But by the time I finished changing and gathered with my class on the track, it was already too late to go retrieve my inhaler. I guess I just had to do without it  

“Jiayi!” Luhan’s melodic voice called from behind me. “Ready to run?”

“Yup! As ready as I can be!” I beamed back at him. But I wasn’t ready at all. I hadn’t run a mile without using my inhaler this entire year. Let this be an experiment.

“Class! Today is the first day of fitness exams. You have to run around the track four times in under ten minutes in order to pass,” Coach Lin instructed after we finished our warm ups and stretches. “Ready, set, go!”

The class of students dispersed and ran and disparate speeds along the track. I began jogging along the track at a steady speed of eight miles per hour but slowed down to seven miles per hour after about three minutes.

With his pole-like legs, Kris already sped around the track and finished in five minutes and twenty-three seconds. When he finished, I was only halfway through my third lap; Luhan insisted on running with me but I soon forced him to finish up first.

“Go, Luhan, I’m getting tired,” I gently pushed him forward as my chest compressed in pain.

“But we can make it in time together,” he smiled innocently at me.

My chest continued to heave up and down rapidly as my lungs searched for every trace of oxygen. I was slowly losing my breath - I was not sure if it was because I was out of shape or because my airways were starting to close up. I thought and hoped that it was the former. “Luhan, just go finish and rest. I’m probably going to end up walking the rest of the way,” I managed to say.

“Are you sure?” he flashed me a wary glance.

“Of course! What am I - five? I’m pretty sure I can run by myself and not die, okay,” I jokingly punched his arm and pushed him farther. “Go, Luhan, go!” I cheered him on.

Luhan began increasing his speed and soon reached where Kris was standing with the others who finished the mile.

My chest heaved up and down and writhed in pain as my face contorted in desire - desire for oxygen. My muscles contracted as they extracted each compound of oxygen in my blood. This was not good.

To make matters worse, someone lunged directly at my left shoulder, causing my enfeebled body to topple over and my knees t