Chapter 3 #2
Juniper scoffed. “I’m not talking about that lame fake race. Who really cares about that.” She nodded toward Sierra’s disappearing form. “I’m talking about how you just made Sierra your bitch. That girl didn’t know what hit her.”
Now, Ellie’s stomach hurt even more. She didn’t want to be the mean girl, even if Sierra deserved her wrath in this case. “It wasn’t that great. She just needs to learn there’s no room for homophobes on this team.”
“Oh, I think she learned it,” Juniper said with a laugh. “Do you think she’s super religious or something?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Well, either way, good job showing her who’s the boss around here.” Juniper stood up and held her hand down toward Ellie. “Ready to head back to the apartment?”
Ellie shook her head. “Go without me. I think I’m going to go for a walk and give my moms a call.”
“Aw, how sweet,” Juniper said sarcastically before sticking her tongue out at Ellie. “Tell them I said hi, and I miss them.”
“Will do.”
Ellie waited for most of her teammates to stretch and gather their things, before standing up to leave. When she was a few feet from the track, she called her mama—one person she could always count on to be the voice of reason for her.
“Hey, sweetie, how are you?” her mama asked as soon as she picked up the phone.
Her voice was soft and soothing, and it made Ellie feel like she was being wrapped in a warm hug. If she was being completely honest with herself, she could really use an actual hug from her moms right now.
“I’m good.” It wasn’t completely a lie.
“Okay, spill. What’s wrong? And if it’s about your mom, be careful what you say. You’re on speakerphone right now.”
“Hi!” Her mom’s faint voice came through the phone, and it was like music to Ellie’s ears.
This was exactly what she needed—a good talk from her moms. Ellie wasn’t embarrassed to admit that her moms were two of her best friends.
When it came to parents, she was extremely lucky.
Hell, when it came to family in general, she was lucky.
Even her older brother, Nate, was pretty cool (even if she would never admit that to him).
“We had our time trials today.”
There was silence on the other end that seemed to drag on forever before her mama finally spoke. “Uh-oh. You don’t sound happy. What happened?”
“You know the new freshman recruit I told you about who’s really fast?”
“Yes…” Clearly, her mom was going to make her say the words.
“She beat me.” Ellie’s voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears.
She knew in the grand scheme of things, this was nothing.
It was actually pathetic to cry over a teammate beating her at a time trial that didn’t even count for anything.
Plus, most people would say this was just a sport.
It had never been just a sport to Ellie, though.
Ever since high school, her whole life had revolved around track.
“Aww, honey, that’s…”
Before her mama could finish, her mom cut her off by playfully shouting, “Fuck that girl!” The way her mom laughed hysterically told Ellie she was most likely getting glared at by her mama right now.
“Don’t listen to your mom,” her mama scolded. “Remember what I always say—focus on what you can do in every situation. This isn’t a bad thing. It’ll help you to be even better.”
“Says the woman who is perfect at things she even has no experience with,” her mom added in the background, the teasing in her voice telling Ellie that this was some kind of inside joke between her moms.
I don’t want to know.
“All I’m saying is that this is a great opportunity to push yourself even harder. Together, you and this girl will both be able to do really great things. Isn’t that what you want for the team?” her mama asked.
Of course she wanted that for the team. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. There’s just one little problem.” More like, significant problem.
“What’s that?”
“I… well, I don’t really get along with Sierra.”
“Really?” Her mama’s voice sounded genuinely concerned. “I’m surprised to hear that. You get along with everyone.”
“Yeah, not this girl. Something about her rubs me the wrong way.”
“It’s not the fact that she’s fast, is it? You shouldn’t ruin what could be a perfectly good friendship just because—”
Ellie couldn’t handle getting a lecture from her mama, so she cut her off. “She hates gay people.”
“That’s a pretty big accusation. Are you sure about that?”
“I’m pretty sure.” Ellie told her moms about the way Sierra looked at her when she heard her talking about the two of them.
She hesitated before explaining the other piece of evidence because she wasn’t proud of how she acted and was sure her moms wouldn’t be either.
“Then, the other day, Juniper caught me checking out…” Was she really going to tell her moms she was checking out the girl who was supposed to be her enemy?
“Well, if I’m being completely honest, I was checking out Sierra.
She might be infuriating, but, yeah, apparently my eyes didn’t get the memo.
Anyway, Juniper thought I was checking out the girl she was walking with and made a joke to Sierra about how she should set us up.
Sierra got mad, like mad mad. It was so weird. ”
“Maybe Sierra was jealous that you weren’t checking her out,” her mom joked.
“Ha. Good one. Definitely not.” She swallowed hard then took a few deep breaths before saying the next part. “Today, after the race, I was pissed that I lost, so I might have made a comment about her friend.”
“What kind of comment?” her mama asked softly.
“Just a joke about taking her on a date. I figured if Sierra was actually homophobic, that would really piss her off. And guess what? It did.”
“I think maybe you should have a talk with Sierra,” her mama suggested. “Whether you like it or not, the two of you are teammates now. As a senior on the team, I think you know by now how important it is for all of you to get along, or at the very least, respect each other.”
“Yeah, I know.” Even though she realized what her mama was saying was true, she didn’t know if she’d be able to take her advice.
There was something about Sierra that made her more frustrated than anyone ever had before, which was crazy since she barely knew Sierra.
Hell, she couldn’t even remember Sierra’s last name.
“Whatever you do, don’t let this girl get to you. Focus on yourself and on making your senior year the best ever. That’s what’s important.”
“Okay, I will.” She would start with the party this weekend. God knows she could use a drink (or a few) at this point.