The Friend Who Kept Secrets

I'd been running for three years straight—mostly from myself. Track practice was the one place I could escape the constant feeling that I was failing at being fifteen. The burn in my lungs, the rhythmic thud of sneakers against pavement—those sensations made sense in a way my life never did.

Then Jayden started showing up at the fence near the finish line. At first, I thought he was just being a supportive friend, the kind who'd wave and yell "You got this!" even when I came in dead last. But after a week, I noticed his timing was too perfect. He'd appear exactly when my anxiety spiked mid-run, vanishing before practice ended.

"You're basically my personal cheerleader," I joked one afternoon, trying to sound chill about it. My stomach did that weird flip it always did when he looked at me with those ridiculously dark eyes.

Jayden's face flushed. "Something like that."

The truth came out behind the bleachers during a meet I was definitely about to bomb. I'd hyperventilated in the porta-potty and was hiding, debating whether to fake a stomach bug. Jayden found me, naturally.

"You gonna tell me why you've been stalking my anxiety attacks?" I asked, part of me hoping he'd just laugh it off.

He didn't. "My sister has panic attacks," he said quietly. "I learned to recognize the signs. The way your hands shake before races. How you can't eat lunch on meet days. I wasn't trying to be weird—I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

The weird thing about having someone spy on your worst moments? When they do it because they care, it doesn't feel like invasion. It feels like being seen for the first time.

"Thanks," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "For, like, actually paying attention."

Jayden grinned. "Anytime. Also, you PR'd last week. Just so you know."

I didn't win that meet. But when I crossed the finish line, lungs burning and legs screaming, Jayden was exactly where he always was—cheering like I'd just won gold. And for the first time in three years, I didn't feel like I was running away from anything anymore.