Love Me (WITSEC #3)(21)

We drove to a small dirt lot, and I spotted Keelan’s Jeep right away.

“Employee parking?” Ethan asked from where he sat next to me in the backseat.

“Yup,” Colt answered as Creed parked close to Keelan’s Jeep.

Isabelle climbed out my door. Her green and black hair was in two bear-ear-looking buns on top of her head. I had my hair in two braids. Apart from the hair, she and I were dressed the same. She was wearing the racerback Desert Stone shirt I’d gotten yesterday and I was wearing the tank. I figured the more people who saw the name Desert Stone, the more might be inclined to sign up. We were also wearing black athletic shorts. The guys also wore shorts and were wearing differently colored Desert Stone Tshirts. Colt’s shirt was a dark red. Creed’s was black. Ethan originally hadn’t been wearing a Desert Stone shirt, but when he’d seen that the four of us were wearing them, he’d given us all a fake and overdone pout. Colt had run back into his house and grabbed an extra shirt he had that was a heather-gray color.

Isabelle hooked her arm through mine as we followed the guys. Walking toward the tents, I was a little taken aback by how many people were here. Some were standing by the start line, waiting for the run to begin, and others were checking out the different tents. I noticed a lot of groups of people dressed similarly. A group of about twenty women were all wearing pink tops. There was a group of what looked like friends who were all wearing red and black. A small group of elderly ladies were wearing neon yellow. Those were just the few that I had seen first, but there were many more color-coordinated groups.

Isabelle and I continued to walk behind the guys, heading for the Desert Stone tent that was closer to the Finish banner. Each time we had to go around people, the distance between us and the guys got bigger—not that the guys had noticed, because they seemed to be focused on talking and laughing amongst themselves. When a large group of college-aged men walked through the space between us, Isabelle and I had to stop and wait for them to pass. By the time we were able to proceed, the guys had disappeared out of sight.

“I can’t believe they didn’t notice we weren’t behind them,” Isabelle grumbled.

“They seemed to be really engaged in something they were talking about.”

Isabelle humphed as she grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction from the Desert Stone tent.

“What are we doing?” I asked.

“Being petty,” she shot over her shoulder.

I snorted.

“Since they’re more interested in their bromance, us girls are just going to have to have fun without them,” she explained.

“And make them come look for us,” I added.

“Exactly! We have a while before the race starts, anyway.”

I liked this side of her.

I followed Isabelle to a tent that was advertising energy drinks and handing out free samples. We each got a sample and moved to the next tent, which was advertising and selling athletic wear. That tent was bigger and one we could walk into to see the displays of different designs. Isabelle and I went inside and began browsing.

“I know this brand. I’ve seen it all over social media,” Isabelle commented as she drifted off to one side of the tent.

I veered in the other direction when I noticed white, high-waisted leggings and a matching sports bra on a hanging mannequin. It was the high-waisted leggings that really caught my eye. I still wasn’t comfortable with the scars on my stomach. They were harder scars to bare, and I probably would never be comfortable with others seeing them, apart from my guys. Seeing how high the waistband went on the mannequin, they would cover my stomach scars perfectly if I wanted to work out in a sports bra.

The leggings I currently owned were low-rise. I always bought that style because I’d never thought I’d see the day where I’d begin to feel comfortable baring my other scars. I’d assumed I’d always want to wear a shirt or a sweatshirt to keep everything covered and the idea of having an extra layer on my stomach hadn’t seemed appealing in this heat.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” a saleslady asked as she approached me.

“Uh…yes. I would like to get these.” I told her my size. She retrieved me a pair of leggings and a matching sports bra. She told me that they had other colors. Feeling impulsive, I got another set in black. The saleslady took my card and left to ring me up at the front.

I found Isabelle holding up a teal, gray, and purple tie-dye pair of leggings.

“I love the color of these,” I said.

“Same.” She sighed, folded them back up, and put them back on the display table.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I need to find a job,” she said sullenly. “The money I made from the one I had during the summer is running out quicker than I thought it would.”

So that was what yesterday at lunch was about. “Desert Stone is hiring. It’s a part-time front desk position.”

Her mood perked up. “Really?”

I nodded.

“I’m not going to get my hopes up, but that would be perfect. You work out there, right?”

“I do,” I confirmed as we made our way to the front.

The saleslady had my purchases bagged up and returned my card. I put my card in my wallet-slash-phone-case. I saw I didn’t have any missed calls or notifications before sliding it into the slim pocket of my shorts.