Running From Your Problems (Karalie Heise)

[Matt Davis]

Sweat rolled down from his golden locks and bounced off of his head, dropping to the rubber of the track as Matt ran around the quarter mile track again. He wasn’t sure where he was at now, how many times he circled or who all he had run past. He had been doing it for a while now though, and he would continue until he felt a new shift in his attitude. He ran in his own world, alone with nothing near him anymore even as he passed different students. To him, it was just him, his sweat stained shirt, his old and tattered running shoes, and the track.

Throw dirt on me, an’ grow a wildflower.

This was one of the ways he relaxed. Bleed the pain and anger of his situation out through the sweat on his brow and drop it down to the track. Punch it into a bag. Lift it and drop it on the bench press. His mind disconnected from him when he worked his body, and things began to move clearly. It was almost like his damnable ‘gift’. His body and mind were apart and he’d act without his consciousness while the ear buds plugging his ears would help drown out the insecurities.

No love lost, no love found.

It helped him forget where he was. A freak. Surrounded by freaks. No future: His chance at a a scholarship taken away. His team gone. His friends scorning him. His father not saying a word. His mother crying. It was gone. The world offered No love.

His eyes closed as he moved and the jagged voices of Eminem and Lil Wayne filled his ears. His lips started to arch into a bit of a smile and his feet started to pick up the pace towards the end of the song. Blinded by the song and the picked up speed he was building. He panted as he ran though he grunted the memorized words with each step.

“You can never break my stride, never slow the momentum… about to blow. You’ll never take my pride, killin’ the flow… venom and th eopponent is getting no mercy... aint letting up, relentless… I smell blood, I’ll give them hell…. where was you when I fell and needed help? You get no love.”

His eyes started to slide open, but then flew wide as he saw where he was. He had run past the group start and moved into the bend of the track and was an inch away from another runner. It seemed that running really wasn’t like his power, he had to pay attention out here when his mind and head separated.

He tried to stop, which thankfully slowed the force of the impact greatly. He had taken down much larger men at this full speed, who knew what’d happen if he collided with this much smaller girl at the same speed. Unfortunately he couldn’t stop completely and ended up knocking both of the runners onto the firm rubber track.

The ground that offered him such a nice, peaceful relief betrayed him as the small fake pebbles scratched against his palm and arm, bits of the material sticking to his skin as he rolled to a halt. He knew how to land from a hit, but hoped the girl did too. As quickly as he fell he bounced up and raced to the poor girl.

“Are you okay!? I’m so sorry!” He hurried to the girls side and tried to help her up, dusting off bits of the faux-pebbles as best as he could.

[Karalie Heise]

Karalie ignored the pain in her knees, the pain in her abdomen, the pain in her entire body.  She would hit the mark soon, that pivotal moment during a run when the pain ceased and your body decided it would stop hurting, the endorphin's kicking in and everything just feeling almost, well, euphoric.  She would be happy and at peace, everything hurting so good.  She needed to keep herself in tip top shape for the meet next week, and Lucas was being an asshole.  She loved him.  She loved kissing him and their sessions working on her retrocognition were helping her immensely.  She was already starting to learn some control, and even had a break through recently; she'd stopped a memory from completing.  She'd actually pushed it back onto Lucas.  She still didn't know how it ended, but she didn't care.  Since then she'd only been able to do it once, and wanted to try some more, but she was angry with her boyfriend for being out late with friends and being too tired to go running with her today.

The time Luke was spending with friends, other than her, was making her jealous.  She trusted him, but Marnie's warnings had stuck with her.  He was trouble, or at least he used to be.  What if he wanted to break up? What if he was talking to other girls, girls more interested in putting out? Girls that were capable of holding his hand? She knew how much he wanted her to touch him, which was why he was such a willing test subject for her practice sessions, but what happened if another girl, an easier girl, got a hold of him? Would he leave her high and dry?

She knew she shouldn't worry about those things.  They were silly and only served to make her one of those paranoid bimbo teenagers she swore she wouldn't be like.  She was smarter than that.  Smarter and better dressed.

Boom, Clap, You make me feel good, the sound of my heart, the beat goes on and on and on and on and..

BOOM!

She was shoved forward in tune with the music pumping through her headphones, sending her rocketing to the ground, her headphones knocking out as she hit her knee and then rolled onto her back.  What in the HELL was THAT?!

Karalie lay panting, her heart hammering as she tried to grasp what the hell had just happened.  A boy was racing to her and she looked up at him, startled.  Had he.. had he hit her?  He was rambling his apology and she finally got her wits about her.  She swatted at his hands, sitting up on her own and glowering up at him.  "What in the hell do ya'll think you were doin', huh?" She chastised, again waving his hands away.  She didn't need to grab any of this kids memories, she had enough, and with how annoyed she suddenly felt there was no way in hell she would be able to control her ability now.  "I'm wearin' neon colors, didn'cha see me?" She pushed herself to her feet, her whole body aching again, now her head joining in the mix.  She brushed herself off, still giving dirty looks to the obnoxiously attractive boy.  

If this was his weird way of trying to get her attention, it definitely worked, just maybe not in the way he'd hoped.

[Karalie Heise]

OOC: we continued this thread via AIM..


Matt:
Matt was surprised by this running neon girl. At the moment, it wasn’t even about the collision. It was the voice. Even more so it was the accent. A southern girl in vermont. Hot damn. His lips arched into a smile as he looked over her, studying her for a bit longer with his wordless smile than he should.  "Oh-Oh, sorry, yeah I should've, I know. But I had my head down and...as you may have felt, gone about as hard as I could before I looked up. Is there
anything I can do to help you out? I can go grab some bandages?"

Karalie: 
Was he laughing?! Somehow this only added fuel to her fire and she glowered at the boy. She didn't care if he was cute! Being a pretty girl taught her one thing; being beautiful doesn't always work to get you out of trouble, and she certainly used her charms to woo others into not getting so heated with her, but she'd sooner let hell freeeze over before letting someone do the same to her. "Do ya'll think this is funny? Is this uh game?" She cocked her head to the side a little, her eyes barely narrowing. She didn't want bandages, she wanted.. what the hell did she want!? "If yer really interested in helpin' ya'll can go get my water." she snapped

Matt: 
He lifted his hands up in a surrendering way. "Woah! I said I'm sorry! yeah, sure I'm interested in helping, where's y'water at? An' I just...It aint a game! I just- It was an' accident.'

Karalie:
He seemed genuinely sorry, but that wasn't about to stop her wrath. Her lips pursed slightly and she watched him carefully. Finally, she nodded her chin towards the benches. "The pink bottle." She informed him. She didn't care to carry her water bottle around. It felt odd carrying anything.

Matt:
He nodded, turning on quick ankles just as quickly as his head bobbed. He was fast! Jetting towards the bench with an impressive sprint. Who knows what would've happened if he would have crashed against her at that burst. When he reached the bench he stopped. It felt odd to pick up a pink bottle. And even odder to pick up a bottle and not drink it. However he did just that, picked it up and held it firmly while sprinting back to her. "Here! Again, I am so sorry.. is there anything else?"

Karalie:
Karalie got a deep satisfaction watching the boy take off. He had a nice physique and it was funny watching him grab her bottle and come back. It was hard for her not to smile, her breath finally slowing down enough that it was brodering on even. Even her heart rate was beginning to slow, though sweat still beaded on her forehead. She took the bottle and took a long drink before bothing to answer him. "I guess not." She told him. "Ya'll should be more careful, though. What were yah doin', not payin' attention, huh?"

Matt:
He watched her drink and examined her face, pleased to see that she wasn't hurt or seemed to have any issues. "Huh? Oh I just, You know, you run and your head goes somewhere else? Like you start thinking about whats going on and you know.. You get lost and then.. Booom!"

Karalie:
She knew what he meant but that didn't stop her from looking at him like he was crazy. She was, after all, dressed in NEON. his words reminded her suddenly of her ipod and she reached for it suddenly, turning it off. "Well, ya'll should pay more attention. Next time it could be someone who isn't as understandin' as me." She informed him, eyeing him up and suddenly thinking about how fast he'd been. "Hey, you don't run track.. do you?" He didn't seem familiar from the team..

Matt:
Matt looked down to the iPod when she pulled it out, only a quick glance. He wasn't able to see if the thing was hurt. Or, broken was perhaps more appropriate. He wasn't sure why he considered these things 'hurt', but it did help him to figure out what was wrong. He shook his head, pulling himself out of the clouds, and looked back to her. "I really am sorry 'bout that." She still seemed mad, but at least a little calmer. "Track? Uh no, I ran a little in high school, but it interfered with some other things, mainly stick to football."

Karalie:
Karalie nodded. He was too fast not to be in some sport. "Yer in high school now." She teased, her eyes narrowing playfully as she smirked at him. "But football makes sense. Ya'll look...jocky." And cute. She'd always pictured herself with a football star, well, when she was lttle, before finding out she was meta. Now? It was a cute fantasy that would probably never play out here. In her podunk hometown? Sure. But not up there and Hammel. She drank the water and then folded her arms. "What'd it interefere with?"

Matt:
"Jocky?" He said with a small smirk. She seemed to be prodding and playing a bit, clear sign that she wasn't too mad about being knocked over. Good save, Davis, he thought. "Well I played Basketball and Football, so Dad didn't want me doin' any more. And I needed to help around at the house an' work the fields, so I jus' didn't have time. Even had to drop basketball when I got a job, so.. Just too much t'manage."

Karalie:
She paid attention until he mentioned working the fields. She didn't place the southern twang of his voice until that moment. Was he one of her kind? She felt instantly bonded to anyone from the country, a little slice of home in a place so unlike it. "What sorta fields? Where ya'll from?" She tried to hide the excitement in her tone but it was hard to now. She suddenly felt a lot warmer towards this boy

Matt:
He shrugged at the field question, it was a fair one but he didn't expect many people to ask about it. "Well my pa and I run the field at the homestead. Mainly fruits and vegetables… sea of corn, turnip patches, strawberries, taters, even some peanuts a bit further from the house… M'uncle has m'grand dads old place, which has a baccer field. I worked on that from time to time… I'm from Dalton, North Carolina. Y'self?" He looked down to her water, and then to the other side of the track where he had left his.

Karalie:
As he went down the crop list she couldn't help but grin. Her family of course didn't farm, but her ancestors did. They even harvested some of the crops he'd mentioned. "Mississippi." She loved the wya his accent seem to crawl on out of him now that he was in good company. "Right outside uh Jackson, small town called Mendenhall." She explained. She noticed his rich blue eyes moving to her water and decided to do something out of character for herself. She offered the bottle to him. "Thirsty?"

Matt:
His eyes lit up and he gave a little laugh. "I could drink th'dead sea and I'd feel better yes, thank ya." He took the bottle and held it up, squirting the cool liquid into his parched throat before offering it back and wiping off the water that splashed onto his face. It mixed wit the sweat and actually felt pretty good. "Never been that far South. this chill must be killin' you, Sippi."

Karalie:
Sippi.. it was a cute nickname, and she suddenly realized he didn't know her actual name. "It's Karalie." She corrected, taking the water back and tucking it under her arm to stop any memories from slipping into her mind, not that her own belongings gave her that many. Most of the memories were with her anyway. "An' after three years I'm startin' tuh get used tuh it." She tried to sound hopeful but then laughed, shaking her head, "Not really, I wear, like, ten layers when it gets colder. Gimme some thermals an' uh long john an' we'll be buds for life." She teased. "Jackson ain't that far from Roanoke River. Ya'll ever go there? I went once when I was uh kid. My daddy's cousin lives out that way. I refused tuh go out on th'water, though. Not much for water.."

Matt:
"Karalie, then. Didn' mean to offend or nothin'." He actually liked the nick name and felt it was a shame it didn't stick. Matt wasn't the best with geography, even of the states. He knew most of the southern ones, however, but was always a small town boy. Mississippi might as well have been where California was, he'd never go there. He had assumed at least. He never planned on going to Vermont either. "Well I've been to Roanoke a time or two, yeah, but it aint nowhere near Mississippi now is it? Northeasterly a' Dalton."

Karalie:
She shook her head. "No offense taken." She assured him, actually liking the nickname. "And it's quite uh drive from Mississippi. Actually, we flew.. I barely remember it." She felt a little silly now for bringing it up, looking around as a couple of kids lapped them. "Umm.. anyway.. I think I'm gonna try runnin' again, so long as I don't get trampled by another runner.."

Matt:
Matt smirked a little and looked back over his shoulder to the same runners. "Yeah? Alright, I guess I did sorta jus' cut ya off. Sorry 'bout that again." He turned his attention back to the girl and his smirk shifted into a genuine smile. Bright and large. "It was nice meetin' ya Karalie. Maybe we'll see each othah aroun' sometime, yeah?"

Karalie:
She grinned and nodded. "I hope so. Let's make it on nicer terms next time, hm?"

Matt:
"You sure? I thought that our little crash was a great ice barker?" He returned her grin with his own.

Karalie:
Her eyes narrowed. "The first time, an' only cuz yer cute. I might not be so friendly next time."

Matt:
"Even if I'm still cute?" He lifted his hands up to his side and backed away slowly. "Didn't scrape up my face none, did I?"

Karalie:
"No, but if yah run intuh me like that again I might just scrape it up for yah." She informed him, her hands on her own hips now

Matt:
"Sounds like a promise I can get behind." He gave a simple nod. "Alright, Sippi. Make sure you wear -brighter- Neon next time."

Karalie:
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Catch yah later, Matt." She gave a little nod and turned on her heels, darting back down the track and throwing a look over her shoulder. If she weren't with Luke, she might like some of that.. Oh well.