by Lexy Timms
“Cool.” He shot a glance at Maves and smiled as he winked at her. “You taking good care of Aileen, Coach Maves? If you want, I can take her off your hands and show her the school. I’ve got nothing till practice.”
“No classes?” Maves frowned. “That’s a lot of free time for a freshman.”
“Just Friday’s, Ma’am. I set the schedule to work with indoor and outdoor season this semester.”
Maves nodded, but it didn’t look like she believed him. “I’m taking her to lunch now but if she wants, you can show her around campus after.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to get out of that ridiculous outfit first though.”
Aileen pressed her lips tight together to supress a laugh. She could tell Coach Maves was trying to do the same.
Sean pumped his fist in the air. “Meet you back here in thirty minutes!” He hugged Maves. “I know you love me. I’ll give her the best campus tour ever!” He ran out the doors, spun around outside and came back in. “Forgot my backpack.” He raced off in the other direction.
They watched him dash around and through people scattered throughout the place.
“Is he always…” Aileen let her voice trail off. She wasn’t sure what to say. Hyper? Spastic? Crazy?
“Pretty much.” Maves chuckled. “He’s a good kid. His heart’s in the right place and he’s a decent runner. Slightly on the crazy side, but there’s never a dull moment when he’s around.” She began walking through the busy hallway and then stopped for a moment. “It’s just occurred to me that I didn’t ask you if you wanted to go off with him? I’m sorry, I should have asked. It’s hard not to get caught up with silly Sean.”
“Sean seems great. I don’t mind. I’ll go with him.” She was pretty sure Sean’s version of the campus visit would be a whole lot funnier than a proper drawn out one. Also, at least with Sean, Aileen could say she’d seen enough if she was getting cold. He could just show her the interesting buildings and skip all the boring stuff.
Maves pulled out her phone and began texting. “I’ll let Coach Anderson know. What do you feel like for lunch?”
They headed into the cafeteria, ordered lunch and settled at a table.
“Are you enjoying your senior year of high school?” Maves asked.
Aileen finished a bite of her sub. “It’s going by so fast. Becky, she’s my best friend, keeps saying graduation is going to be here before you know it.”
“Does Becky run track?”
Aileen shook her head and giggled. “Not unless she’s running to a store to grab a new song track. Becky’s into music, big time. Sports, not so much.” She thought about Becky. They had been best buds since first grade. Would college change things between them?
“Does Becky have plans for after graduation?”
“She’s in this band. They’re really good, actually.” Aileen pointed to her backpack. “I have them on my iPod. Beck’s already been accepted to the University of Ohio. She’s going to major in music. One of the guys in the band enrolled as well and the other two are going with them so they can keep playing together.” She had realized after last summer there was no way they would be going to university together. It sucked, but they had promised each other it would work out. They would never lose touch and be best buds forever, maids of honour at each other’s weddings, godmothers to their kids, etc... They had it all planned out.
“She sounds interesting.”
Interesting was definitely not the word she would have used to describe Becky. Aileen laughed. “She’s crazy.”
“Like Sean-crazy?” Maves raised an eyebrow.
“Probably close.” Aileen grinned. She liked Maves.
“Then she will be the best and strongest of friends who will never let you down.”
Aileen turned around to see who had spoken the words.
Sean stood, arms crossed, now dressed in a pair of jeans and U of G track sweatshirt. He shrugged and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Don’t look so surprised. Crazy people are beyond loyal.”
Maves gave a disbelieving nod. “Don’t scare her, Sean. The purpose of a recruiting trip is to convince an athlete this is the place for them. Not have them running for the hills as fast as they can.”
“Does he always spout prophecies?”
“Sometimes,” Maves said. “The odd time just before a cross country race and I think I’ve heard him once or twice this indoor season.”
“Why kind of things does he say?”
Sean cleared his throat. “I’m right here, ladies.”
Maves stood and ruffled Sean’s hair. “I know, kiddo.” She winked at Aileen. “Have fun you two, I’ll see you at practice.”
As Maves headed out of the cafeteria, Sean slid into her empty seat. “Are you still eating?”
“No. I’m done.”
“You only ate half your sub!”
“They’re huge.” She pushed the plate toward him. “Do you want the other half? I haven’t touched it.”
He reached for it. “Well, if you can’t eat it…” He picked it up and took a bite. “I’ve never done as much training before. High school was nothing compared to this. I’m starving all the time.”
“Did you run with a track club in high school?”
Sean shook his head. “Just cross country and track in the spring. It’s crazy the mileage we were doing in the fall.”
“Was it too much?”
“No! It’s just different than high school.” He took another bite and when he’d finished it he asked her, “What about you? Are you part of a club?”
“Mainly high school, but our track coach at my school started training me all year this year. I won state championships and qualified for Junior Nationals. Then did a couple more meets last summer.”
“Cool. You’ll love university track. It’s so different. The school lets you pick your courses before the rest of the athletes so you can set classes around your training schedule. All the varsity athletes get to do that.”
“Do you practice at different times during the week?”
“Always around three - three thirty. For Saturdays it depends on what part of the season we’re in. The distance runners had some early long runs. I think the sprinters and jumpers usually train at nine. It’s indoor season now so things are kind of all over the place. There’s pretty much a meet every weekend. Sometimes two. The better athletes might go to one meet and then everyone else might compete in another.”
“What year are you?”
“Freshman. But I grew up not far from here. My dad swam for U of G. I’ve been going to football games and campus fundraisers since I was a kid.” He crumpled up his napkin and carried the tray to the rack by the door.
Aileen followed him. “Do you have a coat?” She slipped hers on and hung her backpack over her shoulder.
“Nah. I’ve got a couple layers on. He pulled a woolly hat out of his back pocket and a thin pair of gloves. “Is there anything you want to really see?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the oldest building?”
Sean motioned to their right. “That would be the library. It was one of the first buildings established here. I think the French built it or something. It might have been here before the university itself was even built.”
The main road in front of the Student Union turned into a walking pathway. They passed older buildings and some newer ones that had a modernist bent to them.
“The library’s just behind the nutrition building,” Sean said. “I’m majoring in dietetics. The square building in front of us is blocking the view of the entrance to the library. If you look above the square one, you’ll see the bell tower and clock. It looks like a mini cathedral.”
Aileen looked where he spoke and saw the large, now green, brass bell and a large clock on the other tower of the building. It looked like a miniature castle.
“Pretty cool, ‘eh?”
She nodded.
“Inside there are still fireplaces that work. The track team has study hall Tuesd
ays and Thursdays and the room we’re in has a big ol’ fireplace.”
“Study hall?”
“Freshman and transfers are required to meet twice a week to study or do homework. Once your GPA is over three point oh, you don’t have to go. If your GPA drops, you’re right back in.”
“Is it just the track team?”
“All the sports team have scheduled study hall. Some on the same nights as us, some on different.”
“Like the football team?” The post image of Tyler Jensen appeared in her head.
Sean chuckled. “Hell, no. Football has their own study hall.”
By this time they had reached the library. Sean led her inside and showed her around. When they headed outside he asked, “What are you going take?”
“Probably Biology. Or something similar. I like science.”
“I figured you for an Engineer.”
“Really?”
“Nah.” He motioned behind her. “We’re just passing the Engineering hall and I’m starting to get cold. I was hoping we could go inside.”
She laughed. “It is freezing, especially after walking by those nice fires.”
He grabbed the sleeve of her coat. “Let’s cut through then. We’ll pretend I’m showing you the building. They’re finicky and get mad when people come in that aren’t there for class. It’s distracting or something.”
Aileen had the feeling he’d been asked to leave. After the shushing and dirty looks in the library from his constant chatter, she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been kicked out of a building or two. He was harmless and nice, and pretty funny. “What time do you have to be at practice?”
He checked his watch. “In about half an hour. We’ve got time to check out the biology building if you want. It’s close by. Then we can stop by the outdoor track stadium before heading into Wavertree.”
He stopped walking. “Do you want to see the football stadium? Or the dorms? I’m off campus but you would probably want to check out Holton House or Staple House. Staple House is where most of the athletes stay, but a bunch of the track athletes are at Holton House. It’s closer to Wavertree.”
She wasn’t planning on going to Gatica so a look at the dorms didn’t seem really necessary. The football stadium also didn’t really interest her. It would be covered in snow and she highly doubted they would run into Tyler Jensen there. She would have better luck seeing him at track practice. Her heart raced at the thought of finally getting the chance to talk to him. “Do you mind if you head over to the Biology building? I’d really like to see it.” It was only a little white lie. Right?
Chapter 4
“Success is a state of mind. Start thinking of yourself as a success.”
Aileen read the words painted on the wall across from where she sat on the bleachers inside Wavertree Fieldhouse. The track team members were situated in groups all over the track. Hurdles were set up close by where she sat, the high jump apron was set, with some jumpers were doing run throughs, the distance runners were running in three groups on the inside two lanes of the track while sprinters were doing accelerations on the straightway across from her.
She liked how everyone laughed and joked around with each other. There were all these individual events, but in the chaos of practice, they looked like a team. Several athletes had stopped to say hello and introduce themselves. She felt bad that despite how friendly everyone had been, she couldn’t remember all the names. She watched two girls head over to the starting blocks by the hurdles. Coach Anderson talked to them before pointing over to Aileen and waving.
She waved back and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I heard Sean took you around the school.” Jani had one foot on a bleacher that was nearly as tall as her. She stretched her hamstring and grinned at Aileen. “Glad to see you survived. Did he hit on you?”
Surprised at the question, Aileen stuttered, “N-No. I-I don’t think so.”
Jani burst out laughing. “I was only teasing! I didn’t mean to scare you.” She switched legs to stretch her other hamstring. “After the meet tomorrow what do you feel like doing? Do you want to go see a movie… or do you feel like doing something a lot more fun?”
Aileen leaned back on the bench behind her and rested her elbows on it. Jani reminded her of Becky. “What do you have in mind?”
Jani glanced over Aileen’s shoulder and then met her gaze. “Track party? Someone always plans one when we have a home meet. Tyler’s throwing it tomorrow night.”
“Tyler Jensen?” Aileen straightened and leaned closer to Jani, suddenly very interested in the party.
“The one and only. He’s got this super cool old house off campus that he rents with some football players.” She grinned slyly at Aileen. “Unless of course you prefer to just go to the movies or rent a DVD or something?”
“Hell, no.” The words were out of her mouth before she could even process the thought. She was crushing on a boy she’d never met, drooling over his picture and now panting like an animal in heat over the possibility of going inside his house. What was going to happen next? Would she go and steal a pair of boxers?
Jani dropped her leg and grinned. “Good. I’m liking you more and more by the minute.”
Another girl at the high jump pit called over, “Jani, you coming?”
Jani yelled back, “One sec.” She turned to Aileen. “I’ve gotta measure out my approach. Tee can chat you up a minute.” She gave Aileen an exaggerated wink and whispered, “Try to keep you knickers on.”
Aileen watched her go, unsure what she’d meant by that last bit. It only took seconds for her to find out. The bleachers shifted as someone sat down a couple rows below Aileen. She glanced down and sucked in a breath.
Tyler Jensen. In the flesh. That beautiful mixed skin, covered in black and burgundy workout clothes, the back of his head showed his tight, curly hair cropped short against his perfectly shaped skull. Long, graceful fingers were busy tying his shoes.
He looked up as he finished and flashed her a smile. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said in a breathy whisper.
“I’m Tyler.”
“I know.” She shook her head. “Sorry. I’m Aileen. Aileen Nessa. I’m visiting on a recruiting trip. I do the hurdles.” She cringed inside. She sounded like an idiot. A babbling one.
He moved up to sit beside her and ran his eyes up and then down her again. “I know who you are.”
“You do?” He smelled like an expensive musky cologne. It was probably deodorant but she would never forget that smell ever. She inhaled deeply and reprocessed what he had said. “You know me?”
“I watched you race at nationals this summer. You beat a friend of mine to get into the semi-finals.”
“Oh, sorry about that.”
He chuckled. “Don’t be sorry. You looked a little lost in the race, hit the first three hurdles but managed to recover and still run a decent time.”
She shook her head. “That was a crappy race. I was actually glad I didn’t make the finals.” Talking about track always helped her relax. She could talk about it forever.
“You made up for it a couple weeks later, I hear.”
She shrugged. “It was my last meet of the season. I like trying to PR when it’s the last one.”
He gave her an appreciative nod. “Me, too!”
“You won NCAAs.”
“I thought it was my last meet of the season.” He touched his knee to hers. “I didn’t think I’d be running last summer. So I had a crappy meet too.”
“You came fourth… at Nationals!”
“Can I let you in on a little secret?” His beautiful eyes met hers and held her gaze. “I don’t like to lose,” he whispered, his warm breath brushing her cheek and ear like a feather.
He was so close she could see little specs of brown and almost yellow inside his blue-green eyes. She couldn’t stop staring at them.
His eyebrows rose. “You okay?”
“P-Pardon?”
“A
re you alright?”
Suddenly reality sunk in. She blinked and shifted away from him slightly. Her entire face burned, not just her cheeks. She knew her skin would be tomato red in color. Why did she always have to get so embarrassed? She’d just made a fool of herself. “I’m fine. Sorry.” She bowed her head, letting her hair cover her face before finally looking out at the track. Anywhere but at him, praying the feeling of fire would leave.
“Tyler!” Coach Anderson called. “Let’s go!”
He touched her leg. “I’ll catchya later.” Then he was gone.
Aileen felt the bleacher shift from his weight and watched him go from the corner of her eye. She was definitely not coming here next year. Either that, or she had better start working on being flirty and graceful. How come she could be so smooth and elegant on the track, but such a mess off of it? It was beyond annoying. She fought the urge to lay her head on her knees. No need to let anyone see that. As nice as they all were, they’d come rushing over to check on her. That was the absolute last thing she needed.
Coach Maves came into the field house. “Hi, Aileen. How did the campus tour go?”
Thankful for the distraction and friendly face, Aileen pushed her anxiety aside. “Sean did a good job.”
“Great. I had a break so I went and checked you into your hotel room. I dropped your suitcase off in the room if that’s alright.” She pulled out a little envelope. “Here’s your key cards for the room. You are in room one forty-eight. First floor.”
“Thanks.”
Maves pulled a small stack of papers stapled together and handed them to Aileen. “I’ve got to get working with the long and triple jumpers, but here’s a copy of the girl’s competing tomorrow. It shows all the schools and their best times this season. Thought you might like to look through it while we’re practising.”
“Sure.” Anything to not focus on the conversation she had just had with Tyler Jensen. She also needed to stop referring to him as Tyler Jensen. They had been introduced now and he knew who she was. He was just Tyler. She needed him to be just Tyler.
When Maves headed to the other side of the track, Aileen watched her work with the athletes by her and also watched Coach Anderson at the starting blocks. Tyler worked out by him as well. He raced against the girls but his blocks where ten meters behind the girls. He also had four high hurdles set up while the girls had two, but really only went over the first one.
