Jogging Makes The Ground Feel Needed, Open!

[Tessa Brennan]

Today was a good day for Tessa. She had worked hard to make it that way. When she woke up, the girl forced herself into a positive attitude. She could feel pangs of despair creeping in, but did her best to battle them off. The A she got on her history test helped. So did the fun lab they did in chemistry. She didn’t let herself have any down time; joining a group of people at lunch and actively participating in conversation. She made herself so busy that she didn’t have time to think about anything else. It was a good strategy.

However, once classes were over for the afternoon, the girl had to find something else to do. She needed to run herself ragged until the end of the day, fearing that if she stopped for even a moment, she would crash. Tessa knew that she would succumb to the ever present anguish that was lurking in the back of her mind, ready to pounce at a weak moment. That was why she had to keep going. Staying busy was the only way to avoid it until she could collapse into bed and move on to a new day.

Changing into her running clothes, Tessa decided to hit the track. Moving in endless circles would help. It would focus her. There weren’t many people about for which she was glad. She must have just missed practice or it was starting later or something. Not being on the track team, she had no idea. Warming up, Tessa began to slowly jog around the track before picking up the pace after a few minutes. Normally, she liked to run with music, but her iPod was nearly dead and all she really wanted to do was clear her head.

The repetitive motion of the tract soothed her and soon Tessa lost all track of time. She just kept running and running, not feeling any pain or fatigue. She had run quite a few miles at this point, but had no idea. For once, the girl’s head was filled with nothing but her own breaths. She would have been content to keep going for while longer had not she suddenly become distracted by a flash of color as she rounded the track another time. It was as if that light brought her back to her senses and suddenly she felt the byproduct of the run. Slowing down, Tess made her way to the bleachers, where she left her water bottle, desperately needing a drink that she had forgotten about. It was only after that did she think to look around for the obnoxiously colored person who had distracted her.

[Colton Grey]

The track and outdoors in general provided Colton with the peace he needed to brood properly. The past few weeks had given him less reason to do so which, while bad for his overall and so very important image, was kind of a huge relief. The only thing that still nagged at the back of his mind was whether he could call Sid his girlfriend or not. He sure as hell thought of her that way and wanted to be able to, but…it just didn’t seem like she would agree. Until that worked itself out, all he could really do was passively adore her…if that was even something a person could do, he wasn’t sure. Whatever it was he seemed to be doing was okay, more than okay after that time they’d spent together after the dance. Even if Sid had seemed a little off, might need to check into that one a little further.

Colton lay, stretched out on the bleachers, staring at an odd-shaped cloud and thinking. He really needed to call Lex and tell him how Valentine’s had gone down and see how he was doing in general. It had been a couple weeks since he’d last spoken to his brother and Colton had to worry about how he was doing out there in Wilmette, all by his lonesome. Some ways below him on the bleachers, Colton heard a person thudding around. “Could you walk just a little louder down there?” He called, looking down at the girl. Granted it was mostly just the vibrations that came from having his head resting on one of the bleachers.

[Tessa Brennan]

Tessa didn’t even notice the person on the bleachers until he called down to her. She was too busy thinking about—well, nothing really. The run had done what she had wanted it to. It had tired her out so that she didn’t have to keep herself occupied. That wallowing despair that had been on the fringe of her existence all day was gone. Tess was too tired to let it come back. However, for a moment, at the tone of the boy’s voice, Tess felt a little wave of it, but she banished it quickly. She wasn’t going to let some guy who obviously was dealing with something of his own ruin what she had tried so hard to create for herself.

Wrapping her headphones around her iPod, Tessa called up, “Sorry!” However, she couldn’t resist taking another few steps on the bleachers before hopping to the ground. “It helps if you don’t put your head on the bleachers,” she added, though not really talking to him. Tessa frowned; despite her best intentions his words had bothered her. Great. The best thing to do was just walk away, but suddenly her legs wouldn’t move and Tessa was stuck. So she sort of just sat down on the first row, putting her head in her hands, trying to collect herself. Breathing in deeply, Tessa calmed herself down hoping he wasn’t looking and had gone back to sulking or whatever it was he was doing.

However, as soon as she heard noise behind her, Tessa knew that wasn’t going to be the case. Quickly, she bent down so it looked like she was just trying to tie her shoe. The last thing she wanted was to look like he had bothered her. Actually, the last thing she wanted was to be bothered, but it was too late for that now.

[Colton Grey]

Colton grumbled a little as she apologized yet still moved around a bit more. Yes, it was entirely his fault for lying there, but he wasn’t exactly going to see I that way, that would mean apologizing or something. Ugh, now he felt bad, not cool in the slightest. He turned his head a little to look down the bleachers at the girl qho had been causing the noise.

Might as well go say he was sorry or something…not being a dick had been working out so well for him lately, Colton wasn’t too big on messing that winning streak up. He hadn’t even had to whip out his gift to sway the odds in his favor, though Colton wasn’t even sure if he was capable of that; he hadn’t really tried anything much bigger than working a card game.

“Look…sorry if I came off as a bit of a dick.” Colton said, thumping down the bleachers to her level. His tone didn’t exactly sound like he was too sorry, but it was a good effort, right? Maybe if he related this story to Sid later she would applaud his efforts and reward him with kisses. Right, so probably not, but it was nice to think about. “Uhm….I’m Colton, by the way. You new here?” His observational skills concerning other people at the school had always been questionable at best. It was really rather hard to pay attention to other people’s names and stuff when you were too busy wrapped up in your own little sob story.

[Tessa Brennan]

Oh, great. Now he was apologizing. Tessa rearranged her face and gave him a slight smile and a shrug. He didn’t exactly sound too sorry, but at least he was saying something. That counted, didn’t it? Tessa didn’t really care at this point. He was just some guy who Tess didn’t recognize and frankly didn’t care too much about at this moment. However, he was making an attempt, so she couldn’t really ignore it. That would be rude. Not that being rude really mattered at this point.

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, finishing up the laces that she had hastily untied when he came down before. “I should have noticed you.” Tess wasn’t really sure she believed that, but as per her typical self, she quickly placed the blame on herself. It always just seemed easier to do that. She had been doing it for as long as she could remember and it was second nature now.

“Tessa,” she continued, answering his question. Honestly, she wasn’t too offended by the fact that he had no idea who she was. Tess had the same problem. Noticing other people was a skill she was seriously lacking. There were people she recognized from classes and the like, but beyond that, not so much. Anyway, she tended to keep a low profile herself, so when people didn’t recognize her, it was not surprising. “I’m new as of almost two years ago,” she replied, giving him a bit more of a smile now. “I’m a sophomore. What about you? Are you new?” It was more tongue and cheek now, as it was clear that he wasn’t new either.

(OOC: Soooo sorry about the extreme delay!)