Shawn hugged his knee in front of him as he tried to balance on one foot. Tyler was pulling his elbow behind his head, Zeiler was fixing her ponytail in the mirror, and Scottie was messing around on his phone from the couch.

"What are we doing today? Five? Six miles?" Shawn asked, bending down to tighten the laces on his shoe.

"In your dreams," Zeiler called, not taking her eyes off the mirror.

"You'll most likely make it farther than Scottie, considering he doesn't believe in stretching," Tyler said matter-o-factly.

Scottie looked appalled when he looked up from his phone and narrowed his eyes at Tyler. "It's a myth that you need to stretch before, it only matters if you stretch after. All you guys are doing is wasting my time."

Shawn sighed and looked at Scottie, exasperated. "It's incredible how confident you can be when you're so unbelievably wrong."

Scottie slammed his phone down next to him on the couch and stood up. "Alright, let's go. I'm about to embarrass all you clowns."

"Why are we doing this?" Zeiler cried, throwing her head back as she slowly meandered out the front door.

"This was literally your idea," Shawn said. "Remember? 'We should start running together like we did in high school because we're getting old and I want to fit into my wedding dress.'"

"So I get to sit this out because I didn't know you guys then?" Tyler retorted. "Also, as the oldest one here at the young fragile age of 26, I'm offended."

Zeiler put her hands on his chest and started pushing him out the door.

The sun was casting an orange glow over the neighborhood as it began to rise. They started jogging side by side down the street. Scottie shoved Shawn out of the way so he could be up front and Shawn laughed. He was literally an oversized child. He had been described by Shawn as that kid in high school who had a C average, but got a perfect score on the ACT. He had so much potential as a person, but was always looking for the easy route.

Watching Scottie run ahead reminded Shawn of when they met in 7th grade gym class. The first time they ran the mile, Scottie sprinted the first lap so he was hundreds of meters ahead of everyone. By the time Shawn was on his third lap, he fell in step beside him as Scottie panted for air.

"So like....there's this story about this rabbit, and this tortoise,"  Shawn had said mockingly. Scottie told him to shut up and then they both laughed. They had been friends ever since.

Zeiler, Shawn had always been close with. Being only children, they spent a lot of their time together. They only lived a few minutes apart, and Shawn still remembered jumping some old lady's fence and cutting through her backyard to get to the trail in the woods that led to Zeiler's neighborhood.

Tyler had come later. After years of hearing Zeiler explain to people that her name was pronounced "Like Tyler with a Z," he always told her it'd be hilarious if she ended up with a Tyler. When Shawn became a teacher, he met Tyler at orientation and found out as the year progressed that he did not have a girlfriend. It became a running joke between Scottie, Shawn, and Zeiler until Shawn had to invite him to one of their outings. Their plan surprisingly worked, as Tyler fell in love with Zeiler's boisterous personality and she fell for his quick wit. They bonded the second she told him her name and they laughed over the resemblance. They didn't break it to Tyler that they had plotted the whole thing until he was so invested in their friend group that he wouldn't be scared away.

"You mind if we run by Megan's apartment? She told me she would give me all of Shawn's stuff." Scottie said. Shawn reached out to grab him by the back of the neck but Scottie narrowly avoided his grasp.

"That joke's getting real old real quick," Shawn said, grinning. As promiscuous as Scottie could be, Shawn knew that he would never do anything to jeopardize their friendship. Scottie always came to Shawn for everything and they had been inseparable since that day in gym class. Scottie had become the brother that Shawn always wanted, and Shawn the brother that Scottie needed.

Scottie bent down suddenly to pretend to tie his shoe in order to make Tyler fall over him, but he hurdled over his back instead.

"Nice try," Tyler said, looking back at Scott with amusement. "You're so predictable now."

Scottie started jogging backwards and looked at Zeiler, who was already breathing heavy and red in the face. "Zeiler, you haven't been saying much. You okay?"

She glared up at Scottie who winked at her.

"The Lord is within her, she will not fall," Tyler said with a grin, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he slowed down to jog next to her.

"How are you guys talking so much?" Zeiler said between breaths. "How far have we gone?"

"Almost one mile," Shawn said.

"Just kill me," she replied. "I need to find a new running group."

They made it about another half mile before Zeiler stopped.

"I'm out," she said. The guys groaned in protest but she put her hands up to stop them. "I'm heading back." Tyler turned and followed her, and Shawn and Scottie clapped.

"Good effort today, Z!" Shawn called after her. She rose a celebratory fist in the air as she put her other arm around Tyler.

Shawn fell in step beside Scottie.

"Jokes aside," Scottie said, looking over at Shawn. "You doing okay man?"

"Yeah," Shawn replied honestly. "Like, unexpectedly so." In actuality, Shawn was feeling a bit guilty for how okay he felt. It wasn't fair to Megan that he was just going through the motions for so long.

"What happened?"

Shawn shrugged. "You know, I found Jesus and it was too much for her."

"Tends to happen when you're evil."

Shawn laughed. "She's not evil," Shawn replied. "Anyways, how was your Thanksgiving?"

"Nothing special. You?"

Shawn knew more than Scottie how much he struggled with the dynamic of his family. Scottie's brother Joshua was a grade older than him and clearly favored by his parents, intentional or not. Joshua was smart; always got perfect grades, was adored by all of his teachers, and was athletically gifted. His brother was a starter in varsity football by his sophomore year, and even though it was rare to make the team by the 10th grade, Scottie quit when he himself was put on JV and did cross country instead.

As confident as Scottie acted, Shawn knew he was the most insecure person he knew. He got his fulfillment from the acceptance of girls, and ever since he got his braces off in the eighth grade, he had no problems getting them.

"Mine was good. Weird without Zeiler though,"
Shawn said.

"Yeah, when did we get old enough to be getting married?" Scottie replied.

"We asked for it," Shawn replied. "We created them."

They kept running in silence until the ended up back in front of Shawn's house. Scottie put his hands on his hips and looked towards the ground as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up at Shawn, a pained expression on his face.

"Maybe you're right, maybe stretching before isn't a myth."

***

Jean couldn't handle the silence any longer. After what Amy had said to her, she couldn't shake the fear that maybe she had been right. Anthony still hadn't reached out to her or said a word in the two weeks since Jean had found out about Ametta. At first she told herself that he was probably just giving her space until he was able to sort everything out, but the longer time went on, the more Jean was desperate for answers.

She picked up her phone and debated on whether to call or text him. She feared that he wouldn't answer, and she didn't know if she could handle that rejection right now. A text he would be forced to see and couldn't ignore.

She didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to let him have it, and the other part wanted to act like she wasn't bothered at all. Pride had kept her from reaching out first, but now she was at her breaking point and she needed to know what was going on.

She decided to keep it short.

Can you explain?

She forced herself to hit send immediately because she knew she would overthink it and not go through with it if she hesitated. She turned her phone over and went in a different room.

She started to clean her apartment that she had let fall to shambles in the two weeks she had been without Anthony. Tissues were strewn everywhere, plates were stacked by the sink, and nothing was put in its proper place. She started to clean for as long as she could before the anticipation drove her nuts and she went back into her bedroom to check her phone.

Nothing.

She didn't let her mind go to what he could possibly be doing, so she went to the parking lot to clean out her car. She spent a good thirty minutes detail cleaning everything. When there was nothing else to possibly clean, she returned to her phone. Her heart sank when her screen was still empty.

She crawled into bed and tried to disappear under her comforter. He was probably with Ametta. Maybe he blocked her number. Maybe  it really was over, forever, and they'd just simply never talk again. She decided to go to bed a few hours early that night.

In the morning, she checked her phone the second she became aware. She saw his name and shot up. She had to read it a couple times to process it.

There's nothing I can say that's going to make you feel better.

She couldn't breathe. It was worse than anything she could have imagined he would say. She felt like an idiot. Why did she reach out to him? Obviously he was done with her. If he wasn't, he would have said something to her. Now he knew that she was still thinking about him.

She called Jasmine and asked her to come over. It only took her ten minutes, and Jean was already crying when she opened the door for her.

"I'm so stupid," Jean cried, putting her arms arms around Jasmine. "I'm so, so stupid."

"No you're not," Jasmine said, squeezing her tight. She pulled her back, alarmed. "What happened?"

"I texted him." 

"What did he say?"

Jean walked across the room and picked up her phone to hand to Jasmine. Jasmine's eyes narrowed as she read the short conversation they had.

"This doesn't make you stupid," Jasmine said, looking up at Jean. "This makes him a jerk. Who says that?"

"I shouldn't have texted him," Jean said, putting her hands over her face.

"No," Jasmine said, putting Jean's phone aside and walking over to pull Jean's hands down off her face. "You spent two years with the guy, the guy who, I should add, teased you with a proposal, and you walked in on him with another girl. Your feelings just don't stop just because he decided his did. He was a prominent part of your everyday life. He owes you something. If not an apology, a discernment of what he plans on doing." Jasmine looked Jean in the eyes. "You're too hard on yourself. Nobody expects you to be okay right now."

Jean took her hands back from Jasmine's and pressed them to her eyes. "Do you think Ametta will go to Anthony's family's house for Christmas?"

Jasmine was silent and Jean saw the sympathy in her eyes.

"I doubt it," she whispered. "I'm pretty sure Anthony is in hiding right now, mostly from his family. But you don't need to be thinking about that kind of thing."

Jasmine hesitated, and Jean could sense that she had more to say but was holding back. Nothing could make this worse.

"What?" Jean asked. "I know you. What do you want to ask me?"

Jasmine slowly lowered herself so she sat on the armrest of Jean's couch.

"Why don't you call your parents and see them for Christmas?" Jasmine asked tentatively.

"Maybe because I don't know even know where they live," Jean said too quickly. She closed her eyes, knowing that her anger sounded like it was directed at Jasmine. She took a breath. "I'm sorry, that wasn't directed towards you."

"I know," Jasmine said softly, knowing she was treading on thin ice. "But maybe that's why you should call them. I'm sure they would give you their address if you asked."

Jean knew that Jasmine couldn't understand. The extent of Jean's relationship with her parents was the five phone calls they made every year. On each of their birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This Thanksgiving, her parents couldn't talk long because they were out shopping for Black Friday deals. Jean was relieved as she was in the car with Anthony. It was harder to pretend like everything was fine in front of others.

Her entire life, she had adapted to not needing them. She managed to make it work until that hot summer night in July when she was sixteen years old. She need them then, and they failed her. From that moment on, she vowed to never let herself expect anything from them ever again.

"The last time I saw them I was still a teenager," she said. "I have never been more than an inconvenience to them."

Jasmine's voice was shaking. "I'm just worried about you being alone. You know I'd bring you with me if I could."

Jasmine and her family were going to visit their grandparents in Florida. Even if Jean had been invited, she could never afford the trip.

"Please don't worry about me," Jean said, forcing a smile. There was no reason for Jasmine to be miserable on Christmas too. "Maybe I'll call my parents. I'll figure something out." She knew she was lying, but she just hated seeing Jasmine so concerned for her.

Jasmine smiled back at Jean, but her eyes were still sad. Jean tried to read her, and she had the feeling there was still more. Jean was starting to regret calling her; this was getting too difficult. Was it about Anthony?

"What are you trying to tell me?" Jean said, looking directly into Jasmine's eyes. "I know you too well. You can't hide stuff from me."

Jasmine laughed without humor and turned around, raking a nervous hand through her hair. Jean felt numb.

She knew whatever it was, it was going to hurt. She tried her best to turn off her mind and brace herself.

"It's such a terrible timing," Jasmine said, her voice catching. She blinked, clearly trying to be strong for Jean. Jean forced herself to smile.

"It's okay," she said, although she really didn't know if it was.

"I got accepted into that nursing program for next semester."

Jean felt the waves of shock course through her body. They paralyzed her body as she stood staring at Jasmine, and her brain shut off and she went on autopilot. Why are you acting like that's a bad thing?" Jean said cheerfully, moving forward to hug her friend. "That's incredible, Jasmine."

Jasmine couldn't help as the tears came to the surface. "I'm going to be over an hour away."

"Yeah, and?" Jean replied. "It's not like you're moving states. We can see each other on weekends, it's really not that far of a commute."

Jasmine closed her eyes, and wiped the tears away before they fells with her fingertips. "I just really thought you guys were going to get married," she whispered.

Jean forced herself not to react to what her friend just said. She knew that there was no premeditation to those words, but she refused to let herself think about what they had meant. Jasmine shook her head, clearly realizing her mistake. "I'm just overwhelmed. I found out a week ago and didn't know how tell you."

Jean shook her head, still smiling. "I can't believe you hid that from me." She put her hands on Jasmine's shoulders and forced her to look at her. "Seriously, I am so happy for you."

Jasmine looked back at her. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Absolutely," Jean lied. "Yeah, I might cry over Anthony from time to time, but is he really what I wanted anyways?" She was getting too good at acting like she was okay.

Jasmine laughed through her tears before wiping her eyes. She smiled at Jean in silence for a second. "Okay," she whispered. "Thank you, Jean."

"Of course," Jean said, not able to feel a thing. Now, sorry for calling you over here. Just a moment of weakness. You need to go rest up so you're ready to save the world."

Jasmine laughed and said a few more things before heading out the door. Jean slowly walked over to the window, looked past the pool to see Jasmine get in her car, back out of the space, and head towards the road.

When she was completely out of view,  Jean grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.