Chapter 3

The next Thursday, Jessie sat in her pre-calculus class and tried not to stare at the clock above the door to freedom. Once she gave up that hopeless fight, her eyes glazed over and she didn't seem to move until the little hand brushed the big, bold number ten. Her hand flew to her bag as she stood up. Mr. Carhackee looked up from behind his computer screen. Jessie motioned to the door, then her bag, as she mouthed a silent explanation,

I have a cross country meet. We have to be in the gym in ten minutes.

She would have continued but Mr. Carhackee had already waved her away and focused his attention back on the computer screen. Jessie hoisted her sky blue bag over her left shoulder and nimbly navigated the aisle without clocking another student in the head with her duffel. She heard a heartfelt "Go Bears!" as she slipped out of the classroom, followed by a wave of laughter. Then with a small wave and a click of the door, she was able to enjoy a breath of untainted, math-free air.

Walking down the vast hallway by herself there was nothing to distract her from her thoughts except the flopping of her untied shoelace. Thoughts that began innocently enough about the afternoon's race led to thinking about last week's League Meet and, before she could stop them, to what she had spent the last seven days conciously not thinking about: the Oakridge runner with the bright smile. Finally, for the first time since last Tuesday, Jessie relaxed her guard and allowed herself to think about Katie's face. She traced it in her mind's eye, starting with Katie's delicate jawline and moving upwards past her lips to brush across her sprinkle of freckles and gaze into her jaded green eyes. For some reason Katie's hair was blowing across her forehead, and Jessie reached out and rested her fingers against Katie's temple before brushing it behind her ear. Startled at how real the image and touch seemed, Jessie snapped back to reality and swallowed nervously before pulling open the locker room door.

As the heavy door shut behind her, she felt her heartbeat start to slow back down. Her thoughts were racing as the bewildered girl tried to sort out the foreign feelings invading her body and mind.

Why does my body shake whenever I think about this girl I don't even know! I have a crush on Brien Ruyak, so why are these feelings coming from someone else…some girl? I don't like her, I've had three boyfriends since 8th grade.

But she couldn't deny that Katie twisted her insides up unlike any guy she had ever known. She'd only talked to her once, and been nearly knocked over, but other than that she had no experiences to draw from. She just knew how the mere thought of Katie made her heart race all on its own. By the time she pulled off her jeans to put on her running shorts, Jessie's heart had almost returned to normal…almost.

It feels so right, but I know it's so wrong!

As she chastised herself, Jessie decided that she had to forget these feelings. She would avoid Katie and eventually this chaos inside of her would subside. Then she could get on with her life…her completely normal life. After all, how hard could it be?

She doesn't even go to my school, and aside from today, I'll probably never even see her again. It can't be impossible to avoid one person for one measly afternoon…

As her teammates chattered around her Katie leaned her head against the cold, fogged-up window. Even though she could barely see it through the wet condensation on the window, she knew the rain was startign to pick up outside of the bus. It was colder than last week, but before her brain could analyze the racing conditions, she changed course to thinking about something else…anything else. After all, what did it matter about the weather, she wasn't running. She felt the seat shift and looked up to see Danni sitting next to her.

"I'm so nervous for today," the blonde girl started, "I'm scared to run, like, without you, ya know?" Her last statement turned into a half-hearted question. Katie mustered up a smile.

"Hey, how many times have we done this before?" She rubbed a spot on the window to clear a hole through the condensation, "Look out there…rainy, low fifties, cloudy. These are perfect racing conditions, you won't even feel the race. I know you'll do great."

Danni's face broke out into a smile. Leaning her head on Katie's shoulder, she breathed,

"You are so right, Katie. It'll be fine"

"Over before you know it."

"Piece of cake," Danni stood up and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder, "I know everything's gonna work out. I just wish you were running too" Katie smiled up at her.

You and me both.

Danni returned to her seat as the bus pulled out of the pick-up zone and started to pick up speed. Katie looked at Danni as she wiggled her headphones onto her ears. A feeling of peace settled on her body. She really did want to run, but she also knew this was what needed to happen. Danni needed this last chance…and maybe it was better that she was running on her own, without Katie pushing on her back. Feeling that things were a little more right than they were before Katie looked out the window again. It was cold and wet and dreary outside, but she would be hauling butt all around the course today. Her goal was to get a better workout than all of the girls who were actually racing. Suddenly aware, for practically the first time since Leagues, that as the number eight girl she could actually be running if something were to happen to one of the top seven, Katie brightened up when she realized that she was happy where she was. She was fine with not running, with being a teammate and not a star. Things were gonna be alright. Katie pawed through her bag to find her ipod, and after wiggling the ear-pieces into place, allowed the sound of Coldplay to carry her above the stormy rain-clouds all around her.

Fifteen minutes before the girls race was scheduled to start, the rain picked up with a newfound ferocity. Thankful that their tent at least had strap-up sides, the Upton Sinclair girls were silently doing some last minute stretching inside. Each girl stoically absorbed in her own world, they looked like a miniature army heading off to war. Well, a miniature army scantily clad in running gear and sporting a wide variety of portable music. They were all pretty damp from their warm-up run fifteen minutes ago, but didn't bother drying off with the knowledge that they would be back in the mercy of mother nature momentarily

"Ten minutes until the start of the AAA girls race!" blared the announcer's voice, barely audible over the ever-increasing howl of the rain and wind. Coach Johnson was briefly concerned about the conditions, but put on a brave face as the girls gathered around to go to the starting line.

"Girls," he started, "it looks bad out there. Hell it's gonna be crazy. But we like crazy. You don't have to beat this storm, all you gotta do is beat those other girls. Let them be worried about the rain. Then you can focus on schooling them! While they're pussy-footin' about the weather, just blow by 'em!"

With that the girls let up a cheer and one by one danced out into the squall. Coach Johnson clapped each girl on the back as she glided past. Jessie was the last girl out, and Coach held onto her shoulder for a brief moment. She paused and looked up into his wizened features.

"Today's your day, kid. If you want it…" he paused, seemingly about to say something else. Instead he shook his head and laughed ever so slightly. She waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, followed her teammates out of the tent.