Marathon Woman
Disclaimer: JOAN OF ARCADIA is the creation of Barbara Hall and I have no legal rights to the story or characters.
Chapter 1: Just Another Monday Morning
"Where are my shoes? I had them here, like, ten seconds ago and now they're gone! MOM!"
"Did you check under your bed, Joan? For some reason, your things tend to gravitate towards there."
"Thanks for the sarcasm. Much appreciated on a Monday morning." Joan crouched down on the floor, lay down on her stomach and rummaged under her bed. Pushing aside her green sweater and one of her favourite scarves, she found what she was looking for. "Gravitating towards my bed. What does gravity have anything to do with things going missing?" she grumbled to herself. Jamming her feet into her shoes, she raced downstairs to try and get her hands on the last pop tart.
"Argh!" She stopped short of the kitchen when she saw her brother Luke stuffing the much desired breakfast treat into his mouth.
"Did you find your shoes, sub-defective?" Luke asked.
"Did you find your life, nerd-boy?" She countered. She stalked to the kitchen counter and slammed open cupboards, searching for something edible. "Why is there never anything to eat?"
"Have some bran, dear. It would make your mom so happy." Joan's father said as he headed out the door.
"We've been over this, already! No one wants to be around me when I've had bran in the morning!" He gave a vague wave in acknowledgement and kept right on going.
Deciding to grab something on her way to school, Joan gathered up her books to leave.
"Are you leaving? I'll walk with you." Wiping crumbs from his face, Luke grabbed his book bag and followed his sister.
"Must you walk with me? Why aren't you walking with Grace?"
"She, uh, prefers to just meet at school."
"Figures."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Well, it's not like Adam walks with you to school everyday, either. Or any day for that matter."
"True. But at least he'll hold my hand walking through the halls."
"Shut up." At her raised eyebrow, he amended his statement with, "We're working on it. Give it some time. It's Grace we're talking about here."
"True. Gotta give you props for getting her to acknowledge it at all."
"Yeah, well…" Luke's voice faded as he blushed.
Joan rolled her eyes. Her brother was a total geek, but his feelings for Grace, now that Joan actually paid attention, were quite obvious. Deciding that she didn't want to speculate on their relationship any more than she already had, she walked on in silence.
Ahead, a lone runner was trudging along. Wearing spandex shorts, a yellow t-shirt and matching wristbands, she huffed and puffed up the hill towards them. Just as she was passing them, she bumped into Joan's shoulder. Wheezing, the woman stopped, clutching Joan's arm, gasping out apologies.
"Hey, it's O.K. I should have moved over or something. Are you O.K? Do you need, like, medical attention or something?" Helplessly, she looked over at Luke who had already continued along.
"I'm fine, Joan." Still breathing heavily, Jogger-God looked intently at Joan.
"Are you, you? Or course you're you. What are you doing running? Isn't there an easier way for you to stay in shape?"
"Running… it's good for the soul as well as the body. You should try it sometime."
She looked at him with immense trepidation. "Try it sometime? Are you serious or what?"
Jogger-God smiled benignly at her as she caught her breath. "It cleanses you. Helps you think clearly; gives you perspective. Gotta go. Better hurry or you'll be late for class." She gave a backwards wave as she set out once more.
"Don't be late for class. Try running? Is He kidding? I can barely run around the gym for phys ed without needing a lung transplant." Hearing the first bell in the distance, she quickened her pace to reach the school.
(tbc)