Running From Reality

CHAPTER ONE

For most of us, High School is the last real taste of childhood. The last of a person's youth before they fully grow up. A time of innocence where all you had to worry about was what to wear and how to act. When getting your driver's license was like winning the lottery or owning a varsity jacket made you feel like a celebrity. When the friends you had were the only people you could trust to stand by your side and never leave no matter what. When you had the chance to enjoy the simpler things we would later overlook as adults and cherish every bit of them to the greatest extent.

During the first few months of my freshman year, I experienced what was probably the biggest challenge of my life. When I learned the difficulties of being an athlete and was put through the ultimate fight for respect.

This is that story.

It was May of 2015. I was fourteen years old and near the end of Middle School. At the time, I was living in Moon Township, a suburban area in Western Pennsylvania. I had always been a rather shy person and didn't have too many friends, which naturally brought a major concern to my parents. I was their only child and like most kids meant pretty much the whole world to them, so I could understand that they wanted the best for me. However, it was also a real pain having to put up with their nagging, hearing phrases like "Make some friends!" or "You need to talk more!" on an almost daily basis. The problem is I was afraid of how others viewed me, fearing that if I was disliked by one person it would translate to everyone else. In other words, I was self-conscious. A loner, but not by choice.

At school, I was your typical outcast, and these issues were only a thousand times worse. When I would be eating lunch in the cafeteria, I always had the feeling everyone was watching me, and during class could never bring myself to ask or answer a question. Not to mention, I was a frequent victim of bullying.

Outside of school, I spent most of my time at home playing video games or going on the internet, preferring them over any social activity. To be honest though, I was perfectly fine with that and had no problem whatsoever with the way I lived. But in just one week it was all going to change forever.

The night before graduation day, I was lying quietly on my bed watching videos on my iPad, something I always did in my free time. When suddenly, I heard a knock at my door and identified it as my Mom since she usually did it louder than my Dad.

"Yeah." I said.

Upon entering, she sat next to me on my bed, which I knew right away meant something serious.

"Look Jack," she began "High School is right around the corner, and the last thing I want is for you to be alone. You can't keep staying in here all day. You've got to start putting yourself out there."

I set my tablet down and looked at her.

"What do you want me to do Mom?" I asked her "If people wanted to talk to me, they would. It's not my fault nobody likes me."

"Don't say that!" she hollered "I know making friends is hard, but avoiding it is not the answer. Everybody needs friends in life, and you are no exception. What you need is involvement. Something that gives you the opportunity to interact with others. So that's why while you were at school today, I went online and signed you up for the cross country team."

My heart dropped almost instantly when she said that. I had heard about cross country in the past from the school announcements and yearbooks but was never interested in doing it myself. The idea of running competitively seemed beyond ridiculous, and just thinking about it was awful enough. Now my Mom was forcing me into it without even asking for my approval.

"No way!" I said, "There is no way I'm doing that!"

"Oh, come on Jack." she said back "Give it a try. Maybe you'll like it."

I continued to deny her.

"I don't see any way how I can like that. Please Mom, don't do this to me!"

"I'll tell you what. If you go to one practice and still don't want to do it, then you can quit. I won't even try to stop you. How's that sound?"

After thinking about it for a second, I felt that was fair and reluctantly gave in.

"Okay."