Chapter4:Lane Collision
1063 Words
The first rumor about Jace Donovan and me appeared on Thursday morning.
By lunch, there were already edits.
Not normal edits either.
Slow-motion videos from practice, dramatic music.
Zoom-ins of him catching me before I fell.
One caption read:
Enemies to lovers speed run.
I wanted to throw my phone into traffic.
Kiara, unfortunately, found the entire thing hilarious.
“You have chemistry,” she insisted while walking beside me through the hallway. “Like genuinely concerning chemistry.”
“We have mutual irritation.”
“That’s literally the foundation of half the relationships at this school.”
I shoved my phone into my bag harder than necessary. “Nothing is happening between us.”
“Sure.”
“I mean it.”
“Then explain why Jace Donovan almost murdered Tyler Greene this morning.”
I blinked. “What?”
Kiara grinned wickedly. “Oh, you didn’t hear?”
Apparently not.
She leaned closer dramatically. “Tyler made a joke about your scandal during weight training.”
My stomach tightened instantly.
“And?”
“And Jace slammed him into a locker.”
I stopped walking.
“What?”
“Mm-hm.” Kiara looked delighted. “Coach had to separate them.”
That made absolutely no sense.
Jace barely tolerated me most days.
“Why would he do that?”
Kiara gave me a look. “Because he likes you, idiot.”
“He has a girlfriend.”
“That has literally never stopped teenage boys before.”
Fair point.
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed loudly inside my bag.
Unknown Number.
I frowned before opening the message.
Stay away from Jace.
My steps slowed.
A second message came immediately after.
You’re not ruining him, either.
Cold spread slowly through my chest.
“What happened?” Kiara asked.
I locked my screen quickly. “Nothing.”
But the knot in my stomach stayed there all afternoon.
By practice, dark clouds had swallowed most of the sky.
Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance while the team warmed up across the field.
Coach Daniels looked annoyed already.
“Storm’s coming,” he announced. “So unless lightning personally kills one of you, practice continues.”
Wonderful. The rain started ten minutes later.
Not heavy at first.
Just enough to slick the track and cling damply to our clothes.
Jace jogged beside me during warm-up laps, quiet for once.
“You’re unusually silent,” I said.
“Trying something new.”
“It’s unsettling.”
He glanced sideways at me. “You nervous?”
“About rain?”
“About nationals.”
I scoffed softly. “Please. I’ve raced in worse conditions.”
“I know.”
The words caught me off guard.
“You watched my races?”
His expression shifted instantly like he regretted saying it.
“A few.”
“Why?”
Jace looked forward again. “You were hard to ignore.”
That stupid warmth spread through my chest again.
The rain intensified quickly after that.
By relay drills, everybody was soaked.
Coach paired Jace and me together again because apparently suffering built character.
“Anchor exchange,” he ordered. “And Blake? Try not to fall this time.”
“I tripped once.”
“You tripped dramatically.”
Jace snorted beside me.
I glared at him. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“A little.”
We moved into position.
Rainwater dripped down my neck while wind whipped across the field.
Jace stood several feet ahead holding the baton loosely.
“Ready?” he called.
“No.”
“Good enough.”
Coach blew the whistle.
Jace sprinted forward instantly.
Even in the rain, he moved beautifully.
For one distracted second, I forgot to breathe properly.
“Blake!”
I snapped back to reality and launched forward.
The baton slapped into my hand smoothly—
Then my foot slipped again.
“Oh my God,” Jace muttered.
This time I caught myself before falling completely, but momentum slammed straight into him anyway.
The baton dropped onto the wet track.
And suddenly, I was pressed against Jace’s chest with rain pouring around us.
We were too close.
His hands gripped my waist automatically to steady me while my palms flattened against his shoulders.
Neither of us moved. Thunder cracked loudly overhead, but neither of us moved.
Rain slid down his face slowly, dark hair falling messily across his forehead. Up close, his eyes looked almost black beneath the storm clouds.
“You good?” he asked quietly.
The same question from last practice.
Except this time his voice sounded rougher.
My heartbeat turned uneven.
“I hate you,” I whispered.
Something flickered across his face.
“No, you don’t.”
The confidence in his voice should’ve annoyed me.
Instead, it made my stomach flip violently.
His gaze dropped briefly to my mouth again.
Like he was thinking about something he absolutely shouldn’t.
And judging by the tension in his jaw, He knew it too.
The rain suddenly felt too cold and the air too tight.
Around us, practice had gone suspiciously quiet again.
“Coach,” Mason called loudly from the sidelines, “they’re doing it again.”
Coach Daniels looked exhausted. “One more romantic sports moment and I’m quitting.”
I jerked away from Jace immediately, face burning.
“This isn’t romantic.”
“Could’ve fooled us,” Kiara shouted.
I wanted to transfer schools immediately.
Jace bent to grab the fallen baton, but when he straightened, his expression had changed.
He looked more guarded like he was rebuilding walls in real time.
“Focus, Blake,” he said flatly.
The sudden coldness hit harder than it should’ve.
I crossed my arms. “You’re the one staring at me every five seconds.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You notice?”
The question landed differently than it should have.
Before I could answer, Elena appeared near the edge of the track holding an umbrella.
The second Jace saw her, his expression shifted again. Reality slammed back into me instantly.
He has a girlfriend.
Elena smiled politely at me before looking at Jace. “Coach said practice is ending early because of the storm.”
“Good,” Mason muttered. “Before these two accidentally kiss in the rain.”
There was complete silence.
Nobody laughed, not even Jace.
And somehow that felt much, much worse.
- Writer
