The New Neighbor

Chapter 3: Pruning

 Chapter 3: Pruning

Mellie avoided the cafeteria the last two days of the week. Jake found her at the picnic table each day and did most of the talking. She listened, nodded, and made little comments without really saying anything. He seemed to like that, which in turn irritated her. She went to visit the band guys for just a short time after school on Thursday. They didn't mention anything about her changing her behavior at school. Track try outs were on Friday. She changed in the locker room and went out onto the track. The track ringed the football field where Jake and many others were starting their practice.

The track coach sat the group down in the bleachers and gave a long lecture about commitment, determination, and willpower. He discussed the various road trips the team would be making to competitions around Georgia and the surrounding states. They should expect these to interfere with weekend plans for parties and dates. The contract the team members would have to sign was stressed repeatedly. The penalty for breaking that contract was immediate and irrevocable expulsion from the team. Coach would not tolerate them abusing their bodies in any way. His requirements were lengthy and varied. The distances and amounts of running he expected would scare a newbie, and several people left when he was done. Mellie stayed.

Coach had everyone stretch out and start running to warm up. Time trails were then held. Mellie performed really well, close to her personal best. Some people were weeded out at that point, but Mellie stayed. A few of the girls smiled at her and said hello. Two of them came to Mellie's sides as they waited for their turns to run. The first said, "Hey, Melanie. I'm Lauren."

Mellie nodded to Lauren and said, "Hi."

Lauren waved her hand at the other girl. "This is Samantha."

Samantha smiled at Mellie and said, "Hi."

Mellie said, "Hi.", back.

Lauren said, "We've been running track since freshmen year. How long have you been running? You're really fast."

Mellie said, "I've been doing track since freshmen year too."

Samantha asked, "Why did you have to move?"

Mellie said, "My dad got a job at Emory. He's a history professor."

Samantha said, "That's cool," and Mellie almost laughed.

Lauren said, "I saw you hanging out with Jake Carter."

Mellie shrugged. "Yeah. We've been talking a bit, eating lunch together."

They both smiled. Lauren said, "Jake's a great guy. He's hot, but he's also nice and loyal." She frowned. "Marissa must have been out of her mind when she cheated on him. Jake never once cheated on her, and they were together like three years."

Samantha nodded and smiled. "You're really lucky he likes you, Melanie."

Mellie shrugged again. "I don't know... We don't seem to have much in common."

Lauren laughed. "You don't need to talk to him that much, Melanie. There are better things you can be doing with your mouths." She laughed again, and Samantha joined her.

Mellie wasn't sure what to say to that but was saved from having to reply by Coach calling the girls to run the longest timed trial. When Mellie came in second, she got some irritated looks from several of the slower girls. The last test was endurance. Coach had the entire group run, telling them to go until only one person was left running. After five miles, people began dropping. Mellie was going strong. She was in the last ten and the last five. At that point, it got competitive. There was some pushing, and trash talk was thrown around. Mellie was shouldered once but moved away from the pack and stayed out of it. She was in the zone where nothing could touch her. The pain in her muscles eased the pain in her heart. Only the coach's whistle grabbed her attention. She looked around and saw a girl had fallen on the track behind her. No one else was running, so she stopped. Coach smirked at her and dismissed everyone. He said the team list would be posted on Monday.