SSS(SS) - Part 5

Sal didn’t come here to run. She’s not dressed for it in yoga pants and walking shoes, but she’s doing it anyway. She saw one of these little private rooms open and took it for herself. Now the treadmill squeaks rhythmically as she pushes, dripping with sweat. Everything hurts, but she doesn’t slow down.

Every day, she comes to the gym. And yes, she’s fooled around at the house before. And those nights with Meri were memorable. But since when is she checking out girls at the gym? That’s new. She isn’t sure why it upsets her so much.

Maybe because of yesterday’s meeting with Athena. When her lungs are finally burning too much, she yanks the heart monitor off and the treadmill abruptly slows. She leans on the handlebars, panting. Her sweat is all over this machine. She needs to clean it up.

Shaking her head, she steps off and turns to find that she has company. Of all people.

Athena stands just inside the door. She’s carrying her coat over one arm. She wears navy pants and a preppy top. She doesn’t have a hair out of place. It’s a stark contrast to Sal, who smells like a wrestling team and whose hair is stuck to her face.

Still breathing hard, Sal puts her hands on her hips and faces her warily.

“Yeah?” she says.

Athena just looks at her. Really looks. She’s not… checking Sal out. She’s not glaring. But she looks serious.

“What?” Sal demands, annoyed and uncomfortable. How long was Athena watching her run?

“We were seen yesterday,” Athena says with a little frown, still watching Sal closely.

“What? By who?”

“Wickers.”

Mauve Wickers. She’s on the Student Affairs Board. She’s the one who originally put Sal up to leaning on CCL in the aftermath of the murders.

Sal takes that in. She looks away.

“Shit,” she mutters. It didn’t even occur to her to worry about something like that. But it should have. “Fuck.”

Athena nods.

Sal looks up and meets the other president’s eyes.

“Did you come here to warn me?” she asks coldly.

Athena hesitates. “I came here to see if you planned it.”

Sal snorts, her heart sinking. “I didn’t plan anything.”

Athena nods again, looking almost sympathetic.

“She thought you were in her pocket. Now she thinks you’re in mine,” Athena predicts. “She won’t take that lying down.”

Sal narrows her eyes. “How do you know she knows?”

For a moment, Athena’s façade of princess grace cracks, and she almost laughs.

“How do you think?” she asks. It almost sounds playful. With that, she turns and leaves the room.

Sal doesn’t even know what to think of that. God, that girl is so cocky and stuck up. How is she even real? What? Is she sleeping with someone on the board? Does she have spies in the faculty?

It doesn’t matter. Sal puts her face in her hands and groans.