His

1st Day of Forever

"Well, there's no time like the present," Roux pep talked herself in the mirror. Her hair was hazardly thrown up on her head with a ponytail holder, wild curls falling in all directions like a flaming octopus on her head. She hadn't even tried to put together an outfit that would impress, as she was hoping to fly completely under everyone's radar. Wearing a thrifted river flatboat racing tshirt, which just made her laugh at the absurdity that this sport actually existed somewhere in America, she tied and tucked her Converse shoes under her jean legs and ran out the french doors.

Her car was probably the most unreliable thing in her life. It was Mark's old beater Honda that he gave her when he got his new 4 door truck. It would get her to where she needed to go, but for who knows how long.

It was a half-hour drive to school, and there was enough time for her to stop for a coffee. Roux pulled into the gas station a few blocks before the school turnoff. Walking into the building, a man was holding the door open but filling the entire entry with his big frame. He seemed to tower above her, looking down on her with a fire in his eyes. She froze for a moment, wanting to push him out of the way but scared to touch this massive boulder that obstructed her entry.

"Excuse me, but you're blocking my coffee," she finally let out in a weird tone, her voice not sounding as confident and sure as it was meant to. The man extended his arm that was holding the door open to create a walkway under his arm for her to pass through. As she dashed through, her upper arm brushed up against his abs and shot sparks through her skin. She wasn't sure if she actually yelped out loud in surprise or if she just did it in her head, but either way her face flushed as red as her curls as she went to the coffee station.

When she heard the door's jingle indicate that the door closed, she looked back and could see the statuesque man through the glass door. His black t-shirt seemed to be made of the most luxurious material, draping on his muscular frame in the most elegant way. The arms hugged his bulging biceps so tightly that she was sure there would be stetch damage to the armholes. Then she realized she was thinking about him taking his shirt off.

"Get a grip," she said to herself under her breath.

He turned his head to the side, put on some aviator sunglasses, and she could swear that he smirked before heading to his car.

Roux couldn't even remember the rest of the car ride to the school. She hadn't even tried to take a drink of her coffee. The way she held the steering wheel was as if she was scared to let go, leaving hand indentions in the steering wheel cover when she finally did. Thoughts of the man's features kept coming into her mind. His rough hands. His strong jaw line. His raven dark hair and firey eyes. His brooding shoulders. His silent intensity. Before she realized it, she was already sitting in her 1st class and surrounded by idle chatter of students filing in. She didn't hear a word of it, and she was rather thankful for that. Thankful to this man who had done nothing besides exist in her presence.

The classes of the day all bled together. The more she tried to focus the more impossible it was. But she knew that track practice started after school and that she very much looked forward to shutting her brain off and just zoning out in that moment. As far as school tracks go, their's was pretty run down. Roux didn't care though, as long as she got to run. And this practice started off like any other. No one would even come close to her finish times. She felt like she could outrun a cheetah if she had to.

But today, no amount of running seemed to quench the thirst she had growing inside her. This was something new, something that made her very nervous. So when practice was over and everyone took off, Roux stayed to keep running. Maybe if she just pushed a bit harder she could get to her true internal place of peace.

As she was rounding out another lap, she saw against the football goalpost a figure, arms crossed, legs crossed, still and watching. And in an instant it was gone. She was sure now that she was losing her mind.