Chapter 12: Love, Laps, and a Ripped Jersey
11
After getting together with Derek, my perks didn’t improve. Instead, he sneakily tucked his basketball jersey into his pants when playing. So sneaky. Even though I stared so hard my eyes almost crossed, I still didn’t catch a glimpse. Meanwhile, Coach reminded us that conference is in two weeks and I still need a qualifying distance.
“Aubrey! Why aren’t you training, what are you staring at?” Coach couldn’t stand it and scolded me. “You’ve been injured and sick lately, don’t you know how much training you’ve missed?” I lowered my head like a chick, I really had slacked off. After just a short warm-up, I was already out of breath.
While suffering through extra practice, I cursed Derek in my heart: He insists on making me food every day, calls it a love lunch. Made me gain more than a pound or two. “It’s water and a calorie surplus,” I muttered, then added out loud, “And he’ll adjust recipes so I hit my macros.” Maybe he felt my resentful gaze, Derek not far away saw me and gave a cheer-up gesture. Damn! Who needs verbal encouragement! I want a physical reward!
Finally finished the run, I collapsed on the track. Derek ran over with water, “Why were you punished again?” As the culprit, I didn’t want to talk to him.
“What’s wrong?” He nudged my arm. I complained about the coach scolding me, “It’s your fault! You made me gain weight!” “You ate so much yourself, how is that my fault?” I stubbornly nodded, “Unless you let me touch your abs, I won’t be mad.” I reached for his jersey.
Derek ran ahead, trying to escape my claws. But he underestimated my strength, so his jersey got ripped. “Riiip” echoed across the track. A lot of people turned to look at Derek, who was covering himself and loudly complaining about me.
Damn! I just wanted a sweet romance, why does it keep ending in social death! I laughed through the embarrassment, wondering if love was just one big track meet—sometimes you throw far, sometimes you trip, but it’s always worth showing up. And judging by the equipment manager’s face—and the team meme page already filming—consequences were coming fast.