Kiss Gone Wrong

22-Patch Things Up

SUNDAY MORNING

BAILEY'S POV:

                                                                     It was barely six in the morning when my phone began to ring. It wasn't my alarm, someone was calling me. I blearily cleared my eyes and glanced at the caller ID. It was Rob. Groaning, I answered the call. "What do you want?" I asked in lieu of answering. "Good morning to you too." Rob sounded amused. "You call this morning? This is some God forsaken hour of the day when I'm not supposed to be awake." I groaned.

                                                                  "You promised to go on a run with me, this is your wake up call. Downstairs in fifteen minutes." He said and hung up. I rolled my eyes and rested my head against my pillow again. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep again. Finally I gave up and got up to get changed. I brushed my teeth and threw on the first t-shirt I could find with sweatpants.

                                                                  I grabbed a mini banana from the kitchen, ate it and went outside. Rob was waiting for me by the road. "You're late. I was about to call again." He grinned. I ignored his comment. "Let's go. How far are we running?" I asked, mimicking the way Rob stretched his body. "Since it's your first time, we'll take it slow. Probably run around the park for an hour. What do you say?" He asked. "I'm okay with that." I replied.   

                                                                 We walked upto the park. It was about half a mile away, and Rob made me keep up a brisk pace, helping my legs warm up for the run. The park was not as empty as I had expected it to be. There were a lot of people doing yoga in groups, or running with their pets. There were also some other people my age who were playing sports in the grass.

                                                                I followed Rob's lead and began to jog. As we ran, Rob instructed me to breathe through my nose and exhale through my mouth. The air was cool against my sweaty body as we completed thirty minutes of running. I could feel sweat drip down my neck and run down my back. My legs felt like lead and I had resorted to breathing through my mouth. I gasped along while Rob looked perfectly at ease. 

                                                                  "How much....longer?" I gasped through my laboured breathing. "Rob looked at me in confusion. "We're only halfway there. Are you tired already?" He asked. "Yeah." I said. "Okay, how about a five minute break?" No sooner had Rob uttered the words than I stumbled onto the grass. I sat down with a huff. "Do you have any water?" I asked. Rob handed me a bottle and I gratefully gulped the cool water. 

                                                                  I returned the bottle to him and rested my head on my knees. I was not used to running at all. "Hey, you okay?" Rob asked as he sat next to me. "Yeah." I said without raising my head. "Hey!" Some girl called out in the distance. Her voice was vaguely familiar. "Hi!" Rob got up and said to someone. I lifted my head and saw Rob talking to Jade Anderson. And next to her stood Matt. 

                                                                 "I didn't know you come to run here." Jade said. She looked like a supermodel in her all-black workout gear. Matt wore a Green Day t-shirt that was drenched in sweat, along with trackpants. They looked like supermodels. I glanced down at my extra large t-shirt and sighed. "I usually don't. Today is Bailey's first day, so we decided to take it easy." Rob said. Jade and Rob continued to speak, but Matt came and sat beside me. 

                                                              "What do you want?" I asked. "Can't I sit down and rest?" Matt replied. I fought not to roll my eyes. "So, you're running now?" Matt asked me. I snorted. "No. I'm here because Rob dragged my ass out of my bed this morning." I said. "He runs often?" Matt asked. I glanced at him. Matt was critically staring at Rob, as if he was analysing him. "Yeah. He runs every weekend." I replied. I tried to ignore the way Matt was glaring at Rob, but I couldn't resist for long.

                                                               "So why are you burning holes into Rob?" I asked. Matt frowned. "I'm not." "Are too." I shot back. "I'm just trying to gauge his character." Matt shrugged. "You know, you can talk to him and gauge his character." I said simply. "I  know that." He said. We fell into silence, and I watched Rob and Jade talk.

                                                              Suddenly, they both walked over to us. "Hey Bailey, I was wondering if you would like to, you know, catch up over dinner?" Jade asked me. "What?" I asked stupidly. "I mean, I know about how the two of you," she gestured to Matt and myself, "have issues. And you need all the support you can get to resolve it. So, I thought a dinner with both families would be a good ice breaker." Jade said. 

                                                              I looked at Matt, who merely shrugged in a I-don't-contradict-Jade way. Jade was still looking at me hopefully. "I don't mind. You should plan it with the twins." I said. Jade clapped her hands. "Okay!" She said excitedly. Rob grinned and held out a hand to me. "We have half an hour worth's running to complete." I groaned and took his hand. We said goodbye to Matt and Jade and resumed our running.

                                                               When I got home an hour later, Nate was asleep. I went upstairs to shower. Lynn's door was open. I peeped in to see Lynn furiously painting by her window. "Morning." I said and stepped inside. She seemed surprised to see me. "You're awake!" She exclaimed. "Yeah. I could say the same to you." I said. Lynn quickly wrapped up her stuff.

                                                              "How was the run?" Lynn asked as she wiped her paint-covered hands with a cloth. "Good. We ran into Jade and Matt. She will contact you soon, by the way. She wants to organise a dinner, so that it's easier for Matt and me to get along." I rolled my eyes. Lynn frowned and checked her phone. "Mom just texted me. Apparently Matt's parents called her last night when she was in Chicago and they decided on having dinner together tomorrow night. It's at our place." Lynn read out.

                                                               I raised my eyebrows. Jade surely worked fast. I had a dinner to look forward to now.