Lunar Secrets

The rest of the week passed by in a blur, filled with school, track practices and Damon. Damon made it a point to make sure he saw me everyday, making sure I got to school okay before he ditched classes.

I remember asking him what he did when he skipped, to which he just shrugged, not even bothering to spare me an answer.

“Concentrate Ashlyn!” I shook my head and noticed I was a bit further behind than I had originally thought from my team, who was running our traditional two-lap warm up. I quickened my pace and caught up with Kat in the middle of the group.

“What happened?” She asked, small pants leaving her mouth as we reached the last leg of the run. “I kept trying to call you to tell you to run faster, but you didn’t even flinch.”

“Got caught up in my thoughts,” was all I said, hoping she would just drop it. The last thing I needed to do was tell Kat I was thinking about Damon. Thankfully, she got the hint and let it drop, slowing to a walk as we crossed over the line and started walking towards the middle of the field to begin our stretches.

“So you ready for today?” She asked me, a huge smile climbing on her face. “I saw the scout out front and center. He looks pretty serious. From what I’ve heard, he’s mostly interested in the runners though.”

I shrugged, bending over to stretch out my back. “It’s okay. I do throwing because I enjoy it, not because I’m hoping anything will come out of it. Same with running. If the scout can give me a scholarship, then all the better.”

Kat laughed, shaking her head as she sat down on her butt and stretched her legs out, reaching over to grab her ankles. “Only you wouldn’t care. What are you going to do next year after we graduate?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I copied her movements. “I was thinking maybe flying to the west coast or something if I don’t get any scouts to spot me. Or I could stay here for community college and transfer somewhere else. What about you?”

She paused her movements for just a second before continuing, acting as though nothing happened. “I actually was offered a full ride.”

I grinned at her, surprised to see the lack of enthusiasm on her face. “But what happened?” I asked, my grin quickly morphing into a frown.

“It’s just that … it’s all the way in Japan. And my parents are threatening to disown me if I go.”

I gaped at her. ”But that’s your dream! You’ve always wanted to live in Japan and you’re going to get a full-ride scholarship. Why are they so against it?”

“You know my parents,” she grumbled under her breath, her glare fixated on her shoes. “They want me to follow in their footsteps exactly. And traveling to a country that bombed us isn’t following their plans.”

I shook my head, disbelief filling me. “They can’t seriously be thinking that, can they?”

She shook her head. “It’s just a cover. They just want me to be around so they can have someone to boss since they disowned my brother, remember?”

I sighed, nodding my head as I remembered her 21-year-old brother who was a proud guy that left when his parents reacted badly to his boyfriend. Before his boyfriend entered his life though, his parents had dictated every aspect of his life. So Kat had this weird love-hate relationship with her brother, since she’s definitely proud of how her brother got away, but then that left her parents putting all their expectations on her.

“So what do your parents want you to do?” I asked her as I got up and then helped Kat up.

She thanked her before she answered her question. “They want me to go to Harvard or Standford, one of those ivy league schools and take over their law firm one day.”

I scrunched my nose at that. “But you hate anything to do with their business.”

She nodded her head, looking at the track where the events were starting. “They don’t care though. They just want their business to continue.”

I frowned before I pulled her in a hug. “That sucks.”

Kat hugged me back before she pulled back. “You better get going. The hurdle events are about to start.”

I looked at the field and noticed the crowd of people helping to set up the hurdles. I nodded my head, thanking her as she wished me luck before I jogged over.

xXxXxXx

“98 feet 3 inches” The proctor yelled, writing the distance down as I exited the ring, a small frown on my face.

“C’mon Ashlyn. Concentrate!”

I sighed, nodding to Coach Rob before I grabbed my discus, breathing in and out as I waited my turn for my last throw. My discus event and the 10K were the last events of the day and then we would hear the results of all the events.

“Ashlyn Green.”

I took a deep breath before I stepped into the ring, concentrating on all the things I needed to do. Swung my arm a couple times before I bent down, twisting my body before I pivoted on my foot and spun in a circle, releasing the disc out onto the field. I waited till the proctor gave me the okay before I walked out of the ring to stand next to Kat, holding my breath as I waited for them to announce my distance.

“109 feet 8 inches.”

A grinned filled my face as I turned and hugged Kat, screaming in excitement. That throw put me in second, first place having a distance of 112 feet 2 inches.

“Congratulations Ashlyn.”

“Thanks,” I said, grinning as we bumped fists. “How did you do?”

She shrugged her shoulders, although a confident air surrounded her. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Soon, the announcement system came to life, first thanking everyone for coming before they started listing all the winners for each event. “And for the girls 400 km hurdles, 3rd place goes to Kaylee Bells, 2nd place to Savanna Azalea, and 1st place to Ashlyn Green.” I screamed as I fell to the ground, a bunch of my teammates laughing as they all congratulated me. I grinned at them, as I struggled to push them all off of me. As they all moved, getting up to hear the rest of the results, a hand popped out in front of my face. I raised my eyebrow as I looked up at Damon, though I still took a hold of his hand and he helped me up.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, quirking an eyebrow up at him as I waited for his response.

He just shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pocket. “Blake and I heard that you and Kat were in today’s meet and decided to come and support you.”

“Blake?”

I scanned the crowd for the hyperactive kid. Damon pointed over to where Kat stood, Blake talking to her as they both stole glances at us. “What are they talking about?” I asked, though I didn’t expect a reply as I walked over to the two with Damon in tow.

“Congrats Ashlyn,” Blake told me as he pulled me into a hug. I laughed, hugging him back.

“Thanks.” We continued making small talk until Kat’s event was announced. “Finally, for the 10k run, we have Marisa Bethel for 3rd place with Katherine Fujita and Kristen Almeida tying for first place. Congratulations to all the participants.”

I squealed as I hugged Kat upon hearing her full name being called over the speakers. “I knew you could win.”

She smirked, hugging me back before pulling away. “Looks like princess over there isn’t too happy though,” she said, her gaze directed over at Melissa who was pouting in the corner. I laughed, bumping hips with my best friend.

“C’mon. We got more important things to do than bugging the captain,” I said, hooking my arm with hers and turning to the guys. “Would you like to come with us?” I asked them.

“Where?” Blake asked suspiciously, though the humor in his eyes was evident.

“To celebrate of course,” I told him, a smile on my face.

But before he could answer, a guy in his mid-twenties approached us, dressed in a red and white polo and khaki pants with a smile on his face.

“Katherine Fujita and Ashlyn Green?” He asked, nodding in greeting to Blake and Damon before turning to us.

“Yes?” I answered, though it came out more like a question.

He held his hand out as he continued talking. “My name’s Mark Matthews and I’m with the University of Oregon.” I took his hand, shaking it before Kat did the same.

“I just wanted to congratulate the two of you on your success today and I must say, I’m impressed with your performances today.”

“Thank you,” Kat and I said in unison. I glanced at Kat out of the corner of my eye and couldn’t help but smile when I noticed the ridiculously big grin on her face.

“Your coach told me that the two of you are currently seniors this year. The University of Oregon would be honored to have the two of you join our team next season.” He gave us both cards with his name on it, along with a phone number, e-mail address and a website. “We’ll be in contact, but I just wanted to let you girls know you’ve definitely caught our attention.”

After thanking and saying our goodbyes to the scout, we turned to face the boys, only to be thrown into a group hug.

“Now we really have reason to celebrate,” Blake cheered, pulling back to grin at the both of us.

I nodded my head, the smile never leaving my lips. “Let’s meet in an hour. I need to shower,” I told the guys, quietly laughing to myself as the guys rolled their eyes.

“Where should we meet?”

I thought about it for a second before I gave them a goofy smile. “The Lotus.”