The Rules We Defy

Chapter 3

I lead Cody to the open grassy area in the middle of campus. We took a seat on one of the benches under a giant oak tree.

"So how bad is it? Is he going to die?" I blurt it out. It's completely selfish of me to mention Nate's possible death like that.

"No, it's not like that. He got dizzy and fell when he got up to use the bathroom in the night. He wasn't using his wheelchair."

"So why is he in the hospital?"

"It was a bad fall. He bruised his ribs and has a stress fracture in his arm."

Cody takes a deep breath and let it out. "The doctors said his disease is progressing faster than they expected. Plus, he has some other health issues and the MS only complicates those."

He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "I did some thinking last night and decided to take this semester off."

"But, Cody, that'll mess up your plans for med school. You'll have to wait another whole year to start."

"Med school might be on hold indefinitely now. I have to take care of my dad. As you witnessed yesterday, I can't count on those home healthcare people. And I can't afford it. We have medical bills that---" He stops.

"Have we always been in debt like this? Why didn't you tell me? I would've got a job and helped out."

He sits up and lays his arm along the back of the bench. "You had a job. Going to school, getting good grades, and getting into college."

"I mean a real job. A paying job. Sacking groceries or waitressing. Anything."

"Enough talking about money. Let me worry about that. I want you to have a normal college experience. Have fun. Don't even think about this. I'm sure everything will work out."

"Not if Nate doesn't get better," I mumble.

Cody gets up. "I really hate leaving you so soon, but I need to get on the road. I have to pick up dad when he's released tomorrow."

"You'll have to drive all night in order to make it there. That's like twenty-two hours of driving."

He laughs. "I know. I just drove it. Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll stock the car with caffeine on my way out of town. Do you need anything before I leave?"

"No, I'm good."

Cody waits for me to get up, then pulls me into a hug.

"I'll miss you, Jess."

Dammit! Why did he have to say that? And what the hell is this hug? We never hug! I feel more tears building. My face hurts and my throat burns as I try to hold them back. Cody starts to pull away, but I don't let him. I have to get control of myself first. .

He smiles. "You annoy the hell out of me, but I'll still miss you."

I punched his arm. "Like you're not annoying with your constant safety reminders and junk food bans."

"You know you love me, even when I nag you about shit." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. "Here." He hands me a stack of twenties. "When you need more, just call."

"I'm not taking this!" I shove it back in his hand. "You just told me you have no money. You need that for gas to get home. I don't need money here. Everything's paid for."

He takes my hand and places the money in it, forcing my fingers to close around it. "You should always have cash. What if you need to take a cab or bus somewhere? Or maybe you'll need it for laundry or to feed your potato chip addiction."

My stupid eyes get watery again as I look down at the wad of cash in my hand.

"Thank you, Cody." Now my voice is shaky. God, I hate this. I hate people being nice to me and I hate saying goodbye. A tear escapes my eye and runs down my cheek. I pretend it isn't there, but I know he sees it. He puts an arm around my shoulder.

He gets in the car and rolls down the window. "Go to the party tonight. It'll be good for you. Don't hide in your room, okay?"

"Yes. I know. Bye, Cody."

"Bye, Jess." He backs out and I watch as he drives away.

I go back to my room and dump all of my garbage bags out on the floor. I find some running shorts and a t-shirt and put them on, then head back outside. There has to be a track somewhere on this campus. I run past the buildings down a small hill and there it is, next to the gym and the tennis courts. I breathed a sigh of relief. I need to run. It's the only thing that will make me feel better.

I usually don't like to run on a track, but today it's exactly what I needed. I like how predictable it is. Straight, then curved, then straight, then curved. As soon as I start running, I feel the calmness I was craving. I get lost in the repetition of my movement around the oval track and lose all sense of time. After a while, the sun is really hot, and I realize it's probably way past noon. I take a break and sat on the side of the track, completely soaked in sweat.

"Have a good run?"

I turned and saw Dominic walking toward me in navy athletic shorts and a gray t-shirt. It looks like he's been running too, although he's not nearly as sweaty as me.

"It was alright," I said. "I don't usually run on a track."

"You should've come with me. I ran a couple of miles around campus."

I shake my head, sweat dripping off me like a wet dog. "That's not far enough. I usually run eight or nine miles."

He sits down next to me. As in right next to me. Can he not see how sweaty I am? I'm sure he can smell me from ten feet away. I can't even stand the smell of myself.

"Eight or nine miles? You must be a serious runner. I'm a swimmer. I only run to improve my cardio for the pool. I do a couple of miles at a normal pace and then do some sprints on the track."

So that's why he has that body. He's a swimmer. That explains the broad shoulders and narrow waist he's got going on.

"Go ahead," I pointed to the empty track. "It's all yours."

"Why don't you do them with me?" he asks in a challenging tone. "Let's race."

I never turn down a challenge. Well, sometimes I do, but it's rare. "I'm a distance runner, not a sprinter. But a distance runner can beat a swimmer any day. This should be easy." I stand up, stretching my legs which are stiffening up after my short break.

"You think you can beat me, huh?" He stretches as well. "So what's with the insults? You don't like swimmers?"

I shrug. "Swimmers are okay. I just don't think they have to work that hard. I mean, the water makes you basically weightless. It's easy to go fast when you don't have to drag your body weight around. You don't get that benefit from running."

His jaw basically drops to the ground. I've just insulted both him and something that's near and dear to his heart. Apparently, this has never happened to him before. Pretty boy must be used to only getting compliments.

"Are you shitting me? Did you just say swimmers don't work hard?"

"Yeah, why?" For some reason, I'm really loving egging this guy on.

"Game on, Iowa girl. Get your ass in position."

He sets himself up in lane one of the track. I take my sweet time walking over to lane two, yawning just for added effect.

"Do you need a head start?" I asked him, stretching my arms behind my back.

"Damn, you're annoying." He smiles when he says it. "We do one lap around. Ready? Three, two, one, go!"

I take off down the lane, my eyes straight ahead, pretending he's not there. I quickly rounded the first end of the track and hit the straightaway. I imagine myself running far away from this place. Running back home and seeing Nate and Cody again. I round the next end and keep running.

"Stop! We're done!" I heard Dominic's voice and slowed down, noticing that I was already halfway through a second time around the track. I finish the loop and meet up with him again. He's bent over, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Okay, I admit it. You're fast." he says, panting as sweat drips off his face.

"Fast? That was my normal pace."

He glances up at me, trying to figure out if I'm kidding. Then he stands up straight and wipes the sweat off his forehead. "Remind me never to do that again." He walks over to the end of the track and gets his water bottle.

"You should sign up for cross-country or track. You're really fast."

"Nah. I ran cross country in high school. Now, I just run when I'm stressed."

"What are you stressed about? School?"

"No. I don't mean I only run when I'm stressed. I run for all kinds of reasons. Like today, I ran because it's nice outside, and I'm bored."

"You want some?" he offers me the water bottle. I'm a little hesitant to drink out of it, assuming pretty boy has herpes or something. But, I'm dying of thirst, so I take it anyway. "If you're bored, let's do something. I'll show you around campus, and we could grab lunch somewhere."

"I can't. I have stuff to do. I need to unpack and make my bed." It sounds really pathetic, but I don't have any other excuse. I gulp the water and hand him back the bottle.

He takes a drink and a drop falls out. "You drank the entire thing? What did you do that for? I'm dying here!"

"You didn't say how much I could have. You should be more specific next time."

He stares at me like I'm the first of some other species he's never encountered.

"Fine. Give it here. I'll go refill it for you."

"Forget it, I'm heading back now anyway." He starts to leave the track and then turns back. "Aren't you coming?"

What is with this guy? He won't leave me alone. "You go ahead. I'll stay here and stretch."

"We're having lunch. Come on."

I find myself following him as he walks up the hill. Why am I following him? It makes absolutely no sense. And I don't like it. I never follow. I lead. But for some reason, I'm intrigued by this guy, even if he is a swimmer....