Caleb stared down at his feet. His shoes were old and stained from countless hours running along trails but they were still good shoes. Today he wasn’t running on any trails, however. At least, not the sort of trails he was used to. Those trails were almost never even and often made of dirt, gravel, and the occasional root. Now, he stood on a brownish red track with crisp lines painted to create separate running lanes. It was cold and raining today, but the track here was indoors and kept at a relatively comfortable temperature. None of this felt normal for him.

He did a few squats and stretches to limber up his joints while continuing to look around the facility. Bleachers sat in a wide ring around the track. In the center were areas for long and high jumping as well. What it would be like when this place was filled and multiple competitions were taking place at the same time was a daunting thought and Caleb was glad he was the only one there for the time being.

Sitting down on the track to finish his stretches was uncomfortable to say the least. In the past, Caleb had worn whatever clothes he happened to have picked out for the day when he ran, usually jeans and a T-shirt. Running shorts and tank tops were a thing he’d never before considered wearing and the thin fabrics allowed every bump and jagged piece of the track’s surface to dig into his skin. He hated to think what would happen if he tripped and fell while running here. A cheese grater came to mind and he doubted the analogy was too far off from what the reality would be.

Yet even with all of the new and mostly uncomfortable and distracting differences, he was happy to be there. All his life he’d loved running. It never seemed to matter to him where he was going, if he was on foot, he was going to run. He hated having to walk and often found himself jogging in places he probably shouldn’t. He’d been confronted in more than one store by employees and security guards who thought he was a shoplifter. None of that mattered to him, though. As long as he could run, he would run.

Most people misunderstood his fixation with running. He’d lost count of the number of times people had told him to slow down, to smell the roses, that life wasn’t about the destination but the journey, or some other similar thing. What they didn’t understand was that he didn’t run so he could spend less time going from one place to another. He ran because he loved it, plain and simple. There was that magical moment when running when he would begin to feel the air rushing by, when the world would blur and the steady rhythm of each step sent a jolt through his whole body. The rise and fall, the bursts of speed, the feel of his feet gripping the earth and propelling him forward. He only stopped when he had to and would always be looking forward to the next moment when he’d be off and running again.

Settling into the starting position he’d been learning, Caleb readied himself. It was a strange way to start but he couldn’t argue with the way in which it helped him to get started. There was a brief moment of tension as the muscles in his body pulled tight and he launched himself forward. He could feel the track beneath his feet, gripping him tightly and keeping him from slipping as he rounded the first corner. On most trails, he would have had to slow down a good deal more to keep his feet from sliding out from underneath him. The change was a welcome one, though he did notice the additional strain in his ankles. He still didn’t feel comfortable pushing himself at full speed around the bend for fear of injuring himself. That was one thing a lot of trails had over the track, they were usually far straighter and rarely had such long turns in them.

The first lap of the track came and went. Each time he passed the starting line, Caleb took note of the time on the large clock on the far wall. It was a massive clock, at least twelve feet across, and it’s second hand was painted a bright red to stand out against the face of the clock. Why there wasn’t a digital clock instead, he wasn’t sure. For now, he didn’t need to know his times down to the millisecond. Keeping track of such things was still a new concept for him.

Four times around the track made a mile and Caleb made a mental note that he’d gone that distance in just under five minutes. He picked up his pace a bit and the next mile he ran was right at four minutes. He picked up his pace yet again and for his third mile he shaved off another minute, completing the fourth lap right around three minutes.

Caleb slowed down and jogged over to where his water bottle was. He took a few sips and then returned to his run. He kept the three-minute mile pace for a while, enjoying the easy pace before really pushing himself. He stopped paying attention to the clock or to how many laps he’d run and just enjoyed himself. Things were different here, to be sure, but the longer he ran the more he came to appreciate those differences. The track certainly helped him maintain a consistent speed and the more practice he got going around the turns the less he worries about his ankles.

For the last little while that Caleb was running, he let himself go and sprint. He rarely sprinted because of how hard it was to make course corrections once he got going at those speeds. Yet here in the track where he didn’t need to worry about uneven ground or unexpected obstacles, Caleb felt confident that it would be alright. Of course, that might change once there were other people running on the track with him but he’d have to play that by ear if and when that time came.

The turns were still tricky and Caleb couldn’t maintain his sprint through them since even with the improved track surface he could feel his feet slipping in unsettling ways. Still, the straightaways were decently long and the fact that he didn’t have to worry about what might be coming up ahead of him made up for the fact that he had to slow down on the turns.

While he’d been running, Caleb became aware of some people watching from the bleachers. He didn’t think much of it though, relishing the sensation of running so quickly. When he finally slowed back down to a jog so he could get another drink, the spectators all hurried down towards him. Caleb wasn’t much of a people person and would have turned and gone right back to running had he not recognized the person leading the group forward.

“Caleb!” Ms Hall called out to him.

Caleb waved. She had been the one to invite him here, had given him the new running clothes and everything. Ignoring her would be no way of showing her his gratitude.

“I’m glad to see you’ve taken me up on my offer,” Ms Hall said once she and the others had reached him. “What do you think?”

Caleb looked over the faces of the people Ms Hall had brought with her. They all looked incredibly excited and it made him even more uncomfortable.

“It’s nice,” Caleb said, turning his gaze out towards the track so he didn’t have to look at the other people. “I didn’t think I’d like it, but it’s good.”

“Yeah, and you really seemed to be flying down that track!” Ms Hall said.

She was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet when she spoke, though Caleb had no idea why. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen people run before.

“Can I ask how old you are, young man?” one of the people Ms Hall had brought piped up.

Caleb furrowed his brow.

“Why do you want to know that?” Caleb asked.

The excited, staring faces took turns glancing at one another before Ms Hall spoke up.

“Well, are you in school?” she asked. “I didn’t get to ask you about that when we first met.”

Caleb shuffled his feet uncomfortably. School. He didn’t like that subject.

“No,” he told them. “I’m not in school.”

“So, you’ve graduated high school?” another one asked.

“I’m sorry but you’re all kinda being a bit weird and personal with your questions,” Caleb said, though he was looking at the ground when he spoke. “I just came to run but maybe I should be going now.”

“No, wait, please!” Ms Hall shot out a hand and grabbed Caleb’s arm as he began to turn to leave. “These are, that is, we are representatives for the university’s track and field team,” she spoke in a rush and her grip on his arm was not entirely gentle. “You have such a natural talent that we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for you to come a join the team.”

Beads of sweat were forming on the back of his neck and in his palms. Caleb looked from Ms Hall’s hand on his arm, to Ms Hall herself, and then to the rest of the people gathered around. They had been inching around the whole time, shuffling slowly, closer in, as though they wanted to surround Caleb to keep him from escaping.

Ms Hall seemed to notice how hard she was gripping and let go of Caleb’s arm. There were small, red marks on his skin where her nails had been pressed into his arm. She didn’t apologize although her eyes flicked down to the spot a couple of times.

“If money’s a concern for you,” Ms Hall told him in a more controlled manner. “I dare say you’d be a likely candidate for several of our scholarships, not to mention grants or even student loans.”

“Hang on,” Caleb said before Ms Hall could continue with what was sounding more and more like a sales pitch the longer she spoke. “You want me on your team, but I have to pay you?”

There was a smattering of chuckles and shaking heads.

“No, sorry, it’s the tuition for attending the university,” Ms Hall explained. “But like I said, you likely won’t need to worry about that.”

This was making even less sense to Caleb the longer their conversation went on.

“One minute you’re asking me to be on your team, the next minute you’re talking about me going to college. Which is it that you’re trying to sell me on?”

He looked away from them once again as their smiles finally began to fade. He didn’t like it when people tried to pressure him into things. That was one reason he hadn’t enjoyed school. It was all just people making him do things he didn’t want to do, and often he didn’t understand what it was that they wanted him to do in the first place. More often than not, people grew frustrated with him when he didn’t understand what it was they wanted him to do but he hardly saw it as being his fault. They were the ones who didn’t explain things to him.

“Caleb,” Ms Hall began and this time she spoke much more slowly, “to be on the team, you’d need to be a student at the university. Students pay tuition to attend the university, but sometimes those students are given a scholarship, or a grant, or they take a loan to pay that tuition. Does that make sense?”

Caleb was all too familiar with that tone of voice. He both hated it and was relieved to hear it. It meant they thought he was dumb, but also tended to ensure they actually explained things properly.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Caleb said, still looking down at the ground. “But I’m not going to college so I guess I won’t be on your team.”

He took a couple steps back, just shuffling his feet, hoping no one tried to hold him back again like how Ms Hall had already done.

“Young man,” another voice chimed in, “I don’t know that you realize the opportunity you’re being offered. You could get a degree from one of the best universities in the nation! And you’d be competing with some of the best athletes from around the world! These are the best years of your life and surely you want to make the most of them!”

“I’m not going to college,” Caleb repeated. “Thanks, but I’m okay with how things are. I don’t don’t really like competitions anyway. They always make people feel bad.”

“What? I mean, you may think things are good now, but that’s because you just don’t know what it could be like. Why, with a college degree you have so many more options! Most good paying jobs these days require a four year degree. You don’t want to wind up stuck in some dead-end job just scraping by.”

“I like my job,” Caleb said. “And I don’t like school. I’m happy and don’t need a degree. I like running because the way it feels and I don’t care if I’m faster than some other people.”

“But, but, you might very well be the fastest person alive!” one of them stammered. “You were running at speeds…well, I’ve never seen anyone go that fast, I didn’t even think it possible!”

Caleb looked up and met Ms Hall’s eyes but couldn’t read her expression.

“I’ll go change,” he said, “and give you back these running clothes.”

“No, they’re for you to keep,” Ms Hall replied.

They all looked disappointed and some of them even looked upset but no one tried to stop him as he made his way back towards the changing rooms. He got dressed quickly and left. Even though Ms Hall had said he could keep the running clothes he didn’t take them with him, instead throwing them away in the trash can. It just didn’t feel right to keep them, as if they’d been given to him just so he’d be more likely to say yes when they asked him to go to college and be on their team.

It seemed like a strange rule, that to be on their team he would also have to go to college. He might have been more interested in joining the team if it weren’t for that requirement. Although, he really didn’t like competition either so maybe even then he wouldn’t have wanted to be on their team.

It was cold and wet outside. The rain had stopped but everything was still too slick for Caleb to run very fast. He settled on a moderate pace and began making his way back home. He raced a few cars along the highway, which was about as close to any form of competition that he ever got. It was never about being faster, though. He just enjoyed the challenge of keeping pace with them while also trying to navigate the rough terrain on the side of the road. That was how he’d met Ms Hall. She’d been driving along and said she was impressed with his running and invited him to the indoor track that morning. She’d given him the clothes, showed him how to do the runners start, and then left him alone, saying she had some other things to do but that he was free to run and just enjoy himself.

He felt ashamed as he thought back on it all. Had he misunderstood her? Should he have known what she and the others wanted? Maybe she’d said it and he hadn’t understood. Maybe she didn’t. Either way it didn’t matter. He didn’t need to go to college or be on any teams. He enjoyed running, he liked his job, and he was happy, and that was what mattered to him.