by Lexy Timms
Jani groaned. “You’ll have to wake me up. I’m not much of an early bird. None of my classes start till after ten. And half of those I end up missing.”
Aileen always woke early and never needed much sleep. She was glad she didn’t like sleeping in. The thought of missing class or practice did not appeal to her. She wanted to keep her scholarship and make sure the coaches saw her working her hardest – in athletics and academics. Plus, she didn’t plan on running hurdles forever, they were just the means to getting a free education which meant a good job later on.
The indoor track carried the same musty, stale sweat smell as last time Aileen had been here. The nervousness she had felt all morning gave way to excitement. Her legs itched to run and her lungs begged to be tormented. Every time. She grinned. Every time. She rubbed her hands together as they walked up the small set of stairs to the rubberized track.
About twenty kids sat stretching and warming up by the pink high jump mats. Laughter and talk floated across the fieldhouse. Jani and Aileen jogged over to the group. A suntanned girl with bleach blonde hair jumped up and hugged Jani.
“Chrissy, this is Aileen. Aileen, Chrissy.” Jani pointed at each of them. “Multi-eventer, hurdler. Hurdler, heptathlete.”
Chrissy laughed and jumped over someone’s stretched out legs. She hugged Aileen tight. “You’re Jani’s new roomie? Fantastic.” She pinched Aileen’s cheek. “You’re super cute! The guys are going to be falling over each other to take you out. Good thing Sean’s not here.”
Aileen smiled, liking Chrissy’s bubbly spirit. “Sean, the distance runner?”
Chrissy slapped her forehead dramatically. “Oh no. He’s already got you in his clutches?”
“I met him on my recruiting trip. He took me around on a campus tour.”
Chrissy made a face. “Did he hit on you?”
“No, but Tyler Jensen gave her googly eyes.” Jani pulled the two girls down to stretch. “Coach is heading over. Make it look like you’re warming up.”
Aileen immediately sat down and began doing a hurdler’s stretch to loosen her hamstrings. She kept her head down to hide the burning she felt on her cheeks and ignored Jani’s comment. How much did Jani know? The warm weather and jog over had done a good job already. She could feel the stretch without any pull. It would be a great day to hurdle, though she doubted that would be happening for a few weeks.
Chrissy leaned forward, mimicking her stretch. “Tyler Jensen? Mr. Football?”
Aileen could feel her face grow warmer. “Coach Anderson and Tyler took me out for dinner.”
Chrissy nodded. “He got the big guns out to impress you.” She patted Aileen’s knee. “Glad you signed with us.”
Jani wasn’t going to let it go. “Tyler only had eyes for her at his party during indoors last year.” She was either digging for information or trying to get a reaction out of Aileen.
Chrissy switched legs and began stretching the left one. “Oh crap! Is that the one where Linda got stupid-drunk? She fell over the front porch and dislocated her shoulder?”
“I was there for that!” Aileen laughed, relieved the conversation wasn’t centred on Tyler. She would die if anyone knew what had happened. Apparently no one did. Except me and Tyler. “I went with Jani and took her to the hospital.”
Jani made a bridge, her long legs looking incredibly skinny and extended higher than her upper body. She was extremely flexible, her head almost coming to the back of her knees. “Do you remember the hot doctor? Linda tried asking him out while we were in emergency. Dr. Bennet I think his name was. Guy had just gotten married or something.”
Chrissy grunted. “That girl is one crash away from a train wreck.”
A high-pitched screech ended their conversation.
Coach Anderson let the silver whistle drop against his chest where it hung on a string. “That’s the only time I’m going to use this to get your attention. The rest of the season I’ll blow on this when it’s time to run or stop running.” He smiled. “Welcome back everyone, and our freshmen.” He held his gaze on Aileen and winked. “Hope you are ready for a hard set of hills today and one hell of a season!” He tapped his clipboard. “There are two mini bus vans outside to take us to Murdock Hills.”
Someone said, “You mean, Murder Hills.” Which earned chuckles and low laughter from the group.
“The cross country team is already out there running hard. Be aware while you are there and don’t step into their path. We are running up the hill set with pylons so there are no collisions.”
“What are we doing today, coach?” a tall, muscular guy with dark hair asked. He only wore a pair of shorts, no shirt. It looked like he had oiled his chest before coming to practice.
Jani leaned close to Aileen. “Pole vaulter. Stay away from Drew. He’s a pig.”
Chrissy nodded in agreement. “Thinks he’s a gift from the gods.” She squeezed her thumb and pointer finger close together. “I heard he’s got a tiny pecker.”
Jani burst into giggles.
Aileen looked at the two girls horrified. Holy hormones! Is everything about guys and sex here? She planned to avoid shiny Drew and made a mental note not to forget. “Is this the whole team?” She had been secretly watching all the entrances to the track, waiting for Tyler to appear.
“For today. More will show every day and then Monday will be a packed house.” Jani stood and walked over to a bench full of water bottles. She grabbed three and tossed Chrissy and Aileen each one. “Are you looking for anyone in particular?”
“No,” Aileen replied a little too fast.
“Sean’ll be at Murder Hills already running. He’ll probably fall down a hill in an effort to impress you.”
Coach Anderson called out, “Aileen! Can I speak to you a moment?”
Aileen nodded, thankful for the interruption.
Jani jogged by her. “I’ll save you a seat.”
Chapter 5
“Hi, Aileen. Have you settled in?” Coach Anderson wore a white polo shirt with the school Red Coat mascot on it and UofG sewn in burgandy red calligraphy. He wore shorts, the kind her father wore when he went golfing. His blue eyes were brighter than she remembered, probably because he had a tan and his hair still had a dusting of gray in it.
“I’m good, thanks.” She followed him as he started walking toward the same doors Jani and her had come in earlier. All the athletes were heading to the same exit.
“Laurie, our head academic advisor gave me a list of who needs to see her this week. Would you be able to stop by their office tomorrow? It’s right by the track offices.”
“Jani mentioned where it was.”
“Good. It’s easy to find and you won’t be there long. But Laurie said she would personally take care of your school scheduling. She’s the best.” He smiled. “Only the best for the best.”
Aileen nodded, not sure how to respond to that.
“Are you excited to be here?”
“Very. I can’t wait to start going over some hurdles.”
He chuckled. “In due time. The first hurdles you’ll be going over are ones you have to hop over, but I promise you’ll be doing a lot of them.”
“I look forward it.” She meant it.
“Perfect.” He patted her on the back. “We’ll be starting with general training for everyone and the week school starts, we’ll be doing some baseline testing.”
“Baseline testing?” She liked the sound of that.
“We figure out your vertical, standing long jump, flexibility, plus, of course, sprint and endurance. All that fun stuff. Then in three months we do it all over again and try to beat our PBs.”
She loved doing things that involved competing against herself. Any personal best she had, she was always trying to run and chase it down lower – on or off the track.
“You don’t mind meeting with Laurie tomorrow?” He checked his clipboard and flipped to a page with a sticky note. “She suggested one o’clock.”
“I’ll be there
.”
“Great!”
They walked to the two vans. Jani opened a side door. “Come on, Aileen!”
Coach Anderson hopped into the front seat of the van while Aileen climbed in beside Jani.
Thirty hill runs later, running up the hill and jogging back down, Aileen sat trying to catch her breath. They had done three sets with ten-minute breaks in between. The first one had felt easy, the next one impossible and the last set just barely manageable. At least she hadn’t walked any of it. That had been her goal when she saw some of the team having to shut it down.
She had run with Chrissy, who ran like a machine. Chrissy had been to NCAAs for indoor and outdoor nationals. She kept a steady conversation of distraction up while they ran. Jani started the first set with them and then had to slow it down, her long legs couldn’t turn over fast enough to keep up with Chrissy and Jani, who were about the same height.
They lay on the grass afterward, refilling their water bottles from the large orange Gatorade thermos coolers filled to the brim with ice and water.
“Let’s throw a party!” Jani sat on the grass, her face red and her hair drenched in sweat. “At our house!’
Aileen probably looked the same. She stared at Jani in surprise. “Seriously?” Flashes of Tyler’s party from her recruiting trip went off in her head. The elaborate setup, the gorgeous house, dancing, Tyler kissing her on the porch, Linda – drunk Linda dislocating her shoulder. Yeah, she didn’t want to have a party at their place.
“Our place is perfect. We can use the backyard, too. It’s perfect weather. There’s an old steel metal trough or tub we could fill with ice and booze. It would be a riot! Plus, we have the tiki bar, we have to use it!”
“I can help!” Chrissy sat cross-legged, not even winded. “Let’s do it this Friday! We can tell everyone after the team meeting.” She clapped her hands. “This is going to be so much fun!”
People were beginning to head back to the vans and the cross country team had finished their run while Aileen had been on her second set. Sean had waved and hollered he would see her at the meeting.
Aileen stared up at the bright blue sky. She thought of her bedroom. She would need a lock on her door. No holy hornys allowed in her room – nobody was desecrating her bed. Nobody! Yuck. “I’m not sure…”
“Come on! What a perfect way to see everyone on the track team! Or in your case, meet them. It's a magnificent idea!” Jani stood. “We’re doing it. I promise you won’t regret it.
Would Tyler come? She wished he was here today, but didn’t dare ask Jani and draw any suspicion. “We did get that tiki bar and speakers for a reason…”
Jani grinned ear to ear. She hugged Aileen. “Awesome!”
The drive back to Wavertree went quick with the talk of what they would need for food and booze. Jani and Chrissy started telling everyone about it the minute they pulled into the fieldhouse. Aileen said hi to more people, hoping she would start remembering their names before Friday.
The three girls were laughing as they headed inside. The cool air felt luxurious on Aileen’s skin. She loved that Jani and Chrissy pulled her into their friendship without hesitation. She might have chosen the school for some of the wrong reasons, but it didn’t mean it hadn’t been the right decision to come here. She stumbled, but quickly caught herself when she glanced over where everyone was sitting.
Tyler. Jensen.
In the flesh.
Sitting at the top of a bleacher stand, laughing with some of the sprinters. All that incredible physique, muscle that didn’t seem to hold an ounce of fat, his sexy mixed skin tanned from time outdoors, all there in the flesh for Aileen to drool over.
She quickly focussed on Jani’s conversation, thankful her roommate walked on her left side, allowing Aileen to look in the opposite direction of the masterpiece sitting on the stands.
It didn’t matter. The damage had been done. His image was burned into her brain. His hair had turned lighter since February, probably from the sun, but he still kept it cropped short against his perfectly shaped skull.
His mystical amber-green eyes had flashed in her direction, but Aileen had shifted her gaze so fast she had no idea if he had even noticed her or might still be looking. She refused to glance his way, trying to play it cool. She inhaled deeply and swore she could smell his musky, delicious cologne.
She laughed louder than she should at a silly comment Jani made. Stop it! Just act normal. If he wants to talk to you, he can make the first move.
Coach Anderson and Coach Maves, the women’s head coach, started handing out photocopied sheets of paper.
“Aileen! Jani!” Sean called from the front row of the nearest bleacher. He sat amongst a group of sweaty, thin athletes. “Come sit here.” He pointed to the empty space beside him, enough room for the three girls.
Chrissy giggled. “Here he starts.”
Aileen elbowed her. “He’s a nice guy.”
“Super nice.” Jani moved in his direction. “He saved us a seat and we can tell the cross country team about the party.”
Aileen followed Jani and Chrissy. Coach Maves came by. “Welcome Aileen! It’s great to see you.” She handed Aileen three copies of the small stack of papers.
“Nice to see you as well.” Aileen liked Maves. She handed the papers to Chrissy and Jani and quickly sat down facing forward.
“Alright everyone.” Coach Anderson cleared his throat. “Let’s make this quick. You all stink.” He grinned and wrinkled his nose. “In your hands you now possess the wonderful rules of Wavertree. It is the code of conduct every athlete is expected to follow. If you don’t, you will have to deal first with Coach Maves, and then myself.”
“Which is worse?” someone called out.
“You should know, you’ve broken every rule on the list, Drew,” a cross country runner sitting behind Aileen said loudly.
Laughter rippled through the group. Aileen kept her eyes glued on Coach Anderson.
“You are required to read them and then sign the third page. Those not here today will get to come to another meeting on Monday. If you hand these in today, you won’t have to show up to that meeting.” He rolled the copy he held in his hands into a cone. “Follow the rules and work as hard as you can. We have a strong set of athletes this year. This could be the year we take the conference title. Men and women’s titles.”
Cheers and boo-ra’s erupted from the group.
“We have some talented new athletes joining us this year.” Anderson began to introduce them, saying their name, event. Then he asked each person to tell everyone a bit about themselves. “And last, but certainly not least, we welcome Aileen Nessa. She’s a sprint hurdler whose potential even scares me a little bit.” He motioned for Aileen to stand and introduce herself as others clapped or called out her name.
She stood, butterflies crashing around inside her stomach. “Hi. I’m Aileen.” She gave a single wave and folded her hands together, unsure of what to say after the coach’s introduction. “I’m from Ohio.” She scanned the group, her eyes hesitating on Tyler. He sat watching her intently for a moment before leaning over to a female sprinter and whispering something in the girl’s ear. His hand covered his mouth and the pretty girl’s ear so Aileen couldn’t try to lip-read.
“Can you tell us a bit more?” Coach Anderson prompted.
She realized she had stopped talking. She blinked. “Oh, uh, I like pushing myself to the limits to see what I’m capable of. I don’t like people who use other people.” She inhaled, shocked she had said the second comment out loud. She recovered quickly. “I moved in with Jani and there’s a track team party at our house on Friday. Tiki themed. Hope everyone can come.” She sat down quickly and looked helplessly at Jani, who was giving her two thumbs up as cheers busted out from the bleachers.
Coach Anderson gestured with his hands for everyone to sit back down. He shook his head, but the corners of his mouth twitched. “Alright. Alright. What Aileen didn’t mention is that she’s run the
tenth fastest time in the world this year in the hundred meter hurdles. She’s only nineteen. She made the World Junior team. And won. She won World Juniors. She’s here to learn, but I have a feeling she’s going to be teaching a lot of you a thing or two.”
Sean let out a low whistle and held his hand up to high five her.
Jani punched her in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Aileen shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal.” She wanted to be the freshman ready to learn. Not World Junior Champion tagged to her name. That only meant high expectations and she had no idea how well she would do.
“It’s very cool,” Jani whispered. “Did you bring your medal?”
“It’s at home.”
“Too bad. It would have been cool to hang on the tiki bar.”
Thank goodness I left that sucker at home. “Yeah. Too bad.”
“Last note before you are adjourned.” Coach Anderson pointed to a folder he held in his hand. “Weight room starts tomorrow for every one of you but cross country. You need to get your workout in between six am – yes, I said AM – to nine am. Give yourself a little over an hour so don’t show up at quarter to nine. James won’t let you in.”
“Neither will Tyler,” the female sprinter beside Tyler joked.
“Yes, well footballers don’t train with us.” Coach Anderson winked at Tyler. “You won’t see any of them until indoor season starts. Tyler is collecting forms for the other footballers on the team. He will agree with me when I tell you James or the football head coach will not put up with any athletes being in the weight room when the footballers train.”
Drew snorted. “What are we going to do, video tape them and sell it to a rival school?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” the female sprinter Aileen was beginning to despise shot back.
Aileen felt a balloon burst inside of her at the thought of Tyler not being around for training. Indoor season didn’t start until January and if they weren’t allowed in the weight room when footballers trained, she would never see him. If the sprinter unvelcro-ed herself to his side, Aileen would go and say hi to him after the meeting ended.
