𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀

ᴘɪɴᴇ-ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ

-Gabriella, 18-

I woke up via somebody flicking my forehead. Hard.

"Ow." I mumbled, and blinked my eyes open to see a group of people crowded around me.

I panicked for a second, until I registered the faces as being a worried Molly, Coach Jess, Jade, the red-haired girl Samantha, a woman I was sure I'd seen somewhere before, and, of course, Lex. From the pleased little grin on her heart-shaped face, Lex had definitely been the one who had flicked me awake.

"What happened out there, Gabriella?" Coach Jess asked me, anxiety creasing her brow. I opened my mouth to apologize profusely for my slip up, but she cut me off. "And don't you dare try to apologize for coming second. That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it. I'm asking why you passed out? Are you sick? Have you been training too hard? Did you eat enough this morning? Get enough sleep?"

"I'm fine." I groaned, and set up properly on the break-room sofa with the help of Lex. "I'm not really sure what happened."

"It's a real shame." The woman who I vaguely recognized sighed, taking a step back. She was wearing a clean-cut black suit, and her brown hair was slicked back into a perfect bun. There was a lanyard for Oakgreen Uni strung around her neck. Yes, I did recognize her: she'd attended most of my running events over the past few months, with her strange clipboard, taking copious notes. It had made me uneasy at first, but she always gave me a small smile when I caught her staring, and her and Coach Jess often had pleasant conversations while I ran, so I knew she had no strange motives. "But, of course," She waved her hand as if to dismiss a thought, "Getting sick is inevitable. Jess, I'd still be happy to have that conversation."

I looked over to my coach in confusion.

She only beamed.

"I think that would be a brilliant idea. Everybody out. We'll be in the stand outside when you need us, Gabriella." Coach Jess announced, and shooed my team-mates and Lex out of the room. Lex made a phone signal as she left, and mouthed 'call if you need me'.

I ran a hand through my hair, adjusting a pin, as the woman sat down in a seat opposite me.

"I was going to wait until your final race to come have a chat with you, but understandably you've been signed off it now. Never-mind. And that's besides the point, anyway... Miss Scott, as you are aware, I've been sitting in on a number of your races and training sessions, and having some chats with your coach. You've probably been wondering what I was up to all this time, and I'm pleased to announce it's very exciting news." She spoke in an upper-class accent.

Disappointed about my final race being cancelled, and my fuck-up of the last one, I reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a handful of biscuits to munch on sadly. The sugar made me feel less dizzy, anyway.

"A new opportunity has arisen for talented racers like you to really refine your skills. Oakgreen and Blackwater have decided, for the first time ever, to work together at creating a new track team for just a handful of the best racers across both our universities. This new course would be held at Blackwater, so you wouldn't have to move, and would guarantee a national track team scholarship, which is incredibly hard to come by. You would join 5 other students- 3 from our school, 2 from your own- on your campus and get started by next week, if that's something you would be happy with. I've already contacted your mother with the details, and she's on board with everything. Please do ask any questions, I'm more then happy to answer them." She finished with a neat smile.

My head spun.

All this time, it had been a scholarship thing?

I blinked a few times in surprise. That was the best possible outcome I could ever have imagined. A proper professional track course, held at my own University, with students who were just as passionate as me about the sport? I had to be dreaming.

Maybe I was...

I distinctly remembered Jade and Lex catching me before my head hit the floor after I fainted, but maybe I hallucinated that.

"You're kidding." I blurted out in shock.

"I guarantee you that I'm not, Miss Scott."

"When did you say it would start?"

"Wednesday next week. We would have gone with Monday, but our Oakgreen students will need time to move their things over to their new dormitories. They've only been told of the opportunity via email this morning, so we're still waiting for two of them to get back to us."

I put the biscuits down on the coffee table.

"And what are the details of the scholarship?" I asked.

"You will get a monthly allowance, and both your school fees and board fees will be covered, as well as potential event costs. It's already been set up in your name, we just need confirmation to unfreeze the account."

I pressed my back against the sofa cushion.

"What about my English degree, though? Would I be able to continue with that? Because racing has sort of just been a school-club thing."

"You would be free to continue with your English degree, fully paid via your sponsorship." The woman smiled.

"I would... I'd love to." I stammered. "Really. Thank you for the opportunity."

"No problem, Miss Scott. More details will be discussed via email and your coach." She stood up to shake my hand. "My name is Mrs Lawrence. Nice to have met you formally."

I watched in a daze as she left the room.

With all that excitement, I had almost completely forgotten that both Luka and Will were probably still in the arena, and I had no clue what to do about it. With a deep breath, I grabbed my phone, and opened my texts with Alexia.

ME: 'You'll never guess what...'

----------------Later----------------

By the time me, Molly, and Lex had stopped excitedly chatting about the new opportunity, it was time to catch the bus back to the motel, grab our things, and get on the school coach back to the Uni, where I would spend the night crashing on Lex's sofa. 

When we walked through the arena to get to the bus stop, the boys were nowhere to be seen. 

[A/N: sorry for the short chapter. These past few chapters I feel have been a bit boring, so thank you very much for sticking with me. Things are going to start getting more exciting from now on. More tension, unearthed secrets, and forced proximity to come! Don't forget to vote: I'm aiming for 100 votes by June ☺️]