Chapter 23 Ch. 17.1
Zara crossed the finish line with her lungs burning and her legs threatening to give out. But she smiled. She had beaten Reina by a whole thirty seconds. That was all she needed.
She didn’t wait around for the coach to say anything. She didn’t even glance back at Reina or the rest of the team. She grabbed her water bottle, tossed her towel around her shoulders, and headed toward the track field where the track team was doing their drills.
The bleachers were mostly empty, so she climbed to the top and sat there, breathing in slowly, watching the 800m runners go through their sets. Coach Santiago stood by the sideline, hands on his hips, barking out encouragements to the boys doing intervals.
"You’ve got more in you, Ethan," Coach Santiago said. "Don’t just jog the last lap. Push like someone’s chasing you."
Ethan nodded, wiping sweat off his forehead with his forearm. "Yes, sir."
Coach Santiago gave him a small nod, then added, "You know, you remind me a lot of myself back in the day. Except I had better hair."
Ethan laughed. "You still have hair, Coach. Just... in interesting places."
Coach Santiago gave him a pointed look. "You’re lucky you’re fast."
"I know," Ethan said with a grin, jogging over to grab some water. "That’s what my mom said when I was born."
Coach chuckled and clapped him on the back. "Get ready. Next round starts in ten."
Ethan nodded and took a sip from his water bottle.
“But seriously,” the coach said, lowering his voice, “what’s with the rumors?”
Ethan frowned. “What rumors?”
“I’ve been hearing some nonsense. First about performance drugs, and then”—Coach Santiago raised his brows—“some wild vampire theory?”
Ethan blinked, then laughed. “Coach, come on. You know better than that. Drugs? Really? I’m clean. I’d never mess with that crap.”
Coach Santiago nodded. “Yeah, I believe you. But you know how people talk. We need to crush these rumors before they get any worse. If a local news station catches wind, it’s trouble—even if it’s all just nonsense.”
Ethan scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, the drug thing? I get where that comes from. I’ve won every race by a wide margin. But vampire?” He laughed. “That’s crazy. Totally unhinged.”
The coach chuckled. “Well, my daughter believes it.”
Ethan’s hand froze halfway through adjusting his shoelace. “Zara?”
Coach Santiago nodded. “Yeah. Mentioned it at breakfast the other day. Said something about weird stuff she’s seen. She stayed up doing research all night. Can you believe that?”
“Wow,” Ethan said, trying to sound casual. “I had no idea.”
But he felt it.
That prickling under his skin again. The same one from the other day. The same one he felt when she denied telling anyone. But clearly, she had.
While the coach moved on to yell at Alanis for slacking on his form, Ethan turned his head and noticed Zara sitting up in the bleachers. She looked like she was pretending to not be watching, but he saw her eyes flick his way.
He walked over, wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt. "I thought you said you didn’t tell anyone anything."
Zara looked up, her brows pulling together. "Excuse me?"
He climbed up a few steps and sat next to her. "If you didn’t tell anyone, then how exactly is your dad telling me that Zara thinks the same thing? So how am I supposed to believe you didn’t say anything?"
Zara rolled her eyes. "I’ve told you this before—kill me, okay? If that’s what you think you need to do, just do it. I'll be more than glad to be dead and away from this bull shit."
"Killing you isn’t going to stop the rumors. You can still destroy everything I’ve worked for."
Zara scoffed and stood up. "You’ve never worked for anything, Ethan. You were born with an advantage. And you know it."
She picked up her bag and began walking down the steps, not sparing him another look.
"Wait," he said, using his powers to catch up with her. He grabbed her arm gently, swallowing hard as she turned to face him.
He was right.
He had a feeling something was wrong— Zara was not herself. She wasn't the same carefree girl who was so curious and inquisitive. The lively and curious spark in her eyes were gone and replaced by something else entirely.
"What?"
Her voice was cold and not chirpy.
"Are you, okay?" He asked softly. "I mean clearly not but..."
He trailed off.
But that was the question Zara needed to let out everything that has been inside of her. She fought hard, swallowed, clenched her fist but the tears came anyway, no matter how much she tried to blink them back.
"Hey," he said, pulling her closer to him— his hands cradling her face. "What's wrong?"
"Just fucking leave me alone," she said, still unable to stop the tears. He pulled her into a hug, her head against his chest— tears soaking his tank top.
He could feel her hiccup against and then slowly she pulled back, wiping her eyes and looking up at him, the towards the track. Her father was there, yelling at the others to get ready and looking around for Ethan. .
"You should go," she said, her voice hoarse.
He nodded gently, and then his hands reached for her face one more time. "Be good."