Tumors And Hearts

Xx-nikki-xX

“Wake up! Wake up! My God!
This is not a test!
And it’s not too late to come clean
Get it off your chest
So steady your hand before your face and concentrate
There’s got to be some stable ground
Left to walk on…”

I jolted awake as In Regards To Myself by Underoath started playing on my phone. I quickly shut it off, not wanting to wake Manda. I made a mental note to go back to using Airplanes as my alarm – that song didn’t scare the shit out of me – and got out of bed.

Ten minutes later, I slipped out of our hotel room in clothes more suitable for running and my iPod in hand. I put my ear buds in and started blasting Obfuscation by Between the Buried and Me as I headed to the elevators.

I reached the lobby of the hotel and looked outside through the glass doors. Why was it always raining in Orlando when I wanted to go running?

Heaving a sigh, I changed my route and headed to the gym that I had become all too familiar with in these past few weeks.

“Nikki!”

I whipped around and saw my boyfriend coming down the hall.

“Hey.” I said smiling.

“Watcha up too?” Shannon asked when he’d caught up to me.

“Running.” I said as we started walking again.

“Would you like some company?” he asked lacing his fingers through mine.

I smiled. “Sure.”

We entered the gym and headed over to the treadmills. I hopped on one of the three that were lined up by the back wall and started out at a slow jog.

I didn’t really like to talk while I was running so it was pretty quiet in the room. Shannon leaned against a nearby wall, making faces at me and trying to make me laugh.

After a while, he seemed to get bored. He sighed heavily and looked around the empty room. I didn’t realize till then that it was just the two of us.

He eyed the empty treadmill next to the one I was on for a few minutes before finally climbing on.

“You’re actually going to run with me?” I asked, smiling.

“If it doesn’t kill me.” he said pressing the start button.

I rolled my eyes and turned up the speed on my own treadmill.

The next ten minutes was filled with silence, with the exception of Shannon’s heavy breathing. He finally had to stop when it looked like he was going to collapse. He turned off the treadmill and plopped down on the edge of it, breathing very heavily.

“I can’t remember the last time I ran that much.” he said using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. “Aren’t you done yet?”

“Almost.”

I resisted the urge to grab my head as it started hurting. The treadmill said I had only run four and a half miles; I was used to running about eight and a half. I decided to push through the pain and at least get up to six miles before quitting.

It was silent again for a while. I just passed five miles when Chris Sabin came into the gym.

“Hey Nikki, do you know where Manda is?” he asked coming over to us.

“Probably still sleeping.” I said.

Disappointment was written clear on his face. “Well can you tell her I need to talk to her when she wakes up?”

I nodded and caught one of the ear buds to my iPod when it slipped out of my ear. “Sure sure.” I said popping it back in.

He turned around and started walking away. “Thanks.” he called over his shoulder.

I glanced over at Shannon and we locked eyes. He didn’t look happy.

“What?”

He shook his head. “I think Chris likes Manda.” he said looking at the door Chris had disappeared through moments ago.

“Oh...” was all I could think of to say.

“Has Manda ever said anything about him?” he asked looking back at me. “As more than just a friend, I mean.”

“No.” I lied. “Not to me at least.”

“Okay...” he didn’t sound convinced.

Staying silent, I looked down at my feet as I continued to run.

I hated lying to Shannon. But just because he was my boyfriend didn’t mean I was going to tell him everything. I wasn’t one of those kinds of people. And besides, if I told Shannon that Manda thought she was also in love with Chris he would most likely tell Matt. I was just going to keep my mouth shut; Matt would probably jump to conclusions about them and I didn’t want to cause any trouble for Manda. I was going to be a good friend.

When the treadmill finally read six miles I was more than happy to quit. My headache had only gotten worse.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your room?” Shannon asked.

I nodded, thinking someone should be with me in case I passed out or something.

We headed out of the gym and started down the hall to the elevators. I glanced out the doors of the lobby when we walked by. Of course it would quit raining, probably as soon as I went to the gym too.

Shannon put his arm around my shoulders as we walked. I shrugged it off and kept walking.

“I’m all sweaty.” I said when he gave me a questioning look.

“I don’t mind.” he said slipping his arm around my waist.

I grabbed his hand and pealed it off. “But I do.” I said smiling. “I smell bad and I don’t want you to have to smell me.”

He stopped walking and pulled me back by the hand so that I lightly fell into his chest. He then picked me up, slung me over his shoulder, and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

“Hey! Shannon! Put me down!” I said.

“What?” he shouted. “I can’t hear you!”

“Ass.” I said trying not to laugh.