Page 14 of Always Us

“That reality show. Prep School Girls.” She hands me my registration packet. “Every time I hear the name Kensington, I think of that guy who was on the show. Garret Kensington. Do you know who I’m talking about?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“I’m totally in love with him. I stalk him online, trying to find out where he is so I can go find him and ask him to marry me.”

The girl next to her at the table overhears and says, “She’s not kidding. She’s totally stalking that guy. She has a boyfriend and yet she’s still stalking some guy from TV.”

The girl shrugs. “It’s not like I’ll ever meet him. My boyfriend has nothing to worry about. Anyway, what size t-shirt do you want?”

“Small.” I check to see where Garret is so I can warn him about this girl.

She hands me the t-shirt, then Karen and I bring our stuff back to Frank and Garret.

“Hey.” I pull Garret down to talk in his ear. “That girl checking people in told me she’s stalking you online and wants to marry you, so you might want to move so she can’t see you.”

“What girl?” He looks back at the table.

“Don’t look! She’ll see you.”

“Why didn’t you tell her I was married?” He smiles and gives me a kiss.

“She probably wouldn’t believe me.”

He nods toward the table. “Let’s go tell her. You can show her your ring. That way she’ll stop stalking me.”

“No. Just forget it.”

“Is there a map of the race course in there?” He points to the plastic bag the girl gave me.

“I don’t know. I didn’t look. Here.” I hand him the bag.

He opens it and sifts through the sheets of paper.

“Why do you want the map?”

“I just want to see where you’ll be.” He checks the map.

“I’ll be with all the other runners. Just look for the crowd.”

He’s acting weird again. Why does he care about the route? It’s a 5K. It’s a short loop, down and back.

He puts the map away and sets his hands on my shoulders. “When you’re out there, stay with the other runners, okay? Don’t go off the race route.”

I give him a funny look. “Why would I go off the route?”

“Just be careful. And don’t get hurt.”

I reach up and kiss him. “I love you, but you worry way too much about me. If anything, I should be worried leaving you here with Stalker Girl.”

“Jade, we should head over to the starting area,” Karen says as she stretches her arms behind her back.

“Okay.” I give Garret another kiss. “See you later.”

“Good luck.” He hugs me and says quietly to me, “You look really hot, by the way. Love you. Have fun.”

I’m wearing tight black running pants and a hot pink running jacket with black gloves. The jacket is tight like the pants because when it’s cold out, I like having the fabric close to my skin. I used the gift card Garret’s dad gave me to buy a whole new running wardrobe. I love buying running stuff. Sports bras, tank tops, running shorts, headbands. I love all that stuff.

The race starts and I keep pace with Karen, who runs what I’m guessing is a nine-minute mile. It’s slow for me but I don’t mind. This is for fun, not competition. We finish it in a half hour, then meet up with the guys who are waiting with bottles of water. Then Karen goes home to change, and Garret, Frank, and I head back to the house.

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