Player (Grayson Dolan)

1 - 58 Seconds

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Emily
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As I lined my feet with the metal starting block, my hands rested right behind the white painted line. The pavement of the track slightly burning my hands from the beating sun above my head.

I looked around at the girls next to me, knowing they weren't any competition. "Alright, when I blow my whistle, you're gonna run around the lap as fast as you can. Fastest time gets to lead warm ups tomorrow." The coach said as she stood in the grass just to the left of us.

I drowned out all of the noise around us and focused on trying to beat my record. 59 seconds is all it takes. You can do this.

When the world around me turned to a hum, I heard her whistle go off, my feet running, one after the other, all the way straight, first place, then curved, first place, then straight again, keep going, and curve again, don't look back, until I got to the white line, not slowing down until I passed that line.

"Brookes. 58 seconds. Nice job." I smiled panting out of breath, excitement running through my body as I had just beat my best score by two seconds.

She told the rest of the girls their times and then dismissed us to the locker rooms. "Emily. Stop making us look bad." My best friend said as she wrapped her sweaty arm around my also sweaty shoulder.

"Oh please Malia, you just ran the second fastest on the team. Nobody thinks you look bad." I said as we walked into the locker room, sitting down on the bench and taking a drink from our water bottles.

"Wanna come over to my place? Have a girls night?" She wiggled her eyebrows making me smile at her.

"Oh well of course. It is Friday." I stripped off my tank top leaving me in just a sports bra.

"Girl, you're smoking hot. I have no idea why some guy hasn't tried to swoop you yet." She said as she untied her dark, thick, curly hair. Something on her I've always admired most.

"It might be because one, most guys here are douche bags, or two, I turn down every guy, because I need no distractions." I grabbed my shower stuff and walked towards the shower, making it colder than normal.

"I don't know how you do it, they're all so tempting." She said as I kicked off my shoes and socks then closed the shower curtain.

"Mental readiness. I prepare myself for the most outrageous outcome, and when one happens, which it usually does, I know what to do." I slipped off my clothes and let the semi cold water consume my body, letting the sweat fall into the drain.

I hummed a song that's been stuck in my head the passed two days, I just can't remember what song it is.

Once done with my shower, I dried myself off with my large royal blue towel and slid on white shorts a sports bra because it's the most comfortable, and a red T-shirt.

"Malia. Hurry up." I said once I stepped out of the shower.

"Almost done." I heard the water turn off and then waited a minute for her to come back out.

"Guys. Did you see Grayson come to the track with his friends? They literally just stared at Emily running." Andrea said "I'd fuck all three of them without a doubt."

"At the same time?" Some freshman asked, I never remember her name.

"Shit if I got the chance to, Sure." A few girls started to laugh and Malia cringed as she walked out of the shower, drying her hair with the towel.

I ignored the rest of their conversation and gathered my clothes from my locker, putting them in my gym bag.

"Ready?" Malia asked as she pulled out the keys to her car.

"Yeah."

We both walked out and went to her car, getting in and thankfully driving away from this school.

"I can't wait to go home, lay in my comfortable bed, and pig out with my best friend." I laughed at her and turned on the radio for the rest of the drive to her house.

As she drove down the street to her house, I saw four guys standing in the col de sac throwing a football and talking loudly.

"Great. Thing 1 through 4 are out today." She said as she pulled into her driveway right before reaching the hormone enraged boys.

"I don't know how you've managed to live across from them since elementary school." I said as I grabbed my bag from her back seat and opened up the car door.

The four guys immediately started catcalling and whistling, then I looked over and saw Grayson, head of the douche bag society, throw the football in her yard, then jog over to us and grab it.

"Ladies, looking as beautiful as ever." He winked at me and we cringed then walked towards the front door. "C'mon. I'm having a party tonight. You guys should come." He looked at Malia, then back at me and she rolled her eyes walking inside.

"You know, if you weren't such an ass, maybe we would." I winked back at him and walked inside, closing the door behind me.

"God! He's so hot and aggravating! I literally hate him." She said as she threw herself on the couch.

"No, he's so annoying, it makes him unattractive. I don't know why girls swoon over him." I said as I sat next to her.

"You cannot tell me he's not hot. I'd fuck him if he wasn't a douche." I cringed at her and she laughed.

"You're disgusting. Yes, he's good looking. But in no way, shape, or form would I have sex with him. Who knows what STD's he has."

I heard a loud thud on the roof and then the boys yelling.

"I swear to the lord above, if these boys don't quit their shit." Malia and I stood up and walked outside to the four boys standing in her front yard.

"What are you doing?" I asked and Grayson walked up to me, a smirk on his face.

"I'm trying to flirt with you. It was all a ploy to get you to come talk to me." He winked and I rolled my eyes, looking up at the roof to try and see the ball, at least I assume.

"Grayson, leave my friend alone." Malia said, standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Come to my party." He said as he ran his fingers through my slightly wet hair. "And we need our ball back."

I glared at him and he winked at me, then I took a step away from him. "Fine, one of you come with me to get a ladder." Malia said as his friend, Matt followed her to the backyard, smirking at the other three.

"Gray, we're going back to your place. Have fun with your little girlfriend." The two boys walked away and then Grayson raised one of his eyebrows.

"You're really good... At track, I mean."

"I know. I don't need your compliment." I snapped and he chuckled at me. His pearly white teeth sparkling in the sunlight.

"Why do you hate me so much?" A permanent smirk on his face, making me want to smack him.

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"You like me. You always have." He crossed his arms and smirked, thinking he got me figured out.

"I have never liked you, nor will I ever like you." I defended. "You don't deserve the attention you get. It goes straight to your head."

"Ouch, Babe." He dramatically held his hand over his heart and closed his eyes.

"That's the point." I said as I walked away from him and back into Malia's house.