black & gold

Chapter 1

"Oh God, you're so good at that... how are you so good at that?" Erin asks, her chest
heaving as she pulls her shorts back up to their original position. Hannah was fairly
certain that the girl with dark skin and jet black hair was a high jumper for some school
she's already forgotten the name of. Though, to be honest, she may just be thinking of the
high jumper from Lincoln High that she ate out in a locker room the week before. They
all kind of blur together after a while.
Hannah grins, wiping her mouth with the back of hand, before shrugging, "Just a talent, I
guess," The shorter girl glances at her wristwatch and sighs, "Well, I gotta run. I'll catch
you later, babe."
Erin's eyes widen and she sits up, "When can I see you again?"
The corner of Hannah's mouth quirks up and she runs a hand through her hair, "Ah...
give me your number, alright? I'll call you."
Erin smiles broadly and quickly jogs to her gym locker, opening it up to pull out a pen
and rip a piece of paper from her distance log. She scribbles her phone number on it and
hands it to Hannah, hands shaking slightly as she does so.
"Cool, I'll, uh... I'll get back to you soon," Hannah lies through her teeth and shoves the
phone number in the waistband of her shorts.
Erin awkwardly leans into Hannah and kisses her cheek, "I'll be waiting."
"Yeah... okay," Hannah replies, wasting no time in rushing out of the locker room and
away from the girl she couldn't wait to forget.
-
"Where the hell were you?" Coach Wilson asks, looking up from her clipboard when
Hannah slides back onto her team's bench beside the busy field.
"Bathroom," Hannah lies, taking a drink from her metal water bottle, "How're they
doing?"
Coach Wilson shrugs, "They're alright. Not where they should be, though. But it's only
the first meet. They'll get where they need to be in time. Oh, and Roberts didn't place
first in her 200m."
Hannah's eyes widen and she nearly chokes on her water, "What?" It was unthinkable for
Stacey Roberts, two-time state champion in the 200, not to place first in any sprint she
did. She was basically Central High's golden child.
"Some new girl from Kennedy destroyed her. Got a good three seconds on her, too,"
Coach explains, shaking her head in something akin to disappointment. "Oh shit," Hannah sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "Where's the hell is this new
girl from? Kenya?"
Coach Wilson snorts, "Nope, she's white as they come. Legs for days, though."
Hannah nods, "God, Stacey must be taking it rough. How is she?"
"Go see for yourself," Coach nods towards a fence on the far end of the field. Hannah
immediately recognizes the familiar golden uniform and the girl crying in it. "Seriously,
go talk to her. She has another race in twenty minutes and I'm sending her out there,
crying or not."
Hannah nods and slides off the bench, jogging the short distance over to Stacey then
silently cursing herself for being out of breath. Well, this is why you're manager of the
team and not actually on the team, Hannah.
"Hey, Stace?" Hannah asks cautiously, slowly nearing her friend.
"I don't want to talk about it," Stacey coughs out, wiping at her eyes.
"Hey..." Hannah's face softens and she pulls Stacey into her arms, rubbing circles in the
girls' back while cries into her shirt, "It's okay, man. It's only the first meet of the season.
You'll be amazing by the time qualifiers come around."
Stacey sniffs and shakes her head, "I've never gotten second, Hannah. Ever."
"And you'll never get second again, alright?" Hannah says and pulls away from Stacey,
holding onto her shoulders.
Stacey sighs, "That new girl from Kennedy... she's so fast. You don't even know.
There's no way I can beat that."
"So you're just gonna back off? Because you found someone who's a little bit faster than
you? Come on, Stace. You've been the fastest sprinter in this entire district for two years.
It's about time you get a little bit of competition. So wipe your tears and get back on that
bench and ready for your 600m, alright? You can take down that Kennedy girl. You've
got all season to work at it," Hannah's words are strong but encouraging. It's what Stacey
needs.
"You're the best team manager ever, you know that?" Stacey grins.
Hannah rolls her eyes dramatically and nods, "Yeah, yeah. I know. Now get back out
there and warm up."
-
"Well she looks a hell of a lot better," Coach Wilson comments when Stacey takes her
spot in her lane for the 600m. "What'd you say to her?"
Hannah shrugs, "Just told her to man up. Competition is good. The usual."
"Good job, Hart," Wilson grins before her face falls, "Oh, shit."
"What?" Hannah asks and looks over at her coach.
"The Kennedy girl is in this race, too. Christ, of course they would put her right next to
Stacey. Who the fuck is in charge of this meet?" Coach Wilson fumes, throwing her
clipboard to the ground.
Hannah glances back at the track and sure enough, one lane over from Stacey, a black
uniform is lined up. Hannah's back straightens out as she eyes the girl - tall, dark blonde
hair, tanned legs, deep brown eyes. There's something about the way the girl bounces in
place, warming up her muscles, that keeps Hannah's gaze.
The sound of a gunshot breaks Hannah's train of thought and she watches as the Kennedy
girl races off down the track, her reaction time impeccable.
"Are my eyes mistaken or is Stacey Roberts getting destroyed by that Kennedy girl?" A
male voice asks from behind Hannah.
Hannah spins around, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the girl in the black
uniform, and smiles at the boy behind her.
"Hey, Tyler. What're you doing here?" Hannah asks as Tyler settles next to her on the
bench.
He takes a sip of the large, red Slurpee in his hands, "Supporting the team, obvi.
Slurpee?"
"I'm good, thanks," Hannah laughs, playfully bumping shoulders with the boy next to
her. Tyler Oakley had two self-proclaimed titles: Manager Extraordinaire of the Central
High Boys Track and Field Team, and World's Greatest Best Friend to Hannah Hart. He
was most proud of the latter.
"So back to the race... who's the new girl?" Tyler asks, watching as Stacey struggles to
keep a two-second gap behind the black uniform.
Hannah sighs, shrugging her shoulders, "Beats me. She's some new secret weapon that
Kennedy has. She already beat Stacey by three seconds in the 200m."
"Well fuck me sideways," Tyler raises his eyebrows, taking a long, loud slip of his
Slurpee.
"Jesus, Tyler, watch your mouth, will you?" Coach Wilson asks, leaning over Hannah to
stare straight at the teenage boy.
Tyler grins, pushing his glasses further up his nose, "Sorry Coach."
Hannah winces as she watches the Kennedy girl finish the race first, smiling proudly as
she bounces off effortlessly towards a redheaded girl waiting for her by the sidelines.
Stacey falls to her knees when she's finished the race, breathing heavily and resting her
head in her palms.
"You know what you should do, little Miss Hannah?" Tyler asks, his mouth quirking up
into a knowing smirk.
Hannah looks over at him, "What?"
"You should ask out that Kennedy girl," Tyler comments before popping the lid off of his
Slurpee and dumping the red slush into his mouth.
"First of all, I don't ask out girls," Hannah grimaces at the phrase before continuing,
"Second, why would I do that? That would be, like, the biggest betrayal to my team. I
can't go and flirt with the girl that's ruining Stacey's little track-centered world. She's my
friend, man."
Tyler rolls his eyes, "Oh, of course. I forgot you don't ask out girls. You only eat them
out in locker rooms, right?" Hannah punches Tyler in the arm and Coach Wilson moves
to the other end of the bench, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation between
the two Central High teens. "Look, you don't have to actually date her or anything. Just,
like... I don't know, do that dyke thing you do that makes all the track and field girls
fawn over you. Figure out if she has any weaknesses. At the very least, your presence
will start distracting her at meets," Tyler says and frowns at his empty Slurpee cup.
"Yeah, no. I'm not doing any of that," Hannah responds and rolls her eyes.
"Will you just butch up and take one for the team?" Tyler groans and glances at the
blonde stretching beside the field, "Besides, it's not like it would be hard on you or
anything. Kennedy girl is pretty."
Hannah follows Tyler's gaze and watches as the girl drops to the ground, leaning forward
and grabbing the soles of her shoes in a stretch. Hannah shakes her head, "She's not my
type."
"She's a female. I thought that was your type," Tyler smirks and looks over at Hannah,
earning himself another swat across the arm.
"I don't do white girls, Ty," Hannah retorts, running her fingers through her hair and
tugging at her shirt collar, trying to cool off from the incessant Los Angeles heat.
"Can you just stop being so damn stubborn for five minutes?" Tyler scolds, "You're
being childish about this. Your team needs you."
Hannah scoffs and shakes her head, "Stacey's an amazing athlete, Tyler. She'll be fine
without me fucking her competition."
"Alright, fine. But don't tell me that your heart isn't breaking watching that," By that,
Tyler means Stacey crying and running off towards the parking lot.
Hannah sighs, "Fuck."
-
"Oh my God, look at that guy over there. He's totally checking me out. So is his cute
friend," Mamrie pokes Grace in the side, winking at the boy on the other side of the field.
Grace squints and tries to make out the two figures sitting in the Central High section.
"That boy has violet hair. And he's wearing denim capris. Are those cats on his shirt?"
Grace tilts her head, "Also, I'm pretty sure his 'friend' is a female."
"Well shit," Mamrie grumbles and folds her arms, "I ran out of contacts yesterday so for
the time being I'm gonna be legally blind. You can be my eyes, Helbig," Mamrie pats
Grace on the back and the blonde winces from the force of it, "But I'll tell you what my
vision was good enough to see... that Central High girl you beat out in the 200 and the
600m totally ran off the field sobbing. You're kind of building up a badass persona here,
Gracie," Mamrie grins, proud to call the new secret weapon of the Central High team her
friend.
Grace frowns. She doesn't want to have a badass persona, she wants to be liked. That's
what everyone wants, right? "Do you think I should talk to her?"
"What? No. Don't do that. Not everyone is as nice as you in LA, Grace. She'll probably
just think you're mocking her. Keep to yourself and you won't make any enemies,"
Mamrie says before she hears her name called on the loud speaker for the pole vault.
Grace watches as Mamrie jogs over to the pole vault section. The redhead grabs her pole,
screams "Ooh OOOOOOOOH," and sprints towards the vault mat. She gets about five
inches off the ground before her pole goes flying through the air and she falls onto her
back with an audible thud.
Grace and the rest of her team laugh and cheer as Mamrie dances her way back to her
bench section.
"Why do you even do track and field?" Grace asks, still trying to catch her breath from
laughing.
Mamrie grins and shrugs, "Always gotta try new things, Helbig."
Grace had to respect her for that. She had heard a story from an upperclassman about
how Mamrie got kicked off the drill team last year for blacking out her teeth during a pep
rally. Grace was pretty sure she was best friends with a Kennedy High legend.
The meet continues for another three hours until the sky bleeds a deep shade of orange
and sweaty teenage girls begin to pack up their things and load themselves up into school
busses and their parents' minivans. Hannah Hart, per usual, is one of the last girls
remaining on the outskirts of the track.
"You got everything under control here, Hart?" Coach Wilson asks, patting Hannah on
the back as the small girl lifts the team water cooler onto her shoulder.
Hannah grins, "Yeah, this is the last of our stuff."
"Alright, well, you get home safe. I'll see you on Monday," Coach says with a grin before
going her own way.
Hannah slings her backpack onto her right shoulder before setting off towards her car,
whistling to herself during her walk. She only gets about halfway through the theme to
Sailor Moon before she hears a loud crash.
Hannah quickly spins around and catches a glimpse of a blonde girl struggling to pick up
an aluminum trash can that's lying on the asphalt. Kennedy Girl.
"Hey, need some help?" Hannah calls out, slowly jogging towards the scene.
The girl glances up at Hannah before sighing and shaking her head, "I got it."
"No, it's cool," Hannah grins and puts her backpack and cooler on the ground, kneeling
beside the girl. "So what happened here?"
Kennedy Girl purses her lips and watches as Hannah tosses empty water bottles into the
trash can, "I kicked it."
"You kicked a trash can?" Hannah raises an eyebrow, "Did it insult you?"
When a small smile breaks out on the girls' face, Hannah feels a twinge of success in her
gut. "I was just... angry. That's all."
"Whatcha angry about?" Hannah questions, cringing as she tosses a half-empty bag of
God knows what into the trash.
"My..." The girl pauses for a moment, as if considering whether or not she should tell the
tiny stranger her life problems, "My brother was supposed to pick me up because my
parents are out of town for the week but he just called me and told me that he's at some
party and he's not gonna be able to come out here. And of course I didn't bring my wallet
to a track meet so I don't have money for a bus or a cab or anything and I live, like, an
hour away from here so there's literally no way-"
"Whoa, hey," Hannah's voice soothes, cutting off the blonde midway through her
emotional rant, "Do you need a lift home?"
The girl pushes her choppy bangs aside and looks up at the brunette, "You would do
that?"
Hannah shrugs, "Yeah, I've got nowhere to be. Do you live by Kennedy?"
Kennedy Girl glances down at the black track uniform that she still has on before
nodding, "A few minutes away from there."
"Well, great!" Hannah exclaims, jumping up from her position on the ground, "I live by
Central so Kennedy is on the way to my house, anyway. I'd be happy to take you home."
"That's just... Wow, thank you. So much. You don't even know how much of a life saver
you are. I probably would've just sat on a corner somewhere and cried until someone
came and rescued me."
"That would've been bad. Please don't ever do that," Hannah laughs before continuing,
"I'm Hannah, by the way."
The blonde smiles and Hannah gets lost in warm brown eyes and high cheek bones and
perfect teeth and really everything about the girl standing across from her. And, hey,
maybe Tyler wasn't completely crazy in suggesting that she should ask the girl out.
Maybe she could make an exception to her no dates rule, just this once. For Kennedy Girl
with the big brown eyes.
"I'm Grace."
For Grace.