In my defense, it's Christmas

"MCLEAN! GRACE! YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO START RUNNING THE TRACK BEFORE YOU LEARN WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE HIT IN THE HEAD BY A BASEBALL BAT!"

Piper awoke with a start, rolling over groggily and mumbling something unintelligible. Then she seemed to remember where she was, register the threat and jump to her feet all in the same second. Jason, somehow, was still slumbering next to her, and the events of last night came back to Piper with horrible recollection. Jason had been about to kiss her, and she turned him down because she had frozen up. The thing that sucked was she really wanted Jason to kiss her. She just hadn't been expecting it at that moment, and therefore at the prospect of her first kiss being shared with a gorgeous boy at night alone in the wilderness had caused her to freeze up.

"GRACE!" Coach Hedge Screeched, delivering a kick to Jason's leg. "GET UP! NOW!" Jason turned over and mumbled something, one hand coming up to rub his sore leg. Hedge stared at him in disbelief, before grabbing the boy by his shoulders and yanking him to his feet. "RUN!" his attention turned to Piper. "WHAT ARE YOU GAWKING AT? GO! GET ON THAT TRACK!"

Piper scrambled over to the track ten meters away, self-conscious about the fact that everyone was laughing at her and the fact she had just woken up. Her shirt was rumpled and her hair was way out of place. She stumbled the first few steps before jogging at a steady pace around the track as Jason finally awoke enough to register what was going on a stumble towards the track as well. She had no idea how long she'd be running for, but it was better than getting whacked by Hedge's bat.

She wanted desperately to drop back and talk to Jason, apologize for what had happened last night and admit that she did want him to kiss her. Tell him everything, from how she had fallen for him the moment she saw him to how her heart skipped a beat every time he smiled. It would be like opening up the floodgates that she had kept closed her whole life, and Piper was scared that if she admitted that one thing, every other secret, feeling and opinion she had harbored over the years would come spilling out.

Instead, she just kept running, letting him gradually overtake her without even acknowledging her existence. His face was deliberately blank as he jogged past her under the ever-watchful eye of Coach Hedge. The rest of the students had gone back to classes but the Coach stayed out, glaring and yelling every now and then.

"MOVE IT, MCLEAN!"

"DON'T YOU DARE STOP, GRACE!"

'MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU'LL THINK ABOUT SLEEPING OUTSIDE!"

Piper ran until her lungs were burning and her feet felt like they were going to drop off. At noon, Hedge gave them a ten-minute break and a bottle of water, then he had them running again. By now, Piper was too tired to try and talk to Jason. Her throat was so dry she wouldn't be able to manage a single word, and her mind was only focused on running. Still, the whole time they were doing laps, she was mentally beating herself up for freezing in that one moment when Jason had been about to kiss her. A different decision, and everything would be better now. She would still be running the track, but she would be happy as she did it. Jason wouldn't be ignoring her, she would've shared her first kiss with someone she loved and for the first time in her life, she would truly have friends.

But no, she had gone and clammed up, because of her stupid mind. Now, everything had gone wrong, and it was up to her to fix it. She just hoped Leo didn't try to give her advice, because if he did she might break his neck out of sheer frustration.

Finally, when the sun was about an hour away from setting, Coach Hedge told them to stop running. Piper wanted to collapse immediately and fall asleep, but before she could even sit down the Coach was in her face.

"DON'T SLOW DOWN, YOU IDIOT! KEEP WALKING! GO!"

Obviously, he hadn't calmed down yet. Piper and Jason walked the track for another fifteen minutes until her breath wasn't coming out in short, ragged gasps anymore. It was still clear that Jason was ignoring her, but now that she wasn't running Piper could make out the expression on his face. It was mostly blank, but every time their eyes met he would drop the mask and she would see the face of a disappointed, heartbroken boy. It made her feel like someone was driving a dagger through her heart.

"Alright," Coach told them gruffly. "Learned your lesson, yeah?" they both nodded, avoiding eye-contact— both with the Coach and with each other. "Not going to spend more nights outside, yeah?" Again, they nodded. "Go inside. Get a bite to eat, then straight to bed. And don't expect the day off tomorrow!"

"Never," Piper muttered as she trailed behind Jason, who subtly increased his pace so that they weren't walking side by side. Feeling more miserable now that she wasn't running and had nothing to occupy her mind from running through everything that had gone wrong last night, Piper stumbled inside and to the cafeteria. Diner was already over, but a couple of the cleaning staff had stayed behind to close up and they told her that hot food was out of the question, but they could make her a sandwich if she wanted. Piper gratefully accepted.

She ate in silence, the whole cafeteria separating her from Jason. The sudden thought hit her that Leo would definitely choose to hand out with Jason rather than her, meaning that she would be friendless.

Oh well, she thought as she chewed. She was used to that.

I hated this, but a deals a deal, and I had to get this up today. So, sorry again and I hope next weeks will be better.

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