Varsity Boy and The Prep

4

"Keep going, Williams! You do wanna run the 800 meter, right?"

I pushed Asher's comments out of my head and focused on the space ahead of me. My best event was the 400 meter. Asher told me on the way over, that running for longer, would earn me a spot on varsity. He'd said that he was able to do 1,500 meter as a freshman. I don't know if that was meant to inspire or intimidate me. I blocked out the latter.

"I'm catching up, which means that you're going too slow!" Asher shouted.

We were at 600 meters, so I decided to lay back until I got just a little closer. This upset Asher, as he made it to my side.

"What the hell, Emerson! You have to get ahead in six hundred to eight hundred. Seven fifty is too late, the leader will be finishing off. Now we're almost at seven. Go make up for your lost time and double your speed."

His voice, thin and breathy, pushed me forward. I imagined the lanes next to me were occupied and though Asher was shouting from behind me, I was able to block out virtually everything else.

"WILLIAMS!"

Well, not everything.

At Asher's last yell, I let go. My feet were now in charge of whether I beat the imaginary people on my left and right sides. I remembered the first time I'd ever run on this track, and how amazing it felt to be in such an open space. By now, I was used to running in this space, but each step brought back old emotions. I could feel Asher speeding up. This was a piece of cake to him. Heck, Asher could probably be way ahead of me, but he'd decided to stay in the back so he could speed up or slow down and pressure me.

I looked down at the painted track, and saw the that I'd passed the finish mark.

I'd passed the finish mark.

My hands automatically clasped behind my head, helping to let air in. Asher came in a few seconds after me and as usual, poured water over his head.

"How was that?" I asked, panthing inbetween words.

Asher's mouth curved into a smile, but a very subtle one. It was like he was trying to suppress it. "Decent. You're a good runner. Your only problem is that you slow down at the worst possible time. The last two hundred meters are when you don't hold back. You can't think that the leader always wins, and be lazy. That's definitely why she hasn't considered you for varsity."

"And you're the perfect runner?"

"Nope." he said, setting his water bottle down. "Theo could win against me, easily. I'm just much better than you."

"Hmm, better at what?"

Asher's eyes gleamed in amusement and for once, my stomach didn't churn. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I'd thought. Having someone to train with had actually been such an advantage, especially since he was on varsity. We hadn't time to get our bags before heading out here, so Asher and I stood empty handed on the vacant track, with only our waterbottles.

"I'm better at memorizing poetry." he said. "And sneaking out of libraries. Oh, I'm also better at attending school and not skipping. I have a four point two GPA. I'm French, but everyone thinks that I'm American."

I began to walk towards the dorms, in need of a shower. I could not go to movie night like this. Asher followed me slowly, gathering up thoughts of his own. Something on the side of me, buzzed. It was my phone, witha text from Gabrielle.

[GOING TO MN WITH CARSON.]

I looked back to Asher. "Are you going to movie night?"

"Are you requesting that I accompany you?" he said. "Because I'm taking Theo as my date and if he cancels, there's a waiting list. I can put you on there-"

"I'm glad that you're free."

Asher gave me that annoyingly coy smile that all boys had in their back pocket.

I was going to movie night with Asher Devreaux.

*This is a transition chapter

*Don't get annoyed at me if I portray high school track, wrongly. I actually hate running with a passion.

xoxo, Gossip Girl :)