"I'm cold," I complained to my best friend Jessica while we climbed up the steep hill to the track and field stadion.
"Don't complain, Jenna" was all she said. "You're about to meet the ultimate superstar of my college, so enjoy it."
I sighed. "Listen, I realize you're proud you know Alan Webb and all, but can't we meet him when he's done running and comes back down?"
"No, because Amber and Sarah are waiting for us up there. Besides, he looks pretty hot while he runs."
I rolled my eyes and continued climbing until we had finally reached the top. Jessica led me through a small gate to the inside of the stadion, where three runners struggled on the track, and two girls sat in the bottom row of the huge bleachers.
"The blond one is Amber and to her right, that's Sarah," Jessica introduced them as we came closer. I gave both girls a smile, which they returned.
"So, what do you think of our running phenomenon?" Sarah asked me with a grin while Jessica and I sat down. I turned to the track. It was obvious which of the three guys was Alan, because the other two runners were black. The "running phenomenon" had a rather red face at the moment, and his hair and workout clothes were dark with sweat.
"Umm... very nice," I said, which made all three girls giggle. Then we sat there in silence, watching Alan do his cooldown routine, walking around, stretching. He was alright looking and had very nice muscles (a thing I really liked), but after a while I got bored watching him and glanced at the three girls sitting next to me. I found it rather embarrassing how they stared at Alan, their eyes gleaming with admiration. The blond Amber was the prettiest, and she seemed to like Alan the most. Occasionally, she would let out a theatrical sigh and whisper "isn't he gorgeous?" and Jessica and Sarah would nod. I started to feel completely out of place.
Fially, Alan and the two black guys were done and packed their things. Amber, Jessica and Sarah joined them uninvitedly on their way down the hill, with me tagging along.
"Alan!" Amber smiled enthusiastically at the poor guy and put her arm around him. "You were brilliant today!"
"Um, thanks," he said, sounding like he'd rather have his peace. Amber didn't let it bother her. "Do you want to eat supper with us tonight, Alan?"
"Can't," he said, looking glad that he had an excuse. "I've been invited already."
"Ooh, that's too bad!" Amber exclaimed. "You're always so much fun, Alan! But what about tomorrow?"
"I guess I can think about it," Alan sighed. I looked at one of the black guys and saw him trying to hide his grin. It made me wonder if Amber acted like that around Alan all the time.
"So that's what you are?" I asked Jessica when we were alone in her room later. "His... his fanclub? My gosh, that's so disgraceful!"
"Why are you saying that?" Jessica was obviously hurt. "Alan is a wonderful person, and...."
"And Amber seems to be pretty good at annoying the heck out of him," I interrupted. "The guy only wanted to be left alone."
"You don't even know him half as well as we do," Jessica argued. "How can you make any judgements about him?"
"I'm not making any..."
When I heard the door open, I turned around to look directly into Amber's face. She looked pissed off.
"Are you guys arguing about Alan?"
"Yeah," Jessica nodded, knowing Amber would defend her sweetheart no matter what. "Jenna thinks we're bothering him."
Amber stared at me with cold eyes. "That doesn't surprise me. She's jealous, so no wonder she is trying to bitch around."
"That's ridicculus," I told her calmly. "I'm not bitching around, I'm stating a fact."
"You can stick your so called fact whereever you want to, Jenna," Amber spat. "You don't have the right to judge me or Alan or anyone else here, so you better shut up before I have to hurt you, alright?"
That made me laugh. I was taller than Amber and probably also weighed about ten pound more than she did, and I'd done Judo for years. There was no way she could seriously hurt me.
She seemed to realize that, and my laughter made her blush in anger.
"You're an ignorant little tart, Jenna!" she hissed. "No wonder you haven't got a boyfriend, or any real friends, for that matter. Jessica has told me quite a few things about you, and now I can see that you're nothing but a pathetic bitch!"
That was like a slap in the face. I turned to Jessica, staring at her. She looked back uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the other. "What did you tell her about me?" I wanted to know. "I thought we were friends. I thought we wouldn't give away each other's secrets."
"Like that one time in high school, when you tried to give your teacher a blowjob?" Amber said quietly behind me. She sounded satisfied. "But he wouldn't accept it, and you got suspended for a while."
My cheeks were burning. "You told her that?" I couldn't believe Jessica would do such a thing. "You promised you'd never ever tell anyone!"
"Yeah, I know..." Jessica looked down. "I just... oh, forget it Jenna. We haven't been best friends for a while, after all."
I just stared.
"Or that other time," Amber continued, "when the football players where in the showers and you sneaked in and..."
"You're such a bitch," I hissed at Jessica while Amber continued to spill everything I never wanted anyone to know. I didn't want to listen to it any longer and left the room, banging the door.
I walked around for quite a while, pissed off at my ex best friend and at that bitch Amber. I still couldn't believe Jessica had done such a thing to me. I tried to think of something to get back at them, but nothing came to my mind.
Somehow I ended up climbing the hill again that had the track and field stadion on top of it. From there, I enjoyed the fabulous sight on the whole campus and the village below. It was late afternoon, and then sun was touching the horizon already, dipping everything into an orange light. It looked breathtaking. I just stood there, hands in my pockets, trying to forget about Jessica and Amber because they really weren't worth bothering.
When I heard the gate closing with a squeak, I turned around to find Alan standing there with his sports bag, looking uncertain when he discovered me. Then, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked past me to set his bag down on the bleachers. I followed him.
"Alan!" I called his name.
He turned around, looking unhappy. "Yes?"
I walked until I was standing right in front of him, then I smiled.
"Err... it's just, I don't want you to think that I'm the newest addition to your fanclub or something. I'm simply visiting my friend Jessica for a week, and I didn't realize she was so... obsessed with you when she brought me up here." For some reason, my cheeks flushed when he gave me a skeptical look. Then, suddenly, he grinned broadly.
"Sorry about that," he laughed. "I didn't mean to be so unfriendly, but I really did think you'd be stalking me as well. What's your name?"
"I'm Jenna. It's alright, I understand. I'd probably be throwing things at them if I was you."
He laughed and sat down in the bleachers, untying his shoes. I stood next to him, somehow uncertain what to say.
"Amal and Jacob keep saying I'm way too polite," Alan suddenly picked up the conversation again. "I don't mind fans and all but it does get annoying as hell."
"Amal and Jacob?"
"The guys who ran with me earlier," he explained.
"Oh, I see." I tried to change topics. "So you sneak up here and run so they can't come up and stare at you?"
"Exactly." He grinned up at me. He had a funny, cheery grin, I realized. It was so cute that I felt forced to smile back.