Taylor was in the locker room after school, getting ready for the race with Kendrick Lamar’s “Count Me Out” and struggling to rap along. He was smiling and getting excited and hyped up for the race. He stood up, wearing a very tight athletic shirt and some short athletic shorts. His nipples were covered by tape as he finished putting on his running shoes. He jumped around a bit to get the blood pumping and his heart racing. He lifted his phone up, but it slipped and immediately raced towards the ground.
Without any sort of thinking, his body dropped down into a crouch and caught the phone. Taylor’s eyes blinked rapidly as he stared at it.
Before he could do anything else, he heard the locker room door open. Trevon walked over to him and started to jump with him while the music was still playing.
“You ready to do this?” Trevon asked.
“Yeah.” Taylor replied.
“Weak! You ready?” Trevon asked louder.
“Yeah!” Taylor shouted.
“I can’t fucking hear you!” Trevon shoved Taylor hard.
“I’m ready!” Taylor screamed at the top of his lungs.
The two chest bumped hard before they ran out together to the track around the football field. Their teammates were all stretching, ready to go.
The team huddled up, but before anybody could give a speech, they spotted the other team coming up. The person leading the Woodcreek school was much taller and larger than everybody else. His skin was the same shade as his sunglasses as he walked with a confident and arrogant smirk. Taylor went and stood in front of his team, crossing his arms as Trevon stepped up right behind him.
“Well well, if it ain’t the golden boy.”
The tall guy removed his shades while smiling wide.
“Darius…welcome back.” Taylor replied dryly.
“I was expecting a red carpet. I am deserving of it.”
Darius’s hands were covered in rings. His wrist housed a very expensive golden watch. Around his neck were multiple golden chains. His shirt and shorts were extremely high quality.
“Just because you’re the top of the bottom? The king of shit?” Taylor asked.
Darius’s face dropped as he stepped forward, but Taylor wasn’t backing down.
“Keep talking. I’ll knock you out again.” Darius’s tone shifted from joking arrogance to violent seriousness.
“Before or after I break your hand again?” Taylor smirked.
Jervonte laughed loudly.
“I’ll punch you so hard it’ll break your skull.” Darius replied.
Taylor and Darius were only a few inches away, Darius towering over him.
“Good luck trying to punch me. You’ve never been able to get close enough while we’re running.” Taylor responded.
“You haven’t seen how hard I’ve been busting my ass. I’ll leave you eating dust.” Darius said.
“Alright, let’s get it started then. You and me, one endzone to the other. What do you say?” Taylor stretched his hand out.
Darius laughed before firmly gripping his hand, pulling him close.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8dYOl5Y22
“Don’t go crying when you lose.”
Darius took off all of his jewelry as Taylor and Trevon made their way to the endzone.
“You got this man.” Trevon said.
“Yeah, I know.” Taylor replied nonchalantly.
Trevon laughed as they made it to the endzone. Taylor stretched his legs as Darius finally walked over.
“Alright, keep it a fair race you two.”
Trevon stood behind them as both Taylor and Darius bent down into sprinting positions.
“On your marks…”
Taylor and Darius both turned their heads to look at each other. Taylor smirked, starting to feel confident. Darius turned back first, his face stoic and serious.
“Get set…”
Taylor turned his head back as both men lifted their bodies up while staying in the position.
“Go!”
Without any hesitation, both Taylor and Darius used all of the strength their bodies could muster to push off the football turf as hard as they could. Both men lifted their torsos up and brought their arms up to their sides, using them to gain extra momentum with every stride. The two were neck and neck by the 20 yard line, but Darius began to creep ahead. By 30 yards he was about a stride ahead, which shocked Taylor. Taylor pushed himself harder.
By 40 yards the two were neck and neck again.
50 yards Taylor pushed ahead, but everything began to go fuzzy. Everything became shapeless blobs.
60 yards and Taylor pushed himself as hard as he possibly could.
70 yards and Taylor’s vision was unable to make out anything.
80 yards and Taylor suddenly felt both of his legs explode.
He collapsed and fell to the ground, rolling violently on the turf past the 90 yard line before ending just a few inches away from the endzone. Darius ran across and raised his arms up while cheering loudly.
All of the students quickly ran to Taylor, Trevon having to run across the entire football field before sliding on his knees and lifting up Taylor’s head, holding him close.
Both of Taylor’s legs were thin sleeves filled with nothing. They had no structure to them and just flopped around without any sort of control.
“Taylor, are you okay?” Trevon shouted loudly.
Taylor was breathing very quickly and heavily as he stared down at his legs. He shifted his torso, causing his shattered bones to poke against his skin and create bumps all throughout his legs.
Taylor felt himself fall into unconsciousness, his eyes slowly closing when his body and head dropped.
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Taylor slowly felt everything in his body come back. It started off with him able to move his head side to side, followed by his shoulders. His elbows began to bend slightly before his hand and fingers softly wiggled around. His back slightly lifted, followed by his hips turning. Taylor tried to move his legs, but he was snapped up into excruciating pain. He sat up and groaned, feeling a hand on his chest and head slowly and softly pushing him back down.
“Rest up man. You’ll be alright.” Trevon said as Taylor laid back on the bed.
Taylor opened his eyes and was greeted with a blinding light overhead. Trevon moved it over and let Taylor see the hospital room they were sitting inside.
“What happened?” Taylor asked, rubbing his head.
“I don’t know exactly cause the doctors ain’t saying anything, but your legs were destroyed. Like wet socks just flopping around.” Trevon replied.
Taylor looked down at his legs. They were both wrapped in tight casts and elevated above the bed.
“They are too full to do surgery right now. Man, I'm gonna be surprised if you ever walk again.”
“Thanks for the support.” Taylor joked with a soft smirk.
Trevon shook his head and softly chuckled.
“In a hospital bed after destroying your legs and already cracking jokes.” Trevon said.
“It’s how I roll.” Taylor smirked.
He sat up further when he saw Stephen curled up in a chair, fast asleep across the room.
“As soon as he learned you were here, stopped by and wouldn’t leave the room.” Trevon said.
Taylor smirked, but his face quickly dropped into shock and fear.
“Wait…how long was I out? What day is it? What time is it?” Taylor was freaking out and tried to get out of the bed, but his legs being in the large and thick casts elevated up made it hard to maneuver.
Trevon softly grabbed his torso and pushed him back down.
“Don’t worry. I went by to help your Mom. She’s okay.” Trevon replied, doing his best to calm Taylor down.
“All of her pills?” Taylor asked.
“Yes. And I made her food…not as great as yours but I think she’ll be okay.” Trevon said.
“Did she eat her lunch and dinner yesterday?” Taylor asked.
“I think so. There were dirty dishes in the sink that I washed.” Trevon replied, softly grabbing Taylor’s hand.
Stephen slowly began to wake up, shifting in the chair across the room.
Taylor and Trevon locked eyes as they kept holding each other’s hand firmly. They both smiled nicely and began to lean in closer to each other.
“Taylor!”
Stephen ran across the room and jumped onto the hospital bed, hugging him tightly. Taylor coughed as Stephen squeezed him so hard he couldn’t breathe.
“Stephen! Get off of him!” Trevon started to pull Stephen off.
Stephen got off as Taylor laughed.
“I’m sorry, I was just excited.” Stephen looked nervous and looked down at the floor.
“Don’t worry, at least somebody gave me a hug.” Taylor joked and gave Trevon a joking, dirty look. Trevon rolled his eyes before all three laughed.
The doctor walked into the room holding a large clipboard.
“You are Mr. Taylor, correct?” The doctor asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.” Taylor replied.
“Well…your friend told me what happened. I’m not quite sure how to explain it…”
The doctor kept reading over the papers, seeming to not believe what he was reading despite knowing it to be true.
“Just spit it out doctor!” Stephen said loudly before covering his mouth.
“Sorry.” He said quickly after.
“Well, your legs are nothing inside. Your bones were shattered in multiple places, your muscles shredded into nonexistence, and your veins were slashed into small pieces that were impossible to recover. There is nothing inside your legs but destroyed parts.” The doctor said.
Taylor could feel his stomach twist in knots, his heart skip a few beats, and his throat tighten as he tried to speak.
“So…I’m never going to walk again?” Taylor asked, a single tear running down his cheek.
“We are currently looking at ways to prevent that from happening, but right now we have no ideas.”
Taylor looked upset, but tried to keep his tears back.
Trevon quickly put his arm around Taylor as his eyes teared up as well.
Stephen fell to his knees, taking the news harder than anybody else.
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