Faster (The University of Gatica #2) (3 page)

Jani twisted and freed herself from Aileen’s hand. Aileen sent her a pleading look to not tell Brad what had happened. If everyone knew, she planned on packing her bags and head right back with Brad to Ohio. She slumped back against the seat, crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight forward.

“What happened on her recruiting trip?” Brad slowed the truck to a crawl as they came into view of the weightlifting facility. He arched his neck to try and get a glimpse of the stadium hiding behind the building.

Please don’t say anything… please don’t say anything…

“While she was here, your sister did a workout in the weight room.” Jani gave Aileen a confused look. “Apparently the football weight coach was in and watched her do some of her workout. He now won’t shut up about how perfect her form was. He can’t wait to start working with her on the Olympic lifts. He bugged us the entire indoor and outdoor season and how she’s going to kick everyone’s records during testing.”

“Really?” Aileen did not believe a word Jani said. She planned to corner her and see what rumors had started as soon as Brad left. She didn’t believe Tyler was that type of guy… then again, she hadn’t thought he was the kind of guy to not bother contacting her either.

“Seriously! I bet the old guy did cartwheels when he heard you signed with the school. She proves him right, he’ll take her on the field during a football game!”

“Make sure it’s during the Thanksgiving weekend so I can come too.” Brad pulled his truck into the stadium parking area. The lot was enormous and the big arena at the end seemed small because of the size of the parking lot. He parked the truck and got out. “You guys coming?”

Jani opened the door and climbed out. “Practice is closed. If they’re out there training, someone will come up and yell at us.” She chewed on a fingernail of her left hand. “They’re pretty tight on that rule.”

“I just want to see the field.” Brad began walking, determined to satisfy his curiosity.

Aileen slipped out of the truck and quietly closed the door. She lagged behind with Jani, who wasn’t in any rush. Aileen glanced up, using her hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun.

The stadium entrance did not have the age of the other buildings on campus though it was made of the same brick. It reached high into the sky with large glass blocks apparently representing the private boxes for the wealthy, die-hard fans. Aileen had read somewhere that the original football stadium had been torn down around a decade ago to make room for more bleachers and seats. The press boxes had just been added recently to one side, about two years ago, just after the football program had soared back into the top ten across the nation. There were press boxes on the other side facing the main entrance as well. She had seen all the pictures, had memorized them back in February.

A thought crossed her mind. “Doesn’t the team train at the practice field or the indoor training center they have?”

Jani nodded. “Yeah. The field’s going to be empty.”

“Good,” Brad said. “Then no one will give us crap for looking.”

“Till we get caught,” Jani muttered. She glanced at Aileen. “I like having fun, and I’m always up for a challenge, but getting in crap for football isn’t worth the trouble we’ll be in. Football is a religion in this city.”

“Brad!” Aileen called out. “We’re going back to wait in the truck.” She stopped and turned back to walk to it.

Brad sighed. “Come on! Don’t be such a scaredy-cat.”

She turned around, hands on her hips. “I just signed a full scholarship to this school. I’m not risking anything before school even starts. You may not care, but I do.” She pushed it a little further. “You should care about how this is going to affect me.”

Brad stopped walking. “I’m only trying to see the stadium. Give me a break! I’m not cutting any locks or breaking and entering. I just want to walk around and see if I can see the stadium. You two go wait in the truck. I’ll be back in five minutes.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them at her. She caught them easily. “You have my permission to leave me here if I’m not back in three hundred seconds. Start counting.” He spun around and started jogging around the building to where there was a space in the limestone.

“Should we go with him?” Jani asked. “Is he telling the truth about not sneaking in?”

Aileen shrugged. “Probably.”

“Do you want to see the stadium?”

She watched her brother disappear around a corner. “Sort of. I mean, not if we’re going to get in trouble.” She craned her neck. “Will he be okay?”

Jani started walking toward where Brad had disappeared. “There is a small gated fence that’s always locked except on game days. That’s probably where he’s looking.”

Aileen jogged to catch up to her, and they both continued jogging until they reached the place where Brad had turned. They found him standing at a burgundy red-painted cast iron fence. It looked more like prison bars. She slowed her jog to a walk and tried to see over the rows and rows of seats.

Brad grinned. “I’m definitely coming during Thanksgiving.”

She glanced at him as she came up beside him and then turned her attention to the field below. The stadium’s chairs all had a red coat on them and were matching burgundy colors. The letters U of G were done in yellow on the seats to her right. The area to her left had seats that were split in the middle with a path leading to the weight room and football facility. There were probably lockers and showers—she purposely turned her attention to the seats across from where they stood.

Jani now stood beside her. She pointed to the rows of benches across from them that covered the lower half of that side of the stadium. The upper half had more press boxes and fancier seats. “Athletes sit midfield on the bleachers. Students can buy season passes or game passes, and they get to sit on either side of us. There’s also a section at the end by the press boxes that has more benches. Not a great view unless the team’s on that side of the field.”

The football field looked small from where they stood. Aileen knew it was her brain playing tricks on her perception, the area was low on the ground compared to how high they stood. It probably looked even tinier from some of the press boxes.

Brad pulled out his phone and switched his camera on. “This is unbelievable,” he said to no one in particular.

Aileen imagined the field full of athletes in their uniforms, cheerleaders screaming on the sides, the stands full of swarms of burgundy red. She pictured Tyler in his uniform, helmet on, hands on his knees as he crouched low waiting for a pass to fly his way so he could intercept. She had a feeling him in uniform would not disappoint. She could picture perfectly what his bright eyes would look like peering through his helmet mask.

“Alright. I’m good.” Brad stuffed his phone back in his pocket and held his hand out to Aileen. “Keys, please.”

The sound of metal hitting metal crashed to their right from inside the stadium. It was followed by, “Hey kids! Get away from the fence! I’m calling campus security.” A groundsman in jean overalls and a faded burgundy shirt appeared inches from Aileen’s face.

She jumped back in surprise, banging into Brad and knocking both of them over. Jani spun around and tore off, back toward the truck as they scrambled up and tried to catch her. She fumbled for the keys and hit the unlock button a million times as they ran. She tossed the keys over the cab of the truck, arching it impeccably so Brad caught them as he opened the door. The chances of the timing being that perfect were next to impossible.

Brad started the truck and tore out of the parking lot. “How the hell did that guy move so fast?”

Aileen fumbled with her seatbelt. “I never saw him coming.”

“They’ve got surveillance cameras inside somewhere. Some pit where scary-guy probably lives and never sees the light of day.” Jani rolled down her window, letting the wind brush against her face. “I totally wasn’t expecting that.”

“He looked like a vampire with those icky pointed teeth.” Aileen curled her upper lip under so she could make fangs with her fingers.

Jani burst out laughing.

“I was that close! I thought he was going to bite me.”

“Luckily you have the uncanny ability to jump like a scared rabbit.” Brad gave her a sideways glance. “I bet you could give Jani a run for her money on the high jump mat.”

Jani leaned back against her seat. “She took you down in one fluid motion.”

“I stumbled on a…a… a crack in the cement.”

Aileen rolled her eyes. “No, Brad. I totally took you down.”

Brad opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it again, probably realizing with two against one, he didn’t stand a chance. He drove the truck back the same way they had come, accelerating as they passed the weight training facility. Only then did he begin talking again. “Is there anything you need to pick up with the truck tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so.” Aileen looked at Jani. “Do you need anything?”

“Actually,” Jani said, “there’s this awesome second-hand shop on the edge of town. Last time I was there they had this really cool buffet. If you are willing, I’d love to go check it out tomorrow. Maybe pick it up?”

Brad grinned. Aileen knew he loved being the handy guy. “Sure. We can go now if you want. Also, I brought my toolbox so if there’s anything at the house that needs a look, let me know.”

Jani flashed him a big smile. “My old roommate left the Wii. I’d love to hook it up to the TV.”

“Easy.” Brad tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel to some invisible song. “I’ll take a look and see if I can hook up some surround sound too. If we head to that second-hand shop, they might have a radio or speakers to connect it all. You have the perfect living room to do a V-G-C.”

“VGC?” Aileen and Jani asked at the same time.

“Video Game Challenge.” He stared at them like they were part alien.

They stared back at him. Aileen was pretty sure her brother was part extra-terrestrial.

Jani snapped her fingers. “We could throw a party! A back to school one with a video game theme.”

“It’ll be a hit.” Brad stopped at the red light just outside Campus Corner and the Warrior monument. “Let’s head to your place and I’ll see what you’ve got to work with.”

Twenty minutes later they were at the second-hand shop in the electronics department with a shopping buggy half full of speakers, wires, and cables. Jani led them into another section of the large charity shop with the furniture. She broke into a run as she spotted something.

Aileen watched her zigzag to the back of the room and point to a large handmade wooden structure. The central part was built like a rugged outdoor type of buffet bar with large slabs of wood. There was a smooth, glossed-over flat surface and on each side were pillars that looked like tree trunks with shelves that had glass doors. A rustic beam ran across the top for scenery or maybe to stabilize, Aileen couldn’t figure it out. “I think Jimmy Buffet made this.” She giggled.

“Wouldn’t this be awesome in our living room? We could angle it in one corner, fill it with glasses and cups on the top.” Jani moved around to the other side. “There are shelves down here and a spot to store a mini-fridge.”

“It’s… it’s… interesting.” Aileen had no idea what to say. It did look kind of cool but what would their coach think if he ever stopped by? “I’m not sure it would fit in the house.”

“I measured it last time I was here! It totally will!”

“It looks heavy.” Aileen scratched her neck and glanced at Brad, wondering if he was going to help her out.

“It’s awesome!” Brad went to stand beside Jani to check out the back part. “It’s a tiki bar.”

Thanks for the help, brother.
Aileen tilted her head and tried to imagine it in the house. If they did have a party and Tyler came, it would be a cool conversation piece. “How much is it?”

“It was a hundred and fifty but there’s a fifty percent off tag on it now.” Jani bounced up and down on her feet, flying abnormally high into the air.  “Seventy-five bucks! I’m so buying it.”

Brad looked under the counter. “It comes apart so it’ll fit through your front door. If someone here can help me get it apart, I think between the three of us, we can get it into the house and back together. I’ll just need to borrow your brute strength.” He looked Jani’s skinny frame up and down. “Maybe Aileen and I can do it together.”

Jani grabbed him and hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Brad’s face turned a light shade of pink. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You brought your sister here. If you hadn’t have come, there would be no VD or surround or a wicked cool tiki bar for our house!!” She kissed him on the cheek.

He grinned. “It’s not a
VD
, trust me on that one. It’s a VGC.”

Aileen burst out laughing. “Better get that right before you start texting people and asking them to come over to sign up for some VDs.”

All three of them sobered when a salesperson from the store came over to ask if they needed help.

Monday morning rolled into afternoon at a slow pace. Brad had left early the day before, and his absence made Aileen lonely. Even though he drove her crazy, he couldn’t be a better brother. She loved him for all his annoying and endearing ways. She didn’t cry when he drove off, but her stomach felt heavy and the dull ache hadn’t left after a restless night’s sleep.

At least she had practice today to distract her. Which meant she would be seeing Tyler today. First official practice, there was no way anyone would be missing it. She had jumped out of bed, showered, then shaved in the shower and spent way too much time straightening her hair.  It didn’t matter. She had nothing else to do. Jani had warned her the night before that she liked to sleep and not to be alarmed if she didn’t appear from her room till after lunchtime.

She sat in the newly arranged living room with the tiki bar set diagonally in one corner, and speakers placed strategically throughout the room. She had to admit that the large wooden buffet looked fantastic. They had bought different colored plastic wine glasses and martini glasses at the dollar store and set them on the top shelves. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it.

Practice started at two-thirty. Coach Anderson had sent out an email to everyone to let them know about a team meeting scheduled after practice, around four o’clock. Some athletes would be arriving later throughout the week, but those, who were ready to work out, had to be at the track by two-thirty.

She checked her watch. Lunch was an hour ago, and Jani still had not appeared from her room. Aileen wondered if she should knock on Jani’s door to make sure she was all right.

As if on cue, the door swung open and an appalling bed-headed Jani came out. “Hey!” she said as she yawned. “I feel like a bear waking up from hibernating. That’s the best sleep I’ve had in forever.” She headed for the bathroom. “What time—holy cow! I gotta get ready!” She popped her head around from the kitchen. “Give me ten minutes to shower. We can jog over to the track.”

“Sounds good.” Aileen couldn’t resist teasing Jani. “You’ll need more than ten minutes with that hair,” she murmured quietly and then grinned when Jani swore. She must have looked in the mirror.

Aileen grabbed her runners from her bedroom and came back to the living room to put them on. She popped a bud in her ear from her iPod and tried to focus on music instead of the thought of finally seeing Tyler today. Would they hit it off right away again? Or was she an idiot for thinking he might be interested? February seemed so long ago now and the word ‘player’ kept popping into her head. What if he was just a player? It hadn’t felt like that on her recruiting trip but it wasn’t like she was an expert in love, or anything close to it.

Jani ran by in a towel, with another towel wrapped around her head, and a banana in her hand. She stuffed a huge bite into her mouth, waved at Aileen and dashed into her room.

“Aren’t you going to get a cramp from eating?” Aileen called out and shut her iPod off. She couldn’t imagine eating and then running. She had barely been able to eat lunch, too nervous with not knowing what track practice would be like today and seeing Tyler.

“Nah…” Jani called through her open door as she dressed. “I can eat anything before practice or during. It always stays down. I’ve seen some of the girls hurl after a night drinking and coming in for Saturday morning niners. Never bothers me.” She patted her stomach as she dropped down beside Aileen to tie her runners.

“What are niners?”

“Repeat two hundreds. Nine of them. All a minute apart. They’re broken into three groups with a three-minute break in between the sets. It sounds easy when you say it, but it’s deadly.”

“Will we be doing them today?”

She shook her head. “We don’t usually start them until October. Coach likes us out at the hills where the cross country team runs the first training block.”

“Okay.” Aileen had no idea what they would be doing at the hills, but she didn’t want to sound like she knew next to nothing about track. What was a training block anyway? She trained all year with her high school coach for two years. It never stopped. “Will coach tell us what we are doing before we work out?”

Jani stood and straightened her tank top. “We’ll get a copy of what’s going on for the week every Monday. You can pick it up at the office anytime during the day or at practice on Monday afternoon.”

Aileen decided she would pick it up first thing Monday morning every week. She liked the idea of knowing what was going on before practice started. She would need to get an extra binder to store the sheets in, maybe write down stats so she could compare and see if she’s improving. She loved stats and comparing numbers. That was one of the reasons she had also signed with the school; she liked Coach Anderson’s number fascination. And Tyler.
Always Tyler
.

“You ready to go?” Jani opened the front door. A wave of humidity pushed against the cold air conditioned temperature inside the house.

“More than you can imagine.” She slipped past Jani, who held the door open for her. She walked down the driveway and waited on the sidewalk as Jani locked the door. She was glad she had worn a tank top and thin shorts. Gatica took its seasons to the extreme. Every season apparently.

“I do have my car in the garage,” Jani said as they started jogging. “It’s a little hunk of junk Ford Focus with a gazillion miles on it. I drove you around in it when you were here on your recruiting trip. It’s old, tiny and sucks on the cool scale, but it runs awesomely, it’s great on gas and perfect for doing groceries and stuff. I usually drive it to indoor practice once it starts getting cold. My dad bought me snow tires for it last December, so it drives great in the snow too. It’s stick. Do you know how to drive standard?”

“No. I’ve never had to learn.”

Jani laughed. “You’ll need to now. I’ll teach you. It’s not hard.”

She liked it that Jani wanted her to learn. It meant she would be driving Jani’s car once in a while. Her parents had mentioned something about possibly getting the family car when her mother got a new car next year. Her father refused to let her take it this year saying she didn't need it as a freshman. “I’m game. Just don’t let me wreck your car. It’s the clutch, right? My brother refused to teach me because he said I’d burn out his clutch.”

Jani grinned. “I have full faith in you. We can start tomorrow.”

They headed to campus and jogged along one of the walking paths. The air was thick with humidity.  Jani led Aileen to the indoor fieldhouse where the familiar wall of fame reminded Aileen of her recruiting trip.

The humidity disappeared when they stepped inside a side entrance that brought them by the doors that led into the track. The building felt ten degrees cooler than outside even without air conditioning running. No one in their right mind would put AC in a fieldhouse. Heat, yes. AC, no.

“Do you remember how to get to the track office’s from here?” Jani asked.

Aileen pointed. “Up that way, right?”

“You got it. Follow the ramp up and then head to the left. Before the track offices there are another set of rooms. That’s where the athletic academic advisor, or triple A, is located. You’ll be assigned an advisor who will help set up your classes so they can go around training. We get first dibs on class schedules.”

“Cool.” That would come in handy.

“Everyone who works there is super nice. They also make sure you are on track for graduating and if you are failing classes, will get you a tutor. My AV is so laid back. I never hear from her except before each semester to set up my schedule. It’s great.” Jani waved her hand and pushed the fireproof door open to head into the track. “You should pop by tomorrow to make sure everything’s all organized for your classes. You might have received a schedule already but let your AV check it to make sure you aren’t overloaded or that you have enough credits and so it doesn’t interfere with training.”

“I’ll do it first thing in the morning.”

Jani snapped her fingers. “You might want to wait till lunch. I have a feeling we’ll be lifting in the am. Coach did that to us last year. Weight room hours are shifty before the football team gets first dibs. So we get the crappy leftover hours. Like six till nine in the morning.”

“How long will our lifting take?” Aileen couldn’t imagine lifting weights for three hours.

“An hour, maybe a bit more. Except everyone holds off showing up until eight and then it’s crazy-busy and takes longer.”

“If coach sets it up, want to go in at seven then?”

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.