Tanner ran down the stairs, past the kitchen, through the living room, and dashed out the front door. He didn’t even bother to call goodbye to his mother or father. They both had a day off from work so they were most likely still sleeping anyway. If anything, they woke up to the front door slamming behind Tanner. Not that he had meant to slam it shut so loudly, but he was in such a rush that he wasn’t thinking.
He ran down the street trying to keep his breathing steady as he sprinted. He knew well enough to keep a good pace and to remember to breathe while running, but he needed to go fast. He had slept in way too late and now his legs and lungs were going to have to pay for it.
As he ran, Tanner thought back to his parents encouraging him to join the track team at school. He was a fast kid. He needed to be since he was late everywhere he went. However, he didn’t feel the need to join the team since he practically ran every day anyway.
His parents had wanted him to learn how to run properly though. He sprinted everywhere he went taking occasional breaks to catch his breath. They knew, and so did he, that he probably pushed his body too much when trying to get where he needed to go. If he was going to run and run fast, they preferred it be on a track with a coach to monitor him and make sure he didn’t make himself pass out.
Then again, none of this would be needed if his parents had just bought him a car. He had gotten his license right at the age of 16 and was excited to drive himself to school. He was excited to take his friends out after school to hang out. Of course, both his parents worked and actually had lives themselves so they always had their cars. Tanner wasn’t able to drive their cars except on the weekends and even then his parents were a little iffy because there were always errands that needed to be done.
Tanner still had to take the bus to school every morning because both of his parents had to be at work before school started. The thing was, Tanner always overslept so he usually missed the bus. How did he get to school? He ran.
He was getting tired of it. He knew it was his own fault that he kept hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock, but he was a teenager. People didn’t really expect him to be punctual, did they?
Now it was Saturday morning, the universal day for all teenagers to sleep in until noon. It was his only day to sleep in – well, he slept in every day, but it was his only day that he could actually sleep in without having to worry about being late anywhere. His parents made him go to church on Sundays so didn’t have the entire weekend to sleep.
Here he was, up fairly early on a Saturday morning having to run because he’s parents wouldn’t buy him a car. No, he needed to get a job. He had to run to his job because he didn’t have a car. It was a vicious cycle.
Tanner, still running down the street, took his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. At this speed, he’d make it in five minutes and he needed to be at the store in ten minutes. Hopefully, he’d be fine.
The upside to all this was he was in great shape.
He made it to the store and walked through the front door breathing heavily. He smiled at a woman behind the counter who stared at him with raised eyebrows.
“You’re not the new hire, are you?” she asked.
Tanner frowned and looked down at himself.
The downside to this was he was sweating through his uniform.
Words: 666
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