Crumbling Kingdom (Kingdom book 1)

Chapter 1

I check my watch and wince when I see the time. I'm supposed to meet Jane and Tegan at the park and I am running late again. I would like to say that they are my closest friends but they aren't because I don't let people get too close. 

We usually get along very well, but not always, especially on days like today when there is supposed to be a friendly competition between us.  The three of us were all on the track team last year and we do our best to stay in shape during the summer.  Little competition races like the one I am currently late for help with that.   Our plan is to always meet up at the family park in down town.  This specific park is the best with its paved paths made specifically for people to run on without the risk of getting hurt on uneven ground.

I grab my thin black  jacket from the closet by my front door and smile, it's my favorite jacket, it goes great with my short jean shorts and black and pink sneakers. I look around my tiny one bedroom apartment as I step out, getting ready to lock the door so that I can go and get this contest done and over with. I type in the code for my alarm system and then flip my dark, red brown hair over my shoulder so that it settles and rests halfway down my back.

Heading to the park, taking my time since I'm already running late, I stop at the large wrought iron gates that go all around the park, cutting it off from everything else so that it can't be vandalized in the middle of the night like all the others were. There are large oak and maple trees around the perimeter with a smooth, black paved path that cuts through the soft and freshly cut bright green grass. There is a small building with a flat roof on the far side with a fenced in pool that is in-ground and where I work a few times a week when they need me.

I look around at the other side of the park, there is a medium sized duck pond with a small forested area that gives lots of shade if the people need a break from the burning sun. I smile slightly, unable to control it, and then walk through the gates feeling safe and at peace, as per usual, when I am here. I pause by the tree where my name has been carved into it by someone and I smile again.  With a name like Savanna, not a lot of people have it.  No one in Misolita has the name and it makes me feel unique.  I don't get a creepy feeling from the marking in the old, almost ancient, tree but a comforting one instead which must be why I feel so safe and secure here.

"Hurry up!" Jane yells at me, her anger barely contained. "You're late," she states obnoxiously, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking a hip when she sees me.

"Oh you poor, poor baby," I mock. "I'm like not even twenty minutes late and you are having a bitch fit. Yesterday I had to wait three hours for you at the mall!" I snap the last part but I am smiling and laughing, happy even though I was a little miffed at what went down yesterday.  What can I say, I am an extremely smiley person.

"Just get in line and let's finish this," Jane says, moving a few feet to the right so that there is room for me at the beginning of the race.

"This is pointless," I state, just to throw my opinion out there. "These races were a good idea when we first joined the track team but we don't need them anymore.  I am not a stupid person and as far as I know, you two aren't either.  We all know how to stay in shape, or at least we should.  Jane, being seventeen means that adulthood is right around the corner and childish things should stop."

"Because," snaps Jane angrily but doesn't bother with an explanation.  "Now, on your mark, get set, go!" yells Jane before we start the long run through the park.

The park has about a three to five mile perimeter around it but Jane decided we would just run until the fork in this path so that we don't 'exhaust' ourselves. I give them a fifteen second head start before I begin jogging after them at an easy pace so that I don't pull anything. When I build up to a run they are so far ahead of me it would be a miracle if I caught up before the finish line, I only gave them a head start because I do not care.  The thing with Jane, though, is that she is like a dog with a bone.  Try to take it away and she will not give up until you give in.