Chapter 25
Summer
It’s hard to believe track season is over today.
I’m hoping for another three wins. According to the coach, they distribute all the awards at the end of the day, similar to diving yesterday.
The championships are being held at a college in Charleston this year.
I’ve never seen the facility before, but Holly says it’s really nice.
“Good morning, Summer,” Zander greets as I enter the kitchen for breakfast.
“Morning,” I reply as I grab the protein bars and put them in my bag.
“Are you excited?”
“I am,” I smile. “So, you never said how dinner with Sarah went?”
“It was great. We went to a restaurant on the water. She’s a lovely person.”
“Yes, she is. I’m glad you two could meet.”
“I wanted to ask about your birthday coming up. Do you have any idea what you’d like or what you want to do?”
“Actually, I’d love to go visit Jake, Mal, and Sue.”
“I thought you might want that. Your birthday is on a Friday, so how long do you want to visit?”
“Since exams are the following week, just the weekend.”
“Okay. Would you like company or a solo trip?”
“Oh, um, would you like to join?”
“I’ll book us tickets today.” He seems very pleased to come, based on his brilliant grin.
“Thank you, Zander.” I place an order online with the florist in Virginia for lilies and sweet peas to visit the gravesite while I’m home.
We enjoy breakfast before leaving for Charleston, discussing what I might want to do this summer on the drive. I’ve been thinking about getting a part-time job and maybe taking some courses. I ask about training to work for Finn as well. Summer is the peak season for security jobs.
We drive to what seems like a lovely college campus.
They have an outdoor track inside a stadium, and there are plenty of signs directing us where to go so we don’t get lost. Zander follows me onto the track until we find the coach, then he walks over to take a seat in the stands.
About half of our group is already here.
Holly and Jaxon arrive just a few minutes after me.
Each school has a canopy assigned to them in the middle of the track.
We received the schedule of races yesterday, so Jaxon is already warming up. The distance race is first today. I’ve got the 800m first at 9:15am. The 400m is at 11:30am and the 200m relay is at 2pm.
As I look around the stadium, I see a roped-off area with several people wearing college or university clothing. “Holly, is that where all the scouts sit?” I ask, pointing to the area.
“Yeah. Anyone recruiting will be in that area today. It’s so exciting,” she smiles, bouncing on her toes. I shake my head at her. The girl is always hyper and never nervous. Whatever school she decides on will be very lucky to have her.
Coach calls us all over for her usual pep talk, then Holly follows me as I stretch for my first race. Once the distance runners are called to the starting line, I stop so we can cheer on Jaxon.
After the race begins, I start my warmup around the inside of the track. I give our group a wave as I jog by. Not surprisingly, I can hear Seb over the noise.
As the 800m boys’ race finishes, I do a final stretch before meeting my coach at the starting line. “How are the legs today, Summer?”
“Ready to go, Coach,” I reply.
“Good. You’ve got a nice break between races today. Remember to pace yourself at the start. Just keep at the front until the last turn, then kick it up.”
“Will do, Coach,” I say, jogging in place as she leaves the track. I’m familiar with all these girls now, so I know what to expect from each of them.
When the gun goes off, I take off at a quick but steady pace, letting the other girls do their thing.
I know two of them go hard at the start and always lead the first half of the race.
It used to concern me, and I’d push myself too much at the beginning, but I’ve learned since then.
Those two run out of steam before the end of the race.
I maintain a consistent pace for the first lap, then increase my speed progressively until the final turn.
With a burst of speed in the last stretch, I surge ahead, beating the other runners to win the race.
I can hear Seb hollering over everyone, so I turn to wave at them.
Coach and Holly congratulate me as we clear the track, sitting down on chairs under our canopy to watch the other races.
It’s weird not being able to just walk over to visit like usual, but there doesn’t seem to be easy access to the stands from down here.
Holly isn’t running until 11am, so we have over an hour to kill.
Holly fills the time telling me about the scouts in attendance and their respective schools.
She is aiming to attend USC for in-state tuition.
I keep her company while she stretches before her first race.
As usual, she easily wins her race in the last 50m.
After I congratulate her, I eat a protein bar and drink water before starting my warmup again.
Since the 800m is usually my hardest race, I’m fairly relaxed going into the 400m.
I look up into the stands as I take my place on the track.
Seb is waving Gabby’s pom-poms in the air, doing some kind of cheer.
I can’t help but chuckle. He catches my eye and smiles, doing a butt wiggle for extra effect.
The guys are laughing at him as I refocus on my race.
The other runners seem to give it everything they have today, and I have to push harder than usual to win my race.
It was way closer than the last few track meets, and I’m breathing hard.
“That was close,” the coach says as she meets me on the track.
“Yeah, the others were giving it their all today,” I nod.
“Great job, Summer. You adjusted your pace beautifully to the others. Go rest up,” she says.
Holly follows me back to the canopy as we grab our bags. “Do you know how to get up into the stands?” I ask.
“Yup, there’s a set of stairs hidden over by our section. Follow me.”
I do as I’m told and follow her across the track.
She unlocks a section of the barrier, and I see the stairs she mentioned.
We climb up and over to our families. I say hello to Holly’s mom before taking a seat between Seb and Nick.
The guys all congratulate us on our wins before E hands us our protein salads for lunch.
Once we are served, he hands out sandwiches to everyone else.
“Thank you, E,” I smile. We munch and chat as we wait for Jaxon to finish his race.
When the announcer tells us the distance runners are approaching the stadium, Holly, the guys, and I go down to the bottom row of seats by the barrier, and Seb hands Holly and me a pom-pom each.
We cheer for Jaxon as he enters the stadium.
He gives us a smile as he passes us to run his last lap.
There are several runners behind him, but they look exhausted compared to Jaxon.
I see the coach stepping up to the edge of the track by the finish line.
She’s clapping and yelling too, pushing Jaxon to finish hard.
He does and wins his race. Holly leaves the stands to join him on the track as soon as everyone passes the finish line.
Jaxon seems to take longer than usual to recover, so I’m guessing he went hard today, too.
“So, Sunshine, what are we doing for your birthday next week?” Seb asks as we take our seats again.
“Zander and I are flying to Virginia on Saturday and Sunday for a visit,” I tell the guys.
“That’s awesome. What do you want to do on Friday?”
“No idea,” I shrug.
“Z man, you and I have some planning to do,” Seb says to him.
Zander smiles and nods. “Sounds good.”
“Does anyone know where the washrooms are here?” I ask.
“Yes, they’re in the tunnel under the stands,” Zander tells me.
“Oh good. Let me text Holly.” I see Holly stand up and jog over towards us.
Bay and Zander escort us to the washroom.
There are a few people in the hall coming and going.
As usual, Holly sticks her head into the washroom before we enter.
It’s something we are both still working on.
I haven’t been inside the washroom at the school gym yet.
That is a goal for the beginning of the next school year.
Bay checks his phone, then excuses himself after walking with us to the end of the hallway. He smiles at me but says nothing. We find Jaxon in the stands eating his salad when we get back. I give him a few protein bars for later and sip on my water while we wait for our final race.
After a few minutes, I hear my name being yelled and look around. Bay and Olivia are climbing the stands towards us. I smile and get up to meet them. “Hi Olivia. I didn’t know you were coming today.”
“Bay said it’s your championship today, so I told him I wanted to come cheer and surprise you,” she beams.
“Well, thank you for coming,” I say, taking her hand and sitting her between me and Zander. I mouth a thank you to Bay, who smiles in return. “Olivia, do you remember Holly and Jaxon?”
She looks at them for a minute, then nods. “Yup. They cheered Bay and Alex when they were diving.”
“That’s right. Holly is racing with me next.”
“Oh, I’ll cheer for you to Holly,” she states, looking around. She stands up and walks over to Holly’s mom. “Hi, I’m Olivia,” she says, holding her hand out for Amanda to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Olivia. I’m Amanda,” she smiles, shaking her hand.
Olivia comes back to sit beside me and starts telling Zander about school. She’s so outgoing.
Holly and I need to warm up, so I wave goodbye as Jaxon follows us down to the track. We take spots near the twins to stretch. Things have been weird between all of us since prom, and we haven’t really spoken since then, not that we interacted much before.