31-Day MCSM One Shot Challenge - February Edition 2019

Falling Behind

Jesse rolled her eyes, managing a small chuckle. Then, trying to push down all the thoughts that made her feel so glum, she forced a large, happy smile onto her face. "Let's go then!"

Petra didn't need telling twice to bolt up the stairs to go grab her bags. Letting her large, fake smile fall, Jesse trudged back up to her own bedroom to get her own bags as well. She could only hope the the caffeine kicked in soon and began to do its thing, otherwise Petra was bound to notice that something was up.

It didn't really, and Jesse was still dragging her feet by the time she and Petra walked out of town. Petra seemed to be full of life, telling Jesse the one enthusiastic story after the other. Jesse guessed her friend probably a ton of things bottled up that she's been wanting to tell for ages. In all honesty, seeing just how excited one hike was making Petra, made Jesse feel bad.

"Why are you so quiet?" Petra asked after a while. "You're barely talking, and I constantly have to check whether you're listening or not."

"Sorry." Jesse said, giving her an apologetic smile. "My mind's just in a bit of a different place, I guess..."

"Third time in a row you're using that excuse." Petra said, frowning. She stopped, turning to face Jesse. "Come on, you know you can talk to me. What the flip is up?"

"Nothing." Jesse said with a sigh, wishing they could just continue walking. "I'll try and stay more focused on the here and now, come on, let's go."

Petra didn't seem convinced, but she gave in and the two of them continued walking. Her chatter did die down a tiny bit, and Jesse picked up on the fact that Petra was constantly glancing over at her.

"Are you sure everything's fine?" Petra asked her again after a while.

"Yup." Jesse replied, doing her best at making it sound sincere.

"Well, if you figure out what's bugging you this morning, tell me." Petra said, looking over at her. She smiled. "I want you to enjoy this trip as much as me."

Yeah, good luck with that.

Jesse forced a smile onto her face, nodding at Petra. Seemingly convinced, Petra soon returned to excited chattering as they continued to hike on.

Jesse was starting to consider the possibility that she was getting out of shape. Every step felt like the non-existent weights tethered to her ankles got heavier. And despite the gloriously cool weather, she could feel herself sweating quite violently from the exercise.

"We're almost there!" Petra said excitedly. "Just this last stretch uphill and we can eat. Are you as hungry as I am?"

"Uh, yeah." Jesse said, trying to hold back from groaning. Uphill??

How Petra was able to so effortlessly walk up the slope like it was a flat surface, Jesse wish she knew. Her legs quivered beneath her like jelly with every climb, and she was starting to become short of breath. Was she that unfit?

"Just wait until you see the view up there-" Petra was continuing on excitedly. "-You know I'm not one for sight seeing, but even I have to admit it's pretty stinkin' beautiful."

Jesse just nodded, her focus solely on keeping up with Petra at that point. She could only hope Petra didn't get the idea to glance around and see how far she had fallen behind- and then Petra did just that.

"Hey, slow poke! Pick it up!" Petra said, waving to her.

But then her smile fell, a frown forming on her face. Jesse wasn't just lagging behind, she was physically struggling to walk the last few metres. Heaving and gasping like somebody who just ran up ten flights of stairs.