Heart | N.H.

nineteen - 400 lux

"Okay, Miracle, as my first bit of advice to you as your coach, I would just like to say that your pink kneesocks and weird workout leggings look absolutely repulsive."

I scowled and placed my hands on my hips. "Niall, don't be a jerk."

The two of us were at the town running track. Niall was bundled up in a thick jacket and earmuffs, while all I had was a light running jacket to shield me from the December wind. It was also pretty early in the morning on a Saturday. You could say that I wasn't in a great mood. You would be making a grave understatement if you did.

"You know, I thought you said you hated doing anything athletic."

I readjusted my headband and tightened my ponytail, both in an attempt to further delay the inevitable moment when I would have to stop talking and actually get down to business. "Yes, but this is for a good cause. Are you ready?"

He nodded. "I'll meet you at the end of the track. Oh, wait, one more thing." He handed me a small black device.

I turned it over in my hands, confused. "Your iPod?"

Fishing a pair of new earphones out of his pocket, he said, "I made you a running playlist. You know, music that'll get you pumped."

Feeling a little stunned, I took the earphones from him and put them in. "Wow. That's really-"

"Hush. Get your butt on the track and start running."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

Running might be exhilarating and invigorating for some, but it wasn't for me. For one, I wasn't in good shape, which meant that my legs felt like I was pushing them through a meat grinder. My throat was hoarse and dry, and gulping down the cold winter air brought no relief; it only stung like hell. I'd walked the track during the summer countless times with King, but now it seemed endless. 

I also had all manner of excuses for my pathetic running ability. I had short legs. There was no way that was fair, right? I mean, I probably had to take two strides for a normal sized person's one. And it was cold. I was pretty sure that half my right leg was frozen, which would explain why I wasn't moving very fast. Also, I was pretty sure I was slowly dying of hypothermia and someone probably tied an invisible two-ton elephant to my foot. 

After I completed one lap, I jogged over to Niall and breathily panted out all of these excuses. He told me to go run another lap. I called him heartless and unrelenting and took off my glove to punch him on the shoulder, which only resulted in me returning to the track with throbbing, icy knuckles.

When I'd completed the requisite four laps that we'd agreed upon, I crawled over to the bench where Niall sat and lay with my cheek pressed to the sidewalk. Niall gave a loud sigh. "Kitten, get up."

I didn't budge.

He prodded me with his toe. "I thought you were cold? The ground is freezing."

I let out a long groan. 

Muttering something about how he deserved to be paid the same as an Olympic trainer for putting up with me, Niall got up and put his arms under my armpits, hoisting me up. I immediately tried the possum approach, letting my limbs turn to jelly, the result being that I fell back on top of Niall.

Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned. Instead of catching me, Niall was caught by surprise, and we both tumbled into the frost-covered grass to the side of the track.

"Fuck, kitten," Niall swore.

"Well, you should've caught me," I grumbled sullenly. "You're so useless."