She loved him once. When nothing mattered. Talking on the phone till she ran out of minutes, holding hands on dates, kissing under the starry heavens, and getting hugs she wished would never end.

Shauna lived to run. She wasn‘t a great runner or anything, but not a day went by that she didn’t hit the track. She jogged till the sun went down, through the rain, on sprained ankles and sore feet. She reveled in knowing that her hard work today would make her stronger tomorrow. She wanted to be strong. And when she was too injured to run, she sat and contently watched the track team as they went through their practice, sprinting across the track, kicking up huge dust clouds. She wished she could be as strong as they were.

No one was faster or stronger than Rob. He was the star runner for track. He was still only a sophmore and still he had accomplished way more than Shauna could ever have hoped to manage. He was amazing. His body tanned from all the long summer practices, covered in lean, slender muscles. Not to mention he was tall and had a pretty cute butt to go with everything else.

Shaun and Rob had been in the same sports for the past two years, but they had never really had a chance to talk. He was shy she thought. Maybe when you’re that fast, everyone else just gets left in the dust.

One day before school, Shauna was on her ritual morning run, jogging before the sun had even peeked over the rooftops, listening to her ipod as she mindlessly jogged into the music. Something poked her in the shoulder. She spun around to see a hooded figure in the dim morning light, running beside her. “get away,” she screamed as she threw a punch and hit the weirdo right on the chin sending him crashing down onto the pavement clutching his bloodied nose. It was Rob.

“what are you doing scaring me like that?! I almost died!!” yelled Shauna.
“wow u hit like a man…” mumbled Rob as he got to his feet and wiped the blood on his sleeve.
“what?!” I mean, um, anyway I’m sorry I hit you., I thought you were like…”
“it’s okay. I’m fine” he said
“what were you doing sneaking up behind me anyway?”
“oh, uh, I saw you running and thought you might want some company and like maybe it would be better to have a guy around since it’s so deserted and all but yeah, I guess you don’t really need a guy to protect you.”

He smiled. He was so handsome, Shauna thought, even if his hair was a mess and some of the dried blood was smeared on his cheek. Why would Rob want to run with her? She was just average looking, slow, clumsy Shauna. There was no way he liked her or anything. But what if he did?


Rain started to gently caress Shauna’s face Rob grabbed her hand and the two of them ran for cover under a nearby tree. She felt so safe with Rob, as if nothing could ever hurt her. A smile spread across her face as she looked down in surprise to see their hands were still intertwined. She timidly looked up, almost afraid to see Rob’s disapproval of her clinging to his arm. His head turned away, searching through the sheet of rain for something to say. He turned his head back their eyes locked. Her cheeks started to heat up and she knew they were definitely turning a bright pink. She looked down at her feet. Suddenly she felt a tug on her arm and her body gravitated to him until she was firmly pressed against his chest, staring up into those tender loving eyes.

Finally he looked back at her. Their eyes locked. He slowly walked toward her, opened his arms and embraced her softly against his chest. With Rob’s arms around her waist, Shauna raised her head and met with

For a time everything was perfect. Seeing each other everyday, talking to each other every night. Going on dates, movie outings with friends, shopping together, studying together. They did everything together. Running was the best. Running side by side across the town, relishing their youth, their stamina, and the simple pleasures of a gentle breeze under a warm summer sun. The only downside of their runs was Shauna always struggled to keep up and had to settle for watching Rob .

It was the first official day of track season again and Shauna was startled awake by her alarm. She rubbed her eyes and peered through the darkness at her clock. She was late for her morning run with Rob! She wrestled out of her bed sheets, threw on her running clothes, laced up her shoes, and raced out the door expecting to see Rob waiting for her. She surveyed the street, hoping to see him running or stretching. Rob was nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh as her gaze fell upon her watch. Sure, she was fifteen minutes late, but its not like he would have left without her right? No he wouldn’t do that to her. Where the hell could he be? If he didn’t show up or call, something must have happened. Shauna plopped down onto the bench and called him. No answer. She sat there waiting, and waiting, until her mom peeked her head out of the house an announced that it was time for breakfast and then off to school.

At school, he simply didn’t hear his alarm go off. Over time, he stopped going on the morning runs with Shauna. He said that there was no time for morning runs, because it was track season and that if he was going to be running, he had to be training seriously. And he said morning runs cut into sleep time, and he wasn’t getting enough sleep, because of homework and talking on the phone with her at night.

Shauna lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for Rob to call. He was late again; probably late because he decided to do some extra laps around the track. But recently, she was always feeling like a burden for Rob. He never had time to run with her, they barely talked at school, because he had to spend time with his friends. And he was always doing homework at night so didn’t really talk on the phone for too long. Not to mention the fact that the only time she got attention was when they argued over not spending enough time together. She sat in bed thinking of how to fix this relationship, before things got out of hand. She could never break up with him and give up those memories. Even if their relationship wasn‘t perfect, she loved Rob. She laid on the bed, and prayed that things would change.