{Elite 46}

  My phone rattled against the end table. It rattled again. It rattled until I yanked it free from its charger, the screen lit up— Elite 37.

  Elite 37 (Aaron): How's the progress going?

  Me: I hate being the bait! Cassie is mentally unstable! She can't stop talking about her ex lover.

  Elite 37 (Aaron) (laughter face emoji): Well find yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend? Which way do you swing again?

  Me: I'm straight, you dumbass. But I wouldn't mind being in a relationship with more than one person.

  Elite 37 (Aaron): Yeah sure, anyway don't forget to show up tomorrow at the track. Have a good day!

  I stared at the black screen. Silence. Fake laughter burst from the TV. Cassie snorted a beat later.

  I glanced at Cassie. Butter ran down her chin as she shoveled another handful of popcorn in her mouth. "I think we should go on a date today."

  Her throat worked as the popcorn slid down it. "Sure. Where are we going?"

  "Just around the trails. A shirt, jeans, a jacket and some sneakers— comfortable stuff," I pocketed my phone and stood up.

  Cassie nodded and went upstairs. She came back down wearing the clothes I suggested and we headed out.

  Gravel crunched under my shoes as we passed two towering oak trees standing across from each other. Their leaves laced overhead; patches of sunlight poked through as we walked underneath.

  Cassie exhaled gazing upward. "I always enjoyed nature. It reminds me of her." Pulling out her phone she flicked her thumb up the screen. She tilted her phone towards me; a Lioness filled the screen— shoulders squared, head high, jaws opened, frozen mid roar.

  She pinched the picture and zoomed in on the Lionesses right ear. Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "This is her…"

  I blinked. "Um, you had a pet Lioness back home?"

  Cassie snorted. "Oh heavens no! But…" She closed out the picture and clicked on another one. Elite 81 was in her human form. Cassie zoomed in on Elite 81's right ear. She had the same crescent birthmark that the Lioness had. "See? Same birthmark. That's her… My ex… You see it don't you?"

  I cleared my throat. "Okay. I believe you."

  Cassie's eyes widened for a second. Her lips formed into a tight smile. "You don't believe me do you?"

  "No, I sort of believe you," I rubbed the back of my neck. "But think about it from my viewpoint. It's just… Hard to picture."

  We traveled further down the trail with no more words between us. My phone buzzed in my pocket against my leg. Fishing out my phone, the screen had already lit up with an alert.

  Elite 55 (Jenny): Look at Zara! She's so cute! We're at Steak Hub, come join us!

  I zoomed in until Elite 81's figure filled the screen edge to edge. She was sitting at the table with her plain blue t-shirt stretched tight over her shoulders while her blue jeans hugged her waist. The jeans creased at the seams like she had shifted in her seat. Her hair was pinned up high with two dark curls hanging loose kissing her jawline. Her blue eyes bored into the camera.

  A high pitched shriek sounded just inches from my ear— my shoulders jerked up. "I didn't know you were friends with Zara Walkferd! She's my favorite athlete! I heard she's set to go to the Olympics! Are you going to meet her and her friend today? Can I go with you?"

  "Uh, yeah sure you can come," I turned my head. Seeing Cassie's gaze glued to my phone I ground my molars once. "Do you mind not staring over my shoulder when I'm texting someone? I don't do it to you so please don't do it to me."

  She stepped back. "Sorry."

  "Yeah anyway, let's go join them, I'm hungry." I grabbed her hand and led her back to the car.

  Stepping out of the car the smell of meat and grease hit my nostrils. I licked my lips; my stomach growled.

  Cassie giggled.

  We entered the restaurant and Elite 55 strode towards us in three quick steps, bouncing on her heels. "You should see what Zara's doing! She literally challenged every man who dared to make comments about how much meat she eats to an eating contest. So far there's no takers."

  Making our way towards the VIP area we saw Elite 81 sitting at a table. She had two plates in front of her and both plates had three steaks each cooked medium rare on them.

  One of the men watching let out a small whistle. The guy next to him nudged him on the shoulder and chuckled. The other men in the group eyed Elite 81's plates with raised eyebrows.

  The women's eyes narrowed to slits and their noses scrunched up.

  Elite 81's flat gaze swept the room as she wiped BBQ sauce from lips with the back of her hand. She licked BBQ sauce off her fingers. Elite 81 snatched the steaks on the other plate and ate each steak in big bites. Chewing fast and swallowing, she burped. "Excuse me."

  Two men let out a loud cheer. "Hell yeah!" The other men's jaws hung open. The women's eyes widened and their lips parted forming the letter O.

  A brunette and a blonde stood with their arms crossed. The brunette whispered, "Well that's one way to get rid of them! Not attractive at all."

  The blonde scoffed. "You sure about that? Sometimes guys like that shit."

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  The brunette elbowed the blonde on her shoulder and pointed at the table.

  A guy walked up and left a card that had his number on it. Other guys followed suit.

  Elite 55 grinned and shoved Elite 81 playfully. "Wow you sure know how to draw a crowd Zara."

  Elite 81 looked down at the small pile of business cards and napkins with phone numbers on them. "Yeah now if people would shut the fuck up about my eating habits that would be great."

  A small puff of air escaped Elite 55's nose. "Sorry dear, but I don't think that's going to happen. You're famous now, remember that."

  "I can't believe this restaurant lets in lowlife's like you," a woman growled.

  Elite 81 cocked her head to the side. "Who are you? And why should I care about what you think?"

  "Because my Dad owns this restaurant and I'm going to call him and call the cops. And you'll be banned from this restaurant for life!" The woman declared. "My name is Amelia Lockheart. And my Dad's name is Don Lockheart."

  Amelia Lockheart pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. "Hello?"

  "Hey Dad, listen I need you to ban someone from the restaurant."

  "And you want me to ban them because why now?"

  "Zara Walkferd. She ate like a pig and challenged others to an eating contest! She has no manners and no shame at all. She should-"

  "I'm sorry but who did you say that you wanted kicked out?"

  "Zara Walkferd," Amelia answered; she lifted her chin and fixed her gaze on Elite 81.

  A short silence followed. "And what did she do again?"

  "I told you she challenged people to an eating contest and ate like a pig with no manners!"

  "Are you stupid! Or have you been living under a rock!"

  Amelia's smirk froze. "W-what do you mean?"

  "Zara Wlkfred is a track and field athlete so of course she'll eat a lot because she'll burn all of those calories out on the field. And not only that she's a regular and pays us a lot of money to keep the restaurant going. If we ban people over trivial stuff that will take a hit to my restaurant and her fans could visit just to leave one star reviews!" He paused. "Do you have me on speaker phone?"

  Amelia gulped. "Y-yes? But you really should-"

  "DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO WITH MY RESTAURANT! AS A MATTER OF FACT COME HOME NOW!"

  Click. Silence.

  Amelia rubbed her temple. "Fine. You won this round, Zara. Mark my words, I will get my revenge."

  Elite 81 snorted. "Yeah sure I'd like to see you try."

  Amelia narrowed her eyes. "Challenge accepted!"

  She turned on her heels and marched out slamming the front door behind her.

  ***

  {Claire}

  I laughed as Amelia stomped her feet while leaving the restaurant. When I stopped laughing I glanced at Nick. "So are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

  Nick blinked and then tilted his head. "Of course. That's why you wanted to come today, isn't it?"

  We walked over to the VIP table. A chair scraped against the red carpet as Nick pulled it out for me. I sat down next to a young woman who had the same brown hair and sharp jawline as Nick. Bubbling sounds came from her drink as she sucked on her straw. When her eyes met mine she said, "Hey there, I'm Jenny!"

  Nick sat across from me. "Hey sis, how's it going?"

  She looked up at him. "It's going good bro!" She turned her gaze back to me. "And you are?"

  "Oh, um I'm Cassie," I said, holding out my right hand for her to shake. "I'm your brother's girlfriend."

  Jenny shook my hand. "Nice to meet you. Nick, why didn't you tell me you were dating?"

  Nick let out a tiny puff of air under his breath. "Do I need to introduce you to every girlfriend I've had?"

  Jenny lifted her shoulders up a fraction. "Maybe? Mom's been wanting to know who you've been dating lately. Have you texted her?"

  Nick didn't even look at her as he picked up a menu. "Nope. I've been busy."

  "I hope you haven't forgotten about me," I heard Aaron say.

  I looked up at him. "Of course I remember you. We just met last week."

  "Well that's good to know," Aaron pointed to the woman sitting next to him. "This is Emma. Emma say hi."

  Emma glanced at me and waved. "Hi." She pointed at the man sitting next to her. "And this is my friend Jack."

  Jack tipped his head in my direction. "Hi."

  "And the steak gobbler's name is Zara!" Jenny cheered.

  Zara didn't look at me or say anything. She just piled a huge helping of scrambled eggs onto her plate. Picking up her fork she started to eat. Jenny pushed her slightly on her shoulder. "Zara, don't be rude. Nick's trying to introduce you to a new friend!"

  Zara let out a breath and said, "Fine. Hello, my name is Zara. Nice to meet you."

  Jenny chuckled. After shaking her head she handed Zara another napkin.

  "Sorry. It's just… My boyfriend is friends with a star athlete! And my favorite athlete at that," The right corner of my mouth lifted.

  Jenny smiled. "Yeah I know right? You know, you can hang around me more if you want? I'm always down for having fun."

  "Uh, sure." After fishing my phone out of my purse I handed it to Jenny. "Can I get your number?"

  Her voice raised up a notch. "Yes indeedy!" The word "indeedy" landed on a high note, her pitch floating up in the air.

  Zara still didn't say anything to me as she continued eating. A waitress came by to take mine and Nick's orders and then left.

  I tried handing Zara my phone to ask for her number; but Jenny leaned her body in front of me. She put up a hand blocking my phone. "Zara doesn't do fan numbers."

  I arched an eyebrow. I looked over to see Aaron smirking and Jack giving Zara a side-eye. Jack glared at Zara and mouthed to her. "Be nice."

  Zara ignored him and when the waitress came back with my food she asked. "Hey can I get my dessert to go?"

  "Yeah, sure I'll be right back." The waitress left and then returned with two styrofoam boxes with Zara's desserts in them.

  Zara's chair scraped back as she stood up. Her to-go bag rustled as she grabbed it. Zara didn't even say goodbye as she paid her bill, grabbed the rest of her things and walked off.

  Jenny went back to blowing bubbles in her drink. Aaron stopped smirking and Jack stabbed his steak hard as if it owed him money. My gaze tracked Zara's retreating back as she walked out the door.

  ***

  {Elite 46}

  I bit the inside of my cheek. Cassie's gaze fixed on the closed front door. After we finished our food we paid the bill.

  When Cassie and I got home I dropped my keys down on the kitchen counter. "Cassie, don't take what Zara did personally."

  The corners of Cassie's mouth turned down. "I just don't understand. Did I do something to offend her? If I did, can I make it right?"

  I rubbed the back of my neck. "Don't worry about it. Think about it this way, if you were famous and you had people you just met asking you for your phone number and acting buddy buddy when they didn't know you, how would you feel?"

  Her eyebrows furrowed and she pursed her lips. "I'd probably wouldn't be so friendly either. Okay, I get it. I'll just be friends with Jenny for the moment."

  I paused. "For the moment?"

  "I have my sights set on Zara. Don't worry, I still love you and I want to be with you. I just mean that I want to be friends with Zara." Her shoulders lifted up slightly.

  I tilted my head and arched my brow. "Uh-huh, so I guess once you get into Zara's pants you'll dump me like you did with your ex-girlfriend?"

  Cassie looked away.

  "Alright, well I'm going to bed. Don't worry I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. Goodnight." Pivoting on my heel, I walked away.