of the close proximity, they might have driven in vans. She waited amongst other family, friends and students checking her watch every few minutes. It was after nine when she gave up waiting. There weren’t many people left and she had the feeling UofG had left through another set of doors.
Disappointed she headed back to her car huddled inside her coat against the chilly night air. It had grown cold, probably below or close to freezing. The slick pavement was proof of that. She was going to have to drive home in the dark, on icy roads with barely any gas. So much for pre-planning.
She pulled her phone out and sent Carter a text: Congrats on your race! Are you on your way back?
She walked to her car and started it. The engine needed a bit of warming up before she headed out. As she checked her GPS for a nearby gas station, her phone dinged to let her know a message had come in.
Thanks! Total rush.
She giggled as she replied. I know. I saw it.
What?
I’m at NYU.
Seriously?
I wanted to surprise.
I can’t believe you came.
You kicked butt! That was an amazing race.
I didn’t see you. Too bad. We are on our way back now.
I figured. I waited but didn’t see the team.
You okay to drive?
I’ll be fine. She didn’t want him to worry about her.
Come by my place when you get back.
I was planning on it.
She smiled. She had a bag with track clothes in the back of the car. She could change into them for practice tomorrow morning if she happened to spend the night at Carter’s. He deserved a special congratulations from her.
She sent Aileen a text to let her know how Carter had done and that she was on her way home. Then she texted her roommate one more time to say she was going over to Carter’s, so Aileen wouldn’t worry.
After getting gas, the drive couldn’t go by fast enough. She pushed her little hunk of junk as fast as it would go, partially out of fear being on the road by herself, and the other because she wanted to see Carter. She couldn’t wait. She wished she had told him she was coming. Then he’d be in the car beside her and the drive wouldn’t seem so bad.
When the distant city lights of Gatica came into view, she pushed her car to go faster. She laughed out loud as she thought of scenarios to play out with Carter tonight. The two of them could break their own kind of record.
She jerked the hand brake up when she pulled into the first visitor parking spot she could find at Carter’s townhouse complex. The parking lot was full. No surprise for a Friday night on campus. Someone was always having a party. Which reminded her that there hadn’t been a track party in a while. Tomorrow morning’s practice would be a good time to put the bug out and see if someone wanted to have one. Maybe she and Aileen could have another one. She grabbed her track bag from the back and locked her doors.
She jogged along the sidewalk and slowed her pace when she was a few houses away from Carter’s. Tucking her hair behind an ear and playing with her bangs, she paused a moment, wishing she had checked the mirror of the car before heading out. She rummaged through her purse for some lip gloss and applied it.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to walk up the small set of concrete steps to Carter’s place. She paused with her hand on the doorknob when she felt the deep base of music coming from inside the house. She glanced behind her and realized some of the cars parked by the condo had to belong to swimmers. They all had a pair of goggles on the mirror as a dangly ornament.
Did she knock on the closed door or just walk in?
Carter had invited her so it wasn’t like she was crashing the party. If the door’s locked I’ll knock . She turned the knob and slowly opened the door.
A distinct putrid smell instantly filled her nostrils.
Not again.
Seriously how much pot did the swim team need? She knew a couple of distance runners on the track team that lit up once in a blue moon but these guys seemed
Disappointed she headed back to her car huddled inside her coat against the chilly night air. It had grown cold, probably below or close to freezing. The slick pavement was proof of that. She was going to have to drive home in the dark, on icy roads with barely any gas. So much for pre-planning.
She pulled her phone out and sent Carter a text: Congrats on your race! Are you on your way back?
She walked to her car and started it. The engine needed a bit of warming up before she headed out. As she checked her GPS for a nearby gas station, her phone dinged to let her know a message had come in.
Thanks! Total rush.
She giggled as she replied. I know. I saw it.
What?
I’m at NYU.
Seriously?
I wanted to surprise.
I can’t believe you came.
You kicked butt! That was an amazing race.
I didn’t see you. Too bad. We are on our way back now.
I figured. I waited but didn’t see the team.
You okay to drive?
I’ll be fine. She didn’t want him to worry about her.
Come by my place when you get back.
I was planning on it.
She smiled. She had a bag with track clothes in the back of the car. She could change into them for practice tomorrow morning if she happened to spend the night at Carter’s. He deserved a special congratulations from her.
She sent Aileen a text to let her know how Carter had done and that she was on her way home. Then she texted her roommate one more time to say she was going over to Carter’s, so Aileen wouldn’t worry.
After getting gas, the drive couldn’t go by fast enough. She pushed her little hunk of junk as fast as it would go, partially out of fear being on the road by herself, and the other because she wanted to see Carter. She couldn’t wait. She wished she had told him she was coming. Then he’d be in the car beside her and the drive wouldn’t seem so bad.
When the distant city lights of Gatica came into view, she pushed her car to go faster. She laughed out loud as she thought of scenarios to play out with Carter tonight. The two of them could break their own kind of record.
She jerked the hand brake up when she pulled into the first visitor parking spot she could find at Carter’s townhouse complex. The parking lot was full. No surprise for a Friday night on campus. Someone was always having a party. Which reminded her that there hadn’t been a track party in a while. Tomorrow morning’s practice would be a good time to put the bug out and see if someone wanted to have one. Maybe she and Aileen could have another one. She grabbed her track bag from the back and locked her doors.
She jogged along the sidewalk and slowed her pace when she was a few houses away from Carter’s. Tucking her hair behind an ear and playing with her bangs, she paused a moment, wishing she had checked the mirror of the car before heading out. She rummaged through her purse for some lip gloss and applied it.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to walk up the small set of concrete steps to Carter’s place. She paused with her hand on the doorknob when she felt the deep base of music coming from inside the house. She glanced behind her and realized some of the cars parked by the condo had to belong to swimmers. They all had a pair of goggles on the mirror as a dangly ornament.
Did she knock on the closed door or just walk in?
Carter had invited her so it wasn’t like she was crashing the party. If the door’s locked I’ll knock . She turned the knob and slowly opened the door.
A distinct putrid smell instantly filled her nostrils.
Not again.
Seriously how much pot did the swim team need? She knew a couple of distance runners on the track team that lit up once in a blue moon but these guys seemed
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