Random Bits of My Brain

Oblivious

A/N: People tend to be very oblivious to things that are in front of their faces wearing Dobby's sock and a PB&J sandwich on their head. I read books and I see how annoying some of the people are and I swear I will never be that way, but I can't help but wish someone would look at me or how I act and know that I feel a certain way without me having to S-P-E-L-L it out for them.

Elisa's P.O.V

Breathe.

In on right, out on left.

Swipe my forehead.

Look ahead.

Pull on my shirt.

Keep running.

Almost there....

"93.5...93.6...finish it, girls."

Two more laps to go.

I pull down my shorts slightly and reach for my green waterbottle. Taking a sip and just holding it in my mouth until my breathing slows, I glance at the girls I was running with, Aya and Serena. There were leaning on eachother and talking, then they just pushed past me, with not even a "hey" as they head to the school, chatting along the way.

Swallowing slowly to avoid a cramp, I ignore the clench of my heart at being, once again, forgotten, I pull my hair back into a tighter ponytail, rapidly trying to catch my breath before it was my turn again.

You would think that after moving 4 times in 6 years, I'd be used to being neglected, forgotten, third-wheeled. But humans are social creatures and everytime this happens, I die just a tiny bit inside.

"All right, girls, line up, we're doing two more laps today," Coach Wesley says, pulling out his timer while Coach Tyer yells at the boys to pick up the speed.

Speed-walking up to the line for lane 4 on the track, I brace my legs, waiting for Coach Wesley to call start. The second he does, I start to jog, gradually picking up the speed as I try hard to avoid stopping.

Glancing around myself, I see that Aya and Serena weren't back yet, and that just fueled me to run a little faster, breathe a little harder, hurt a little more intensely.

As I finish at 85.6 seconds, I lean onto the table with my arms straight and bent at the wrists. Grabbing my waterbottle, I slowly sip the water, watching as Aya and Serena come back out from the school, talking to eachother and completely oblivious to the pain in my eyes.

Shielding my eyes against the 88 degree sun, I sit down gingerly on the picnic bench and wait as the boys run and Aya and Serena come up to me.

"Hey, Elisa," Serena says, a slight smile on her face as she brushed back her midnight-black hair.

Trying my best to not be too cold to the two girls who keep hurting me without evening realizing it, I nod and take another sip of water.

As Serena and Aya just blatantly leave me out of their conversation about what events they were running for the next meet, I stand and stretch my arms slightly, groaning under my breath when it was time for me to run again.

As I struggled to keep my knees high and my arms pumping, Aya and Serena surge ahead and it wasn't long before my arms tired, my legs stopped lifting, and my breath stopped coming. I slow to a walk at the last 150m, struggling to force air into my abused lungs, my face burning a bright, tomato red.

When I reach the last 70m, I force my legs to pump harder and sprint the last couple meters, collapsing on the grass the second my feet land on the other side of the finish line.

"Should I run this round?" Aya asks nervously, watching as Coach Wesley forced some other girls who missed a lap to run again.

"Nah, Coach doesn't even know, just sit it out," Serena says, waving her hand slightly.

But right as Coach started to count down, Aya jumps in line and Serena rolls her eyes before collapsing on the grass next to me.

"So," she starts, a cheery smile on her face. "What's up? Are you overheated or something?"

I give her a wry smile, struggling not to show just how angry and sad I was. "No, just tired and it is so hot today!" I struggle to get up, my arms wobbling like jello on an airplane.

"Oh," Serena replies, nonchalantly looking away.

Grimacing slightly at her back, I check my watch, and proceed to grab my water bottle and stand up.

Startled by my sudden movement, Serena looks up at me, eyebrows wrinkled. "Where are you going?"

I give her a simple shrug before walking--I mean, wobbling--up to Coach Wesley. "I finished my laps today, may I go home now?"

Coach Wesley spares a brief glance at me before keeping time for the girls running again. "Yes, sure Elisa. Get a good rest, we'll need you on board for the meet tomorrow," Coach replies, clearly in a world of his own.

I flash him a brief smile, before turning and running to the locker room, despite the cramps squeezing my stomach.

As I enter the deserted locker room, I walk to my bag. Ignoring the emptiness, I change into clean clothing, not realizing that as I complete this task, tears were streaming down my cheeks.

Not realizing that as I scurry to the exit, I was sniffling.

Not realizing that as I slipped into the woods leading to my house, I'd collapsed.