Faithless

Chapter Fourteen

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"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." - Anais Nin

Recap:

I felt my stomach twist painfully. Of course he didn't like me. He was just playing me. This was all a game to him. My eyes suddenly feeling watery, I bit my lip, staring at the message, surprised out how upset I felt over it.

'Hey, are we still on for tonight?'

I should have known better.

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"My - sides - are - burning!" I panted, my voice hardly inaudible. "Can - we - stop?"

Xavier's smooth chuckle met my ears as he eased to a stop. Not one drop of sweat could be seen on his body. Which was pretty annoying, considering we had been running for a really, really long time.

I'm pretty fit. Well, I think I am, to some extent, but Xavier is on a whole new level. When I run, I usually walk, run, walk, run and my run is a jog. Not a sprint. Due to my competitive nature, I had to be side-by-side with him if not in front. He was pushing me to the extreme limits and I didn't like it. Neither did my poor body.

If it had been the morning, I think my energy levels would be higher. I'm not a morning person at all, but after a shower and eating breakfast, I feel pretty good. But having gone through a whole day of school and short shift at work, I was feeling pretty dead.

My legs hurt. My belly hurt. My head hurt. My chest hurt.

"Finally!" he breathed, running a hand messily through his hair, flashing me a grin. "You finally back down."

I had pushed myself pretty hard. A lot harder than I would have if I had been by myself. I couldn't just let him win. Who do you think I am?

"Shut - up," I said breathlessly, still not having gained normality with my breathing.

"Okay, we can go back now."

My body sagged and I let out a very sad sounding, "woohoo". Dragging my feet with me, I trailed behind Xavier, too exhausted to try and lead. My clothes were sticking to me from my sweat and I knew my face would be flaming. Perks of having an extremely pale complexion.

"I used to run track," he admitted, giving me a soft grin. "If that makes you feel better."

"Of course," I muttered, planting my hands on my hips as I walked.

Xavier and I had been hanging out the past couple days and it had been really nice. It was annoying me how much I was beginning to depend on him. I would come home from school and wait for him. If he wasn't home, I would wonder where he is, who he's with and what he's up to.

It's sickening. I don't want to be this needy girl.

A shudder ran down my spine. I was falling for him. I've learnt to be very independent. Even with Jacob, it wasn't like I depended on him at all. But with Xavier, it was beginning to feel like I needed him to keep me sane.

"Cold?"

"Huh?" I asked, coming out of my mental dilemma. "Oh, no, I'm okay."

I was cold, actually. But it didn't matter, we weren't far from home. The late afternoon glow was really pretty, when you took a second to actually look. I let my eyes roam around, surprised it was actually still light out. It felt like the night came extremely quickly after school, sometimes.