My feet took off from the starting line in a swift motion. At this point, it was muscle memory. I knew exactly how to have the edge over everyone else and I knew exactly how to win. I remember Clayton Prep not participating in my relay race, which I have to admit I was quite disappointed about. The moment I crossed the finish line, I took in heaves of oxygen. I could hear the crowd erupt into cheer as I bent down to catch my breath.

"You did it!" Sharice yelled, jumping on my back. Still tired from the run, I let out a chuckle and gave her a light fist bump. When I finally stood up, I saw Zahid, Evan, Sam, Elsa (and no Dad) jumping around. A smile broke out on my face almost immediately. I loved doing them proud. "Dude Clayton has nothing on you," Sharice whispered, giggling.

Clayton...

Immediately, my mind wandered back to that girl. I subtly tried to look around to find her and the moment I did I instantly regretted it because she was staring straight at me. I turned around casually, hoping that it would be enough to convince her that I was most definitely not trying to find her. I put my arm around Sharice as we both walked back to the rest of the team.

"Hey, you know that girl over there? Do you have any idea who she is?" I asked Sharice, carefully darting my eyes towards the direction of my muse. "Oh her? That's Izzie Stewart. Captain of Clayton's team," Sharice said, as if it was global knowledge.

That's a huge deal... Why have I not heard of her before?

"Why you got a little crush on her?" Sharice asked and I shoved her lightly. "Shut up," I groaned and we quickened our pace towards our team.

We had a celebratory dinner at Don's before we all headed home. Coach had given us the week off to rest and I figured it was time to start on all my overdue homework. I was not exactly the best student but I wasn't horrible either. A few missing assignments here and there and a couple of Bs and Cs. But I always had the same excuse- training for track. Now that the competition was over, I had no reason to not start studying. Mid-terms were coming and no university will take me no matter how good my track records are if my grades were this horrible. It was incredibly difficult to focus on the math equation in front of me because my mind was filled with thoughts about Izzie Stewart. I was confused. I've never felt like this before. I haven't even talked to the girl yet! I whipped out my phone and went on to Instagram.

I searched for her name multiple times but nothing came up. "Does this girl not have Instagram?" I asked myself. And that's how the rest of the night went. Lying on my bed, scrolling through Instagram, Twitter and every social media known to earth but there was not even a trace of the brown-eyed girl. I threw my phone on the bed in frustration. I was probably only going to see this girl at the next track meet and who knows when that would be?

That night, Izzie was on my mind.

I absolutely hate the sound of my alarm. The moment I opened my eyes a wave of frustration came over me. The routine of going to school was absolutely disgusting. Why do we even need school? Half the teachers don't even care about us. The moment I entered school with Sam, I saw Zahid, Evan and Sharice by the lockers. "Casey! Sam!" Evan called out to us. "Sorry, I don't have time to talk. I told Paige I would help her study for Biology," Sam said and left the group. "Casey you look horrible," Zahid said and I rolled my eyes. "You don't look any better yourself," I said, my middle finger facing him. "You look like you haven't slept for days. Up late studying?" Evan asked. Yeah... studying my phone to find just one picture of Izzie...

"Yeah, mid terms are coming so..." I said, opening my locker to take out my History textbook. "No way you actually had the motivation to study. What were you really doing?" Zahid said, staring straight into my eyes. At that point, I wanted to tell them everything that was going on in my mind. So I did. "Ok guys look you can't tell anyone!" I said and they moved closer, more curious about what I had to say. "So you know that girl yesterday? Izzie Stewart? The captain of the Clayton team? Yeah so ummm..." I trailed off and looked down to cover the blush forming on my face. "She's kinda cute..." I said, ending off with a lifeless chuckle. "Sooo... a crush?" Evan asked and I nodded sheepishly. "I knew it!" Sharice yelled in glee. "Izzie Stewart is one heart throb. Every guy in Clayton wants her," Sharice said and I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. "Or at least that's what I've heard..."

I told them about how I was trying to find her socials last night but I could not find anything. "Yeah well, she seems really lowkey so..." Sharice added. "Casey Gardner and Izzie Stewart. Sounds about right..." Zahid said and I pushed him. "You're so violent Gardner!" He exaggeratedly wailed as I dragged him to History with me.

"Next week's History test will be on the Cold War. Make sure you study because I guarantee you this test will be the worst of your nightmares," Mr Davis said, writing random words on the blackboard. "I know that some of you haven't been keeping up with your assignments and your grades really do make me want to vomit blood. So study all day and all night and you might just be able to bring your grade up," He continued, subtly glancing at me. I love Mr Davis. He was always so blatantly honest. No bullshit. And I appreciated it. Unfortunately, I hated the subject he taught. History was never nice to me and I've never passed a single test in my life. All those dates and facts about boring dead people were just so draining and I never found the motivation to study for it. Unlike Biology. I love Biology. It actually makes sense. Thank God I have Zahid by my side, barely scraping through History with me.

"Sorry Mr Davis, I need to have a word with Casey." I looked up to see my coach standing at the door in his green jumpsuit. I looked at Zahid in confusion and he shrugged. "Very well..." Mr Davis said and gestured his hand out of the door. I quickly got up and left the class to follow coach to his office.

"Hey Coach listen, I'm currently failing History and that was my last class before the big test next week so is this going to take long?" I asked, sitting down and he chuckled. "You may not even need to take the test next week..." He said, shutting his laptop and crossing his arms. I just stared at him in confusion before he started to speak again. "A school wants you. They saw you run yesterday," He said. This wasn't unusual for me. Usually after every meet there would be a bunch of schools eyeing me. I always rejected them though and this time was no different. "Coach I already told you to tell those schools that I don't want to transfer," I reminded him. "Well... I decided I should tell you about this offer first before you really decide if you want to take it or not. It's Clayton Prep."

My eyes widened in shock. "Like... rich rich Clayton Prep?" I asked and he nodded. "Listen Casey... it's really up to you but Clayton is really going to help you if you want track in the future. And everything is paid for with a scholarship so you don't have to worry about that. But they want a decision by tomorrow evening so go back and think about it."

The walk back home with Sharice was just her talking. I was too busy worrying about this offer from Clayton to really focus on what she was saying but I managed to make out that she was talking about this new TV show she was watching and how Evan blew up his flask during Chemistry lab lesson. I didn't know how to tell Sharice about Clayton. Would she be angry if I left? Would we still be friends? Am I even going to accept the offer? I may get to see Izzie again right?

"See you tomorrow Casey." I waved goodbye to Sharice and was going to reach for the door knob when I heard an all too familiar ruckus from inside.

"You didn't even come for your own daughter's run!"

"And whose fault is that? You're the reason I'm so goddamn uncomfortable to be around the family!"

I shut my eyes to control the tears that were threatening to flow out. I gripped hard onto the door knob, knowing that once I entered I would immediately regret it. I turned the knob and pushed the door open, ready to run straight to my room.

As I ran up the stairs, Elsa called to me. "Case do you want anything to eat?" I stopped for a while and closed my eyes, acknowledging the way my stomach was growling and begging for food. "I already ate," I managed to muster out before I made a beeline to my bedroom.

I plonked on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a hot minute, part of me wanting to pack up and run away from home. So I decided to distract myself from my family problems with other problems. Am I going to accept this offer or not? I flipped open my laptop and went to Clayton's website. Immediately, glaring and bold colours of red blinded me as the website opened up. There was a long list of the many achievements the school has won in both sports and academics and pictures of students in their snobbish uniform. I was so jealous of them.

Eventually after reading a bit of the history of the school and their crazy dedicated alumni, I clicked on the sectioned named "Track and Field". Immediately a picture of her came out and my heart dropped in a split second.

Izzie Stewart. Captain of Clayton Prep's Track and Field Team. She had her hair in a ponytail just like during the track meet yesterday and she had a tiny smile. Drop dead gorgeous. I tilted my head slightly to get a closer look at her and before I knew it, I was scouting the entire website in hopes of getting more pictures of her. I found one of her holding up 5 medals and a really tiny one of her during a field trip.

Suddenly, my bedroom door slammed opened and I shut my laptop immediately. "Oh God Elsa, ever heard of knocking?" I asked, with my hand on my chest. She looked at me suspiciously before slowly sitting down on the bed. "Casey were you..." She slowly hinted, darting her eyes towards the laptop. "What! No! Ew gross. No I was just... looking at... Clayton Prep's website..." I said. "I... kinda got offered a place there. The coach saw me run yesterday and they want me," I told her. It felt great finally opening up to someone. A pair of arms wrapped around me as Elsa jumped on me. "Mum! Can't breathe!" I choked out. "This is such great news! You are such a superstar you know that?"

"Yeah, you've mentioned it once or twice..." I said, a slight smirk on my face. "You and dad fighting?" I asked. "Same old same old..."

I knew she didn't want to talk about it so I didn't press it further. "I think I'm going to do it. I'm gonna accept their offer." Elsa clapped her hands in delight and gave me one more hug.

Telling Evan, Sharice and Zahid was the hardest part. "So you're going to Clayton next week?" Evan asked, still shocked. I had told them to meet me after school. Before that, I went to coach's office to tell him that I'm accepting Clayton. Sharice was clearly upset but she knew it was the best for me. "I swear to God you better FaceTime me every single day. And if anyone messes with you, you better tell us and we'll set any bitch who crosses your path straight," Sharice said, not letting go of our hug. "Can't believe you're leaving me to die alone for next week's History test Gardner. But hey! At least you'll have a chance to meet Izzie!" Zahid said. I would be lying if I said Izzie wasn't one of the huge factors as to why I accepted the offer. I was excited to be track mates with this girl.

Next week...

I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I saw the huge magnificent buildings of Clayton come closer. Dad had offered to drive me for my first day. He looked really different and not in a good way. He had lost tons of weight and he seemed to be ageing real quick. I wanted to ask him but I learnt a long time ago to never ask questions you don't want the answers to. "Good luck kiddo. I know you'll be fine," He said, giving me one last wave before I left the car. I flashed him a small smile before I turned around to see students in uniform and teachers walking around. You could immediately tell the difference between Clayton and Newton by just one glance. Clayton meant serious business and to be honest I don't know if I could fit in in a place like that.

And then I saw her. Her hair flowed down to just below her shoulders and she carried a pink bag. It's her. Izzie Stewart.