Page 54 of Hateful
Or maybe it was before that.
Maybe he’s been this way ever since our kiss.
Maybe he regrets it.
Me … well …
I still remember the feeling of him shoving me against the wall of the locker rooms, his mouth searching hungrily for mine. At the time, I’d liked it. I’d leaned into it. Now, I think that if he comes within eight feet of me, I’ll scream my head off.
He still thinks I’m a boy. I wonder if that’s what makes him angry. I wonder if he’s angry because he likes me, and he doesn’t know why. Maybe he’s afraid to think of thewhy.
He certainly likes me enough to kiss me.Or did.
“All right, Alex!” Heath calls, pulling me back to the anxious present. Jasper positions himself at the furthest boundary, the one I have to run to. They’ve set it up so that I have a little ways to run before I hit the curve, just enough to get my speed up, and then straight just a little bit after.
Heath grins at me from the starting line they’ve laid out, but I walk over with more than a little apprehension. What if he’s wrong? What if I’m not as fast as he thinks I am? What will Beck do to me then?
I line up at the starting line. Heath stands level with me, stopwatch in hand, grinning as I ready up. “You ready?” he asks quietly.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay. Go fast. Ready, set,go!”
I take off. I’m not used to running on such flat ground. The hiking trails are flattened down, sure, but there’s still rocks and roots jutting up from the dirt path to trip me up. My feet fly over the easy terrain. Now that I don’t need to focus on avoiding obstacles, I can just …go.
My legs pump faster than they ever have on the trail. It feels like I’ve been holding myself back this whole time, devoting half my brainpower to just staying on my feet. The curve comes up and I go around it easily.
I hear myself bark out a laugh like it belongs to someone else.
This is … easy.
Before I know it, I’ve flown past Jasper. I slow down, coast to a stop, and turn around to gauge his reaction, only doubling over for a second to catch my breath. He’s staring at the stopwatch incredulously.
The look on his face gives me a rush all of its own.
I’m breathing hard, but I’m not gasping for breath. At the beginning of the semester, I probably would’ve been so tired I couldn’t do anything else after running so hard, but now I feel energized. I want to run some more. I want to run it again and again, see if I can beat my own time.
We all converge on Jasper, even Beck, though he’s slower about it. Jasper looks up into Heath’s grinning face.
“How’d he do?” Beck demands, folding his arms. I see the muscles cording his forearms, his severe cheekbones. He could be a model. Why does he have to be such a douche?
Jasper mutely holds up the stopwatch.
“Twelve seconds,” Heath says triumphantly. “I got twelve and a half.” He holds up his own stopwatch. “But I was probably delayed at stopping it.”
“Impossible,” Beck scoffs. “I only got fourteen.”
I know this is part of his little act, or whatever, but it doesn’t stop the little pang of annoyance.
“I can run it again if you want,” I offer, trying hard—and failing—to keep the attitude out of my voice.
Beck glares at me so hard I’m surprised I don’t burst into flames. He grits his teeth as his eyes flick up and down my body.
“Do it, then. Run it again, and I’ll time it.” He reaches out and snatches the stopwatch from Jasper.
Jasper watches me in amazement as I walk back to the starting line and do a few stretches there.
I run it again. Beck scowls.
