@mathematicsandmonet hit the ♡!
After the morning she’d had, gym came as a welcome relief. Claire had fallen easily back into the ease of walking without the support of her forearm crutch, but she’d forgotten just how good it felt to run.
Yet even this break from having to directly face the teens and teachers around her was short lived, their warm-up ending at the coach’s whistle and direction to break up into teams of two, which, for Claire, was always the worst part of any class.
Her gaze swept the girls assembled in the room, many of which had already paired off with their friends. She paused for a moment at the sight of Jacqueline, who she remembered had been a bit of a loner, just like her. Still notably giddy from the rush of running for the first time in years, Claire closed the distance between them with a laughable rush of butterflies in her belly that had always come part and parcel with this sort of thing.
"Hey,” she greeted, still pleasantly winded from the warm-up run, “―Got a partner yet, Jackie?”