The alarm went off, and I found myself stirring, shaking off the chains of sleep that had bound me to my bed. Sunlight filtered in through my blinds, illuminating my simple room. I could feel the synapses within my eyes taking in the gorgeous scene. It was surprisingly dull. I mean, I wake up to this every day, what was I expecting? I rolled out of bed and walked to my dresser, quickly changing out of my pajamas and into my daytime clothing. A quick check of the radio indicates another moderate day. At this point I was curious. It's Summer, so why isn't it cripplingly hot or muggy? It was more like Spring...

I tried to ignore that question. No one else seemed to think this was bad or anything, and I certainly wasn't complaining. It was eleven in the morning, and the afternoon was soon upon us. And so will that girl... The thought came to me. I walked into the kitchen and opened the drawer, pulling out a plastic bowl and closed it. Another cabinet, and I had cereal. Something about it being fruity and loopy or whatever. I grabbed the milk and uncapped it, sniffing it gently. Still good. I turned around and slowly tilted the jug, watching the creamy white liquid flow out of the top and into the bowl, slowly filling it up. Careful not to over fill, I screwed the lid back on and put the cereal and milk back.

Sitting down to my mediocre breakfast, I thought of what the girl had told me. I was determined to get answers, when the phone rang. I got up and picked it up. "Yo, Smith, you there?" My eyes slightly widened, not recognizing the soft feminine voice at first. I regained my composure. "S-Samantha? Color me surprised! Usually it's Alex who calls me..." Alex tended to call me to let me know if he wanted to hang, while Samantha usually came up to my house and knocked to ask, either to hang out or to come inside.

"Yeah, crazy, right? Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come over? I can get Alex too, if you want. My dad bought me this new console and I got a game I think we'd enjoy..." I felt myself grin. "A chance to kick Alex's butt? Count me in! I'll let him know," I told Samantha. We talked briefly a while more, mostly about our summer homework; we were supposed to keep a journal, but as far as I knew, none of the kids in the class had even gotten around to doing it so far. A brief exchange of goodbyes later and I hung up, then rapidly dialed Alex and told him the news. I could practically hear his eyes bugging out. "You're challenging me?! You're going down town boy!" I laughed at his zealous words. It had been a while since we had had a proper get together- my obsession with the running girl had deprived me of time I could be spending with my friends.

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As I walked down the road, I realized that I did not feel uneasy like before. It took me a good long 15 minutes to walk all the way down to Samantha's house. A soft knock later and the door opened, admitting my longtime friend. Her long brown hair was still wet, a clear indicator she had just gotten out of the shower. For a brief moment I searched her brown gaze, my discerning eyes determining that she was not pleased with me looking at her so closely. "Does your people watching have to extend to me too?" she asked me, although the faint smile on her face indicated a joking tone. I smiled back. "Sorry, so what game did you get?" I asked, stepping in. She allowed me to enter and showed me the console, and the game. "It's some First person shooter. I'm not really a fan of them, but I reckon I could play good enough to at least cream you and Alex."

"Good luck," I replied. "Alex is pretty dangerous when he games..." As we walked into her living room, the front door was flung open. "GUESS WHO!" A raucous cry shouted. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear..." Samantha grumbled, turning around with me. We both stared at Alex, who was looking at us unashamedly. "What?"

"Don't scream in my house!" Samantha barked. Alex winced, running a hand through his sandy colored hair nervously. "Sorry, sorry. Look, I'll make it up to you by letting you get a free frag on me, alright?" He walked forward, sitting down on the couch. "So, you losers ready to be beaten?" he asked us. I sat down beside him while Samantha handed us controllers, then turned on the TV and console. "Depends," I said as the game loaded up. "I have to be back at my place by 4, I made some plans..." Alex and Samantha both looked at me sharply, although Alex's eyes had an accusatory glare in them. He knew exactly what my "plans" were, or at least had an inkling of one. However, we were interrupted as the game began. Alex leaned forward, the joking tone between us all gone. A light tension permeated the atmosphere as Samantha chose a map, going with death match. As the loading screen filled, I could only marvel at the rapid change in atmosphere. And then, we were off.

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As it was, I was putting up a better fight than I thought. Me and Alex had been tangling for a few minutes, but our firefight was interrupted by Samantha, who broke our stalemate by sniping me in the head. Alex cheered, only to scowl as he too, got sniped. Time seemed to fly by, but for some reason, something was telling me to get off. "Hey guys, what time is it?" I asked. Alex frowned. "Um...dunno," he said simply. Sighing, I got up and went into the kitchen, regretting not wearing my watch. I couldn't help but gasp at the time. 5:15 P.M. "Guys! I gotta go!" I shouted, making my way to the door. Alex gave a faint good bye, the sounds of gunshots ringing from the TV as I closed the door behind me. I began running down the road, terrified that I had missed my chance. As I turned around the corner to the street that lead my house, I noticed a faint silhouette up ahead. A girl up ahead with blonde hair and blue eyes waited impatiently, her arms crossed and her foot tapping the ground rhythmically

I ran up to her, panting. "S-Sorry!" I gasped, tired out from my dash. "Gee, thanks for making me late," the girl said, her voice angry. "I've had a clean streak for a long time up until now..." I apologized again, slowly catching my breath. "I was worried, you'd run by my house..." I told her. "Eh? Why would I do that?" she asked me. "Because...you always run by, at five, and you rarely stop for anything..."

"But I stopped when you talked to me," she pointed out. I shrugged, having now recovered. "I'm the exception." The girl sighed angrily, although I could tell that it was mostly a facade; she didn't truly seem to be mad. "I'm glad you came..." she replied after a moment's pause, confirming my previous assumption. "Since you came running down here in such a hurry, I take it your answer is yes?" I nodded. "You...didn't have to wait for me," I told her. "I feel really bad for messing up your schedule, and you were so mad too..." The girl smiled, shrugging. "It's no big deal. You're worth it."

You're worth it.

What did she mean by that? I looked at her again, curious. Was she hitting on me? No, there was no flirting or anything of the sort. It was as if she genuinely meant it, but in a platonic fashion. "So uh...can I have a name?" I asked her. The girl tilted her head. "Still on about that? I thought I told you I had no use for a name..." Now it was my turn to be angry. "I'm just tired of calling you "girl" all the time and never knowing what to call you!" she winced at my words. "Ok, uh, call me Bob!" I stared at her blankly. "What sort of name is that?" I asked her incredulously. The girl winked playfully at me. "Tell you what, run my route with me all the way and I'll tell you my name~!"

"Well, uh, how long is your route?" I asked her. I couldn't help but feel a bit shocked by the distance she told me. "That's so far!" I said, unable to keep my tone from anything but piteous. The girl laughed softly. "We're only halfway, so you have it easy. Anyways, we're burning daylight, but first off..." I frowned as she slowly bent forward, holding her legs straight as she allowed her hands to touch the tips of her feet. Frankly, I was amazed at how flexible and limber she was, but I had no idea what she was doing. She smiled when I asked. "I'm warming up. You can't just exercise right from the get-go, if you do that you'll likely tear a muscle or cause damage!" she told me. "Not to mention you'll be sore the next day because of it."

"That's why you always stretch before doing any sort of exercise, especially if you intend to do it for a long time! Depending on what you planning on doing depends on which parts of the body you stretch. Since we're going to be running, we should focus on stretching our legs..." she crouched and balanced most of her weight on one foot, extending the other one out as far as it would go. "Oh, ok," I said. The girl looked cross. "You know, you have to warm up too. Just follow me!" I reluctantly followed her directions, recalling the warm ups I usually did during P.E. So they really were for warming up? I always thought they were something dumb the Coach would make us do... After a few minutes, the girl slowly stood up straight and hopped once energetically. "Righty-o, that should do! You ready to do this?" she asked me. I walked and then smiled as we stood side by side. "...yeah!"

"That's the spirit! Let's go on the count of three, aight? One...two....three!" And she took off, with me trailing behind her.