist to keep it from falling out. It's a piece of chocolate. 

My eyes widen.

"Lucas-"

"You look pretty ugly when you're sad."

I give him a look. "Wow. I almost felt touched for a second."

"You're welcome." He glances back and then returns his gaze at me once more, "Have fun in PE. I have to get back now. I'm sure they miss me."

I roll my eyes at him." 'kay bye." I wave at him and he does the same.

I watch him go as I toss the chocolate in my mouth. He turns around about halfway there, "To answer your question, it's math."

I laugh, "Just go already." He smiles before turning on his heels and full on sprinting. Faster than the boys I watched in my class. My eyes widen in shock and then I burst out in laughter as he almost runs straight into a teacher.

"Girls! Time to line up!"

Maybe Lucas isn't so bad. I mean, the chocolate is sweet. I glance back to see him once more before hopping down the bleachers. A yawn escapes my mouth.

Let's just get this over with, I repeat in my head.

"Athanasia, line up on the 3rd lane next to Vivian." The sand crunches under my shoes and sounds obnoxiously loud. I wave my hand to flap air over my face. The sun slowly hitting us with heat. If Jeanette were here, she would position herself with a confident smile on her face. Although... she's the clumsiest person I know, she was the one who brought the hype to boring things like races.

"Ready."

I lean slightly forward, my eyes focused on the boy with the timer.

"Set." I inhale.

"Go."

We sprint down the lanes quickly. My hair whips back and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I exhale through my nose and push forward. My toes press through my shoes against the ground and then it's like I'm floating. I can breath easily and it feels good. There isn't any pain or anything. The air feels nice on my face but I can feel my cheeks warm up under the sun. It's bright and hot. I blink one, two, three.

Click.

I run a little past the boy with the timer.

"..." He stares at me while I adjust my hair. It got all messed up on the way here and it hurts so I adjust the hair tie. I look back at the other girls and realize the huge distance between me and them. Wait.

The boy sprints toward the teacher who has his eyes narrowed at me the whole time. I cross my arms across my chest in anxiety. It can't be.

I didn't... I wasn't in a track team or anything back in Obelia. I swear... I was probably in the top ten in my class not including the other classes.

The boy shows the teacher as if in disbelief, they both look back at me and the other girls finally finish the long distance run.

"Athanasia. You'll be running the girls long distance and also the mixed relay."

"What?" My feet feel heavy on the way over to the teacher, "But the other girls haven't had a chance to qualify-"

"Your time is just as fast as the boys."

I nearly pass out right there and then. 

There's no way I ran as fast as the boys. But then again, I was too busy talking to Lucas to watch them.

"But sir- I don't think I'm that fast."

"That's too bad because you also qualified last class for the short distance too but you didn't notice. I wanted to make sure first."

I shake my head, panic starting to wash over me.

"You'll do just fine Athanasia. Your running stance is perfect. Speaking of which... were you in the track team at your previous school?"

"Not at all." I sigh, "There were a lot of athletes at my school so I wasn't sure if I was fast or not."

"It's not too late to try out for the track team. I think that you're more than qualified for it."

I bite my lower lip and nearly cry in happiness. I think this is the first time I've been acknowledged at this school but I don't know what to do and how to react without crying. I laugh instead, "I will think about it."

"I think it would be good for you."

"Maybe." I nod and walk back to the bleachers because we're done. He calls everyone to sit down and announces the participants for the track meet. My name comes up twice and I can't contain the smile on the face for the rest of the day.