Her feet were starting to ache, after hours of running.
Her mother had gotten sick of her pacing after the first hour, and told her to get her energy out on the track.
It wasn’t like she was overworking herself.
But whenever she thought about Annie arriving today, she got so anxious that she needed to move or she might start screaming.
She had nearly collapsed on the bench, panting, her leg bouncing still.
Her heart rate was crazy, and her breathing was getting slightly wheezy. It wasn’t great, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact her trainer would be here in thirty minutes.
The last time she saw Annie was…odd.
Annie was certainly happier than Contrail, but the state she was in…freaked Bya out a little.
And she hadn’t heard from Annie since that.
So, sue her, she was nervous.
She glanced down at her watch, a pretty manual one that Maruzen had got her.
Fifteen minutes till Annie got here.
She ran her hands down her face, trying and failing to control her breathing.
She could handle this.
Definitely.
She stood, brushing the dirt off of her track suit, and, with a second of hesitation, made her way to the front gates of Tracen.
Its not like she was scared of Annie. It was just…apprehension.
Worry that Annie wouldn’t want anything to do with her.
She made a fist in the fabric of her track suit, trying to calm herself.
She had to stop spiraling.
When a car pulled up to Tracen, she straightened.
When Annie stepped out, a mask on her face, Bya felt conflicted between jumping up and hugging her, or sprinting away immediately.
She settled for sitting there, stiff.
Annie stepped forward as the car drove off, her eyes wide.
“…Bya. Hi.”
Bya smiled awkwardly. “Hey, Annie. It’s, um, been a while.”
Annie put her hands in her pockets, looking down. “I…yeah.”
“How have you been?” Her voice was soft, her eyes on anywhere but Annies face.
“I’ve been good.” Annies response came automatically, like she wasn’t even thinking about it. She looked a little surprised at her answer.
After a few seconds, she spoke again. “I missed you, though.”
“Why didn’t you call, then?”
Annie looked embarrassed, her face flushing up. “I…thought you had wanted space. That you would call when you wanted to talk.”
Bya’s ears twitched. “But I did call. I called a lot.”
Now, both of them were confused.
“I didn’t get any calls from you the entire summer. I checked my phone every day.”
Annie sounded distressed. It hurt Byas chest, to hear Annie so upset.
“I just…don’t understand. I kept trying to reach you. I thought you were ignoring me. That you…that you hated me.” Bya quickly wiped her eyes before any tears could form.
Annie, before she could second-guess herself, pulled Bya into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry.” She murmured. “For not getting your calls. For not believing you were real. For not getting in touch before.”
Bya’s hands were down by her sides, but she rested her head on Annies shoulder.
“Okay. It’s okay.”
