The Recruiting Trip (The University of Gatica #1) (3 page)

She started walking forward again. “This will lead you outside and also to the indoor track.” She pulled on a large set of metal doors.

The ground changed from grey tile to reddish pink mondo track beyond the door. Aileen stepped through the door held open for her and peered around. The pictures on the brochure and school website had showed the track, but the reality of it obviously couldn’t be captured in pictures. It was huge and awe-inspiring.

Her heart rate sped and she glanced up at the large stained glass windows and seats that surrounded the track, above them. One of the large windows had a red coat soldier depicted on it. The place was amazing.

“Art students have painted the lead glass over the years. It’s pretty neat.”

“It is.” Aileen was at a loss for words. The empty track contained six lanes. Hurdles were set measured perfectly on one of the straightaways. The high jump mats were on the far side and pole vault mats were just across from her. She had the itch to settle into one of the starting blocks and race to the first hurdle. She inhaled slowly, taking in the scent of rubber, sweat and cool air.

She could stay here forever.

“If we cut across, there are entrances we can use. They are open on the inside but locked outside… unless there’s a meet or a volleyball game. They have the same painted lead glass on them too.” Coach Maves started across the track.

Aileen hesitated to cut across. This was sacred ground on pretty much any track. You never cut across, you always walked around. At least that’s what she believed. Yet, here she was, falling behind because she hesitated to break the rules? She grinned and jogged to catch up to Coach Maves.

What fun was following the rules anyway?

Outside, Aileen zipped up her jacket once again, and slipped its hood over her head. She stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and walked beside Coach Maves.

“The Student Union is a crazy hub of activity,” Maves commented. “It has just about everything, from student council activities, to study rooms; the cafeteria and also a pub with pool tables, darts, and other games are set up on the lower floor.”

A blast of warm air hit them as they walked inside, along with somebody dressed in a red coat; sporting a blow up horse they were pretending to ride.

Aileen burst out laughing as she flipped her hood back. The guy was carrying a water gun but it must have broken. The one side of his jacket was drenched and the gun seemed to only sputter a few drips.

“Beware fair maiden,” he shouted at her. “I will protect you.” He stepped between her and Coach Maves, pulling out a plastic sword and swinging it in the coach’s direction. “Ol’ Maves, I know about your treachery.”

“Sean McFarland! If you hit me with that thing you are going to be running outside for practice!” Maves grabbed at the plastic sword just as Sean jumped back and crashed into Aileen.

She lost her balance and fell to the ground. A huge POP! sounded as Sean tumbled and landed on top of her. “Oh no!”

“My horse! My horse!” Sean scrambled up and lifted his deflating horse’s head. He spun around to help Aileen. “Are you alright?” He held his hand out to pull her up.

“I’m fine.” Surprisingly she was. When he had fallen on top of her, she’d expected to get the wind knocked out of her lungs. Instead, it had felt more like a heavy, bony blanket. The guy couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds.
Distance runner.

Coach Maves grabbed Sean’s sword and bopped him on the head with it. “Sean, this is Aileen. She’s visiting from Ohio.”

Sean pulled his funny looking hat off, revealing a dusty brown mop of hair. He had cute freckles sprinkled across the bridge of his nose and bright blue eyes.

“Sean is a freshman. He’s running the mile tomorrow.”

Sean grinned at Aileen. “What event do you do?”

“Hurdles.”

“Cool.” He shot a glance at Maves and smiled as he winked at her. “You taking good care of Aileen, Coach Maves? If you want, I can take her off your hands and show her the school. I’ve got nothing till practice.”

“No classes?” Maves frowned. “That’s a lot of free time for a freshman.”

“Just Friday’s, Ma’am. I set the schedule to work with indoor and outdoor season this semester.”

Maves nodded, but it didn’t look like she believed him. “I’m taking her to lunch now but if she wants, you can show her around campus after.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to get out of that ridiculous outfit first though.”

Aileen pressed her lips tight together to supress a laugh. She could tell Coach Maves was trying to do the same.

Sean pumped his fist in the air. “Meet you back here in thirty minutes!” He hugged Maves. “I know you love me. I’ll give her the best campus tour ever!” He ran out the doors, spun around outside and came back in. “Forgot my backpack.” He raced off in the other direction.

They watched him dash around and through people scattered throughout the place.

“Is he always…” Aileen let her voice trail off. She wasn’t sure what to say. Hyper? Spastic? Crazy?

“Pretty much.” Maves chuckled. “He’s a good kid. His heart’s in the right place and he’s a decent runner. Slightly on the crazy side, but there’s never a dull moment when he’s around.” She began walking through the busy hallway and then stopped for a moment. “It’s just occurred to me that I didn’t ask you if you wanted to go off with him? I’m sorry, I should have asked. It’s hard not to get caught up with silly Sean.”

“Sean seems great. I don’t mind. I’ll go with him.” She was pretty sure Sean’s version of the campus visit would be a whole lot funnier than a proper drawn out one. Also, at least with Sean, Aileen could say she’d seen enough if she was getting cold. He could just show her the interesting buildings and skip all the boring stuff.

Maves pulled out her phone and began texting. “I’ll let Coach Anderson know. What do you feel like for lunch?”

They headed into the cafeteria, ordered lunch and settled at a table.

“Are you enjoying your senior year of high school?” Maves asked.

Aileen finished a bite of her sub. “It’s going by so fast. Becky, she’s my best friend, keeps saying graduation is going to be here before you know it.”

“Does Becky run track?”

Aileen shook her head and giggled. “Not unless she’s running to a store to grab a new song track. Becky’s into music, big time. Sports, not so much.” She thought about Becky. They had been best buds since first grade. Would college change things between them?

“Does Becky have plans for after graduation?”

“She’s in this band. They’re really good, actually.” Aileen pointed to her backpack. “I have them on my iPod. Beck’s already been accepted to the University of Ohio. She’s going to major in music. One of the guys in the band enrolled as well and the other two are going with them so they can keep playing together.” She had realized after last summer there was no way they would be going to university together. It sucked, but they had promised each other it would work out. They would never lose touch and be best buds forever, maids of honour at each other’s weddings, godmothers to their kids, etc... They had it all planned out.

“She sounds interesting.”

Interesting was definitely not the word she would have used to describe Becky. Aileen laughed. “She’s crazy.”

“Like Sean-crazy?” Maves raised an eyebrow.

“Probably close.” Aileen grinned. She liked Maves.

“Then she will be the best and strongest of friends who will never let you down.”

Aileen turned around to see who had spoken the words.

Sean stood, arms crossed, now dressed in a pair of jeans and U of G track sweatshirt. He shrugged and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Don’t look so surprised. Crazy people are beyond loyal.”

Maves gave a disbelieving nod. “Don’t scare her, Sean. The purpose of a recruiting trip is to convince an athlete this is the place for them. Not have them running for the hills as fast as they can.”

“Does he always spout prophecies?”

“Sometimes,” Maves said. “The odd time just before a cross country race and I think I’ve heard him once or twice this indoor season.”

“Why kind of things does he say?”

Sean cleared his throat. “I’m right here, ladies.”

Maves stood and ruffled Sean’s hair. “I know, kiddo.” She winked at Aileen. “Have fun you two, I’ll see you at practice.”

As Maves headed out of the cafeteria, Sean slid into her empty seat. “Are you still eating?”

“No. I’m done.”

“You only ate half your sub!”

“They’re huge.” She pushed the plate toward him. “Do you want the other half? I haven’t touched it.”

He reached for it. “Well, if you can’t eat it…” He picked it up and took a bite. “I’ve never done as much training before. High school was nothing compared to this. I’m starving all the time.”

“Did you run with a track club in high school?”

Sean shook his head. “Just cross country and track in the spring. It’s crazy the mileage we were doing in the fall.”

“Was it too much?”

“No! It’s just different than high school.” He took another bite and when he’d finished it he asked her, “What about you? Are you part of a club?”

“Mainly high school, but our track coach at my school started training me all year this year. I won state championships and qualified for Junior Nationals. Then did a couple more meets last summer.”

“Cool. You’ll love university track. It’s
so
different. The school lets you pick your courses before the rest of the athletes so you can set classes around your training schedule. All the varsity athletes get to do that.”

“Do you practice at different times during the week?”

“Always around three - three thirty. For Saturdays it depends on what part of the season we’re in. The distance runners had some early long runs. I think the sprinters and jumpers usually train at nine. It’s indoor season now so things are kind of all over the place. There’s pretty much a meet every weekend. Sometimes two. The better athletes might go to one meet and then everyone else might compete in another.”

“What year are you?”

“Freshman. But I grew up not far from here. My dad swam for U of G. I’ve been going to football games and campus fundraisers since I was a kid.” He crumpled up his napkin and carried the tray to the rack by the door.

Aileen followed him. “Do you have a coat?” She slipped hers on and hung her backpack over her shoulder.

“Nah. I’ve got a couple layers on. He pulled a woolly hat out of his back pocket and a thin pair of gloves. “Is there anything you want to really see?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the oldest building?”

Sean motioned to their right. “That would be the library. It was one of the first buildings established here. I think the French built it or something. It might have been here before the university itself was even built.”

The main road in front of the Student Union turned into a walking pathway. They passed older buildings and some newer ones that had a modernist bent to them.

“The library’s just behind the nutrition building,” Sean said. “I’m majoring in dietetics. The square building in front of us is blocking the view of the entrance to the library. If you look above the square one, you’ll see the bell tower and clock. It looks like a mini cathedral.”

Aileen looked where he spoke and saw the large, now green, brass bell and a large clock on the other tower of the building. It looked like a miniature castle.

“Pretty cool, ‘eh?”

She nodded.

“Inside there are still fireplaces that work. The track team has study hall Tuesdays and Thursdays and the room we’re in has a big ol’ fireplace.”

“Study hall?”

“Freshman and transfers are required to meet twice a week to study or do homework. Once your GPA is over three point oh, you don’t have to go. If your GPA drops, you’re right back in.”

“Is it just the track team?”

“All the sports team have scheduled study hall. Some on the same nights as us, some on different.”

“Like the football team?” The post image of Tyler Jensen appeared in her head.

Sean chuckled. “Hell, no. Football has their own study hall.”

By this time they had reached the library. Sean led her inside and showed her around. When they headed outside he asked, “What are you going take?”

“Probably Biology. Or something similar. I like science.”

“I figured you for an Engineer.”

“Really?”

“Nah.” He motioned behind her. “We’re just passing the Engineering hall and I’m starting to get cold. I was hoping we could go inside.”

She laughed. “It is freezing, especially after walking by those nice fires.”

He grabbed the sleeve of her coat. “Let’s cut through then. We’ll pretend I’m showing you the building. They’re finicky and get mad when people come in that aren’t there for class. It’s distracting or something.”

Aileen had the feeling he’d been asked to leave. After the shushing and dirty looks in the library from his constant chatter, she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been kicked out of a building or two. He was harmless and nice, and pretty funny. “What time do you have to be at practice?”

He checked his watch. “In about half an hour. We’ve got time to check out the biology building if you want. It’s close by. Then we can stop by the outdoor track stadium before heading into Wavertree.”

He stopped walking. “Do you want to see the football stadium? Or the dorms? I’m off campus but you would probably want to check out Holton House or Staple House. Staple House is where most of the athletes stay, but a bunch of the track athletes are at Holton House. It’s closer to Wavertree.”

She wasn’t planning on going to Gatica so a look at the dorms didn’t seem really necessary. The football stadium also didn’t really interest her. It would be covered in snow and she highly doubted they would run into Tyler Jensen there. She would have better luck seeing him at track practice. Her heart raced at the thought of finally getting the chance to talk to him. “Do you mind if you head over to the Biology building? I’d really like to see it.” It was only a little white lie. Right?