Page 7 of Racing Hearts

Sierra clenched her jaw and glared at Ellie. “Don’t act like you know me.”

“Fine.” Ellie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Don’t get used to being a winner. That ends today.”

As soon as Sierra huffed away, a pit formed in Ellie’s stomach. Even if Sierra deserved it, Ellie didn’t like having issues with people. Part of her wondered if she took things too far, but then again, it was on Sierra that she got so heated over a girl liking another girl. Ellie really hadn’t said anything wrong. At least, that’s what she was going to keep telling herself.

“That was fucking amazing,” Juniper said as she flopped onto the ground beside Ellie.

“What was amazing about it? I lost.”

Juniper scoffed. “I’m not talking about that lame fake race. Who really cares about that.” She nodded toward Sierra’s disappearing form. “I’m talking about how you just made Sierra your bitch. That girl didn’t know what hit her.”

Now, Ellie’s stomach hurt even more. She didn’t want to be the mean girl, evenifSierra deserved her wrath in this case. “It wasn’t that great. She just needs to learn there’s no room for homophobes on this team.”

“Oh, I think she learned it,” Juniper said with a laugh. “Do you think she’s super religious or something?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, either way, good job showing her who’s the boss around here.” Juniper stood up and held her hand down toward Ellie. “Ready to head back to the apartment?”

Ellie shook her head. “Go without me. I think I’m going to go for a walk and give my moms a call.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Juniper said sarcastically before sticking her tongue out at Ellie. “Tell them I said hi, and I miss them.”

“Will do.”

Ellie waited for most of her teammates to stretch and gather their things, before standing up to leave. When she was a few feet from the track, she called her mama—one person she could always count on to be the voice of reason for her.

“Hey, sweetie, how are you?” her mama asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

Her voice was soft and soothing, and it made Ellie feel like she was being wrapped in a warm hug. If she was being completely honest with herself, she could really use an actual hug from her moms right now.

“I’m good.” It wasn’tcompletelya lie.

“Okay, spill. What’s wrong? And if it’s about your mom, be careful what you say. You’re on speakerphone right now.”

“Hi!” Her mom’s faint voice came through the phone, and it was like music to Ellie’s ears.

This was exactly what she needed—a good talk from her moms. Ellie wasn’t embarrassed to admit that her moms were two of her best friends. When it came to parents, she was extremely lucky. Hell, when it came to family in general, she was lucky. Even her older brother, Nate, was pretty cool (even if she would never admit that to him).

“We had our time trials today.”

There was silence on the other end that seemed to drag on forever before her mama finally spoke. “Uh-oh. You don’t sound happy. What happened?”

“You know the new freshman recruit I told you about who’s really fast?”

“Yes…” Clearly, her mom was going to make her say the words.

“She beat me.” Ellie’s voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears. She knew in the grand scheme of things, this was nothing. It was actually pathetic to cry over a teammate beating her at a time trial that didn’t even count for anything. Plus, mostpeople would say this wasjusta sport. It had never been just a sport to Ellie, though. Ever since high school, her whole life had revolved around track.

“Aww, honey, that’s…”

Before her mama could finish, her mom cut her off by playfully shouting, “Fuck that girl!” The way her mom laughed hysterically told Ellie she was most likely getting glared at by her mama right now.

“Don’t listen to your mom,” her mama scolded. “Remember what I always say—focus on whatyoucan do in every situation. This isn’t a bad thing. It’ll help you to be even better.”

“Says the woman who is perfect at things she even hasno experiencewith,” her mom added in the background, the teasing in her voice telling Ellie that this was some kind of inside joke between her moms.

I don’t want to know.

---