Your Life and Mine

[Artemis]

Lillian rose and eyebrow. "Really chica? You'll burn it off in no time. More importantly, a decathlon? Now that's super ambitious!" she said as she took another bite of her plate. Since high school, Lillian had specialized specifically in sprinting. She left the long distance well alone. When she hit the track - or anything for that matter - her mind triggered an 'all or nothing' approach. Namely, she sucked at pacing, and it wasn't a secret to anyone. She had dabbled in pole vaulting and was decent. Not college material though. "I sure hope I, at least, stick to sprinting. Putting me in a decathlon is totally setting me up for failure. But, if we do have to do it ... I'm game!"

When they both finished up their plates, Lillian was about to offer that'd she cover the bill, but she knew Tiffany wouldn't stand for that. Plus, her extra spending money wasn't too abundant. Well, she had access to a pretty good amount, but Lillian budgeted accordingly. Old habits die hard. When Vasquez came back with the receipt, Lillian got to her feet and swung her bag on her back after putting her things back in. She followed Tiffany out. "Go back and chill out after eating, Tif? Chica, the food will go to your legs! We wouldn't those sexy legs to get bulky, no?" she said teasingly as they entered the hot sun. "Oh my god, I'm going to get sunburn! It's so hot! I'm not feeling going back to the room yet. You wanna take a walk around the track? Don't even answer, we're going. Think of it as a welcome back type of walk!"

---

Though the sun had gone done, it was still sticky hot outside. Lillian could feel the sweat on her body as she scoffed to herself. It was gross! She didn't mind it one bit when she was running or in the weight room, but just from walking around? It made her feel un-athletic. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but still. Stepping back as a skateboarder almost ran into her, she barely halted a torrent of obscenities from leaving her mouth. "Watch it!" she yelled at the boarders as they kept going their own way. "Honestly, you'd think the campus security would kick them out or something. Doing okay, Tif? I know, walking after eating sucks!"

As her feet traced the path that felt as familiar to her as her own neighborhood, the large outdoor track soon came into view. Memories came back. From running mock sprints to drilling, it was all bittersweet. Better memories than Memorial Coliseum that's for sure. The school football field was huge, and if their coach was feeling just a bit masochistic, he'd make them run up the stairs of every section and back down. Contrary to what many believe, sprinters needed a huge endurance base. The difference was how their body was tuned, which muscles were needed more than others.

Watching sports enthusiasts running around the track, she saw some teammates doing their own thing. Her eyes looked on with interest at a pole vaulter. She grinned. "Looks like some of our buddies are already getting started," she said. "Wanna chill on the bleachers? Get our daily vitamin D? The athletes lounge is over there, in case you want some shade?"​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany felt so unathletic as she walked down wherever it was she was walking. The sun had definitely left a presence in Southern California, but she was sure the likes of Lillian was used to it. Tiffany liked it better in Northern California where the sun didn't leave as much as a presence after it went down. Although, where Tiffany was from it was hot and humid and sticky 24/7. As a group of skateboarders almost ran into Lillian, she smirked to herself as Lillian damn well nearly cussed them out. Not like Tiffany was a stranger to cussing anyway, she often used colorful language whenever she was incredibly frustrated. Seeing as she had an incredibly short temper, that happened a lot more often that she'd like. "Oh I'm fine, I've been through worse!" Tiffany said, burping quietly again.

As they continued to walk down down to whatever-land, she realized that they had actually arrived at the ever so familiar track at USC! She had made many memories here, one of which being that amazing run from the most recent Trojan Invitationals. Tiffany could already feel the pain that she had gone through here, including many crazy drills and whatnot. She damn well knew it was for the greater good, so the pain she had felt was definitely worth it. Despite how easy it look, sprinting was one of the hardest things to do, ever. It required an immense amount of focus, technique, strength, and will for those few seconds.

"I think the bleachers sound nice. I am so not in the mood to do anything! I'll probably just burn off this fat tomorrow with a long, long jog." Tiffany said, heading off towards the bleachers. "You wanna come with? We can just relax and goof around and tell more stories!" She said, making the climb upwards, hoping Lillian would follow. She had a feeling something weird was going to happen, but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Tiffany took a seat on a spot relatively close to the bottom, taking out her bag and going on her phone. "Come on Lillian, the more time we have with each other, the better!"

Tiffany was just going to go through her Facebook before her phone erupted and sent her into Skype mode. It was her mom calling her! Tiffany sighed, "Oh goodness! I guess you get to meet Mama Archer." She said, rolling her eyes and answering the call. A woman that looked like one half of what Tiffany looked like (not literally, ew) showed up on the screen and Tiffany waved, with her mom waving back. "Hi mom! I've made it safely!" She said, looking over, "Oh yeah, this is my friend, Lillian! The one I was talking about?" She said, "Lillian, this is my mom. Giver of life to me and caregiver since I was born."

 

[Artemis]

"Psh, do I want to come with," Lillian mumbled to herself as she followed Tiffany up the bleachers. Honestly, Lillian didn't care where they went. Wherever Tiffany scurried off to, she just wanted to be close by. The creepiness of the thought hit her as she shook it out of her head. They were just friends - but Lillian wanted it to be more. Always had since they first met. Though she never told anyone she was a lesbian, she rejected guys left and right, telling her friends that she just wasn't interested in the guy. She did have one thing going on, but it never got past a kiss. Everything about it felt wrong. Her eyes lit up at the thought of more stories. "Deal, chica! We run tomorrow and relax tonight."

Taking a seat and moving closer to Tiffany, she looked at the phone screen. Facebook. While she never really posted anything, she enjoyed seeing pictures of her friends and their little adventures. Pictures were worth a thousand words, a saying that she would take to the grave. Totally dramatic, but totally her. "So your newsfeed is wonderful and all bu-" The screen suddenly changed as a Skype call came through. Lillian was about to ask who was calling until she read the name. She smiled though she felt her stomach fill with butterflies. She shouldn't have been nervous meeting her best friend's mom right? Wrong, she knew exactly why she was nervous. Lillian cleared her throat as she waved back. "Hola Mrs. Archer! Nice to meet you!"

The woman on the screen - essentially an older version of Tiffany - laughed. "A pleasure Lillian! No need for the Mrs. Don't need to be reminded of my page, senorita."

Lillian grinned. "You can speak Spanish? The Archer family is just full of surprises!"

Tiffany's mom laughed. "You just witnessed the extent of my espanol. Anyway, just called to make sure my little troublemaker made it to campus alright. Keep an eye on her Lillian. You're roommates right?"

Lillian nodded. "That we are! I'll keep her on the straight and narrow."

"Good to hear," Mrs. Archer said as she looked at Tiffany. "Stay in touch, dear. Love you!"

The phone beeped as the Skype session ended. She gave Tiffany a little nudge. "Your mama seems really nice!" Lillian wanted to press Tiffany about her ethnicity again, but she didn't want to annoy her friend. If she didn't answer Lillian the first one hundred times she asked, what difference would it make now if she asked again? Placing her hand on top of Tiffany's hand that held the phone, she tapped the screen. "Lets just talk. No electronics no anything, chica. Heck of a day, si? I mean, you spent it in the company of muah - yes, be honored. All kidding aside, I really missed you this summer! I was thinking of calling you up, seeing if you wanted to do a girl's weekend escapade. You know? To a waterpark of something."

Though her summer had been taken up by her trip to Mexico, there were still days where Lillian would go out to run, come back and shower, and then proceed to watch TV all day. She did summer conditioning, but that could only occupy her for so long. Her friends all worked while some of them were simply out for the summer. Texas and California weren't too far, right? Lillian could've easily made that drive.

She leaned back against the bleachers behind her as she continued to soak in the sun. She wished she wore sunblock. "Not that it matters now. The trouble makers are back in action, am I right?" she said laughing. "First week's going to be intense though. I'm sure we'll have to do time trials to secure our spots on the relay again. Hopefully we keep our spots. I've been worried about that for the past week."
​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany put her head on her hand as Lillian began talking to her mother. Not that many friends she met in college had met her mom, let alone the rest of her family. The closest she was going to get to having family here was her younger siblings, where her brother was deciding on where exactly he should play football. Her little sister also ran track/cross country, but specialized in long distance in contrary to Tiffany's specialization in sprinting. Tiffany had dabbled in everything, from the 3200 to javelin, but sprinting was where she felt at home. Her family excelled more in athletics than they did in academics naturally, but that didn't mean her parents weren't lenient with her grades. Tiffany still kept above an average of a 3.95 GPA all throughout her high school career.

"Well, that's Mama Archer for you. Nice woman, but she can be very assertive at some points. Thank goodness it rubbed off on me." She said, before she felt Lillian's warm hands on her own. She scooted in closer subconsciously, the cold somewhat settling in now. "Talking's nice. Just me, you, and the field." She said happily, watching people run around the track and play around on the field. "Well yeah, that's what I expect from making you my roommate! We agreed to be roommates for a reason." Tiffany said, listening to her roommate/teammate talk about the potential adventure, "See, that would've been nice, but I was busy for the majority of my break! Gotta tend to family while I see them!"

Tiffany thought about what exactly she was up to during the summer, which was apparently not that much beside the vacation overseas. She jogged and did workouts with other people, but otherwise she just stayed home and watched TV or hung out with friends. She did play some other sports though, mainly just helping her brother out and catching footballs for him while he worked on his accuracy. Northern California was much too far from any of her teammates, at least as far as she knew, and so she didn't really see anyone over the summer. But that was a few weeks ago, now she was back in the rhythm of school, and eager to get track season into full swing so she could show her family at home what exactly she was doing down there in Southern California.

As Lillian talked about how track season was going to begin, Tiffany snickered. "Mmm... 300s, 600s, and 1200s! All weird numbers! But for some reason, coach works it out and places us accordingly. Very weird man, but he does his job well!" She beamed, looking at the track below. "Did you get new spikes for the season? I got these sweet Nike spikes, they're like the ones from the Olympics but White! I gotta show you them sometime, they're super cool!" She beamed, she took a moment before she was going to geek out about gear.

"I also switched trainers for this season! Switched from Brooks to Saucony Kinvaras! I want to try out some Nikes sometime, a good majority of the stuff I own is Nike!" She said, leaning in closer and closer to Lillian to get her warmth. "Did you get any cool gear over the summer? I'm sure Mama Archer can hook you up if you need some! She's always happy to help." She added in, putting a hand on Lillian's arm and sighing softly. "I really cannot wait for the season to start."

 

[Artemis]

Lillian laughed awkwardly. Their coach certainly did know how to separate the mediocre from the best. The thought was pretentious, but it was true. High school and middle school athletics were nothing when it came to separating where each athlete belonged; however in college, the lines blurred. Everyone on the team was already high caliber athletes. Even so, the coach knew who to place where. This year wasn't going to be any different. No matter what new blood they received, Lillian was dead set on keeping her spot. Relays was one of the reasons why she enjoyed track. Individuals was fine and all, but the bonding that formed between the relayers ... it was something else.

Breaking her from her thoughts, Lillian leaned in as she looked at the screen. "Seriously? Oh crap..." she said as she looked at the spikes. Normally, she was a Brooks girl herself. From her running shoes to track specific needs, she always relied on that company. Loved them as much as she loved dark chocolate. However, wanting to give Nike a try, after seeing Tiffany's old ones, she switched. Sighing, she pulled out her phone. "So, we have the same spikes. Except mine are turquoise. I think. I wouldn't have copied you if I knew you went with the same ones, chica! Honest. But, you've gotta admit, they feel amazing on the feet! I slipped on some Brooks to compare them - yes they had both at a Sports Authority crazy!. Nike won on comfort. There's a weight difference though. The Brooks I was about to get were lighter, but these just felt ... right. Otherwise, I would've said sayanora to the Nike's and went with the Brooks instead. But gosh! They were expensive! A girl gets to splurge sometimes though, right? I'd rather get this then one pair of jeans from some loco designer store. Anyway, mine are back at the room! I hereby give you permission to girl handle them!"

Lillian was about to voice her disapproval about Tiffany's switch from Brooks to Saucony, but something else demanded her attention. She looked between the two as the space between them grew less. Her arm crawl and tingled as she felt Tiffany's hand on her arm. She bit her lip. If only she knew how much Tiffany was teasing her right now. trying to block out the thoughts, it proved near impossible. She coughed as she found her voice. "I-I couldn't ask that of you Tif," she said. "With the scholarship helping me out, I have a tremendous amount of leeway to buy things. Not having to worry about tuition and housing is nice, si? Anyway, what were you thinking switching away from Brooks? Their trainers - or shoes - are so supportive and comfortable! I mean, sure I switched my spikes, but ... never mind. Senorita loca right here!"

Lillian shivered as a breeze blew on by. Though the sun was definitely still hanging high above, a chill passed over her as she hugged herself. "What? It's not even evening yet and the chill comes out? This weather, so unpredictable!" Looking around, Lillian someone walking over to them. She grinned. It was Kara, a pole vaulter on their team. "Kara! Hello!"

The blonde smiled as she waved over to them. "Hey Lil! Tif! How've you been?" Kara was wearing a red tank top and a pair of compression shorts. Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail as she settled on the bleacher below them. "You sprinters going to try vaulting this season?"

Lillian scoffed. "As if I could fly on a stick," she said. "I still don't understand how you people get so high off! I mean, you have a large stick--"

"Pole, Lil."

"Yes, yes. A pole. But, you get so much air. So ... landing's got to be difficult?"

Kara shrugged. "I could say the same about you sprinters. Those times you clock in. Jesus."

Lillian grinned as she nudged Tiffany. "There's nothing to it, right Tif?"

Kara rose a thin eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Nothing to it. Just like that huh?"

Lillian nodded. Of course there was so much more to sprinting - the training, lifting, and the drills on working on starts - but Kara didn't need to know about all of that. She figured pole vaulting had its own nuances. What just transpired was friendly banter. "Just like that, Kara."​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany shrugged, not really sure why she switched. "I liked the Saucony ones better. They were more comfy, and lightweight, but a bit more pricey." She said, chuckling to dismiss it. Tiffany had different needs that she needed to cater to as a sprinter, and she didn't exactly want to get a shoe meant for a long distance runner. That would just mess her up pretty badly, especially in high volume and intensity workouts where she needed to use the extent of her fast-twitch muscles. The lighter the shoe, the better. Tiffany did like her cushioning though, but not to the point where it was like Nike Freeruns, last time she trained in those she had the worst shin splints.

Tiffany shivered slightly as the cold came in, scooting in even closer to Lillian to make sure she wasn't freezing or anything. The Asian really did not like the cold at all, if she were anywhere colder, she would be dying. Ice baths were also something Tiffany loathed with a passion, but due to the caliber she was competing at, ice baths were must. Her reactions whenever she took a step into that tub was priceless, and something everyone should see at least once in their life. Tiffany really did like this though, just her and Lillian. Even though it was getting too cold for her liking, Tiffany appreciated the heat between her and Lillian.

Before Tiffany could finish thinking about what else she was going to do here, a teammate happened to come by. It was the one and only Kara! Their favorite pole vaulter, or at least the only one they talked to. She greeted her friend, and shrugged as she asked if they were going to dabble in pole vaulting or not. Tiffany allowed Lillian to talk, and kinda embarrass herself as the veteran pole vaulter corrected her on her terminology. Tiffany chuckled and shook her head, tsking disapprovingly. She spaced out a bit before she heard her name called up, where she had the most bewildered face. Tiffany tried to remember what exactly she knew about pole vaulting, but didn't know much as her high school didn't exactly carry it.

"I think there's something, but I'm not sure what exactly it is." Tiffany then looked at Kara with a questioning look. "What about you, missy? Are you going to try to dabble in sprints? I am positive it will help you in your approach. Take it from the girl who jumped in high school!" Tiffany chuckled and stuck her tongue out at Kara. "I kid, I kid. You do you, Kara, and we'll cheer you on as teammates! Yay!" She did a little cheerleader pose thingy. "Lil, you think it's time we head back to our dorm? We still gotta finish decorating."

 

[Artemis]

Lillian nodded as she got up, stretching her legs from the sitting. "Sure thing, chica," she said. "You have my number Kara. Lets meet up before the season gets underway, 'kay?"

Kara nodded. "Sure thing!" she said as she began to walk back to her solo training. Gosh did she make Lillian feel like a slacker. "Catch ya later Lil. You too Tiffany!"

As Lillian watched the girl walk away, she nodded towards the stairs. "Let's get going then, chica! Like you said, we've got some decorating to finish. That stuff ain't going to do itself now!"

---

Never had her lungs burned so bad. Well that was a lie. Lillian was decelerating as she finished off one of the time trials that coach demanded she do. It was a simple 100m sprint. Right from the starting block, she just had to reach the line and that was that. The conditioning she did over the summer had paid off. She was sure of. Even after their warm up run and the previous time trials before, she was still steady and ready to go. As her top speed became a slow jog then to a steady walk, she made her way back to the starting point as she placed her hands behind her head. Taking deep, steady breathes, Lillian tried to get as much air into her body as she could. Not knowing if it actually did anything or not, this little ritual of hers helped her recover faster. Mental thing she supposed.

When she got back, Lillian walked over and snatched up her water bottle. Popping open the cap, she took a sip of the cool water. Thank god for thermos sports bottles. She had the Under Armor Twilight blue bottle. While the cover was made of plastic, the bottles body was made out of metal. She supposed the metal had something to do with the insulation. Walking over to her coach, she looked at the clip board. "How was it?"

Looking from his clipboard, the coach shrugged. "I've seen better. Decent though."

Lillian looked at him expectantly. "Time?"

Coach Knight looked up from his clipboard as he stared at her through his sunglasses. "Lillian, it's these are time trials. Haven't shared them since I started, and I'm not about to start now," he said. "But, you were decent. Get some water, stretch out. Do a slow walk. One more trial to go."

Sighing, Lillian took once again to the track as she started to walk. Feeling the sweat stick to her clothes, she groaned. It was already hot outside, and the extra humidity wasn't helping. If it weren't for the Texas heat she had to deal with when she wasn't here, she was sure she'd keel over. Seeing the other runners ahead of her and behind, she found Tiffany and slowly made her way over. "Damn Tiffany," she said through breaths. "For coming off of summer, you still haven't lost your edge at all. I barely caught up with you. Ready for our last time trial? I wish the Sir Knight would tell us our times."

As they walked past the throwers, Lillian watched them as they threw hammers, shot puts, and discuses at their pits. In comparison to her, they were huge. She supposed the extra mass aided their momentum that propelled the heavy objects forward. "So, I don't think we're going to throw right?" She gestured to her body. "Do I look like a thrower to you? I wish coach would just tell us what else we'll be doing."​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany waved goodbye as they departed from the stadium, happily on their way back to decorating their dorm. Tiffany wasn't really sure what exactly decorating would entail, but it was sure as hell going to be fun! Tiffany smiled as she slowly made her way down the stairs, sighing as she did so.

--

Tiffany pulled on her ankle as she raised up into a flamingo sort of position, stretching her quadriceps one last time before she ran yet another time trial. She jumped up, knees to chest to get the blood flowing into her legs once again. She had done many time trials in the day, but that was no excuse for her to perform worse. She took a deep breath before she took her mark, stepping forward and getting set up on the block. Tiffany knew it was a bit tedious to other people, but she had a whole bunch of rituals she had to do before she raced just to give her a sense of security. As she got settled on the blocks, she put a leg up and kicked like a mule, before repeating the motion with the other leg. Her metal spikes dug into the starting blocks, hoping they would set in nicely on the track as she prepared to run a time trial in the event she specialized in the most.

As an assistant coach told them to get set, Tiffany raised her hips and legs and took a deep breath. It wasn't to the point where her legs were totally locked, but it was just enough to allow her a very good start. The way she coiled in her set position was pounded into her throughout her career in track, starting in her freshman year where things really started to get serious. She waited patiently, waiting for the two letter word that would send everyone down the track to run a 100m as fast as they could. "Go!" The assistant coach shouted, causing Tiffany to shoot off the block with a very exaggerated step, arms swinging as hard as they could as she exhaled to improve reaction time.

For the first thirty meters or so, she would have to continue doing a motion like this, also known as a drive phase. This was to build up as much speed as possible from the starting block. She continued to do so, before she was naturally forced up right as the momentum did so. Tiffany continued to pump everything she had, but now she was striding wide, trying to keep as much speed as she could as she approached her top speed and maximum amount of velocity she could produce in this sprint. This was one of the hardest things for Tiffany to do, but she had to keep doing so for another 30 meters in order to have enough speed to carry her through the next phase. Despite what it looked like, sprinting wasn't just primarily sprinting the entire time. Nobody could sprint at top speed for the whole 100 meters, so there was definitely a lot of technique involved in doing so.

Tiffany eventually entered the deceleration phase, where she hit her top speed and had to relax now. This was important to avoid pressing herself and straining herself. This technique was taught to her during her freshman year, and it had been one of her favorite tools to work on since she learned it. Tiffany began floating, carrying her momentum through the last few meters of the race. She didn't care who she was in front of, or who she was behind. She had her own race to run and her own game plan to carry out. Sprinting was not the easiest thing to do in the world, people trained twenty plus hours a week just for ten seconds. A lot of technique went into this, but a lot of people failed to realize just how important that technique was.

As she crossed the finishing line, Tiffany decelerated into a walk, eventually to a complete stop as she turned around and began walking back to the starting line. She had her hands on her head, breathing in heavily to regain her wind. The offseason workouts she did definitely helped, as she was breathing easy and didn't feel completely destroyed after an all-out sprint like that. Her face was partially red, but that was normal for a task as strenuous as this. She was only wearing a white sports bra and compression shorts, knowing that today was going to be a particularly hard day and she needed all the air against her sweat as much as possible. She eyed Lillian for a bit, before seeing the other runners in front of her. If she was to guess, she was the first one past the line, registering a fast time for the 100m.

The sprinting specialist allowed her teammate, Lillian to ask how she did. Of course, Coach Knight answered in the same way he always did regarding time. Once Lillian left, she walked up to the coach. "How'd I do, coach?" She asked curiously, taking in deep breaths. "I've seen better from you, Archer. But not bad." He simply said, before waving her off. Tiffany nodded and jogged to her water bottle, taking a small sip of the deliciously cool water. She swallowed it before putting it down and proceeding to walk a lap around the track, making sure she was going to be ready for the next time trial.

She was pleasantly startled as Lillian caught up to her, who was breathing quite a bit. "You're not doing so bad yourself, Lil! Once we really get rolling I'm sure you'll be even better!" She said, holding her arms up and continuing to breathe. Tiffany's toned abdominal region really glistened for some reason, but that was probably because of the sweat shining in the sunlight. "Damn right I'm ready!" She beamed, before Lillian talked about times. "I think I ran an eleven-two. I'm not too sure though, too lazy to think." Tiffany said, waving it off.

As she looked at the throwers, Tiffany shrugged. "I don't know, maybe not with their equipment. But with lighter equipment we might have a better chance at being competitive." She looked down at the pink track as she continued her cooldown. "Coach has a weird way, but he makes things work well." All head coaches Tiffany ran under had a weird, magical way of putting together rosters and depth charts for their team. Tiffany had held the role as anchor for their 4x100m team since their formation, and Tiffany didn't want it any other way. She really did like how Lillian was very close to her in terms of speed though. At some points, Lillian actually did outrun Tiffany, and she was unbelievably proud of her when she did so. "What do you think the next time trial is? We've already done a few... I'm betting it's the 400."

 

[Artemis]

Lillian rolled her eyes as the two kept on walking. The coach did have his ways. Methods that worked. When she was still a freshman, she was skeptical about everything coach did. She never understood why he placed her in events that she had no business being in. Throwing for one. However, if there was anything positive about it all, it kept things fresh. While she still concentrated on her sprinting, she couldn't deny that she had fun with the other events as well. Distance? She hated the actual running, but the change was nice. "We have one more I think," Lillian said as she thought about it. The 400 was feasible choice. They had done the 100 and 200 already. "Yeah, the 400. Dreadful that it's last. Wish the 100 was last. Oh well. Whatever coach wants, si?"

As they approached coach, Lillian exhaled as she scoffed her feet against the ground, did a few tiny jumps, and leaned from her left hip to her right. It was a pre-run ritual she always did. Her little dance she thought to herself as she smirked. "Last one coach?" she asked Coach Knight as he held his clipboard. That gosh darn clipboard. She wanted to know her time!

"Yup," Coach Knight said. "You ladies ready for the 400?"

Lillian shoot a glance to Tiffany. We were right.

"Si, coach," she said as the others lined up. While the 400 wasn't exactly long distance, it wasn't a favorite of Lillian's. She looked the burnout and go mentality where as the 400 required a bit more strategy. Starting out too slow would kill the race; however, going crazy did as well. Settling in next to Tiffany, Alice and Becca joined them. Getting into her set position, her body launched into action as she exploded from her start.

As she fought to control her breathing, Lillian kept her 400 framework in mind. Strong in the beginning, all out when she reached the half. Though her misgivings for 400s weren't exactly secret, she still gave it everything she got. Versatility. A sweet concept, but a devil to achieve.

---

The year was finally into full swing as Lillian walked out of the lecture hall. She had heard the hype about organic being the devil. However, a few weeks in, she thought it was pretty easy. While Tiffany wasn't in this one, she didn't have too much problems meetings folks. Angela and Rick. Her orgo compatriots. She liked Angela, but had misgivings about Rick. He reminded her of the know it all jocks that strolled about campus. Always thinking they knew what was up. She scoffed at the very notion.

Taking out her phone, she fired a off a message to Tif for lunch. The track team almost had identical schedules with one another. It was necessary or they'd miss practices in the morning and evenings. Walking towards one of the campus's dining halls, she found an empty round table outside as she set up shop. Like most of the other students, she was wearing white shorts and a light blue t-shirt. Sunglasses covered her eyes as she soaked in her daily dose of vitamin D. Taking out her notebook, she began to read over her notes as she waited.​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany nodded as Lillian verified what she was suspecting all along. Not that she minded the 400m. However, the order in which they did the time trials was rather odd, since the 400m was the most energy consuming out of the three trials. Coach Knight also had a weird knack for putting her in other events. She was steered clear of throwing, since she wasn't really built for that sort of thing. However, she had gotten quite friendly with sand pits and mats and hurdles throughout her career at USC. It was mostly to fill in for people who couldn't compete, which Tiffany totally understood. She wasn't exactly the best on the team but she wasn't the worst either, enough to put points on the board for the team. "Coach knows our abilities better than we do, it's best we don't question him."

As they approached coach, Tiffany took a moment to stretch and get the blood flowing in her legs once again. Her heart rate had already lowered, which was typical of athletes of their caliber. She watched the other members of the team catch up to them and go through their ceremonies. Tiffany was ready to go, it was just a matter of whenever Coach Knight was. The sprinting specialist turned to watch Lillian perform her special rituals, the way she swayed was a bit hypnotizing admittedly, but she quickly snapped back to attention after realizing she had floated away to La-La Land.

As Coach Knight confirmed their suspicions, Tiffany shrugged as Lillian shot her a look. She was getting in the zone, wanting to get a good time so she was higher on coach's list for starters. She was hoping Lillian did well as well, so they would both be contributing points to their team. The gameplan was simple: explode, sprint, coast, and kick. It was a gameplan every single 400m runner used, but those who won did it better. As she got into her set position, Tiffany took a deep breath so she could improve her reaction time. As Coach went off, Tiffany exploded off the starting line and proceeded to commence her gameplan.

---

Tiffany was resting her head on her left arm as she spaced out during a lecture. It was incredibly boring, stuff she had learned in high school but the professor felt that it was still necessary to go over. He was droning on and on about the human body - more specifically the shoulder. The last time Tiffany was paying attention they were talking about the glenoid fossa, and the rest was history. As a matter of fact, all she had in her notebook was random doodles and the alphabet forwards and backwards. The only thing making this class not deathly boring was sitting next to her teammate, Mark, and another friend named Hailey. They often made things entertaining in their own special little way, and Tiffany definitely appreciated that.

The lecture had finally ended and everyone in the hall was pouring out. She had her notebook pressed against her chest as she pulled out her phone, receiving a text from the lovely Lillian. As Tiffany read over the text she responded with an ETA and hauled butt over there. Today she was wearing a simple t-shirt with a pair of jeans, since she didn't have time to put a cute outfit together. She was also wearing her glasses for once - glasses that she didn't really need. She had perfect vision, but she wore those glasses if she needed to make a good impression or was seriously going ADD, which happened more often than she liked. The thick rimmed hipster-esque glasses definitely threw people off, making people assume she was a nerd instead of a serious athlete.

Tiffany eventually arrived at the dining hall and took a bit to locate Lillian, walking past her once or twice before finally locating her and settling down. Before she let down her stuff she took a quick peek at what Lillian was studying. "Nice notes." She said, plopping down her "notes" on the table. "Boring lecture, knew most of the stuff so this happened." Tiffany shrugged before putting her notebook away. "What about you, chica? How was class?"

 

[Artemis]

Lillian forgot how much there was to remember. General chemistry wasn't bad whatsoever. Though she spent many late nights trying to cram for the exam, she scraped by with a low A. Organic chemistry was a whole other beast. There wasn't too much memorizing, but understanding the mechanics was pretty crucial. Lillian was staring at her paper struggling to remember what the arrows meant and what they were pointing to. She should've made it clearer. It was resonance, but a bond to a lone pair? Oh god she had to study.

Hearing footsteps and someone behind her, Lillian looked and saw Tiffany. Those nerd-ish glasses. She loved the look! If one didn't know her, Tiffany looked like a bookworm versus an athlete. A toned bookworm at that. "Thanks. Should've written a bit clearer. I'm decoding this ... cryptogram," she said as she looked at Tiffany's notebook. "Jealous! If I could doodle away, I would. But ... orgo, blah. Class was good - with all things considered. Professor did a demo. Thank god. I miss the demos from gen chem. Now, it's just lecture after lecture. How are we suppose to get this stuff? Conformations? Jesus!"

Closing her notebook, Lillian leaned back and rested her hands on the chair's armrest. "How's the day treating you so far? Been a few weeks already. Meet any creeps slash cuties? There's this guy in my class. Cute, but he's arrogant! God. I think he believes himself to be the next Einstein. Talk about frustrating. Always debating - arguing - with the professor. No curve bump up for him, chica. Nope."​

 

[nebula]

Tiffany winced as she realized what exactly Lillian was looking at. Chemistry was the worst class Tiffany had ever taken by far. She wasn't sure if it was the teacher or her ability, but she always seemed to struggle in chemistry. If it wasn't for the bell curve the teacher thankfully graded on, she would've had a way lower grade in that class than she would've liked. All the times she took chemistry since high school were rather awful, she just plain hated it. But she supposed someone had to do it... and it was a necessary part of a large amount of subjects, which she found frustrating. "Oi Chica, I would help, but you know my relationship with chemistry." Tiffany bit her lip and shook her head, "How can I help you if I can't even help myself?" She said, shrugging.

The sprinter shrugged as she tried to think of any cuties she met during her time here at USC so far. "There's Mark the Sprinter but he's a bit too.... jocky for my tastes...?" Tiffany squinted as she said the rather awkward word. As she heard Lillian describe a guy, Tiffany rolled her eyes, "He's one of those guys, huh? Someone better tell him to shut his face before the professor decides to be harsh. Happened to me once and you couldn't believe how much I wanted to kill the person. It was brutal! One guy didn't do so well on the midterm so his grade dropped like crazy! It must've took him forever to come back to passing. Poor guy." Tiffany then felt her stomach grumble and keeled over, planting her face on the table as it continued to grumble. "Ugh man this totally different season diet sucks! I haven't eaten in so long, and the food here is of... questionable and inconsistent quality."

Tiffany looked behind her to see if there was anyone she recognized, which there wasn't. However, she could feel the eyes on her. "Lillian, do you have that strange feeling that you're being looked at right now?" Tiffany posted her head up on an arm and tapped her fingers rhythmically. "Oh, my parents are agreeing to help me buy a new car! The one I have now kinda crapped out on me and no matter what I do it finds new ways to crap out on me... kinda like chemistry." The car in question was a 2003 Honda Civic, which was very odd considering their reputation for reliability. "I'm paying a bigger part of the price and they'll take care of the rest." Tiffany pulled up her list of estimates and options. "I don't know in the hell they agreed to do this, but they said any freaking car I wanted that wasn't outrageously expensive." Tiffany put her phone down on the table and flipped it towards Lillian. "2015 Ford Mustang GT. With all the options I'd like the estimate is uh... that amount ($38,209.55). But with trade ins and all that mumbo jumbo it should be cheaper! Gah I'm excited!"

Realizing how bad she must've made Lillian feel, she quickly withdrew her phone and turned the conversation toward another direction. "So how was your day so far? Hopefully it's been treating you well, Chica!" Tiffany was starting to regret talking about her potential new car, because she felt like she was being a total brat right now. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as a brat, especially with Lillian.