Page 28 of On the Bright Side
Three.
“Seriously, don’t even bother,” Liam says, lining up beside me.
Two.
“What? You’re not gonna say anything?” he continues.
One.
I leave Liam in the dust.
I’m at the front of the pack, but soon, the fastest runners—the couple cross-country kids who can do a six-minute mile in their sleep—pull into the lead. I may not end up on a podium, but I love race days. With the course marked out, I don’t have to think about what route to take. Just put one foot in front of the other, feeling the wind in my face and passing the world by, almost like I’m on autopilot.
We exit the school parking lot, cut through a residential neighborhood, then circle through a nature park, orange leaves falling to the ground around me as I go through.
From the park, the course essentially runs parallel, doubling back through the houses to return to Amber. Which is how I know I’m going to beat Liam by at least five minutes, since I’m passing him entering the park right now as I’m already on my way out.
In the distance, I can see the small crowd of family members and other onlookers are in the high school parking lot, waiting for the walkers to begin. There’s a bunch of cheers when the cross-country kids rush toward the finish line. A few minutes later, I increase my pace for a final burst, crossing beneath the archway as the clock reads twenty minutes and thirty-four seconds.
Damn, so close.
I slow to a jog, shaking out my legs.
Now, didn’t Darius say there was hot chocolate somewhere? I navigate through the sea of people to find my way to that table. I glance behind me to see if he’s back, too, but he must still be running.
Because the number of walkers is easily four times the number of runners, I’m stuck wading through the crowd lining up to begin the course. Craning my neck high, I’m searching for the snack table when someone waves for my attention. It’s Ellie.
I smile and jog over to her. “Hey, you’re with the walkers? I didn’t think this was your kind of thing.”
She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, hands resting at her hips on her oversized maroon sweatshirt. “I can get behind a good cause. Also”—Ellie points toward the group of ASL students and their teacher—“I’m trying to get to know Shay better so I can hang out with her and her Deaf friends.”
The club is gathered a few feet away. Someone signs something to Ellieextremely slowly. I can tell it’s testing her patience a bit.
She responds quickly, then turns back to me. “Are you ready to walk?”
“I just finished the run.”
She narrows her eyes at the bead of sweat rolling from my forehead. “I was wondering why you were so sweaty.”
I jump on the opportunity to hang out with Ellie outside school. “I can walk through the course, too. If you want me t—”
“That’d be great,” Ellie says before I’ve even finished offering.
“Just give me one second.” I hold out a finger, then jog away toward the refreshments table, since a path has finally cleared, and return with a maple long john and hot chocolate. “For the road.”
Ellie tilts her head, and I understand by now that means I need to repeat what I said.
“To take it with me.” I hold up the drink and snack in both hands. “For the road.”
She nods, the recognition of what I said now clicking. “And you didn’t want to bring me one?”
“I don’t think you’ve finished the race yet…”
With a laugh, she concedes. “Fair enough.”
The student government president now calls out for the walkers to start. Ellie and I catch up to her group, and I’m glad to have my breakfast to keep me occupied, because they immediately rope Ellie into conversation. After finishing my doughnut, I’m left slowly sipping hot chocolate to have something to do with myself since I have no idea what anyone is saying.
I thought I was picking things up fast with the words I’ve learned, but if these students are all beginners, I’m not even there yet. I need to step it up.
