I hang up the phone, confused.
Bad reception?
“Who was that?” asks Heath, coming back into the room.
“I’m not sure, but I think it was Sophie.” I say, recognizing the number.
Maybe she made a mistake? She was probably freaked out by my weird message.
“So she called back.” he says, raising both eyebrows.
“Well don’t sound so shocked!” I tell him.
“Oh come on, you’re surprised too.”
He had a point.
I sigh.
Did I freak her out that much?
“Dude, it’s just a girl.” Heath tries to comfort me.
I throw my hands in the air. “And hell is just a sauna!”
God, why didn’t he understand? This girl had me standing on the tip of my toes ever since I saw her. Something was different about her and I wanted to get to know her, was that so hard to understand? I wasn’t certain we had anything in common but that’s the point.
Getting to know her, that’s all I wanted.
After all, this was our last year in high school. If I didn’t act now then that was it. Life would go on as if nothing ever changed.
I liked change.
“She’ll probably call you back later.” Heath says, flipping through a car magazine.
Sometimes I thought Heath was more of a motivational speaker than my friend.
“Whatever, I’m goin’ out for a run.”
I get dressed in my sportswear and grab my iPod before heading out of the tiny apartment. Heath was twenty-four and was one of my best friends. We usually hung out at his place.
I hit the play button and let Iron Maiden take control of my environment.
“Fear of the dark, I have a feeling that someone’s always near…”
I start out with a steady pace and build my way up. Running was one of the best feelings ever: it wasn’t a team sport so there’s no need to communicate, it was easy since all you had to do was move forward and it let you think.
Ever since I turned sixteen, I had loved running. There was something about it that distracted me from life, made me think the future was probably better than this.
I mean there has to be something more, right?
Life isn’t just, high school, graduation, college, job. I wanted to do things, go places.
The cool air reminds me that spring is just beginning.
