Training

Coach has almost planned my entire life on a piece of paper for the next couple of months, but he's managed to leave a couple of days free for me.

"Your mother has scheduled some family time into the calendar. There's our thanksgiving holiday plans along with when she can come and visit you. If those dates don't work, just message her. She made me take some things off, but this should be enough to prepare you for the scouts."

"Thanks for creating the plan. Wyatt's very excited for her to visit. I think he misses his family and having a home-cooked meal."

"Charlie's an amazing cook and she loves taking care of you guys." He grins.

"I never thought I'd miss her cooking this much."

"You can come home whenever you like." He chuckles.

"I should come home more." I nod.

"If you don't have any questions, then warm up and head to the oval to run laps. Everyone else should be arriving soon."

"Sure thing, Coach."

I stuff the planner into the gym bag and hit the lockers to put my things away. I grab my earphones and hit the oval to warm up. I stretch my limbs and start running.

Halfway around the oval, I spot a girl sitting on the bench with a sketch pad her on lap. I jog past her and peer over my shoulder, but she doesn't look up from the page. Her chocolate brown hair frames her face, making her a mystery.

Who is she? Nobody hangs out here unless there's a game on.

On my second lap, I lean on the barrier and take a breath. She glances up through her long, thick lashes and blushes.

"Hey." I grin, a little breathless.

"Hi." She smiles.

"What are you drawing?"

She hugs the sketch pad to her chest and purses her lips.

"It's supposed to be a portrait but it's not finished yet."

"Can I see it?"

"It's not done yet."

"Oh." I frown. "Perhaps one day I can see it when it's done."

"Maybe." She shrugs.

"Do you come here often?"

"It's the first time I've been here. I just moved to campus and I'm supposed to meet someone here but I think I got the times wrong and ended up here earlier than planned."

"Welcome to College! Are you enjoying your experience so far?"

"It's only the beginning of the week and I'm already hiding from my roommate." She chuckles.

"What's so terrible about your roommate?"

"We just." She sighs. "Have different interests and it's causing some awkward friction."

"It's just the beginning of the week, you might be best friends by Friday." I smile.

"Hey, Kiara," Ethan shouts as he jogs through the rows of chairs. He places his hand on her shoulder and leans down to plant a long kiss on her lips as if marking his territory.

"Hey baby, you're here early."

"I mixed the times up, but I have my art supplies so I can draw while you train."

"Are you sure? I can meet you at your dorm room."

"Don't worry about me." Ethan glances at me, then back to her. "Okay then. I need to speak to Coach but I'll be back soon."

"Okay, no worries."

Ethan glares at me and I take this as my hint to move on. I smile at Kiara before jogging on but at a slower pace so it gives Ethan enough time to walk to Coach's office. When I make it back to Kiara, she discards her sketch pad and leans on the barrier.

Her brown eyes sparkle as she tucks hair behind her ear. She's beautiful and charming so how is she dating Ethan?

"Sorry about that," she says. "Ethan's just protective and cares about me."

I want to say something, but I hold my tongue.

"When did you two meet?"

"We met when I toured the campus and I just happened to literally run into him on move-in day. Welp, he ran into me." She chuckles.

"So this is a new thing? Hm."

"Hm?" She raises an eyebrow.

"He just seems a bit." I frown. "Protective?"

"He's just very caring." Kiara tugs on a smile.

"Sure." I nod.

"You're Ashton East, right? We went to school together but I was in the year below you."

"We went to the same school?" I frown. "Surely I would remember you if we went to the same school."

"I remember you were busy with football which doesn't seem to have changed."

"Busier if anything."

"Ethan mentioned there were important scouts coming out to watch the games this season."

"Yeah, there's a lot of competition coming up."

"Good luck, but I don't think you need it." Kiara's smile makes my heart flutter.

"Hey, guys," Wyatt yells as he crosses the field. He claps my back and shoots me a grin before looking at Kiara. His eyes trail the length of her body and his smile widens.

"Where have you been hiding this one?"

I shove his shoulder and shoot him a glare.

"Kiara, this is Wyatt, he's on the football team with us. Wyatt, this is Kiara, Ethan's girlfriend."

"We're just dating, we haven't put a label on it." He's certainly marked his territory in front of me.

"You should warm up because I've seen the training schedule and it's a killer."

"Ugh." Wyatt groans. "Can't he ease us into training? We just finished break."

"And that's why it's so grueling. I offered to let you train with me over the break but you'd rather play video games."

Wyatt rolls his eyes. "I'll see you on the field."

Ethan walks out of the office, so I take this as my cue to leave.

"It was great bumping into you. I'm sure I'll see your around."

"See you." She waves.

Kiara returns to sketching while I ponder on her. How could I forget her?

* * * * *

Coach blows the whistle and we pile around.

"Welcome back to another football season. I hope you've enjoyed your break and are ready to get back into it I've emailed out the training schedule and the dates of the upcoming games. Don't be late otherwise you will be running laps. Any questions?"

Nobody makes a noise so he grins.

"Let's get started, I want to see how many of you kept up your training over the break."

Some groan about the exercise but I could do these with my eyes closed.

Coach presses us and it's a good distraction but my gaze keeps wandering to Kiara. She's engrossed in her drawing which I'm curious about. Once training is done, Ethan races over to Kiara and steals a kiss before heading to the changing room.

I join the team in the locker room and manager to nab a free shower. Cold water spurts from the tap and I jerk back. I stand under the water and run my fingers through my wet hair. Steam clings to the air as tiny water droplets ricochet off my body and splatter the screen.

I close my eyes and allow the warm water to run across my skin. Her brown eyes appear which makes my stomach knot. I try to wash the thoughts away, but they cling to me like steam on the bathroom mirror.