This is a rough draft. It has undergone little editing and no re-writes. Enjoy as this story comes together. 

Edmund found Wilona sprawled on the bench again. She and the rest of the Cross-Country Team were dressed in their jerseys. The distance and animosity between Lyn and Wilona had not decreased. All that was missing was Dr. Edden. According to Edmund’s watch, she was almost six minutes later than her arrival average. Wilona’s head suddenly popped up from the bench.

“Is Dr. Edden late?” she asked.

“Seems that way,” Edmund said.

A few other teammates glanced curiously at the school doors as their mental clocks went off as well. Curiosity grew to doubt. Was practice canceled? Should they run anyway? Edmund was a heartbeat away from volunteering to go look for her when—

“What are you all looking at?”

The crowd turned to find Dr. Edden by the street, jogging in place. Not a step behind her was a tall boy none of them had ever seen before. His hair was buzzed short and his shoes looked like they’d just been freshly fished from a river. Yet, he was dressed in a clean Huber Prep jersey.

Wilona shook her head. He looked impossibly like the boy she’d seen the other day in the park.

What an odd coincidence, she thought. The boy suddenly looked at her. Then, just as quickly, he tried to look at everything except her. She didn’t know why at the time, but her fingers tingled for the briefest of moments.

Dr. Edden noticed where the attention of her team had settled.

“This is Odion,” She said reluctantly. “He will be running with us from now on. Let’s move!”

She took off up the sidewalk with Odion on her tail. The team followed though many curious looks were exchanged. Wilona and Edmund brought up the rear.

“Where did he come from?” Wilona asked.

“Not sure. I’ve never seen him here. Huber isn’t that big of a school either,” Edmund said.

“Do you think he’s related to Dr. Edden?”

“It’s possible. Though I think her whole family is Indian.”

They didn’t speculate much longer as the tolls of running started to emerge. They ran. Up the road, across Hillshur, and down towards Wilona’s neighborhood. All the while, Odion stayed right on Dr. Edden’s tail. Lyn had fallen back to the middle, and Wilona and Edmund remained in the rear. Before long, they were back at Huber Prep.

Wilona rolled onto the grass and let the wind wash over her. Edmund sat cross-legged nearby. Suddenly, he elbowed her in the thigh.

“What—”

“Look,” Edmund said.

Wilona leaned up just enough to see Dr. Edden and Odion shaking hands. Dr. Edden was beaming and laughing. Odion looked uncomfortable but, Wilona noticed, he seemed visibly less exhausted than the rest of the team who were all collapsed in sweat-soaked heaps. Though, once Dr. Edden walked back toward the school, he flopped backward into the grass with his limbs spread wide. Wilona made a decision.

“Be right back,” she said. Edmund nodded.

Wilona rolled onto her chest and pushed herself up into a light jog over to where Odion was splayed out. His eyes were closed and he had a big grin on his face, though he didn’t seem to have heard her approach. She folded her arms. Then, changed her mind and put her fists on her hips. She clenched at the thought of what Edmund was going to say when she returned. She shook her head.

“Hey,” she said.

_____

Odi let the breeze cool his skin just as quickly as the sun warmed it. It was perfect. The day was perfect. He joined a team. An actual high school level Cross-Country team. He smiled at the thought. The orange light of the inside of his eyelids shifted to dull blue as a cloud covered the sun. What a great day.

“Hey,” said a voice over his head.

He opened his eyes. It wasn’t a cloud at all. It was a girl. The girl. Though, coincidentally, her wildly curly hair somewhat resembled a cloud. He chuckled internally at the thought.

It hit him like ice on his teeth. THE GIRL!? WHAT!?

His eyes went wide, and he shot up to a sitting position. The girl leapt back in surprise. Someone laughed nearby.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you,” she said. Her voice was clear and sweet like a water spring. It was a moment before Odi remembered how conversations worked.

“Oh! That’s great— I mean, that’s fine. I’m great. Uh,” Odi said.

Even though she was standing, Odi didn’t have to look up much. A few inches over five feet, maybe, though her curly hair made a proper guess difficult.

“I’m Wilona. Err— Welcome to the team,” Wilona said. Her eyes flicked from his shoes to his hair, finally settling on his own eyes. Those depthless blues and greens nearly swallowed him whole. His voice caught in his throat.

“I’m Odi,” he managed to choke out.

She smiled slightly, and part of his heart tried to punch out of the gap in his ribs.

“I’ll see you around.”

She was gone. Walking back over to the small bespectacled boy she always ran with. He had a viciously satisfied smile on his face. She kicked his leg before rolling onto the grass next to him.

Odi's heart sank at the sight.

_____

Unknown to Odi, Wilona, and Edmund, two very different pairs of eyes had watched the entire thing. Neither of them were happy with what they saw.