Gym class, what a bore!

<sup>Ellie was in the back of the group with a few of the slower students. She was secretly cursing this gym class. Nobody should be forced to do five of anything, let alone run five miles in a single gym class. Ellie wasn't exactly out of shape. Her body just wasn't wired for long work outs. She could run fast for a short burst of time. If this was 100 meters Ellie would probably have everyone beat. A small body was good for that. But this. She felt like her heart was going to burst.

A few people pulled ahead of her and the other slower kids. Ellie blushed fully embarrassed. She just got lapped. No way they were that slow. Her eyes scanned the track for the groups of people and begun to tear up. People would finish and then have nothing better to do than poke fun at her and the other kids. She didn't like it when other people looked at her like that. The girl pushed herself a little bit harder, breaking away from the group of the slower kids. For a moment she stood out in an area all her own but not fast enough to make it up to the next wave of people she fell back, fearing being alone. Even if nobody was really paying attention.</sup>

^{Ellie looked upon the guy with her face flushed from all the running. She could barely hold herself together with running one mile. For the time, Ellie could not trust her voice. If she spoke it would throw off her breathing, not that the guy that was trying to talk to her would understand it through her laborious panting. All she did was shake her head at him. No. It didn't mean much in the context of what he just said. No, she wouldn't kill herself. No, she wouldn't pace herself. No, he should just get away from her and go laugh at the kids that were straggling behind her.}

^{Ellie slowed up her pace some which allowed her to draw in a few more much needed breaths. Again, she shook her head to speak with him. This time it was a yes. Company was nice but.. "Wh...Why?" she managed to say. He was already ahead of Ellie. The guy should have kept going to finish his five miles faster. No sense in slowing down. For Ellie, it was better to get this stupid task over with than to let it drawl out. She honestly didn't see how he could help her do any better. She was already ahead of the stragglers. At least now people wouldn't be watching her all alone. Ellie hated this class, but she would much rather do anything, anything instead of this. This teacher needed to be fired.}

<sup>Ellie did this awkward sort of movement trying to count her steps. She was too focused on the way her feet moved at first for it to feel natural. Left breathe in. Right breathe out. Ellie didn't bother to look behind her to see the other students catching up. Her breathing was normally very shallow, but the deep breaths were helping to move her a long a bit more. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't let herself be beat. She wouldn't cause a scene or come in last. It wasn't a race, but there was always something about being in last. It was like failing. She never failed.

The guy's words made a lot of sense and helped Ellie get control of her pace. He was a much better teacher than the one that just told them to run five miles with no reason why or how to do it. She pushed herself to go a little bit faster, only then glancing back behind her to see the distance grow between her and the stragglers once again.</sup>

^{"No," she cried. "I just.. want to be.. done." Ellie was hot and covered with beads of sweat from the work out. She continued running as the distance passed ever so slowly. Each bit more brought her more and more pain. "Thank.. you.." she panted. She licked at her lip and worked to get a bit of moisture in her dry mouth. "A lot.. you really.. really helped." He could go back to his friends now and she would be fine for the rest of the run. Maybe. Ellie's eyes closed for a moment as her body forced her to yawn, gasping for a bit more air in her system. She couldn't wait to be done.}

<sup>Pump arms. Got it. She moved her arms in rhythm with her body. It was easy to do once she got in the sync of everything. If anything, Ellie could learn fast if the teacher was good enough. She flashed a smile to the guy that was running with her before she continued on her way.

Ellie kept running right up till the end. She was slower than a majority of the class but still not slow enough to be within the group of stragglers right at the end. The second she made it to the finish line she plopped right onto the ground tired and exhausted. She just needed to have some time to get her energy back up. A day.. Two.. Ellie would love to sleep now. Her insides burned and she started coughing. Ellie needed water or something. The drinking fountian seemed so far away at this point and her legs refused to move.</sup>

^{Ellie gave a moan when she got back onto her feet. This was already too much. Sitting down was indeed a mistake. Her body did everything in its power to protest while she raised to her feet. Now it was more work. At least it wasn't as bad. She continued on moving around with the encouragement of the guy while they made their rounds over to the drinking fountain. She shifted her gaze to the corner of her eyes to watch him while she bent down and took a long hard drink. Her face still flushed from the activity but her heart slowing down with the cool down walk. She took another long breath and wiped away stray water from the corners of her mouth. "Thanks again," she said, this time more calmly. "I probably would have died if you weren't there to help me. I don't think I've ever done something so strenuous before."}

^{"You're crazy," she said with a light giggle. Nothing could have been worse than what she had just gone through. "Lance," she repeated. His name sounded familiar to her for some reason. Maybe she read it somewhere lately. Maybe that was another Lance. At the time she couldn't quite recall. "It's nice to meet you Lance. I'm Ellie." Normally, she would have offered her hand out for him to shake, but it was sweaty. She was sweaty and in need of a shower. Her pigtails did wonders in keeping her heavy hair away from her neck at least. "So do you run track or something," she asked him. "You knew a lot about running. It was impressive a bit." It helped her pass. Ellie backed away from the fountain and mimicked a few of Lance's moments with the stretches, just a few more and she's probably be good to go.}

^{She wondered why he didn't go out for track if he was good at it. There was probably some other sport he did to occupy his time. Guys like Lance were usually all over the sport scene, or so Ellie assumed. She looked at him a bit confused as to why he winked though. "I'm not impressive in the slightest," she laughed at herself. "I wish there was some kind of sport I was good at." This was the only class she actually hated. If it wasn't required, she wouldn't have taken it. It was the only class that she couldn't pass easily with listening to what the teacher said. Luckily it was more of a participation and improvement type grade but for Ellie who could barely throw a ball overhand without looking like an idiot, it was horrible.}