Page 49 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

"Every session from here counts. You show up, you work, you recover, then you do it again. For anyone close to the qualifying line, every ten seconds is going to matter. We either peak together or we lose together.”

Coach Reid looked toward the men's team. "Relay squad, your handoffs still need work. We'll spend extra time on them today."

“All right, stations,” Coach Miller called.

Jackson and I headed to station two. Practice settled into its usual rhythm. Between stations, we talked about our Environmental Science project, the upcoming regional meet, and which coffee on campus was actually worth drinking. Nothing important. The conversation came easy, and when it stopped, the quiet didn’t feel like something that needed fixing.

I was losing ground and I knew it. Whatever I had been holding was getting heavier to carry. My cat had thoughts about that.

Soon, she said.

Maybe, I answered.

She accepted maybe.

Coach Miller blew the final whistle just after half past eleven.

I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink, then started toward the bleachers where we’d left our bags. Jackson fell into step beside me.

"Hypothetical question."

I looked at him. "Those are usually dangerous."

"If someone wanted to buy you coffee, would you make them work for it?"

"Depends who's asking."

"Good," he said. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Jackson!" Jason called from across the field.

“Later,” Jackson said, then broke off and headed toward the men’s team. I stared after him, brow furrowed. What was that supposed to mean?

Cassidy appeared beside me and caught the direction of my gaze. A small smirk tugged at her mouth.

“Don’t start,” I said.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were about to."

She slung her arm through mine. "I'm buying you breakfast. Come on.”

I let her pull me with her and checked my phone as we walked. The Reddit post was still up. No new comments. Nothing deleted. Still just a rumor.

Chapter 20: He Never Answered

Monday morning practice ran long. Coach Miller kept us through the recovery cooldown and then added a second one, throwing in strides after someone made the mistake of asking if we could leave early. Nobody asked twice.

After showering and changing, I grabbed a coffee and headed toward Environmental Science. Jackson was ahead of me on the main path, about thirty yards up, walking with Lia. Rick and Jason trailed a few steps behind, heads bent over a phone. Jackson had his arm around Lia's shoulders. He said something I couldn’t hear, and she laughed. He mussed her hair; she squealed and shoved him, and laughed too.

I watched a second longer than I meant to. It had been years since I’d had people I could be that comfortable with.

My cat made a low, dissatisfied sound.

It’s friendship, I told her.

She wasn’t convinced.