A Lost Life

“Kylie! Wait up,” yelled a young teenage girl. Her shoulder length, dirty blonde hair was flying around her shoulders as the wind picked up a bit of speed.

Kylienna stopped walking and turned to see her best friend Katie running towards her. “Hey Katie.”

“Tryouts for track are Saturday. Ryne said that he might do that instead of baseball just so he can run with you.”

“No, he likes baseball too much. Besides, he just wants to prove that he can run faster than me.” The two kept walking until they reached a bench outside the school grounds. “Ryne is just an idiot.”

Smiling, Katie took a note out of her purse. “He told me to give this to you. Besides, you know you love him.”

Kylie laughed. “Occasionally.” She opened up the note and read what it said. “His parents are going to be gone tomorrow night. He wants to know if I can come over.”

“And what will happen?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Kylie answered giving her friend a glare. “Let’s go drop our stuff off, so we can run. I’ll meet you at your house in about thirty minutes.”

The two of them parted ways as they went to separate city bus stops. When the bus arrived, Kylie got on and showed her pass. She took her usual seat and looked out the window as the bus travelled along each street. When they reached her stop, she grabbed her bag and got off, walking the few blocks left to her house.

Kylienna was a sophomore in high school. Her favorite thing to do was run. She ran cross-country and track along with doing some fielding events. She also did Nordic skiing in the winter which she had just taken up her freshman year when another friend of hers begged her to join the team.

She had mid-back length chestnut brown hair and baby blue eyes. She was around five foot four give or take. Her skin was still tanned from running outside all summer and fall; however, it had gotten a few shades lighter from the winter in which sometimes she couldn’t go out at all because of the low temperatures and snow.

She was thin and fit from sports and because her brother used to drill her when he was in JROTC and would come home from school over the holidays. Most of the time, she was always smiling. She was a very happy teenage girl with lots of friends, a great boyfriend and a person that she could tell everything to, Katie.

“Mom I’m home,” Kylie yelled up the stairs where her mother was usually at when she returned from school.

“In here honey,” called her mother from the kitchen who was chopping up vegetables. “You’re father is coming home early today. His meeting got cancelled.”

“That’s cool.”

“There’s a letter from your brother as well on your father’s desk.”

Kylie had already left, rushing up the stairs to see what her brother had wrote. She made it to her father’s study and grabbed the envelope off of the desk. Taking the letter out from inside the envelope, she began to read. ‘I know I said I was going to be leaving the Middle East in a few weeks, but I decided to stay. I’ll have leave once I get back, but if I stay a little longer, instead of being in Alaska when Kylie has her birthday, I’ll be able to be home. And it is her 16th after all. I hope you are okay with that. Besides, there are a few things that I feel I need to finish up here. Tell Mom and Kylie that I love them. Also, tell Kylie good luck for me. In her last letter, she said that track tryouts were coming up soon.’

“You found Casey’s letter I see.”

Running up to her father, Kylie gave him a hug and asked, “Can you drop me off at Katie’s? We had planned to run together today. Have to get ready for tryouts.”

Her father grinned at her. “I don’t know why you’re worried. The way you ran last year, winning state, you’re sure to make the team.”

“That’s not the point. Even so, the more I run, the more I’ll be ready for the first meet, you know?”

“Okay. And Kylienna, go put your school bag in your room. I almost tripped over it coming in the door.”

Her eyes went wide. “Sorry Daddy!” She ran down the stairs to pick up her bag and took it upstairs to her room where she changed into a white tank, her warm up jacket and pants, and put on her running shoes. She then went to the kitchen and grabbed some money from the change jar they had there. “Daddy, you ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s go,” her father replied. The two left the house and got into his car.

When they arrived at Katie’s, she was standing outside waiting. Kylie jumped out of the car saying thanks to her dad for driving her there, then meeting up with her friend on the sidewalk. “About time you got here!”

Kylie smiled. “I said thirty minutes.”

Looking at her watch, Katie replied, “I have thirty-two minutes.”

“Oh come on! It’s a long drive to your house. Besides, it’s just two minutes off. You’re always exact.”

“And if I’m not, who will be?”

“The military?”

“I suppose. Where are we running to today,” Katie asked.

“Where we always run,” Kylie simply said to her. “Alright, let’s go.”

The two of them took off running down the street and into the main part of the city. They reached their normal stopping point, which was by the park, and got water bottles from the drink machine. They went to sit on a bench.

“Relaxing, isn’t it,” Katie said.

Kylie smiled. “Look who’s here.”

A very nice looking guy came running up to the girls with a smile on his face. He was tall, nearly six foot two which made him perfect for playing basketball. He also pitched for the school’s baseball team and played soccer in the fall. His hair, blonde with darker roots and some low lights, was almost perfectly cut, but in a somewhat messy style, layers and a fringe. He was wearing the signature school varsity jersey with the letters he had earned so far.

“It’s Ryne. Here to see you.”

Ryne made his way up to the two girls and sat himself between them, pushing them over some as he did. “So ladies, how’s it going?” He turned to Kylie and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“PDA…You disappoint me.”

“Katie, you did give her the note right?”

“Yeah, she did,” Kylie answered.

“Good. So can you come?”

“Sure. I just can’t let my parents find out that yours are gone.”

“Yeah. Her parents are really strict about that,” Katie said.

“Then we won’t tell them. Just say that you’re staying at Katie’s for the night and then you can sneak over to my place,” Ryne suggested. “You know our parents talk.”

Kylie sighed as she finished her water. “We should head back to your place now. It’s going to start getting dark soon.”

“Crap! I’m supposed to pick something up for Mom,” Katie remembered.

“I think I’m going to go ahead and take the bus home. I have quite a bit of homework. I’m not feeling too well anyway.”

“Okay.”

Turning to Ryne, Kylie kissed him. “Can you make sure Katie gets home alright?”

Ryne nodded. “Sure. You going to be okay?”

“The bus stop is just five blocks down. I’ll be fine.” Kylie turned and ran off to the stop, throwing her water bottle away on the way out of the park.

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A/N: Thanks to Luinil_Telcontar for helping me come up with the title. hugs You're amazing!
R&R