Chapter 8

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, when we had gotten back from brunch the baseball team were already gone and the girls left later in the afternoon, so I was left to just finish weekend homework and just relax with the family. That and threatening Sebastian to drop the subject of Chase at all costs, it didn't work so well in the beginning but that is what blackmail is for.

I park in the school parking and get out the car followed by my three siblings. Tessa shouts goodbye as she runs off towards the junior section of the school to meet up with her friends. Sophie waves at me and walks over to her cheerleading friends, completely ignoring Sebastian who doesn't even glance in her direction, as she rushes past him. I thought they were over this summer drama. They instantly swarm her asking about her weekend and other menial gossip that could have happened in the past forty-eight hours since they last saw each other.

Sebastian and I walk next to each other towards the front of the school, him stopping every few times to talk to some of his friends, but I don't stop to wait for him knowing he'll catch up. I'm almost at the front steps when I hear my last name being called out from within the maze of cars scattered in the lot.

"Yo Hayes! What's up man?" I turn around and see Cole Fisher calling my brother over to the rest of the baseball boys that have gathered in front of a familiar black SUV. Nathan leans against the hood of his car; Zach sits next to him letting his legs dangle off the hood. I turn away and continue heading in the direction of the front doors.

"Incoming!" I hear a shout, turning a second too late as I get knocked down to grass I was walking next to. I roll a few inches until I come to a dead stop on my back staring up at the clear blue sky. I shake my head slightly trying to clear my thoughts before narrowing my eyes and glaring at my attacker lying next to me with a grin on her face.

"What the fuck was that for?" I shout at Olivia, shoving her leg and stumbling up to my feet, dusting off the dirt on my shirt and shorts. "You're fucking lucky I didn't skin something," I threaten pointing a finger at her trying to seem menacing.

"I would apologize but I have a very legitimate reason for knocking you over," she states getting up herself and looking at her elbow that has little spots of blood on it. Good, serves her right.

"Oh yeah? And what is this 'legitimate reason' for literally knocking me on my ass at seven forty-five in the morning," I cross my arms over my chest and stare straight at her.

"Quinn said that I shouldn't," she shrugs with a goofy smile on her face.

"So naturally you had to do it?" I ask.

"Yes! You know me, if you tell me not to do it there's a ninety-eight percent chance that I'm going to do it," she explains as if what she's saying makes all the sense in the world.

"What's the other two percent?"

"The 'Am I going to get arrested if I do this' part of my brain." She motions for me to follow her in the directions of where I'm assuming our friends are waiting for us.

"You're so stupidly annoying," I shake my head and walk next to her. I wait for the moment where she's completely let her guard down and shove her so hard she trips into a couple freshmen. I let out a loud laugh, "Olivia, would you be careful, there are other people in this lot, you know?"

She smirks at me and slowly pushes away from the freshman boy that was holding on to her a few seconds too long after steadying her. "Oh, you think that makes us even, because I think the fuck not," she speaks in a low tone with a mischievous glint in her eyes. I slowly start backing away making sure to keep the smile on my face so she cant see that I'm internally freaking out.

At the sound of the final bell ringing the students start rummaging around trying to get their things together, so that they can get out of class as fast as they can. Myself included.

Since its the second week of school, extracurricular activities have officially started. I pass Quinn on my way to the locker rooms, she stands outside the math class talking to her science club friends. Courtney is in the auditorium with her drama club and Olivia should be in her dance club right about now. I rush into the locker room and immediately open my locker and start changing into my loose shirt and running shorts with my sneakers.

I walk out the side door that leads towards the school fields. Our school has three separate fields, with track and football on the first and the other two are for the baseball and softball teams. I can see the cheerleaders off to the side stretching and gossiping. I notice Sophie laughing with her friends while they try attempt yoga positions and fail.

Sebastian is in the back corner of their field where the baseball team does all their conditioning training. Since it is the first week of school the team must go through conditioning twice a week to keep them in shape and the other two days are spent at Saxon Park.

I walk over to Ms. Fallon, the teacher in charge of track and cross country. She makes eye contact and slightly nods her head, indicating that she has seen me before she checks my name off her list. I stand next to Kate, my track friend, as we start to stretch.

"So how was your weekend?" She asks with a smirk on her face. What does she know?

"Oh, nothing much just hung out with the girls; went to a party on Friday night, nothing too crazy," I shrug indifferent.

"Are you sure? Because I heard that Penelope broke her nose on Friday night at a party because two crazy girls punched her for no reason," she smirks at me.

"No reason! She's such a bitch! I had a perfect reason to break her nose... I broke her nose?!" I shout at Kate, looking around making sure nobody heard that, a few people glance at me but other than that I'm good.

"Ha! I knew it!" she laughs, "Like you didn't even cross my mind at first but then someone mentioned Olivia and you so I just had to double check."

"Did I really break her nose?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, but she had a bandage on it at school today," she shrugs trying not to laugh. Fuck. "I doubt she would be at school if she had broken it."

"Thanks Kate, that makes me feel so much better," I roll my eyes sarcastically.

"Okay, less talking, more running! Everybody line up," Ms. Fallon blows her whistle getting everyone's attention. I take my stance at the start line for warmups. As soon as Ms. Fallon is about to blow her whistle, Coach Miller walks in front of us, blocking some of the runners' path. We all stand back up again unable to start because of Coach. "Can I help you Miller?" Ms. Fallon asks confused as to why he's standing there.

"Yes, thank you for asking Ms. Fallon. I was just wondering if my boys could run warmup laps with your track team?" Coach asks with a slight nod in the direction the team. I scoff and roll my eyes. That's just great. Ms. Fallon nods shrugging her shoulders like it doesn't even bother her. Well it bothers me! Don't let them come here!

Coach blows his whistle twice, probably an indication that they're good to come over. No stay there! I've dealt with this baseball team enough for a lifetime. The boys start shuffling over in their training uniforms, Kate is quietly nudging my elbow in excitement.

"I am freaking out right now, the baseball team is warming up with us! They have never done that before, look at how gorgeous they are," She squeals causing me to block my ears.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" Michelle, another track 'acquaintance', snarls from the other side of Kate. Well isnt she a ray of sunshine.

"Okay let's try this again," Ms. Fallon shouts out once the whole baseball team stands behind the actual track runners. I spy Sebastian a few feet back and lock eyes with him, pulling a funny face. He laughs and he taps his fist against his chest, wishing me luck. That's kind of a family tradition that we do just to show our support. "Holden, I hope over the summer you learnt that sprinting in the beginning is just going to tire you out. Kate, we need to work on not getting distracted this year. Charlotte, I know before summer you got the time of 5:56 a mile, I want to see if we can get it down to at least 5:00 minutes a mile this year. Do you think you can do it?" She stares at me. I nod confidently.

I hear whispers from further down the line. "She can run a full mile in less than six minutes?" I hear someone whisper loudly. I roll my eyes and scoff slightly.

"Damn girl! A mile in less than 6 minutes? I know who's going to out run the zombie apocalypse," Zach chuckles shuffling in beside me, while the rest of his teammates spread themselves out along the track. Ms. Fallon and Coach Miller chat for a bit.

"Only you would compare my running time to a zombie apocalypse," I laugh loudly.

"What can I say, I like my women athletic," he winks and nudges my side.

I crinkle my nose, "Didn't I reject you like 48 hours ago?" I ask rhetorically. He scowls slightly and turns away from me before walking back over to his friends.

"Okay listen up baseball boys," Ms. Fallon shouts getting everyones attention, "I'm going to blow the whistle and my runners will go first then you will step up, the second whistle will blow ten seconds after they start. Is that clear?" Looking around I see all of them nodding their heads and shuffling back a bit to let the track runners line up on the white line first.

The runners stand along the line and crouch slightly waiting for the whistle to blow. I close my eyes. Deep breath. Slow. In. Out. My eyes open locking on the track ahead of me, focused.

The whistle blows and I'm off. I start at a fast pace but not too fast that I will tire myself out too early. The next whistle blows. Thundering footsteps smack against the track trying to outrun each other. I push myself slightly faster. A few boys sprint ahead of us trying to prove themselves. I just chuckle quietly to myself and keep pushing slightly fast.

At the end of the second lap those same boys are almost right at the back of the group, from wasting all their energy by sprinting too early. I can see people in my peripheral vision but I don't focus on finding out who they are, I just keep my head forward.

The last lap is the one that proves everyone's strength and endurance. I push myself and use up all that pent-up energy I kept low during the first three laps. I feel someone a few feet behind me, huffing from exertion. I push faster. My calves and thighs burn but the feeling doesn't bother me, it only fuels my motivation to show everyone my strength. I can see Ms. Fallon looking down, at her stopwatch, every crucial second that passes by. I sprint past the finish line and slow down to a jog, panting.