~ 41: Marathon - Part 1 ~

I was cast off the bed like a fishing net by Mel in the morning. My head hit the blunt corner of the side table, making me yelp in pain. I fell to the floor as I lost my balance while trying to massage my temple.

"Ow!" I whined as I rubbed my temple. "What was that for? It's a Sunday for goodness sake! Let me sleep in peace!"

I threw a pillow at her before she could start with her morning lecture on 'Early Rising Habits'. The pillow was boomeranged back at me. I had pulled up my legs and blocked the effect by bringing my arms behind my head.

"I slept late. Can't I sleep some more?" I implored.

"No. Not unless you want Aidan Aoki chasing us downhill," she answered in a daunting voice. "Did you forget about the marathon today?"

"It's today?! And early in the morning? Won't it be too warm for them to —"

The next cannon of a pillow was shot at me. I stood up in a jiffy and moved away to avoid the pillow.

"Alright, alright, missy," I shouted, waving my hands in surrender. "I'm going!"

I shrugged my shoulders and saw her smile in victory. I cursed a few words about being younger than her and at the tournament before I slipped off into the bathroom to wash them off.

It was painful to get my heavy head full of sleep thinking about what we would need to do and who would be there. But Mel seemed well-prepared and super excited about everything.

"Wear those shoes you bought yesterday along with this little thing that I picked up for you," she said in a squeaky voice. "It should be perfect!"

I groaned at the ache in my head and the noisy environment she was creating. I picked up the dress and wore it.

"What's this flashy design on the chest pocket?" I asked in annoyance. "It's only a marathon for goodness sake."

"It's absolutely lovely!" she said and reprimanded me for my lack of taste. "The silver design looks great on the shirt. How can a fashion student be like that? You are dishonouring your teacher!"

At the mention of Ms Farleigh, I realised that she was going to be there as well. I quickly hurried about trying to find the best thing to go along with my clothes.

Now it was her turn to be frustrated. I chased her around asking her if my violet t-shirt would be alright with my hair colour and blue eyes, whether I could wear these particular earings with the outfit, would these shoes be alright, and if these pants were the right colour.

"You're crazy," she said when I lost my breath by questioning her.

She went to the table and opened up a box full of glimmering things. Then she took out a weirdly shaped box from the closet and slapped it onto my hand. I smiled wildly on seeing the jewellery and contact lenses.

"You can have any of these for today," she said with a tired sigh.

I gave her a big squeeze, only to realise that I had attacked her bruises a little too badly.

"Thank you," I squealed as I rubbed her sore areas. "You're the best!"

"That one is totally for you since you have a strange eye colour," she responded. "I figured that you might want to see how that might look on you and have more choice of clothes to choose from."

"But it diverts from my originality. The fact that you picked the right one for my skin tone itself is astonishing. And it already looks perfect as it is. Besides, I don't think you wanted me to have these in the first place. You should keep it as I wouldn't make any use of it."

"Are you sure? Once I use it, you won't get one until a fortune comes by."

I patted her arm in response and went to wear some hanging diamond earrings. I paired my violet shirt and white pants with the light coffee-coloured, flat, velvet heels that Mel had gifted me. She must have been shopping online yesterday or so and probably got a quick delivery since they came in this morning.

Mel, for once in a lifetime, wore a loose, casual, tawny, full-sleeved shirt with skinny white pants. Her thin frail frame looked amazing with this set of clothes and complimented her skin. She wore a long golden-brown chain with an owl pendant and a pair of black boots, giving off a partially intimidating vibe with her bold makeup.

"You'll have guys swooning over you," I joked and received a smack on my arm in return.

She wanted to do a full makeover for me, but I refused and only tinted my lips a rosy pink before we left.

I thought we would have a bus service to the Wildon. Yet none was available as it was already past eight in the morn as well as a Sunday. We were obliged to take a cab to the nearest convenience store from the institute and walk the rest of the way.

We reached the seats near the track field with aching feet. We sat down as close to the tracks as we could to watch the athletes warm up and perform the various stringent exercises. Then the shaggy blond head approached us with a big smile on his face.

"The pretty girls got the front seats, huh?" he asked as he took my hand and kissed it.

"Not in public," I muttered, retracting it immediately.

"We left as early as we could, although we didn't get the public bus," Mel responded. "So we spent a little on a cab and walked the rest of the way. Lest hates using too much money, even if it means we would be a little uncomfortable."

He pulled one side of his lips which looked like a smile and a smirk. I looked away from his muscled figure and laid my chin on my hand as I watched the other athletes from various universities train themselves before the tournament.

"Am I too disturbing to your eyes?" he huffed out. "You are okay with looking at other people and not me?"

"Yes, you are very distracting," I said in an annoyed tone. "You have everyone's eyes on you, and yet you want to have mine on you too."

"Jealous cat," he said as he leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Look who's talking," I murmured to myself as he waved and walked away, pleading us to cheer for Wildon.

As I looked at the athletes from our school, I remembered the last thing Lucas said about meeting that day. Then I shook my head, thinking that he might have not come at all, with Aidan and him on the same team.

'Surely that's not happening,' I convinced my conscience, nodding my head to reassure myself. 'Nobody would want another world war.'