𝟎𝟏𝟕

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳
𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘂

     𝐉𝐉 is sitting alone in her office, hunched over the desk with her eyes trained on the files, but she's not focused. She stares at the words and photographs, but her mind is elsewhere, thinking of Emily. She has buried herself in work, but she feels out of place on the team.

She's completed the training and experience to become a profiler. She never thought she'd want to move up, but it was easy considering how much she wanted to be distracted. In a way, she felt like she had to step up to take Emily's place, the guilt eating her from the inside out.

Everything reminds her of what she's taken away from Noah. When she plays with her son, takes him to the park, and tucks her son in at night, all she can think about is Noah. All the things that she missed out on as a child, she's missing again. All the time that she and Emily were making up for, they can no longer do so. And JJ feels like it's her fault.

She wonders if she could have done more. Had she been there quicker, they could have saved Emily, she wouldn't have had to fight alone.

"You coming?"

JJ jumps at the sudden presence in her doorway. She looks up and sees Derek leaning against the frame.

"Hey," JJ says as she sighs. "Y-yeah, just a minute."

"You okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine," she replies and shows a smile.

Derek can see right through it, but he doesn't say anything. He lets her take a moment and waits for her with the rest of the team by the elevator.

𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆

Noah sits on the bench across from her locker. All the girls around her are joking around and talking about their races. She's the only sophomore on the Varsity A team, so she doesn't know any of the girls other than Casey, who everyone knows.

Most of the girls are nice, but Noah is too in her own head to talk to them anyway. Her leg bounces as she puts her headphones on and drowns everyone out with her loud music.

The rhythm of the drums matches her heartbeat as she steadies her nerves. She loses herself in the sound of the rock song, closing her eyes as she bows her head. Everyone moves around her, but she's completely still.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Hm?" Noah asks as she takes her headphones off.

"You okay?" Casey asks. "You seem nervous."

"I'm good."

"C'mon," Casey says as she nods towards the exit of the locker room. "We're walking out. You can walk with me."

Noah stands and hangs her headphones on the hook in her locker. She shuts it and spins the lock before walking with Casey. They head down the long sidewalk that leads to the football field. All Noah can think about is all the times when she's walked down it with Jess on their way to lunch. She can practically feel Jess' hand in hers with each step, guiding her through the new experience.

"We'll just go onto the field, grab our numbers, and then the races will start," Casey explains. "But you'll be last, so you'll have plenty of time to warm up and get yourself ready."

"Okay," Noah nods along. "Where do I see when I need to line up?"

"There's heat sheets all around, if you can't find one, just ask Coach and she'll have one for you to look at."

𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀Where stories live. Discover now