“It must be having them after being on the water all day.”
“New tradition,” Rebecca and Andrew chime together.
“We have to have these every day after swimming.” Andrew decides.
Rebecca and I nod in agreement. And thus begins a new tradition, never to be broken.
CHAPTER 7
Summer 19
Iwas not expecting to be woken up at 5:30 this morning by the tapping of Andrew’s knuckles on my window. I stayed up till 12:30 last night finishing my book. It was completely worth it until my sleep was interrupted prematurely.
Groaning, I roll out of bed, pulling the covers off the bed with me. I pick them up off the floor immediately, arranging them properly before I open my window to speak to Andrew. Watching me, he shakes his head with a knowing smile on his face.
Immediately upon opening the window, Andrew teases, “You just had to pick the covers off the floor?”
“Yes! I don’t understand why everyone always gives me crap for it. It makes absolutely no sense to me that it’s normal to live in a pigsty but laughable to like things clean and organized.”
“Do you think I live in a pigsty?”
“Well, no, but sometimes Rebecca’s room was like one.” The lack of sleep and abrupt wakeup call is clearly leaving me flustered. “Why’d you wake me? I was up late reading, and the sun isn’t even up yet.”
Andrew opens his mouth to explain, but when I see he’s dressed for a run, I cut him off. “It’s too dark to run. Go back to bed and we can go later.”
“I’m just following through on my promise to run with you.” He bats his eyes innocently.
“Couldn’t you have followed through yesterday or tomorrow… a day when I got more than five hours of sleep?”
“You can nap later. Just imagine how nice it’ll feel to sleep in the sun on the dock this afternoon,” he coaxes. “Get dressed. I promise it’ll be worth it.”
I give him a dramatic moan but head toward my dresser to grab shorts and a tank top anyway. That damn smile spreads across his face again as he takes a step away from the window to give me some privacy. “I’ll meet you in five minutes at the end of your driveway.”
Five minutes later, we are waiting for my watch to connect with the satellites. It emits a triumphant beep, and I hit start as we get going. Even without the sun beating down on us, the air still has a summer warmth.
Andrew, the track star he is, takes off from the start. “Hang on there, buddy.” I tug on the back of his shirt, pulling him in line with me again. “No need to take off right out of the gate when we are running for distance.”
He gives me a puppy dog look. “But I’m just so excited to be out running!” Quickly, his pout turns into a teasing smile.
“Well, you just woke me up five minutes ago, and I’m still shaking the sleep off. You’re running with me to keep me accountable for going, not to whip my butt back into shape.”
“That’s what you think.” He smirks. When I shoot him a glare, he quickly retracts his statement. “I’m just kidding, Em. Relax! This is supposed to be something you enjoy.”
“I am enjoying it, minus being completely sleep-deprived.”
“Not much of a morning person anymore, huh? Now youknow what Rebecca must’ve felt like.” His laughter is tainted by a hint of sadness at the memory of his sister.
“I’m still a morning person. Years of waking up early for cross-country practice doesn’t outweigh a few months of not training. You just caught me by surprise. Even when I woke up early for practices, I still regimented my sleep so that I was getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night.”
“You always amazed me.”
“Past tense?”
He gives me a soft smile, and I feel my cheeks heat. “You still do.”
We shuffle on for a little while before I feel compelled to ask, “Why’d you drag me out here so early? I didn’t think you were that much of a morning person yourself, let alone a morning runner.”
He gives an exaggerated wheeze. “I’m not a runner. I’m dying already.”
