All Chapters of Until The Finish Line!: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Her face carried the kind of pleasant symmetry people might describe as "cute." A youthful look, soft and round around the edges, with deep green eyes that rarely caught light the way others' did, her hair the most common of brown. Despite her small chest, she recognized that her curves were her one asset, long legs and a slender figure, forged by years of intense running training — her muscles were toned and in excellent shape. But they were for most of the time hidden under baggy jeans and t-shirst 3 sizes bigger. God forvide a girl for being into streetwear and hip hop for her fashion style.Nothing else about her stood out. Not in a way that made people stop or stare. She wasn't the mysterious girl in the corner or the stunning one who made heads turn as the walks down in the hallway. She was the one who made people laugh. The one who kept the energy up. The funny, comfortable one.And she liked that part of herself—she really did. But sometimes it hurt that no one ever looked at

Uriah, calm as ever but clearly entertained, lifted his drink. "Sooo... you two know each other?"Julian opened his mouth to answer, but Sloane beat him to it—far too quickly."We just met last week!" she blurted, too loud, too fast. "Like barely!"The air tightened.Julian looked down at her, one eyebrow arching, that infuriating grin tugging at his lips again—slow, knowing, playful. The kind of smile that said he was enjoying every second of her unraveling.And Sloane, against all logic, felt a flicker of something. From this angle, Sloane noticed something she hadn't before—Julian had blue eyes and snakebite piercings. Two little silver rings glinting on his lower lip. Oh. Okay. That was... unexpectedly distracting. And unfairly hot."Yeah, we're friends," Julian said, casual as ever."Maybe!" Sloane cut in, turning toward the others with an awkward laugh."Maybe?" He looked at her, amused, that stupid half-smile tugging at his lips."We just met!""Valid," he said with a small no

"I was trying to get your attention! You had your AirPods in, you heathen!" she said, crossing her arms defensively—though the corner of her mouth betrayed her with a twitch. "Oh gosh, let it go!"His grin widened. "You could've, I don't know, tapped me on the shoulder? Used your words?""I did! Twice! You ignored me!""I didn't ignore you—I couldn't hear you.""Excuses," she declared, like she'd just won a trial. "Desperate times, desperate measures."Julian ran a hand through his hair, laughing. "I remember turning around and thinking, 'Who the hell throws breakfast food at strangers? What kind of country is this?'"Sloane snorted. "Yeah, and then you glared at me like I'd personally offended your ancestors.""I was startled! You don't expect a bagel to become a projectile weapon at eight a.m. outside the admin office."They both burst out laughing, their voices echoing off the porch beams, breaking the soft rhythm of crickets outside.Julian glanced at her with that lazy half-smile

The campus looked deceptively peaceful that morning—like it hadn’t just swallowed a hundred overworked students back into its stone belly after the summer vacations. New Semester, New Me, Sloane though with pretended optimism.Sloane stood outside her dorm, clutching her travel mug like it was the only thing keeping her upright. The sky was a muted gray with the early mist, the kind that promised rain but never quite delivered. Her legs still ached from training camp, her brain still felt like mush, and the only coherent thought she could string together was coffee first, civilization later.The familiar hum of campus life began to rise around her—the sound of skateboards rattling down the path, sneakers squeaking against wet concrete, someone laughing too loud at something stupid.Her phone buzzed. A text from Laura.babyLaura: you alive? Lynn says Uriah saw Julian at the gym already lolSunSloane: You don't say (¬.¬)Sloane snorted into her coffee. Of course he was. The man prob

When she finally reached the track, the sun was slowly dipping, spilling that golden late-day light across the field. A few of her sophomore teammates were already stretching on the grass, laughing about something dumb. She dropped her bag beside them and joined in, forcing herself to match their chatter, pretending she wasn’t internally spiraling.A few minutes later, she saw Oliver arrive, jogging across the field with his usual confident stride—followed closely by Julian and Uriah.Great. Just great.Her stomach did a full gymnastics routine as the two of them joined the warm-up circle. Thankfully, she was on the opposite side, but that didn’t make the air feel any less charged. The minute she saw Julian, all those tangled thoughts and feelings from earlier started buzzing again. Luckily he didn't catch her stealing some glances. She needed to get a grip, fast, or her performance was going to crash and burn. So she decided to actively ignore him and concentrate on the practice.C