'You have to be the wind, Maggie. Be the wind. You are the wind. You're the birds high in the sky. Fly, Maggie Mae. Faster. Higher. Go.'
His voice whispered through the trees as she ran past them, leaves and sticks crushing underfoot. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears, and every breath sounded like an avalanche in the quiet of the woods. Faster. Trees blurred past her vision until there was only the ground and the sky. She had been running for hours and her lungs burned in protest of her relentless routine. She had run the path so many times now, she could close her eyes and never even brush a limb. Finally unable to breathe, she came to a sudden stop by the back road that would lead many teenagers to school. Taking a soothing breath, she proceeded towards campus at a slow and steady jog. Once she reached campus, she made her way to the locker rooms (also known as her home-away-from-home, since she spent so much time there). After a hot shower, she set about getting ready for the school day. She always kept school clothes in her locker, for mornings like this when time escaped her. Once her outfit was complete, she headed outside into the crisp autumn air.
As usual, the parking lot was filled with students who arrived early specifically to socialize. As class president, she didn't get a lot of time to socialize in the mornings but today was different. Since it was the start of the term, she had yet to meet up with the principal to find out what she would be working on for the next couple months. Therefore, just for today, she would have the morning off from all respective duties and get to hang out with friends. As she was going to cross the parking lot, she was cut off by a rustic looking Mercedes. Maggie was never one to judge, but the vehicle left an awful smell behind it. To her dismay, she caught a glimpse of the girl driving it. Lyra. Lyra Maine... and sure enough, Mason and his boys were starting the semester off by terrorizing her. “Yeah, real helpful Mason!” Maggie heard her call to the boys. Oh, Lyra... why do you have to be so.... weird? If you could be like everyone else... then maybe people wouldn't pick on you so much... Maggie sighed and continued across the parking lot to the courtyard in front of the school. Sure enough, her favorite spot under the oak tree was wide open, aside from Hannah, one of her good track friends.
Smiling, Maggie waved to the girl and joined her under the tree. "Going to be a tough year this year. I hear that Southdell got Kyle Porter over the summer," Hannah said as Maggie sat down. "Kyle Porter? Are you serious? I thought he was in our district?" "Apparently someone has some strings.." "God... we really needed him!" "Yeah, tell me about it. Did you hear about Sam?" The girl's chatter went on for some time, and eventually they were joined by the other track runners.