As the bell rang, I hurried to my first class. People stared strangely at me as I sat down in my seat. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Nervously, I tapped my pencil on the desk and tried to ignore everybody’s glance.

Somebody passed by and hit their backpack on my side. They snickered and took a seat in the far back. Some of the people I hardly recognized anymore. Years before, they would have been my friends but now, they were just people. People part of a world who just stood and moved on while I was left behind.

Somebody sat next to me and pressed their body close to mine. I inched further away only to be caught in trance at the light eyes watching me. His mouth curled beautifully into a grin, revealing a set of straight, white teeth. He was beautiful and very handsome indeed. I blushed a bit and then turned away, afraid that I might be hypnotized by his presence.

“I’m Jason”, he said, extending out his hand.

I stared down at his hand stupidly before regaining my position.

“Nora.” My hand shook when it met his hand.

He smiled once again and withdrew back to his seat.

The day drew by slowly and school wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Most of the time, nobody noticed anything and still regarded me as invisible. I didn’t eat lunch and went straight to the bathrooms to hide out. However one thing that really intrigued was the guy who sort of flirted with me during first period. Did he really like me?

Passing by my locker, I noticed a bright slip sticking out from it. Curiously, I took it out and began reading it. It brought a small smile to my face but I quickly stopped it from spreading my face. Looking around, I caught glimpse of the guy turning away, his ears red. Slamming my locker shut, I turned around only to almost bump into the Goth dude I saw earlier at the car shop.

“Uh. I’m so sorry.”

He chuckled. “It’s no problem.”

We scooted out of each other’s way and headed in opposite directions. As I saw his features more closely, he really did look attractive and cute. I shook the thought away and continued to walk.

School ends and I walk towards the Mustang. As I was about to shut the door, a voice calls my name and I behind only to see the guy from my first period class.

“Nora!”

I pause, not sure whether to approach him or not. Instead, he approached me and grinned.

“So, you got my note. Do you want to hang out sometime? There’s a party happening and I was wondering if you wanted to come? How ‘bout it?”

The word ‘party’ was stuck in my head. Never did I want to go to one.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

He looked a bit confused.

“I have plans. Maybe we can go some other time.” I already knew the ‘some other time’ meant never. There was no way I would go to another party.

“Okay. Screw the party. Do you want to go out on a date with me sometime?”

“Yeah. Sometime.”

I stared down at my toes, not daring to look up into his eyes. He lingered for a moment before heading down the hall. I did not want to repeat the mistake again with a male again.

Back at home, I sipped on some coffee while scanning through a newspaper. There were regular articles about such and such. Nothing to be interested about. Tossing the newspaper aside, I decided to take a quick jog before taking my evening shower.

Snatching a pair of shorts and t-shirt, I changed quickly and headed out. The wind hit me full force as I was outside. The clouds were dark and dingy, hinting of some storm coming up. I glanced at my watch. It was 6:30. There was still time for a jog.

At first, I started out slow but during that time, I increased my speed and eventually ran my hardest. Inside, my ribs were burning and pleading to stop. Yet, I didn’t. I kept on going and going; my breath getting more ragged and raspier. My heart was beating out of control, as if it was about to explode into a million pieces. Yet, I ignored everything and kept on going. Slowly, my vision started to get blurry once in a while. I had reached far past my limit. With muscles all cramped, I forced myself to run even faster. At last, my legs could not longer move and all of my weight fell on the ground. Thunder sounded and before I knew it, large drops of water fell. They splashed against my clothes and splattered everywhere around me. I attempted to stand back up and keep on running but the muscles in my body refused to. Sprawled on the road, I rested my cheek on the cold surface. And then, closed my eyes and dreamt.

As I dreamt, I envisioned sunlight. A garden full of flowers. All different shapes and sizes. With the sun shining down and kissing the tops of the buds. Gentle creatures peacefully frolicking among the flowers. Everything seemed perfect and in place. No flaws and no darkness. But hard reality hit me, it wasn’t my reality.

The sound of a car honk startled me. At once, I lifted my head and stood up. My muscles were still cramped and full of pain. Still, I fought the pain and remained standing. The driver in the car eyed me suspiciously.

“What were you doing there? Is something wrong?”

I shook my head.

“I just fell”, I feebly explained. I knew it was a lie.

“Oh. Just be careful. The storm is getting heavier. You better head for shelter. You need a ride?”

Although the driver’s offer seemed generous, I couldn’t take any chances. I denied his offer. Still, he asked again and warned me of the dangers I could face when walking back home alone in the storm. Yet, I shook my head and denied his offer. I watched him as he drove off.

After his car was no longer in sight, I forced myself to lightly jog back home. I had covered 3 miles but yet, it still didn’t seem enough.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go farther”, I muttered.

By the time I arrived back, it was already 8:30. Two hours had passed since I last checked my watch. Thrusting the keys onto the table, I stripped down and took a shower. Warm water splashed on my naked skin.

With a fresh set of clothes, I trudged into the kitchen and grabbed myself another mug of coffee. Food was something I had no digestion for.

The house seemed eerily quiet. Mom must have gone somewhere. Dad was still absent. Finishing my coffee, I grabbed my headphone set and listened to a couple of tunes while doing crunches in the family room.

One, two, three, four…. My mind was totally set on what I was doing. The effects of my run were still there. My ribs were roaring by now and felt cramped all around my abs. Exercise seemed to be an addiction to me. I was getting warped into running and working out.

When I reached 50, I paused and went over to the scale. Cautiously, I stepped on it and read the numbers. 100. I had gotten thinner from my 5’4 frame. Maybe a loss of about 5 pounds since this week. Stepping off, I started for my bedroom and slept.