New Friends XXX

I was assigned to bus number 1, which I located about two blocks away from where he dropped me off. I found an empty seat near the front of the bus where most of the people were. Everyone was talking about their accomplishments, some were trying to run in under 4 hours, others were trying to break a personal best of 3 hours, someone raised almost a million dollars for the Team for Kids charity; this is the second year I raised money to run for the children of NYC. The gentleman across from me was going to be televised because this is his 6th major marathon this year and is being honoured for it. Then there was me, I finished 46,464th last year with a time of 6 hours and 5 minutes...I double checked my ticket to make sure I was on the right bus.

It took almost an hour even with police escort to reach Staten Island and the runners village. The girl I was running with from home found me about an hour after I arrived and together we went looking for Joseph's cousin. We had to leave our charity tent and head out into the sea of thousands of people and try to find one person...whom I have never laid eyes on. We stood at an intersection while I texted her the scene around me and hopefully from there be able to locate me...what a mess and my anxiety was only growing, which was making my bladder feel incredible small. I swear I pee every three minutes just from nerves around this run.

I hear, "Natalie?" from behind and turn around to see Monica.