Running on the track

Mark got up reasonably early on Monday morning to get some work in. He headed to the athletics track situated next to the football stadium on campus to get a few laps in and some official sprint training.

It was about 9am when he was doing the last of his sprint running. Flying up the track as fast as he could, Mark was feeling an extra added sense of motivation this morning. He couldn’t pin it on anything exactly but his body was feeling like it was in such good shape.

His muscles began to ache as he made it past the finish line for the 100 meters for the tenth time in a row. The last couple of sprints had begun to slow down showing just how fatigued he was now feeling.

All in all, it was another good training session.

Mark walked over to his sports bag and began slurping down a bottle of orange Gatorade as quickly as he could.

“Good session man,” a voice then called from behind him. Mark turned around while doing up the bottle of the Gatorade to see Bryce standing there.

“Thanks, you been watching the whole time?” he asked him curiously.

“Just the last ten minutes or so. You can run alright, that’s for sure,” he told him.

Mark nodded, trying to act all humble and mighty in front of the jock. He had a feeling where this was going once more.

“You know we lost again on Saturday, 20 points to fucking St.George. Our running game was non-existent once again.”

Picking up his sports bag, Mark cut in, “I know you want me to play and really, I’m touched. But I’ve never played in my life, I’m not what you’re looking for.”

Bryce followed him as he went to exit the track, his hands in the pockets of his varsity jacket. “Oh sure you are. We need players who can actually run and aren’t going to get fucking kicked off the team for being obsessed with **** like that moron Z.”

“If you let me drive that beautiful car of yours one time, I’d consider it,” Mark said, referring to Bryce’s Aston Martin. A present from his very, very rich parents.

Bryce laughed, shaking his head, “Yeah nice try kid, nobody drives that car but me. But come on, you were talking about chicks all Saturday Night... you know how many you can get just by being apart of the football team.”

Mark’s mind was ticking over, thinking about that offer more now. He thought about Tiffany again, whether it was about winning her over or just making her jealous, Mark began to consider the offer.

“Look, we’ve got so many injuries already and other team members who want to bail just because we’re losing... and I didn’t fail my senior year just to come back here and captain a shit football team that loses every week,” Bryce explained to him, giving it one more shot, “Just come down to training some time this week and give it a go.”

Mark smiled, just amused by how much he was being pushed by Bryce. The guy was persistent, he’s bright wide smile, that iconic blonde hair, he didn’t usually have many people say no to him.

“Alright, I’ll think about it...” he said without any confidence he would show up.

“That a boy,” he said, giving him a pat on the back. “Knew I could count on you.”