Run Like the Wind (Reece)

[Adrianna Carstyn]

God, she'd been lagging so much lately. How many weeks had gone by? She didn't even want to try and remember, all she knew was that she'd ditched out on Reece a lot since all of the stuff had gone down in her life. With her mother's death, her father coming back, making up with Lani, Odion leaving Lani, and the horrible aftermath of her late birthday celebration, well, it was kind of understandable to say the least. Either way, Adrianna was intent on getting back to her workout routine. She needed to stop moping around all the time and finally get back to how things used to be. And if she had any hopes of that, these weekly running meets needed to start up again.

Adrianna announced to her roommate that she'd be back later after slipping on her running gear. Swishy pants and one of her dance jackets was all she needed to keep warm. Luckily the Vermont weather hadn't turned for the worst yet so that this whole running thing wasn't completely ridiculous. Not that she didn't run in the winter, but it was different in the woods rather than on a track that was made for running. She brought along a pair of gloves to keep her hands from freezing (as well as to hide her scars) and was on her way in no time. Part of her was excited, in a way at least, to be spending time with one of her friends that was still fairly in the dark about most of the insanity that she'd gone through lately.

Upon arriving to the lake, she slipped out of her slippers (she was too lazy to take them off before) and yanked on her fancy toe shoes, the ones that she'd seen Lani in so many times before purchasing her own. They were pretty fancy, she'd admit and it gave her a good push off. After she finished up, she leaned against her car and looked around to see if she could spot Reece anywhere. As far as she knew, she didn't have to pick him up, but then, maybe she had missed the message or something. She reached for her phone and checked again.

Nothing.

Adrian pursed her lips and waited as patiently as she was able.

[Reece Morgan]

Reece knew he was late. He had actually planned to go out early to meet with Adrianna but a quick nap turned into a one hour sleep that gave him a surprising wake up, and a quick stumble in the shower earned him a quick visit to the nurse and another quick nap to ride off the migraine.

He ended up arriving at the lake an hour later than the intended time in a blue Lycra t-shirt and black track pants with green streaks on the sides. "Sorry! One thing led to another...thanks for waiting." The telekinetic pulled Adrianna into a one armed hug before stretching his legs and arms.

"You look good, Aid."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

An hour late wasn't anything to get mad about as far as Adrianna was concerned. Granted it gave her more time to think about things that she'd rather forget about, but that was bound to happen regardless. If anything, his lateness gave her a good time to stretch, and just hang out, listening to music from her car. She really just hoped that she hadn't been the one that dropped the ball and forgot to pick him up. That would definitely make her feel bad. But she didn't remember getting a text from him asking her to pick him up and she knew that when they decided to start back up again that he hadn't asked her then.

She wondered if something bad happened, but the thought barely reached her mind before she heard his voice. Adri looked up and smiled, sliding off her car. He put his arm around her and she returned his hug without hesitation before pulling back and re-stretching her cooled off muscles. Last thing she needed was to pull something when she had a recital coming up. "It's no problem, Reece. I was just hanging out anyway, it's nice being out of my dorm." Less questions to be asked from her roommate about her mental state.

"Not so bad yourself there, babe," She offered a smile and internally frowned at herself. That's right, put on that smile, the mask that everyone knows so well lately. You're turning into him, as if it was a bad thing. Okay, masks and lies weren't good, but she had a reason to try and be happy for everyone else. It made things feel normal. "How've you been? Sorry I've ditched out on you so much, life's been hectic." Understatement.

[Reece Morgan]

Unobservant as he was, Reece couldn’t help but see the tired, almost lifeless look on his usually vibrant ‘big sister’. He kept quiet about it but noted that he would have to bring it up. If only to make sure Adrian didn’t think he was still as callous as he was when they first met.
At the turnabout compliment, Reece smirked and shrugged immodestly. “Come on, who are you talking to here?” He responded cheekily with a wide toothy grin. He didn’t notice how forced her smile seemed.
“Eh, I’d be better if I was out of Hammel. Then I get to spend more time with my big sister and make her help me get girls.” He chuckled, nudging Adrianna playfully. “Nah, it’s cool. I’ve been keeping busy. Don’t look good if people see me moping over the girl that got away you know?” Reece teased, making a sad face before chuckling.
He was still in the middle of stretching when a thought occurred to him. “Wanna tell me what hectic means?” He asked, the look of concern a little foreign on the Californian telekinetic.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna couldn't keep from smiling a little easier in response to his lack of modesty. She couldn't blame him much though, he was quite the looker. Anyone with eyes could see that. It helped that he was also such a nice guy, sweet and funny. Though he may have been a bit callous when she first met him, she liked to think that she was a good influence on him and that he was turning out to be a catch. He was definitely one thing about Hammel that she missed. She blamed it on the telekinesis, those telekinetics always hooked her. Even when she didn't want them to.

"I'm sure you don't have that much trouble getting girls, love. Cute guy like you, I'm sure you're beating 'em off with a stick," She smiled at him and nudged him back. Maybe if things weren't so complicated and if he wasn't like her brother, she'd have gone for him. But unfortunately she already had someone that had a firm grip on her heart that she couldn't quite shake. "The girl that got away, huh? Right. I'm glad you didn't miss me too much. Wouldn't do you any good," She winked at him playfully and internally cringed at her own false facade. Why did she keep doing this?

After she finished stretching, her eyes wandered while she waited for him. His question caused her to bite down on her lip and look pointedly at the ground. What was she supposed to do? Lie to him? Then she really would be like Lani. Reece was clearly concerned about her, which meant he caught on to something, but that didn't make it any easier telling him all of the problems that she'd faced these past few months...let alone this past year. "Oh you know, typical stuff," She said quietly. Skirting around the truth was easier than outright lying at least.

She glanced up, trying to put on that upbeat personality again, "You ready yet? C'mon I'm getting old here, Reece."

[Reece Morgan]

The smile on Adrianna's face looked a lot more like what he was accustomed to and he grinned softly. There were only so few people in this town that could get him to show any genuine feelings and Adrianna was one of them.

At her reassurance, Reece laughed and shook his head. "You'd be surprised by who has the stick, man. I mean seriously." He chuckled before nodding at her repeated sentence. It wasn't a big secret that Reece had thought Adrianna was hot when they first met and had he been just slightly less moronic, he would have pursued her. But thems the breaks.

He frowned slightly at her dodging the question yet again but he silently vowed to get it out of her if that was the last thing he did that day.

"Oh quit bugging, ya old fart." He teased before stretching out his neck. "Alright, let's go, impatient little bunny." He poked her and got a headstart with a laugh.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna laughed, "Watch out for those crazy fangirls, Reecey Cup. They'll put that stuck where the sun don't shine and we wouldn't want that would we?" She snorted and giggled. And there was the Adrian he knew and loved, the easy-going girl that liked to laugh. Reece was like a little flashlight in a dark cave that was helping her get out, though she'd never tell him that because she didn't want to add any pressure to him. It wouldn't do them any good if they were both stressed out with too much pressure on their shoulders. So she just tucked that thought away.

She attempted to keep up with her peppy attitude with him and found herself hopping up and down to keep warmed up. Who knew, maybe just a run with a friend would solve all of her problems and she could go back to being fun Adrian again. She was so sick of being bummy all the time, whining about a broken heart and sucky family problems. Her mother was dead, she had to get over that. Her father was a dick hole, she didn't need to talk to him. And Lani...well that was still complicated so she let the thought slip away again.

Adrianna snorted and slapped away his poke before he took off. She squeaked, "Reece! That's cheating!" But she took off after him and worked her way up to speed so that she finally caught up to him. "You are such a butt head, you know that!" She laughed again and kept a steady pace beside him.