Running Out of Breath

Lawrence opened the rusted metal gate and stepped onto the feathery grass. He made sure to avoid the ruts he and Chio had made earlier that morning while approaching his class. Lawrence was pretty smart since he was a dedicated study-aholic. He wasn’t exactly cunning, and it’s not like he knew everything, but he carried a sharp mind with him at all times. Although he didn’t need a sharp mind to figure out the atmosphere surrounding class A was tense and grim.

Brett walked up to him with disappointment showing in his face.“Sorry Lawrence, this is mainly my fault.”

Lawrence looked past his frustrated friend at the scoreboard behind him. The spot that was once home to the two of them was now harboring the names of class B students. Mac and Lane. He wittily ran his eyes down the list. “It’s fine, right now it’s an even split between the classes.” Lawrence’s eyes widened ever so slightly remembering a key rule in this year's class battles. “Wait…actually-”

“Welcome back from hide and seek.” Mr. Rober announced. “I will now inform you all on the current standing between the two classes. “He faced the board then peaked back down at his notes. “Class A and B both occupy five spaces out of the top ten, however.”

“We messed up…” Lawrence mumbled.

“Since first place is currently being held by a group from class B, they will have two points counted for them instead of one, putting class B in the lead with six points.”

In an almost mocking way, class B roared even louder than Lawrence’s class did at the end of the headband war.

“We will take a short twenty minute break before the third and final game. Please get plenty of rest before it.” Mr. Robert set the mic down and wiped off some sweat from his forehead. The sun was now the hottest it has been in a long time. A good amount of staff and adults were wondering if the class battles should even continue in this cruel oven like heat. In fact a few spectators that were once overjoyed, now began to pack their things and prepare to leave for the day. The students themselves were starting to feel the impact the sun brought, most of the boys not exactly looking forward to the 5k they will soon have to run. Some of them even praying that the school will cancel it due to this insane heat, are at least deciding it could be non-mandatory. Lawrence was the main candidate of these prayers.

Brett however was completely unaffected by the scorching heat. “Hey, have you talked to Chio lately?”

“Actually, I managed to bump into her for a few minutes during hide and seek. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Brett said. He raised his hand and pointed off into the distance, focusing it on two specific figures. “Because of that.”

Lawrence looked where Brett was leading his attention. Chio and Livi were walking back into the school, Chio visibility looking dispirited and lost in gloomy thoughts. He naturally felt bad for her, still not knowing the full extent of what occurred before the start of the second event, and not wanting to pry into her personal business. Lawrence felt that the best course of action for Chio's health was to just leave everything up to Livi. Comfort, words of praise, reassurance. All of those things were necessary to help people in times of suffering, and Lawrence knew he would be unable to bring most of those things to the table. Livi could do it, Livi would be the one to do it.

Lawrence dug into his left pocket and out came a thin stack of note cards held together by a metal ring. The note cards looked completely black at first, but taking a closer look, one could be sure they were naturally pure white, but had lost its color due to the countless pencil lead engraved into the card. “Yeah It is kind of weird.”

For probably the first time in Brett’s life, he was disappointed in Lawrence. Watching his friend sit down and study rather than try and console someone close to him made his gut turn inside out. He knew Lawrence was a good person, and he also knew he was smart enough to figure out what had happened to Chio. Instead, he decides to look at flashcards. “Let's just hope she physics herself back up soon.” He turned his back on Lawrence and joined the rest of the students inside.

Lawrence flipped over the first card, having not even read any of its continents. He stared into the sea of words, yet his mind was on an island, an island that was slowly starting to submerged under the vast ocean. The letter he received was recalled into his memory. The letter that was supposed to bring him good news. One that would allow him to carve a path of success and forward his progress towards his longing goal. But it was everything except that. It was the bearer of bad news, and Lawrence understood that what he was currently doing may end up drowning him in this sea. For Lawrence, being at the class battles was exactly like making way into the ocean without a boat, food, water, swimming gear, communication devices, or sunscreen. Lawrence, was severely underprepared, and he had little time to make up for it.

The short break they were given quickly passed. The students were somewhat unenthused to leave the cool air conditioning from the school building, but made their way back to the field anyways. Mr. Robert approached the podium with crumpled notes and two damp rags he would use to wipe his forehead periodically throughout his speech. “I uh, hope everyone is still having a great time. To remind everyone of the score, class B is in the lead with six points, while class A is only faintly behind them.”

There were not many heaps of cheers from the crowd as there previously had been. The students were too busy using their remaining energy to fan themselves with their hands, they were not exactly in the mood to celebrate, even though they were definitely overjoyed.

A rag slowly covered Mr. Robert’s face then was placed back into his right pocket. “At this time, I will now announce the last twist to this year's class battles.”

A spark of excitement formed from the students and what remained of the crowd.

“For this year's class battles, the current displayed score will become a part of the final outcome of this event! The scores now displayed on the board will not be changed for the remainder of the day!”

The students were definitely in shock and confused about what Mr. Robert had just said, although not a single sound emerged from them. The surprise from the twist had duct taped their mouths shut.

Mr. Robert attempted to rekindle the anticipation they once carried. “Class B now has six permanent points and class A has a total of five. But! The class battle has still not come to an end just yet! The third and final event to decide the overall winner, will be the boys 5k!”

A whisper came from a section of the students. “They’re planning on doing this now?”

Another one followed it. “Wasn’t the 5k supposed to be separate from the class games?”

“I thought it was supposed to be near the end?”

“They don’t really expect us to still do that in this heat do they?”

Multiple whispers fought with each other in attempts to be heard by the people around them. Eventually, conversations started to bloom from the whispers until the entire swarm of students were all talking amongst themselves attempting to dissect the change of plans.

Mr. Robert submerged the conversations under his voice. “The way the winner of the class battle will now be decided will be very similar to how it has gone up until this point. Everyone will still be in a group of two while running the race. If your group does not consist of two boys you will be required to change partners for the 5k. The same system will apply as last time, each set number of positions you finish will have a corresponding point to it. Once you and your partner finish the race, your group will acquire the corresponding points to your placements. If there is a tie in points, the group with the faster times will be put ahead of the other.” He wiped the sweat that had built up off of his forehead. “The top five groups will be added to the current ten groups. The same rules of the group in first getting two points is still in play. Once everyone who does not have two boys have determined their partners, we will all meet at the starting line and begin the race! Give it your all!”

For a rule change as random as this there was little backlash from the students. The boys were somewhat eager to take on the new challenge and the girls were pleased that they wouldn’t have to do anything else while the sun was out besides cheer on their class. The only person who had a real Issue with the change, was Lawrence.

“Brett, You should probably find someone-”

A large blow from Bretts hand connected to Lawrence’s back, knocking a large portion of breath out of him. “I don’t plan on switching up partners. I may be competitive, but I’m not going to abandon you just to win.”

“I’m not going to run you know…”

“Mhm, I know.”

The two of them exchanged a light laugh, then made their way to the start line of the race. A long and wide concrete path connected itself to the soccer fields gate, and reached out into the street. Police cars and volunteers decorated themselves along the sides of the roads like Christmas lights. They had traffic stopped and water stations ready to go for a mid run reful. All of the male students participating in the class battles were tightly packed just outside of the fence onto the concrete. The more athletic kids stationed at the front while the ones waiting to drop out as soon as the whistle was blown, near the back. From way back where Lawrence was standing he could just barely make out Brett’s brown hair and massive shoulders. He felt extremely guilty about still being Bretts partner, but knew Brett wouldn’t budge no matter how hard Lawrence tried to get him to change.

“Okay everyone! We will start the race in ten seconds! Please get ready and have fun!”

Even though Lawrence was going to drop out the moment the race started, an unusual wave of anxiety came over him and made his stomach sink. He could only imagine what Brett was feeling.

“8!”

Lawrence was astonished by how quiet it was even with this large of a crowd occupying the outside of the soccer field.

“6!”

He raised his hand up above his eyes and blocked out whatever he could of the merciless sun. The people standing beside him fanned themselves with the collar of their shirt, waiting to drop out just as he was.

“4!”

It was about to begin, the race was officially about to start.

“3!”

Right as the whistle was blown Lawrence would shoot his hand up into the air relinquishing himself from the race.

“2!”

Just like everyone else. He would drop out.”

“1!”

Because after all, this was impossible for Lawrence.

“GO!”

The whistle was blown and the front of the collection of students broke off from the back. Multiple sounds of footsteps slamming into the concrete like a jackhammer destroyed the silence. The lines of people formed around the sides of the concrete clapping and cheering them all on with words of encouragement. The back of the runners all standing completely still with their hands shot into the air. It was surprisingly a lot more than usual, but no one could blame them for not wanting to run in this heat.

“Um, excuse me. Are you running or dropping out?” A female teacher holding a clipboard asked Lawrence.

Lawrence was snapped out of it and noticed that he had only slightly raised his arm into the air. Everyone else who was standing around him had already dropped out, leaving him standing at the start by himself. Startled by the confrontation, Lawrence instinctively started to jog forward, following the blurry group leading the race.

Ah crap what did I do that for? I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention. Man, I must look like an idiot. Well, at least I can say I ran in the 5k.

Lawrence slowed down and started to raise his hand back into the air.

I’ll just drop out now, it will look awkward but I don’t exactly have another choice.

“YEAH LAWRENCE! GO! YOU CAN DO IT!”

A booming voice yelled from beside him. It overpowered all the other cheers from the crowd.

“YOU GOT IT LAWRENCE! I BELIEVE IN YOU!”

Standing right off of the concrete beside Lawrence was a cheerful, excited, and joyful Chio. Her hands were cupped around her mouth and her eyes were brighter than the sun. Her awkward smile sometimes made her fumble her words, but she didn’t stop.

“COME ON LAWRENCE YOU CAN DO IT! JUST KEEP GOING! YEAH LAWRENCE!”

The hand Lawrene was raising, slowly fell to his chest. Not because of an asthma attack, but for some other reason. His mind was blurry, and he was unable to think. The only thing he could see and hear was Chio standing just in front of him just outside of the concrete, cheering with all her might. Even surrounded by hundreds of people. His feet began to move by themselves, and so did his arms, until eventually, Lawrence was jogging. He was running the 5k. The air grazed his shocked and bewildered face. His hair started to part down the middle, and his arms slowly moved beside him as he stuck out his chest and stepped onto the road. A long stretch waited in front of him. The path he would normally take to and from school seemed completely different to him. People littered the sides cheering him on, and for some reason, it seemed way more colorful than it ever had. Lawrence was confused but also, slightly excited.

A small table presenting a collection of paper cups closely filled to the top with water sat a hundred yards away from the town's great red bridge. A small sum of people gathered around the table while two volunteers wearing red shirts sat behind it, fanning away the heat and drinking some of the water themselves. The male volunteer coughed mid-sip when one of the onlookers startled him. “Hey I think someones coming!”.

The volunteer wiped off some of the spilt water and glanced at his silver watch. “The heat is probably getting to you, it hasn’t even been five minutes since they started.”

He received a tap on the shoulder from the female volunteer sitting beside him.. “I think he’s right…”

Not believing them, the man leaned over the table and strained his eyes at the bridge. He placed his hand above his eyebrows to block out the sun, a few seconds past before his sight could focus, but once it had, two figures he could barely make out from the heat had just ran through the bridge, and was now quickly approaching them. He plopped down in his chair, still wanting to think it was just the heat, but once he turned towards his female assistant, her face said otherwise.

“Sir, this is the first mile mark, isn’t it?”

Mac and Brett both easily crossed the bridge. Chest high, breath steady, and their legs being the only thing moving. Neither of them were wasting even a single drop of energy. They were side by side, composed, and focused. With the onlookers cheering them on with shocked and animated faces, they brushed past the table grabbing water as they did, and in mere seconds chugging all of it and dropping it onto the road.

The male volunteer checked his watch, 5:01. He looked behind him at the two boys, then back in front of him towards the bridge. It was back to what it had been only a few seconds ago. Empty, with no signs of anyone crossing it soon. No one was even close behind them.

The two hastily separated themselves from the water station. The next one being another mile away. But they would first have to overcome the long abandoned road warmed to the touch by the sun.

“Is the heat getting to you Brett? You’re starting to sweat a lot. Remember you can quit anytime you like, you're more familiar with that option anyways aren't you?” Mac smuggly said.

Small spurts of breath entered and exited Brett’s mouth as he kept his body centered and his eyes forward.

“What's wrong Brett, cat got your tongue? Or are you already too exhausted to talk? We’re going to be the only ones around each other for a while so we might as well catch up.”

Brett closed his dry mouth and swished a pool of spit around before swallowing it and continuing with his consistent breathing pattern.

Mac clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyebrows at him. “Do you even regret abandoning us Brett?”

Soft and quick footsteps was the only response he received.

“That Lawrence guy is still your partner isn’t he? I heard from one of my classmates that he has asthma or something. That explains why you were toting him around earlier today.” A wide grin formed onto Mac’s face, and underneath his long swaying bang was eyes that screamed satisfaction. “He probably quit by now, nah he probably didn’t even start, must have dropped out along with the other disappointments. Although that makes sense for you to be friends with a wimp like him, you’re both quitters after all.”

Brett’s large arm rammed into Mac’s side and slightly knocked him off balance. Brett extended his legs and quickened his rotations.

Mac was able to keep most of his speed but was now behind Brett instead of beside him. But a normal face of anger or disappointment was not there, instead, he was still smiling and his eyes were dissected of all reason . “Here we go Brett…this is what I’ve been waiting for.”

Lawrence was still putting up a fight, even if it wasn’t an elegant one. His posture had broken only a minute or two since the start. His arms now dangled by his side as if the bones had been removed from them. Unlike Brett, Lawrence’s breaths were quick and uncontrolled. His legs felt like jelly and wondered if they were still even attached, but the pain in the soles of his feet continued to remind him they were most definitely there. Even though everyone else that had been running was far gone at this point, and him having slowly passed all of the current spectators, he could still hear the cries of someone cheering right beside him.

Are you really going to run the entire race with me? He thought.

Chio was slowly jogging, matching his sloth-like pace just outside of the road. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, continuing to contribute to Lawrence’s motivation.

I can’t do this any longer. I’m barely able to breathe like this, my lungs feel like they’re on fire and the only way I can extinguish it is to stop running. It’s fine if I stop now right? That would still be okay, right?

“You got it Lawrence lets go!”

I have asthma, I didn’t even think I could run this far with it. This is more of an accomplishment than I need.

“Keep it up! Yeah!”

I’m not quitting, I'm just going to take it slow, yeah, take it slow. There's just no way I can run a 5k. Let's just stop now and work towards it another day. Yeah, that would be best. I would still be proud, I’m sure everyone else would be proud that I made it this far, you would be too, right? This is impossible after all.

“Hold it tight now, you don’t want to drop it!” the male volunteer said.

“Yes sir, sorry!”

The volunteers stationed at the one mile mark had cleaned off the top of the table and folded it up, for easier carrying. All the onlookers had already left and went back to what they were doing beforehand.

“Come on, let's hurry up and take the table back to the school.” the man said.

The two of them lifted up the table and carried it to the man's truck. They placed it in the back and the two of them entered the vehicle themselves. The man quickly reached for the AC and turned it on full blast to cool them off.

The woman turned and looked puzzled at him. “What are you waiting for?”

The man had his hand on the stick, but hadn’t pulled it out of park yet. He glanced down at his watch, looked back up, then did another double take at the time. He quickly threw the door open and hopped outside, back into the relentless sun.

“Sir?”

“Hurry and help me with the water, someone's still running!”

The two speedily filled up a cup of water and passed it onto the struggling Lawrence who looked very sickly for having only completed the first mile. Upon taking a sip of water he began to cough and spilt all of it on himself. With a mixture of sweet and water Lawrence continued to run, unable to think of anything else besides the pain in his lungs and legs.

“Here they come!” a man shouted from inside the soccer field.

“You’re right I can see them!” another joined.

“No way they’re neck and neck with this time!”

Mr. Robert spoke into the microphone. “Could everyone please clear the pathway to the finish line.”

“Do you think they’re going to break fifteen minutes?”

Brett and Mac were somehow still perfectly beside each other. They left the road and began the final stretch on the walkway they had started on. The crowd was in complete chaos upon seeing the two, and even more so when they both began to sprint towards the end. Neither one of them had the lead, not even by a hair. They powerfully rotated their legs and swung their arms like windmills during a heavy storm. The onlookers were filled with anticipation as to who would finish first, but with the amount of fight the two still had left, it was hard to figure out. Mac sped up, and so did Brett. Whoever would attempt to break away would be matched by the other, putting them in a stalemate of speed. Forty meters to go, then thirty, then twenty, then ten, then it was over. The two of them crossed the finish line and instantly rammed against the fence to stop themselves. They held onto the top of it so as to not fall down to their knees. Both of them were tired and had worked their body to its max, but through the hard draws of breaths, one of them managed to break into laughter.

“Did you see that Brett! I beat you! I won! ME! I DID IT!”

The score board placed beside the finish line displayed the two finishers and their time. Mac’s being 14:59.87 and Brett’s,15:00.07.

“I BEAT YOU! ME! MAC!” he burst into a maniacal laughter. “I can’t believe it! I actually beat you! I am better than you Brett and this proves it! I am no longer your equal! I am superior to you!”

Brett didn’t respond, he held his tongue and accepted his defeat.

“How do you like that Brett! Huh! How does it make you fe-”

“Brett!” Livi screamed, popping her head out from the crowd gathered around them.

Brett looked at her with a tired and defeated gaze, but it soon completely changed.

“It’s Lawrence! He’s running! Lawrence is actually running!” she screamed with joy.

His eyes slowly grew wide, wondering if he had heard her right. He lifted himself off of the fence and instinctively started back running except this time, towards Lawrence.

“W-wait up Brett!” Livi wailed trying to make her way back through the crowd.

Mac rammed his leg into the fence behind him. “Brett…you still had more energy left?”

Livi had finally caught up to him on her bike. She attempted to talk to him but he would not utter a single word. He was too focused on what she had said early, that his closest friend, Lawrence, was running. Just the thought of it had given him goosebumps. He picked up his pace making it harder for Livi to stay with him. He had to see Lawrence no matter what, he was more determined to do that then he was to win the race. And after a few minutes, he did. Brett stopped in his tracks, and felt that his eyes may start watering, because slowly but surely, Lawrence was indeed running. He was around half way finished with his second mile even though it had been over twenty minutes. His running form was absolutely laughable, if you could even call it running. But none of that mattered, because Lawrence was trying. Brett became speechless, thinking he would have never seen a sight like this in his entire life. To anyone else this was a pathetic attempt at running. But to him, it was a miracle. He knew more than anyone that Lawrence wasn’t the type of guy to even push himself, no matter what the situation was. Lawrence wasn’t a coward, but he would rather avoid unnecessary trouble. Brett knew that about Lawrence for many years. But in front of him, fighting, struggling, but still moving forward, was a part of Lawrence he never knew existed. One, he was insanely proud of.

Lawrence took notice of Brett and his face. He wanted to laugh at how stupid it looked but was too busy trying to breath to do so. Instead, he raised a weak thumb towards him. Brett looked as though he was about to cry, but held it in. “GOOD WORK LAWRENCE! DON”T YOU DARE GIVE UP!”

“Y-yeah keep going Lawrence!” Livi screamed.

“You got this Lawrence!” Chio cheered.

The three of them continued to encourage Lawrence as he ran, never giving him a moment of silence.

Eventually, at the time of 26:34, Lawrence passed the two mile mark. Once he had overcome that hurdle, he weakly signaled for Brett to come closer.

“P-Pos…iton.” He muttered.

“Position?”

Lawrence lifted up his hand and pointed at Brett. “F…inished.”

Brett realized what he was saying in between breaths. “Second, Mac beat me.”

“H-how can…we win?”

Bretts eyes widened, not thinking Lawrence would even care about if they won or not.

Chio heard this, and broke off into a sprint running ahead of them. “I’m going to check the placements!”

“Hold on wait for me.” Livi said, petaling behind her.

Brett turned towards his friend who looked miserable. “Are you sure?”

He nodded assertively.

“Okay then! Leave it up to us Lawrence! We’ll be right back!” Brett said following Chio and livi.

Once the three were out of sight and no one else was around him. Lawrence finally gave up the act, and collapsed to the ground. He was having an asthma attack. He started to feel like a snake was coiling around his chest, tightening around him as if he was its prey. Lawrence was suffocating, his mind was going foggy, and he felt like the air inside of him was being sucked out. He started to wheeze uncontrollable on the warm road, the desolate atmosphere becoming more clear to him as his sight weakened. He clutched onto his chest almost like he was trying to rip it off. My inhaler, I need my inhaler! He fiddled with his left pocket and pulled out a small stack of flashcards. Then he dug into his right pocket, and pulled out the red charm that Chio had gotten him. It fell out of his hand, and rolled in front of him. Along with the attack, he felt like his entire body had shut down from running for so long. The warmth of the road and the tightening of his chest were the only things he could feel. His lungs were blocked, and his mouth was dry. His limp arms laid outstretched in front of him, resting close to the charm. The voice of his teacher entered his head. “I just don’t think you’ll be able to get in with your grades.” then his fathers. “Lawrence, your mother enjoyed the class battles as well. She made a lot of fun memories there.” Finally, Chio’s “Lawrence, do you think people can overcome something…even if it’s impossible?. Lawrence started to cough, his lungs slowly opened back up and he was able to take a large needed breath of air. He sat up and rested for a second, wiping off the side of his face that laid against the road. He picked up the charm, and continued jogging.

“Here it is!” Chio shouted.

Livi rested her bike against the fence and fell to the ground tired and ready to take a nap. “You’re too fast…”

Brett strutted up to the board and intensely looked over it. He became surprised once he read who was in fifth place.

“I thought you said Mac finished before you?” Chio asked.

Brett narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was a mistake. “He did.”

“Then how come he’s in fifth?”

Brett took a large gulp seeing the were right below him in sixth. “Lane must have dropped out.”

Both of them examined the board and tried to figure out how they could win. Luckily, a group from class A was in first, and since most of the runners had already finished, there was no way they were losing that spot. But the rest of the placements were a mix of both classes, and since class B was already in the lead from the first two events, the only hope would be for Brett and Lawrence to take the fifth slot from Mac. They did the math in their head, well Livi did. “Thirty, he needs to come thirtieth or lower.”

Chio turned tail and burst into another sprint. “Let’s hurry and tell him!”

Livi rushed to her bike, picked it off of the fence and pushed it onto the walkway for an easier start. But before she hopped on, she turned behind her. “Brett, are you okay?

His hands rested on top of his shaking knees. His exhaustion was finally catching up to him. “I think Mac was right, I may have gained too much weight.” he joked. Brett raised his mighty chest back up and slapped his thighs. “I’m fine.”

On the run back to Lawrence they passed three people, meaning Lawrence was placed thirty-one amongst the runners.

They finally arrived back to him. He was running as if nothing had happened, except now, in his right hand unknown to the others, was a red athletic charm he was clutching on to. Chio told him the situation, that he needed to pass one person in order for their class to win the class battles. It seemed like an easy task since the person in front of him was similar to Lawrence. He was thin and unathletic, and just like Lawrence, he was struggling to finish the race. But he was still far ahead of him, and not even in sight. With only a little more than half a mile remaining, it would be a challenge to catch up to him. Lawrence didn’t believe he could accomplish something like that, but the people surrounding him did. The cheers and encouragement was making Lawrence push himself unconsciously.

“Dangit, where is he? It’s already been more than half an hour!” Mac yelled, slamming his foot into the ground.

Everyone was gathered around the finish line and peering down the long final stretch, waiting for the remaining two people to turn the corner and come into view. But it had been more than five minutes since the last person had finished and there was still no sign of anyone else. Until finally, someone became visible. Mac grinned widely, and everyone in class B jumped with joy. The first person to reach the final stretch, was a student from class B. He was painting like a dog and was unable to run straight, but even so, he was being awarded applause and cheers. Especially from his class.

But quickly, Mac’s smile went limp.

“Hey, isn’t that…It is! It’s Lawrence!” a student excitedly shouted.

Following the student from class B, was Lawrence, along with three other tired people shouting into his ear. Class A broke out into a roar of exhilaration upon this new hope, especially, since Lawrence was catching up.

Man grinded his teeth “What the heck is this…”

Everyone watching was on their toes, more than they were when Brett and Mac had finished. Each and every person was screaming at the top of their lungs watching the two of them slowly make their way to the finish, until eventually, Lawrence somehow managed to correct his posture, and through the pain, slowly managed to close the gap.

“DON’T YOU DARE LOSE TO SOMEONE WITH ASTHMA!” Mac yelled in extreme rage.