Page 17 of Fighting Conviction
Jerks.
She would’ve been running her usual route around campus, but Jason was even more paranoid than she was and insisted she ran inside the Ashland State University gym. But half her love for running was being in the fresh air. Plus, she hadn’t even seen the Corolla since Naomi came into Sasha Saves five days ago, so the outdoor track was her secret compromise. Jason would probably still rip her a new one if he found out.
Running was part of her therapy “homework” so the track was better than nothing at all. Completing her therapeutic to-do list every day was the only way her therapist agreed to appointments over the phone “as needed” rather than in-person every other week. It’d been a hard-won fight, but it was worth it not having to waste all that time talking.
“This track is nice, but when can we run our route again? It’s crowded in the mornin’.”
Unfortunately, Ellie’s roommate hadn’t gotten the “no talking” memo. Ellie’s campus runs had been soothing the first couple of weeks. But when Virginia found out her exercise routine, she insisted they run together at the butt crack of dawn this semester. Feeling guilty for declining every other invitation Virginia extended, Ellie figured she had to run anyway, might as well make Virginia happy, too. Couldn’t hurt, right?
Wrong.
Every morning, Virginia blasted “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers in the dorm, and sang loud as heck until Ellie was forced to go running with her to shut her up. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, every day, Ellie suffered in silence with someone who insisted on not listening to music so they couldtalkand ‘get to know each other’for 3.1 miles. What used to be meditative was now one scream away from feeling like torture.
Ellie’s side seized and she nearly tripped from the pain. Slowing down, she breathed deeply through the stitch, ending the breath on a frustrated groan. She was dragging from staying up to study for her midterms. What sucked the most was her exhaustion might not even have been worth it. She had no memory of what she’d studied for and she’d woken up with a crick in her neck from her cheek being plastered to a pool of drool in her textbook.
“…Then I think I’ll go into the history surroundin’ Ashland State U. Oh, hey, you okay?” Virginia slowed and circled back to Ellie, her eyes narrowed in concern.
Ellie nodded before putting her hands on her head and dodging runners to step off the track to stretch out the cramp. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. What were you sayin’? About your university tours?”
She didn’t particularly want to hear more about Virginia’s ASU job, but she also didn’t want another nursing student examination. The girl was smart, but Ellie couldn’t take another worst-case scenario diagnosis. If Virginia told her one more time that an injury was a sign of impending death, Ellie was going to have to follow through just to put herself out of her misery.
“Well, if you’re sure…” She watched Ellie for a second longer. After seeing whatever she needed to ensure Ellie wasn’t gonna die there on the spot, she nodded. “Right, where was I? Oh, maybe I should tell them about how delusional our professors are. Like Novikov last time you jetted from class?” Virginia’s back straightened and she pretended to look down invisible glasses. “Miss Stoooone, your peers are interested inlearning.” She laughed at her own terrible impression and Ellie couldn’t help but grin. “Like any of us ever want to be there, amiright?”
“I don’t think you’ll persuade too many students to apply with that story.” Ellie huffed. “But your southern-Russian accent combo kinda sounds like you’ve had too many vodka crans, sooo that’s fun.”
Virginia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those kids aren’t listenin’ anyway. It’s all about gettin’ the parents.” She snapped. “Maybe I’ll get the parents with the story, and the kids soundin’ at nine a.m. on a Tuesday.”
Ellie outright laughed and immediately felt a stab of guilt in her chest. Virginia reminded her so much of Sasha. It felt like betrayal to enjoy her company.
Virginia didn’t seem to notice. “I’m thinkin’ of usin’ one of my class assignments as a history lesson. My University 101 seminar is doin’ a project on Ashland County and my topic is Hatcher Gardens. You’re from here, right? Ya know it? Maybe I’ll put you in my bibliography.”
Virginia laughed at her joke, but Ellie’s heart clenched worse than the slight stitch in her side. “The neighborhood? Uh… yeah. I think it’s mostly abandoned houses and addicts now, but my, uh, friend used to live there when we were kids.” She swallowed and tried to control the shake in her voice.
It felt wrong to bring up her best friend to Sasha’s personality clone. But Ellie was turning over a new leaf and trying to pretend she wasn’t dead inside. Talking about Sasha was a good step. Right? Gritting her teeth, she pushed past the ache.
“For real? You think she could give me a tour?”
“She, um… doesn’t live in Ashland anymore. Her family left a few months back.” Ellie would’ve done the same thing if she hadn’t missed her chance. The plan had always been to become roommates and live it up in college. After she’d been rescued and Sasha hadn’t, Ellie refused to open any college letters. Losing that future was too much to face.
“Damn, it’s a shame your friend doesn’t live there still. The neighborhood’s been ‘round forever. All that history… the old architecture with the root cellars and vaulted ceilings, the centuries-old trees, how it was a neighborhood before ASU was even established. Parents eat that shit up on tours. And hell, if there are ghosts, the prospects’ll eat that up, too.” A perfectly arched blonde brow raised at Ellie. “Are there ghosts?”
“This bitch is a little cray. I like her.”
Ellie tucked her chin to hide her smile at Sasha’s declaration.Of course you do.
She lifted her chin to answer Virginia. “If there are, we never saw ‘em.” She didn’t know about ghosts. The only thing the neighborhood held for Ellie now was bittersweet memories.
Her stitch was gone, so she began jogging again. Virginia joined in, keeping pace but never slowing her verbal stream of consciousness. If Ellie had to admit it, Virginia wasn’tsobad. It was actually kind of nice to have something else to focus on.
If it hadn’t been for therapy, Ellie would’ve never met Virginia, or even gone to college. With every session, Ellie realized she wanted to provide survivors with the same healing she’d received, and to do that, she needed a license to practice. If a license was what was best for survivors, then a license was what she was gonna get.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t pause for grief. When Ellie was finally ready to accept an offer, she’d already missed other college decision deadlines and Ashland State University was the only school that would take her.
Ellie’s brain stopped going a million miles a second when she realized there was a lull in the conversation.
Shoot.
Ellie glanced over at Virginia to find her perfect smile was waning as she obviously waited for a response.
