Page 68 of Beautiful Deceptions & Sweet Miseries

"I don't know. I went out on a date. They were the ones that encouraged me to do so. Now suddenly I'm getting the cold shoulder."

Chrizzy scrunches up her face. "Men are weird. I swear they have bigger emotions than we do. They always want what they can't have. Well, if you want to stay with me and Linds, you're more than welcome."

"Thanks," I murmur sadly.

She looks over at me, tapping her cheek. "Unless you were thinking of another plan?"

"I wasn't…" I say slowly, watching her eyes light up. "Oh God. What?"

"I have an idea," she says, standing up. "You're not going to like it, but come with me."

"Whatthefuckarewe doing here?" I hiss at Chrizzy, ducking behind the bleachers.

Chrizzy peeks her head around the pole, looking down at the track. "We're going to do a grand gesture. You know, in the books when the guys always do some giant romantic gesture of love? You're going to do that. Because we don't wait for no man."

I pull her arm, ripping her out of sight. "Are you insane? There's like a hundred people here."

"Yeah," she says sarcastically. "Hello! Big grand gesture. You need to take them by surprise."

I groan. "I'm not built for this."

"Hush," she scalds, taking another look at the field. "Right… here's what you are going to do…"

"Ihateher…Ihate her… I hate her," I mumble to myself, sneaking down towards the field in between people.

I stand behind a couple of tall runners, who spot me. They give me a weird look but I ignore them.

"How y'all doing?" I ask, forcing a smile.

They turn away from me, shrugging at each other.

I peek over their shoulder, watching the three guys stand with two other runners in a group. I wait for them to be called forward by the coach for their sprint, the three of them lining up next to each other on the track.

My heart starts to race as I wait for the perfect moment, swallowing back the vomit that threatens to spill all over the backs of the runners in front of me.

Taking a look behind me, I spot Chrizzy on the bleachers, watching me. She gives me the thumbs up, cackling to herself.

Shaking my head, I turn back to watch the track, as the coach moves to the side of the track, gun in hand.

"Alright, y'all. On your marks… get set… go!"

The gun fires, the sound ringing in my ears. My legs take off before I have the chance to back out, doing my best to focus on my breathing so I don't pass out.

I push past some runners, colliding with someone as I run onto the track.

"What is that girl doing?!" someone screams, but I block them out, my eyes zoned in on the five runners who have taken off down the track.

My little legs push forward giving chase as I bolt down the track after them. I hear more yells behind me, the sounds of protests and confusion as the most unathletic girl takes after a bunch of college level champions.

"Keep breathing," I puff out to myself, running as fast as I can.

The yelling must get the attention of the runners, a few slowly down ahead to look back. They spot me, stopping completely as they stare in bewilderment.

Jax looks over his shoulder, stumbling as he suddenly brings himself to a halt. "Addison?!"

Slightly up ahead, Beau and Chase hear my name, stopping as they turn to look at all the commotion.

I run past the other paused sprinters, my legs slowing down as I start to reach my limit.

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