“I say we make up a signal to let each other know if we have a guy in our bedroom,” Vanessa says. “We can tie something to the doorknob, like a necktie or a jump rope.”

“What if someone steals the jump rope and we walk in on something we don’t want to see?” Iggy asks, pushing the glasses up on her nose.

“Who would steal the jump rope?” I ask.

“Anti-hipsters.”

Vanessa and I are now shaking our heads at each other.

“Is there anything else we’re missing from our supply list?” Kelsey asks, dragging a pen down a sheet of paper. “If not, I’ll email a copy of the list to everyone for your reference—”

I start laughing and find I can’t stop, like when Vanessa and Savannah giggled about that Justin Bieber cookie for ages.

It feels good.

Marathon Training Schedule~Brown’s Race Co.

Name Annie Winters

Saturday

Distance

Notes

April 20

3 miles

I’m really doing this! Finish time 34:00

April 27

5 miles

Stupid Running Backwords Boy!!

May 4

6 miles

Blister from HELL

May 11

5 miles

Ran downtown Nashville

May 18

7 miles

Tripped on rock. Fell on my butt

May 25

8 miles

Came in 5 min. quicker than usual!

June 1

10 miles

Let’s just pretend this day never happened…

June 8

9 miles

Evil suicide sprint things. Ran w/ Liza. Got sick.

June 15

7 miles

Skipped Saturday’s run…had to make it up Sunday.

June 22

8 miles

Stomach hurt again. Matt said eat granola instead of oatmeal.

June 29

9 miles

Matt says it’s time for new tennis shoes.

July 6

10 miles

July 13

12 miles

July 20

13 miles

July 27

15 miles

August 3

14 miles

August 10

11 miles

August 17

16 miles

August 24

20 miles

August 31

14 miles

September 7

22 miles

September 14

20 miles

September 21

The Bluegrass Half Marathon

September 28

12 miles

October 5

10 miles

October 12

Country Music Marathon in Nashville

TODAY’S DISTANCE: 10 MILES

Four Months Until the Country Music Marathon

Kyle wasn’t my type.

Right before the Welcome Back Dance freshman year—the night of our first date—I stared in the mirror and swiped on mascara, wondering if I should cancel. I’d said yes because he put me on the spot. And he was kind of cute, I guess, if you liked short boys with short blond crew cuts. Which I didn’t. I liked tall skinny guys with floppy hair. Nick made fun of Kyle, saying he was too angelic looking and should go join a boy band immediately. If my own brother didn’t think Kyle was good enough for me, what would other people think? I’d always figured that people determined what kind of person you are based on who you date, whether you’re cool or pretty or not so attractive. It’s not nice, but it’s true.

At the dance, Kyle and I sat on the bleachers and talked, and he paid no attention to the guys goofing around, jumping to touch the rim of the basketball hoop. He didn’t check his phone once all night. I hated when people did that. He stayed tuned in to me, and the more I considered him, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t gorgeous, that he wasn’t tall. I honestly don’t know what clicked in my brain that night at the dance. Something just told me—this guy is nice; he treats you well. His smile is bright like a waking sun, peeking over the horizon. Who cares what other people think? Just give him a chance.

I did, and I never got bored with him. It seemed we always had something to talk about. He’d love hearing about my marathon training. It’s strange to have something new I’m excited about and not be able to tell him.

Matt doesn’t want us to get bored on our runs either, so he changes up our long-run locations nearly every weekend. For our second ten-miler, we’re running a trail called the Richland Creek Greenway in Nashville. It connects a lot of the trails to each other, sort of like an interchange. You can tell the Fourth of July was a couple days ago—lots of firework debris and beer cans litter the area. People really partied here, I guess. I partied hard by working at the Roadhouse and making huge tips.

Still, even with the change in scenery, ten miles is a long time to spend alone—I’ve been thinking about him today, even though I try not to.