Lungs burning.

Legs aching.

Muscles working.

Blonde hair fell in a collection of mess on his sweaty face, his blue eyes staring straight ahead of the track path, marking each mile he made in his head.

Cold, crisp morning air burned in his lungs with every inhale he took, his muscles fighting against the tired feeling in his body.

"I have to keep going." He had on repeat in his mind, over and over and over.

Determination began to burn a hole in his mind, though his thought process was broken when his ankle turned in, and his body made contact with the track.

"Shit!" He yelled under his breath, rolling inward onto the ground.

Sitting up taking in a few sharp, crisp breaths, he slightly massaged the muscles in his aching calves, making sure there were no injuries. None could be seen,

Supposedly just his ankle turned in at the angle he was running.

The blonde boy stood up, about to take another lunge to run, but stopped briskly once he heard his name.

"Alois!" He heard his mother's voice.

Well, his adoptive mother.

"Come in and get ready for school! You're probably going to be a little late!"

He rolled his eyes, looking to see her in the distance of the field in the park.

"I'm coming!"

He grabbed his black gym bag and started running back to his house from the park, which was only merely just across the street.

Running into the house and up the stairs, he quickly ran into the bathroom and started his shower. With haste, he ran downstairs and grabbed his favorite breakfast item, a blueberry muffin.

"Alois, you can slow down for a little. It's okay if you're a few minutes late." Hannah, his adoptive mother said.

"Not on my watch, it's not." He said through biting his muffin, almost choking once.

"Alois, slow down! I don't need you choking, now. Slow down and smell the roses for once." She tilted her head in a smile.

He just sighed and shoved the rest of the decently-sized muffin in his mouth, and went back upstairs for a shower.

Throwing off his sweaty clothes, he stepped into the warm shower, his skin immediately formed goosebumps from the temperature change.

He inhaled, some of the shower steam leaked into his lungs, relaxing him. The steam and heat from the shower seemed to unwind his tightened muscles, which was quite a treat, especially from the mile he had just sprinted.

The 17 year old youth dropped back his head, soaking his sweaty, work-stained hair in the warm water, feeling the rush of warm water slowly take cause and relax him.

Today is a new day, a new year.

A new start, a new school.

Everything is new.

Let's just hope that in everything being 'new,' new opportunities arrive within reach.

His mind weighed heavy with the thought of his old school, and just his entire sophomore year in general.

Maybe at this school, the pressure won't be as intense, and the people won't be so sullen towards him.

Or it could be worse.

But, hell, it's best to just look on the bright side.

"Alois! Get out of the shower or you will really be late!" He heard his mother knock on the door.

Alois snapped out of his thoughts and was brought back to reality, and got out of the shower and dried off.

He wrapped his towel around him and went to his room to get dressed.

He hurried to get dressed, fretting the thought of being late on his first day of his Junior year. He looked around, but couldn't find anything stylish.

'Well, I don't want to look too over the top.. I guess I'll just go with regular jeans and my california sweatshirt..'

He dressed himself and groomed his half-dried hair, not caring if he went to school with damp hair.

He put on his rainbow belt, almost a secret way to show his support of the LGBT community. (Without his parent's knowledge, of course.. Heh.) and his black converse to go along, and grabbed his white backpack, his anime-related key chains clinking at the motion of being picked up.

"I'm ready, mom!" He yelled down the stairs. He could hear her grabbing her keys to head out.

Well, this is it.

Junior year.

Time to face a brave new world, with a brave new start.