Sorry it's been so long since the first chapter! I had lots going on (college, family things, blah blah blah) and a bad case of writer's block, but I'm back and will be trying to post a chapter at least every two weeks! I've gotten some great encouragement from the people who reviewed, and it's been great motivation to continue the story, so keep the reviews comin!

-athlete12

Spencer didn't even realize how fast she was running until Toby pulled up and cruised next to her in his truck.

"Whoa killer! Slow it down! You're not gonna have enough energy left for our afternoon workout if you keep goin at that speed!" he shouted out to her.

Spencer slowed her pace to a slow jog and eventually stopped. She sat down on the curb, head in her hands. Toby parked his truck and sat down next to her.

"What's up Spence? Why'd you leave lunch so early today?"

"I left lunch early because I have no desire to help you, Aria, and the other power couple plan your double date. And there's a new girl and she runs the 800! Toby she's going to ruin everything I've worked so hard for!" Spencer nearly shouted.

"Wait... That's what you're so upset about? Spencer... This girl may not even be good! You can't get all worked up over something you're not even sure of."

"That's easy for you to say! You've committed! You don't even have to try this season and everything will still be fine! I need Oregon to notice me and I don't need some cute, tan girl taking over my track and ruining everything!" Spencer exclaimed before burying her head back in her hands.

"Oh... She's cute? And tan? Well then surely she'll be an amazing runner Spence, you should probably just quit now..."

Spencer whipped her head up out of her hands at what the boy said, only to see him begin to laugh.

"Spence I'm kidding! I really do think you're worrying about nothing. You're one of the best 800 runners on the east coast! Don't stress yourself out until you know if this girl is the real deal or not. And regarding the double date, I'm sorry about that. I guess we've all been so excited we hadn't really thought about you and how you'd feel about it." Toby explained while putting a sympathetic hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"I guess you're right... And I know you all are excited. I overreacted. It's just hard; I haven't really been interested in anyone and honestly it's kind of lonely being the fifth wheel around you guys."

"Well it's a good thing the new girl is so cute, right?" Toby said with a smirk.

"I- What? Toby- I- I'm not... Gay..." stammered the stunned girl.

"I never said you were! But if you think she's so cute, maybe you should ask for her number." and with a wink, the boy stood up and headed towards his truck, leaving a dumbfounded and confused Spencer alone on the curb. Not wanting to let her mind wander too much on the subject, she got back up and continued her run, but this time at a moderate speed. She didn't get far until she saw a ponytail of raven hair bouncing up ahead of her. Shocked, she stopped in her tracks, then took off again, trying to catch up with the girl. It took a few minutes, but eventually Spencer caught up to the girl, who wasn't breathing nearly as hard as Spencer.

"Oh... Hi! Spencer, right?"

"Yes. Hi. I just... Wanted to say hi?" Spencer mumbled, embarrassed that she couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Okay... Well hi?"

The two girls stood there for a moment, both looking anywhere but at each other.

"So... Did I say something wrong earlier?" Emily questioned tentatively.

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"Well you glared at me and then kind of just took off on me and Coach Thomas. I thought there must have been something I had done or said wrong to have you so mad at me."

"I'm not... Mad at you..." said the brunette. "I just... You run one of my events... And I... I'm worried you'll be better than me."

"Oh right, the 800. Coach Thomas mentioned you ran that as well. I wouldn't be too worried if I were you though; out of the two of us, you've definitely got the body for it."

Spencer's head snapped up at this, her eyes wide. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Emily looked back at her, with a faint smile on her face.

"Anyway, I'll see you around Spencer" and with that, the tan girl turned and jogged away, leaving the brunette to try and comprehend what had just happened.

Later that evening, Spencer sat on her bed, contemplating the day's events. She had tried to distract herself with the mountains of homework she had piled on her desk, but Emily kept slipping into her mind. Spencer was stunned. She'd only known this girl for one day, and yet she's all she can think about. This girl was gorgeous though, anyone with eyes could see that. And there's nothing wrong with thinking another girl is beautiful. And there's nothing wrong with being gay, nothing at all, Spencer just wasn't gay. But... Maybe she was? The more she thought about it, the more it seemed she was. When she kissed Toby all those times, she didn't feel the fireworks that you see people experiencing in the movies. She just assumed that the movies were the movies, and in real life you didn't feel fireworks when you kissed. Maybe if she kissed Emily there would be fireworks... But wait, was Emily even gay? Spencer had just assumed based on that one comment... Maybe Emily was just trying to throw her off her game and *DING*

Spencer furrowed her brow as she looked over at her phone and then at her wristwatch. It was nearly midnight, which meant Toby and the rest of her friend group would have been fast asleep already, so who would be texting her this late?

Unknown #: Hey this is Emily Fields! Sorry if I woke you up. I got your number from Coach Thomas. He told me that you were doing a pretty intense preseason training, and I was wondering if I could maybe join you? Let me know! :)

This was not helping Spencer's confusion on the topic of Emily. Again, was this flirting, just being nice, or a plan to destroy Spencer in the 800? She thought for a moment, weighing out every possibility, before texting back her reply.

Spencer: Meet you out in front of the high school at 6 am?

She could only take a few seconds to worry about whether her reply was too cold and didn't seem excited enough before she got a response.

Emily: See you then :)

Suddenly Spencer had much more on her mind than before. Will her workouts be too easy for Emily? Will Emily be much better than she could ever imagine? And how could two little smiley faces in a text message make her heart jump so much?