silver springs ~ c. walter

chapter 3 !

One of Dorrie's favorite traditions was her daily runs with Nathan in the morning. He'd run to her house and they'd take the trails around the Banks and Walter ranches until they reached a mileage that felt good before she'd run with him to his house and then head home. That way they'd have the same mileage no matter what. When Nathan texted her that Jackie would be joining them that morning, she was ambivalent at first. They kept a pretty aggressive pace and Dorrie needed to stay in the bounds of her off-season training plan. But, she quickly found out she had nothing to worry about.

"Did you run in New York?" she asked, elated that Jackie was barely breaking a sweat and even pushing her and Nathan a bit.

"Yeah, all the time. And I was on the track team. It's just a great stress reliever," Jackie replied with a smile.

"No way, I'm on the track team here! You have to try out in the spring, we need someone fast like you."

"I'm planning to!" Jackie seemed to get more comfortable with Dorrie by the minute, and for a moment it felt like she had her sister back. Maybe it was wrong of her to feel that way, but she couldn't help but notice how similar Dorrie and Lucy really were.

"What events do you run?" Nathan asked, joining the conversation after changing the song they were listening to on his phone.

"My main event is the 400, but I also run other sprints and relays."

"Damn, okay," Dorrie laughed, impressed. "I don't know too many people who would willingly take the 400. I'm more of an 800 and mile girl myself."

"Keep those, please," Jackie replied. "I much prefer the shorter events."

"And yet you run three miles every morning," Nathan pointed out.

"Yes, but that's different. There's no gun that makes you jump out of your skin and the adrenaline usually wears off after the first 400 so it gets harder after that." Jackie loved track, but if there was one thing she could do without, it would be the starting gun.

"True, I hate the gun," Dorrie agreed. "What else were you involved in back in New York?"

"Um, student council? I was very focused on my work as well. The end goal is Princeton, so I have to stay on track."

Dorrie smiled. She knew what that drive was like. She had started looking at schools the year prior with her mom because she was lucky enough to be scouted for track and have a family that was financially stable enough to support her choice in college. Dorrie knew that wasn't the case for the Walters and she was grateful every day for her mother and Gramps. "I actually toured Princeton and Brown last year," she told the girl. "But my number one right now is Northwestern."

"I can see you as a Chicago girl," Nathan smiled, lightly elbowing his friend.

"And I can see you at Berklee," she retorted, elbowing him right back. His smile faltered for a moment, but he knew what she was talking about. He loved his music and knew that he definitely wanted to explore options related to that, but he also knew how expensive it would be to go all the way to Boston. However, Dorrie had been sending him pamphlets about financial aid at many of the top music schools in the country for upwards of a year and he knew that she was more optimistic than him about the situation.

The three finished their run at the Walter house and Dorrie jogged back to her own home to shower and get ready for school that day. She loved the quiet of the early morning, before the chaos of the ranch reached its peak. Sometimes, she even got to see the sunrise if she got up early enough. It was one of her favorite parts of living in Colorado.

Getting in her car, she immediately texted Isaac that she was on her way over. He texted back a thumbs up before asking if Lee could join them too, which was always a yes. When she pulled into the driveway, the Garcia boys immediately went into her car and buckled their seatbelts. But before she could leave, a knock on her window startled her from switching the car into drive.