Page 1 of How We Fooled

CHAPTER ONE

Summer before Senior Year

Eli

Just keep pushing. Just keep pushing.

This is the mantra I say to myself when I feel like my legs are about to die from making it up this hill on my mountain bike. My friends think I’m crazy for riding up, but to me, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while.

I need to be active. My body doesn’t know anything different. High school baseball already ended, and practice for my national team doesn’t start for another few days, so I finally had time to get on my bike.

I used to ride these hills between Mason Creek and Leighton River for hours before I started high school, where training for football, basketball and baseball got more intense. The phrase it’s like riding a bike does not count when riding a steep uphill without stopping. No, it’s not something you can just pick up and ride up again after taking a few years off from doing so, but I’m almost to the top, and there’s no way I’m stopping now.

My lungs burn, and my legs feel like they’re on fire, but I push that last bit and cross the finish line as the land plateaus, and I get my reward of an amazing view with the sun off in the horizon.

I hop off my bike and lay it on its side as I breathe in deep breaths with my hands on my hips while I walk around, calming my heart rate.

I forgot how much that ride sucked, but how much I loved it too.

Once I can breathe fairly normal, I grab my water bottle that’s tucked in the holder of the bike and walk to a rock that’s perched up on the opposite side of the land, overlooking the area I didn’t ride up, but plan on riding down.

I squeeze water into my mouth, loving the taste and replenishment it gives me while I climb up on the rock and rest my arms on my knees that are perched up.

I sit like this and stare off into space, my mind completely blank as I take in the beauty that is our world and recoup from the beating my legs just took.

I could truly sit here for hours. There’s something comforting in the quiet of the world. It’s moments like this when I’m at my best.

My legs feel tight, so I stretch them out in front of me before deciding it’s time to make my way back down the hill.

I pick up my bike, swing my leg around it, and pedal toward the other path that will lead me down the hill.

I make it a few feet when my tire hits a rock that stops it in its tracks and flips me over the handlebars.

With a hard thud, my body slams against the dirt and pebbles. I sit there for a brief moment, gathering my wits about me, mentally checking all my major body parts to make sure they still work.

“Are you okay?” I hear someone from behind me ask.

Looking her way, I see a woman running toward me.

I hold up my hand that I now notice has little cuts and scrapes with tiny rocks embedded in my palm. “I’m fine.” I stand up and dust my legs off as she approaches.

“Are you sure? That looked bad.”

I move my body, rolling my ankles and lifting my arms to make sure my shoulders are okay. “Yeah, I’m good. Not my first fall and definitely won’t be my last,” I tease, being truthful though.

Ever since I was little, my mom has said I’m a dare devil who doesn’t learn his lesson. I’ve fallen so many times that I’ve lost count. It’s like any sport though—the more you fail, the more you learn how to pick yourself up again.

I’m sure I’ll hurt tonight and find cuts I didn’t realize I had, but for this second, nothing is broken, so I’m good.

I reach down to pick up my bike, only to notice the tire didn’t fare as good as my body. I spin it around, examining it slowly.

“Bummer,” she says, pointing to where I now have a flat.

I sigh, knowing I didn’t bring anything to fix it up here with me. “Goes with the territory.”

I stand up and look in her direction for the first time, and am completely taken aback by the beauty standing in front of me. From afar, I just saw a woman running toward me, but now that I’m actually seeing her, I notice she’s so much more with her dark hair and beautiful brown eyes.

She’s definitely not from here. Between these two small towns, I would have seen her before.

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