“Well, it’s not going to eat itself in there. Come on. I’mhungry.” Rylee sits on the bench and opens her brown lunch bag, digging the contents out.
I rub the back of my neck and look at the track again. I usually get two miles in, and I’ve only gotten one. My fists open and close five times. Rylee’s eyes look at my face, then at my hands.
“Do you want to keep running?”
There isn’t hurt in her voice, only questioning. I nod, taking one long breath.
“Okay. I’ll be here.” She takes a large bite of her sandwich and pulls out a book to read from her bag.
Exhaling with relief, I watch as she finds her place in the story. I quickly pull out a bag of Oreos and give them to her. A smile stretches across her face, and I slowly back away to start back into a full run. Glancing over my shoulder, her food is in her hand, but she makes no move to eat more, fully immersed in her book. The pounding of my feet hitting their steps fills my ears, and the ringing stops. My breathing gets easier again, and I know she will still be there when I finish and walk with me to our next class.
On the drive home, my mom waits patiently. I’m thankful she waits for me to talk about my day rather than bombarding me with questions. She glances at me a few times throughout the drive, but it’s not until we pull into the driveway that I face her.
“It was fine, Mom.”
Her shoulders relax as her head leans back into the headrest. Putting the car in park, she turns toward me.
“I’m glad. I know it’s hard starting at a new school, especially mid-year.”
I nod, looking out the windshield. We came from New York, where there’s snow at the beginning of January. It’s weird still seeing green grass outside, but I love it because it’s easier to run.
“I’m here, okay?” She grabs my hand.
I nod. “I’m going to go for a run before dinner.”
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll bring your bag inside.”
I get out and immediately take off, heading straight for a trail in the woods. I’ve been excited to see what our property has to offer. When my parents saw this land, the trails were something they wanted, so I had a place to run and still be close by.
I run long enough that my legs burn. I stop, bracing my hand against a tree, my palms digging into the bark as I look around. Every direction looks the same. It would be easy to get lost if we didn’t have the trails.
“Clayton!”
Turning around, I see Rylee sitting under a large tree across the fence, a book in hand, and Peanut cuddled up beside her on a blanket.
“Hi.” I walk to the fence, leaning my arms across it.
“Want to come sit?”
I nod and climb the fence. Peanut raises her head when I get close, but lies back down when she sees it’s me. I sit and rub the dog’s head.
“Have you finished your homework?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No, I started running once we got home.”
“You like running, don’t you?”
I take a breath. “Yeah. It helps me.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand as her eyes watch me pet her dog. She doesn’t push me to explain more. “We can always do homework together if you want.”
Meeting her eyes, I smile. Usually, kids my age cause me to overthink situations and just want to get away, but there’s this calming feeling I get when I’m around Rylee. She’s not asking me what video games I like to play, or why my family picked up and moved to a small city. She’s content to sit in silence. I’vealways thought that I had to do that alone, but now I’m more relaxed doing it with her.
5
RYLEE: THEN
Rylee:13 years old
