Rewind Ryder

Breathe in, breathe out, breath in, breathe- crap, did he just lap me?

I’m not the active type. I usually spend my days reading, binge-watching TV shows, eating or sleeping. Quite the ordinary life for somebody who can rewind time. But that doesn’t mean I can’t pass this fitness test, right?

Wrong.

I felt myself growing more tired by the second, and I was worried that my legs would give out underneath me. Usually I keep track of how much time I have left before I go over the passing time, but my thoughts were immediately plagued by a headache.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in…

I only had 2 laps left, but I felt like I wouldn’t even be able to go any more after I finished one. I’ve never failed to get underneath the pass time, and I wouldn’t even be able to imagine what the ‘fitness camp’ had in store. I had seen it once, when I got to school early, and running around in the heat didn’t seem very fun.

Just rewind, and think of a way to get out of this. Sure, you don’t your watch with you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Concentrate Ryder, concentrate.

A quite long moment later, I felt myself begin to rewind. I went with it, and in a few seconds I was back at my tiny locker, my hand outstretched and on my PE bag. I felt a slight wetness on my upper lip, and realised that my nose was bleeding. Instinctively, my right hand went up to pinch my nose, while my left scoured my locker for tissues. As I went to take one out of a small packet, I heard a familiar pair of feet walk through the hallway.

Ms. Russell is behind me.

Ms. Russell is my PE teacher. She's mediocre at what she teaches, but she's overly kind and generous to her students, especially to the ones she favours. Like me.

I spun around, my nose still bleeding. I half-walked, half-ran to her side, while covering my nose and upper lip. Being classified as a minor outcast was enough, I didn't need a picture of me with a nosebleed following me around the rest of my high school life.

“Uh, Ms. Russell? Do you happen to have a spare tissue?” I asked, ignoring the strange stares I was receiving from the other students in the hallway. Everything I did was eccentric to them, so it was normal to get stares. I wasn't bullied or anything depressing like that, I was just classified in the same clique as 'nobody' or 'loser' which really meant that they shouldn't interact with me. At all.

“Oh, you poor thing, do you have a nosebleed?” she cooed, fishing a packet out of her back pocket and handing me a tissue.

Russell was probably one of the most gullible PE teachers out there. You could fake a limp, and get a week off of sport and any physical activity. With an extremely subtle smirk, I wiped off the blood and clutched my head, moving my gaze towards the floor.

“I think I have a headache too,” I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Aww, I guess you’ll just have to get better acting skills, sweetheart,” she said, tilting her head to the side.

Bing- wait, what?

“Excuse me?” I said , looking up at her with a confused face. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to go to the sick bay, get rest, and miss the mile run.

“I said, you’ll just have to get better acting skills, Ryder,” she replied. With a smile, she walked away, leaving me dumbfounded in the middle of a hallway. I took in a deep breath, ignored the snickers and walked back to my locker. I fished around, and found my watch.

Time to rewind again, Ryder.

I sucked in a breath, and concentrated on the watch.