Page 16 of Falling Again

“Uh-oh, please don’t tell me Ms. Donoghue made you run the mile,” I say as she sits down, rolling her eyes. “I’m not dressed for running a mile!” Despite having to change into PE uniforms, I have another class after gym. So I have to change out of my sweaty gym clothes into my favorite pink and yellow matching outfit. The top and pants both have a row of gathers that swishes as I walk. Usually on days when we run, I wear something a bit easier to change in and out of. Like overalls.

“We are supposed to run the mile on Wednesdays, and that’s how she has always had it set up since the beginning of the year. But yesterday, we played badminton. Badminton! Who plays badminton on a Wednesday?” Annika explains as she unpacks her black-and-white-plaid lunchbox. Her mom makes us sandwiches for lunch in the morning, but we all choose the snacks as long as there’s a vegetable, fruit, and a treat. Annika has carrots with hummus, sliced strawberries and apples, and a tiny container of hazelnut chocolate spread. I packed the same in my strawberry printed bag, but with peanut butter spread instead.

“I knew something was up when I walked into the gym and nothing was set up.”

“Yeah, maybe she was confused or something. But she seems to be in a mood today. So be prepared to run.”

Annika and I have never played team sports, but we enjoy exercising, even if it’s just at a minimum. We will walk around her neighborhood or play baseball with her brothers and dad. Annika complains about running, but she’s pretty fast. I told her she should join the track team, but she said she’d rather dye her hair pink.

“Chlo, you’ll never guess what we had to do in PE today,” our friend Marie says, sliding onto the bench seat next to me.

“Anni already told me. I might hide in the locker room.”

Marie laughs a breathy cackle. She transferred to our high school last year during sophomore year and sat next to Annika in homeroom. Annika told her the first day that she could sit at our table during lunch, and Marie hadn’t sat anywhere since. Marie is the funniest in our group. She’s always cracking jokes and telling the wildest stories about her band class. She’s the lead saxophone player. We attended the school’s first concert last year to watch her play. Midway through a song, she stood up from her seat, walked to the center of the stage, and performed her solo. Annika and I dropped our jaws in shock at how talented she was. Marie already has three college offers because she’s a badass saxophone player.

She undoes the clip, keeping her dark brown waves pinned back, and starts eating the burrito she grabbed from the cafeteria.

“Marie and I beat our times last week by three seconds.”

“I don’t understand how you two can run next to each other the entire time. I have to stop and walk a couple of times.”

“Oh, we do, too,” Marie says between burrito bites. “We are always chatting during, making the run less of a bore.” She mimes a sleeping gesture.

Annika giggles. “I wish we were all in the same gym class.”

“I don’t, and you guys run faster than I do.”

“We’d run however fast we’d need to all be together,” Marie says. “Hey, where is Kelly?”

Kelly is our last friend to join our lunch table quartet. Sometimes, other friends will join us, but it’s always the four of us who eat lunch together. But we are already halfway through the lunch hour, and it’s weird that she hasn’t joined us.

“She texted me that she went home sick,” Anni says.

“She did look a little green in science class. I thought it was because our teacher showed us a global warming documentary for the third time.”

“Sheesh, he’s showing you guys that again?” Annika says, finishing up her lunch.

“Yeah, I work on my calculus homework during it.” Marie takes the last bite of her burrito, and her face turns smug. “Hey, Anni, Nico keeps looking over at you,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

Annika turns, peeking over her shoulder. Sure enough, Nico is sitting a few tables over with his friends, including my boyfriend, Liam. Nico keeps looking up over at our table and toward Annika’s head. I think it’s sweet how shy he is and funny that she pays him no attention. She’s still hung up on her middle school crush, Reid. But he moved away, so she needs to move on from him already.

“Chloe, why doesn’t Liam ever sit with us?” Marie asks.

“He doesn’t like Annika,” I say bluntly.

“What? Why not? What did you do?” Marie looks at Anni questioning.

“I didn’t do anything. There’s just something fishy about him. So, if he doesn’t like me, fine. The feeling is mutual,” Annika murmurs, finishing up her lunch.

“You don’t like anyone I date.”

“Not true, I liked Christian. Liam … not so much.”

“Liam is nice! He brings me flowers.”

“IDK, Chloe, Anni has a point. Didn’t that guy Blane, you dated for like a week last year, cheat on you with Margot?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Another reason to dislike Margot.