All I Want

Races
~Wednesday March 25, 2009
Clarissa Adelina~

“Coming Claire?”

“Yeah,” I said looking up at the three boys standing in front of me. Zack, was the tallest one of them, standing at least three inches above Brian. Unlike Seph and Brian, he played basketball. He was the star player, the one every girl drools over, but not me. Honestly, what attracts everyone to him? I could see him as a model, with his short blond hair, brown eyes and perfect muscles, which is probably why everyone loved him.

“Seph? Would you rather get stuck out here in the rain for two days or stuck in your house when it’s sunny for two days?” Since we left the school, ten minutes ago, Zack has asked the two other boys many questions like this. Every time one of these questions were asked, they would have to answer and then tell why, which would eventually lead to a secret. Sometimes the questions would require a lot of thinking and the other times, they were really lame.

“If one of the two days is today, then I would pick the rain,” answered Seph casually. There was a giddy smile on his face, and I wondered why.

“Dude, why? Your house is awesome!” Zack walked in front of Seph, stopped and put his hands on either of Seph’s shoulders, clearly thinking his friend was going crazy.

“Well…” Seph began, trying to annoy his friend; it was working. I had to stifle a laugh; Zack’s face showed nothing but impatience, and it was hilarious! “I kind of like this one girl,” he paused, making us believe (for one second) that he would tell us her name, but I already knew who it was. “And she said she would meet me here.” At the same time, Seph and I looked around, for the same person.

“Who?” Brian asked. I looked behind me, and not too far away was Hayden. Looking forward, I smiled, but decided not to tell Seph, he’d find out soon enough. “Who is it?” Brian whispered to me, seeing my smile.

“Behind us, just don’t tell him she’s here,” I whispered back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him look over his shoulder and give off a knowing smile. “Finally,” he muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“He’s had the biggest crush on her for the longest time. It’s about time they started hanging out outside of school.”

“Seph!” I spun around and ended up face to face with Hayden. Seph had stopped in his tracks and was smiling at her.

“Whoa, dude. It’s about time,” Zack said.

“Hey,” said Seph. He walked casually over to her. Before we could hear anymore of their conversation, they turned around and started walking toward the field.

“You have no clue how long I’ve waited to see them together!” Zack put his arm over my shoulder. “So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” I said. But I know what I want you to do: get your arm off of me! Suddenly I got the best idea, one that would get his arm off of me and satisfy my need to run. “How about we race to the basketball courts.” The courts were on the opposite side of the park, I could just barely see them from where we stood.

“I won’t race, but I’ll judge,” said Zack hopefully. “I’m too fast for it to be fair.” I rolled my eyes.

“So much for modesty!” Brian and I said in unison. We looked at each other and laughed; the timing was perfect. I stopped laughing after a few minutes, but Brian still was. He was doubled over, holding his stomach with his long black hair covering his eyes. He was the perfect picture for having fun.

Once we both caught our breath, Zack began the countdown. “Ready… Set… GO!!” He yelled, taking off to see who would win. I ran as fast as I could; glad to be rid of Zack’s arm. It felt beyond good to run, it made me feel carefree, and that’s exactly what I needed. Brian and I cut through the playground, so as to get to the basketball courts faster. I dodged the swings and ran through the sand box. I didn’t see Brian anywhere, so I slowed my pace a little. The basketball courts were in sight. Zack was standing in front of them, breathing a little heavier than before, but not by much. I ran as fast as I could, using the last of my energy to win the race.

“YES!” I yelled, but I wasn’t the only one who declared their own victory. I looked up and saw Brian with his fists in the air in celebration. He froze after processing that there was one too many voices yelling, knowing that it was possible he didn’t win.

“When did you get here?” he asked, obviously upset that we tied. I guess we both had that competitive side.

“Oh, a few days ago. It’s a nice town you live in,” I responded, smiling.

“No, I meant did you get here, to the courts before or after me?” Before I could admit that even though it looked like we tied, he was the real winner Zack spoke up.

“She did. She was here way before you were.” Zack walked up to me and put his arm around my waist in a flirty gesture. Before I could think, I pushed him away from me.

“No, Brian you were here before me, I saw you,” I walked away from Zack and went to stand in front of Brian. “You’re the winner.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said. “You’re a really fast runner, you almost beat me.” I looked at the playground, wishing I was a kid again, wishing that I was on the Orphanage’s weekly trips to the park. “Do you guys want to play tag?” Seph surprised me, asking what I thought never would be asked.

“If it’s on the playground, if it’s anywhere else than no,” said Zack. “Do you Claire?” I looked at the colorful slides and bridges.

“Um… I… I’ll just watch for now,” I said. In truth I didn’t have the energy to run anymore, which scared me. Usually I was able to run four times the distance I just did, and still have enough energy to run a bit more.

“Are you scared that you’ll lose?” Brian teased. He leaned forward, tagged me and ran for it, to a ladder leading to the highest part of the play area.

“No, I’m only worried about your egos. I don’t think you can handle it if a girl tagged you in less than two minutes!” I said running after him. My energy was back, or some of it was, but enough. I caught up with Seph, who was halfway up the rope ladder, jumped and tagged him on his calf. “You never said no tag-backs!” I yelled, while running to the monkey bars, knowing that Seph would have jumped off the ladder by now. I climbed to the top of them, then made my way across to the castle on the other side of it. We played and goofed around for the next hour, until Seph came and told me it was time to go home.