The Ten Laps
The sun was brutal that afternoon. It was so hot that everyone was already sweating before the new substitute teacher even started the PE class.
The teacher stood in front of the students with his arms behind his back. Then he blew his whistle.
"Ten laps."
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then everyone started complaining.
"Ten?!"
"Sir, are you serious?"
"We're students, not soldiers!"
One boy sighed dramatically. "I have asthma emotionally."
The teacher didn't even smile.
"Start running."
Everyone took off.
At first, they ran much faster than they needed to. Some students wanted to show off, while others simply wanted to get the race over with. But ten laps were not as easy as they sounded.
By the second lap, people were already slowing down. By the third, everyone was complaining. By the fourth, most students had realized they had made a terrible decision by starting so fast.
Mira was one of them.
"Why is this school trying to kill us?" she gasped as she ran.
Her hair was sticking to her face, and her PE shirt was soaked with sweat. Every step felt heavier than the last.
Kayla was running beside her.
And somehow, Kayla looked completely fine.
She wasn't breathing heavily. She wasn't sweating much. She wasn't even walking.
Mira looked at her in disbelief.
"How are you still breathing normally?"
Kayla glanced at her. "You're being dramatic."
"I'm dying!"
"You said that two laps ago."
"Because dying is a process!"
Kayla looked away, hiding the small smile that almost appeared on her face.
What Mira didn't know was that Kayla could have finished the ten laps much faster. She was deliberately keeping her pace slow.
Every time Mira slowed down, Kayla slowed down too. Whenever Mira looked like she might stop, Kayla stayed beside her.
The substitute teacher noticed.
He had been watching Kayla from the beginning. Her movements were too controlled, and her breathing was far too normal for someone who had already run several laps.
By the final lap, most of the students looked exhausted.
One girl dropped onto the grass after finishing.
"Tell my family I loved them," she whispered.
Mira crossed the finish line a few seconds later and immediately bent over, holding her knees.
"Water," she whispered. "I can see heaven."
"Here."
Someone held a cold bottle of water in front of her.
Mira looked up.
A boy was standing there.
He had blonde hair that fell loosely across his forehead. The sides were shorter, and the wind moved the longer hair on top. He looked strangely relaxed for someone who had just finished the same run.
Mira quickly took the bottle.
"Thank you."
She drank almost the entire thing in one go.
The boy blinked.
"Wow."
Mira lowered the bottle.
"I was fighting demons."
He laughed softly.
"I'm Alex."
"Mira."
Before they could say anything else, Kayla crossed the finish line.
She was last.
Technically.
But unlike everyone else, she didn't look tired at all.
The teacher immediately walked toward her.
"You were holding back," he said.
Kayla looked at him calmly.
"I finished the run."
"That's not what I said."
Kayla said nothing.
The teacher studied her for a moment.
"You matched your friend's pace the entire time. You could have finished first easily."
Kayla didn't answer.
The teacher gave a small smile.
"You should join the track team."
"No thanks."
"You didn't even think about it."
"I just did."
The teacher laughed.
"Fair enough. But I'm serious. You have talent. With proper training, you could even qualify for a university scholarship."
That made Kayla pay a little more attention.
"I'll think about it," she said.
The teacher nodded and walked away.
Afterward, Kayla went to collect her bag. She had two bottles of water with her and handed one to Mira.
"Thanks," Mira said.
Then she remembered the boy who had helped her.
"Oh, Kayla, this is Alex."
Kayla looked at him.
"Thanks for helping her."
Alex shrugged.
"She looked like she was about to meet her ancestors."
"I was," Mira said seriously.
Kayla nodded. "She was."
Mira stared at both of them.
"You're both terrible."
Alex laughed.
Kayla didn't laugh, but the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
The bell rang.
"Next class," Kayla said.
Mira groaned. "I hate education."
"You say that every day."
"Because every day I mean it."
The three of them started walking back toward the school building.
Kayla walked slightly ahead. Mira stayed beside her, while Alex followed a few steps behind.
As they walked through the hallway, students began whispering.
Some were talking about the party video that had gone viral. Others were talking about Marcus, Lucas, and the way Kayla had thrown someone much bigger than her onto the floor.
"That girl is crazy."
"I heard she wasn't even trying."
"She barely looked tired after ten laps."
Mira noticed the whispers, but Kayla acted like she didn't.
The hallway outside the gym was cooler than the field, although it was still warm.
Mira dragged herself along.
"I think my soul left my body around lap six."
Kayla looked at her. "You were still talking during lap six."
"That was my spirit saying goodbye."
Kayla made a tiny sound that almost sounded like a laugh.
Mira stopped walking.
"You laughed!"
"I didn't."
"You definitely did."
"I breathed."
"That was a laugh."
Kayla ignored her, which only made Mira smile.
They entered the locker room. Students were changing, talking, and complaining about the PE teacher.
Mira dropped onto a bench.
"My legs hate me."
Kayla opened her locker.
"You'll survive."
"Easy for you to say. You run like some kind of genetically engineered experiment."
Kayla paused.
Only for a moment.
Then she continued changing as if she hadn't heard anything.
Mira noticed the reaction but didn't say anything.
Sometimes Kayla reacted strangely to certain words. It was almost as if ordinary jokes reminded her of something she didn't want to remember.
Before Mira could think about it any further, several girls entered the locker room.
They noticed Kayla.
Their conversation became quieter.
One girl whispered something to another. They both looked at Kayla, then quickly looked away.
Mira noticed.
It had been happening more often lately.
People didn't exactly hate Kayla.
They just didn't know what to think about her.
Some were impressed by her. Others were nervous around her.
Kayla acted as if she didn't care.
But Mira knew she noticed everything.
When they left the locker room, they found Alex waiting in the hallway.
He held up Mira's empty water bottle.
"You forgot this."
Mira blinked.
"Oh. Right."
Alex smiled.
"You drank it so fast you probably forgot your own name."
"That run was attempted murder."
Alex laughed.
Kayla looked at him carefully.
"You're in our class?"
"Yeah. I transferred here last week."
Kayla remembered seeing him in class. He usually sat near the back and didn't talk much.
She hadn't really paid attention to him before.
Now she was starting to.
Alex looked at Kayla.
"Do you always analyze people like that?"
Kayla blinked.
"What?"
"You've been staring at me for about thirty seconds."
Mira nearly choked on her water.
Kayla's expression remained calm.
"I was thinking."
Alex smiled.
"That sounds dangerous."
"It usually is."
Mira laughed again.
The warning bell rang, and students hurried toward their classrooms.
The three of them walked together.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Just three teenagers going to class after surviving ten terrible laps.
But Kayla couldn't shake the feeling that something was different.
She glanced back.
Alex was still watching her.
His expression was calm, but there was something behind his eyes.
He wasn't afraid of her.
He wasn't simply being friendly either.
He seemed curious.
Like he was trying to figure her out.
Kayla turned away.
For some reason, that made her uneasy.