Splinters: Part One

Part One | 34

Chapter 34

Busted

"H-hold up," Grady panted next to me. "I... I can't go... any longer."

I slowed down with him as he put his hands on his knees and bent over, trying to breathe normally again.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah... Just... Just one second."

I knew I was pushing him by making him run a mile without stopping, but he wanted to learn how to do it. For almost ten minutes, he and I didn't stop, until now I guess. We only passed half of the mile.

Cringing at his sweat, I handed him his water bottle. "Here."

He stood up and basically chugged it all down. "Thanks."

"Wanna walk now?"

"No, I can run."

My eyes widened. He was determined.

He wasn't able to run that much farther, but he tried, and that's what mattered. At the end of the month, he'll have the mile in the bag, maybe two miles! Eventually, we walked home. When he opened his door, I could hear his mom yelling at someone. Since there wasn't any response for a couple seconds, I assumed she was on the phone.

"Don't mind that," he told me. "She's probably talking to my dad."

I frowned. It never occured to me where Grady's father ever was when I went home with him. He probably assumed that I knew his parents were divorced which I just barely decided. When Grady shut the door, his mom's voice quieted.

"We'll discuss this later, Kent," his mother said before entering the hallway and stuffing her phone in her pocket. I was right. "Brayden!" she smiled. "It's great to see you!"

"Hi, Mrs. Nicholson."

"Good run, boys?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Grady muttered.

His mother's face fell. She glanced at me. I shrugged.

In my pocket, I felt the vibration of my cell phone. I pulled it out and tried not to smile when I found Collie's name on the screen.

Run with Grady done?

"Hey, I gotta head home, k, Gray?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

I patted him on the back. "You did good."

He drank from his water bottle and waved me off. I took that as my opportunity to leave.

...

I was glad my house wasn't far from Grady's. I ran the rest of the way there, only barely panting once I entered through the front door.

"Is that you, Brayden?" Melissa called.

"Yeah, it's me!" I took off my shoes and walked towards her voice. "Melissa?"

"Yes?"

I heard her from her office so I made my way up there. The door was open and she was typing on her laptop. It was strange to see Melissa on her laptop when she clearly had a computer right behind it. Why have two computers?

"Can Collie come over?"

She stopped typing and turned in her swivel chair. "Right now?"

I nodded, suddenly scared of her reply.

"Sure."

I smiled. "Thanks, Melissa."

She grinned before resuming her original duty.