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It may be an early morning start, but that’s never deterred Dana Ward from a good run through Arcadia Park before. If anything, it’s pushed her along further. Jovially, she looks back to her new running buddy and tells her heartily, “C’mon, Katie, you can keep up!”
Following along in second place, Kate Marsh jogs behind her… and she’s not doing so hot. It's not like her old school was big on physical education. She's grown now, so what could go wrong with going on an early morning run… with the fittest girl in the Dormitories? It certainly doesn't help that she brought her backpack with her, but she just couldn't leave her notepad behind. As a bench approaches her line of sight, Dana slowing down past it, she takes a seat in exhaustion before grabbing her water bottle and opening it hastily.
Noticing this, Dana hurries over to her aid and asks, “Hey, are you alright?”
Kate nods her sweaty head and answers, “I’m fine, I’m fine”, before taking a big gulp out of her water bottle.
“You’re making good progress, Kate, that’s all that matters.” Dana sits by her side and takes a good look at her: she's fine - really fine - just a little out of breath. “Sorry if I tired you out.”
"Isn't that the point of exercise?" Dana shrugs her shoulders, she's not wrong. “It’s okay, Dana. You didn’t hurt me.”
Together, in this quiet and empty park, they look out at the Bay below them - either frozen in sleep or barely awake - and the Sun still rising over them from the East - the skies a soft orangey-purple. Inspired, Kate grabs her backpack and pulls out her rather-sizable notepad. “You wouldn't mind if I did some sketching in my notepad, right?”
Dana happily tells her, “Not at all! You do you.” Within seconds, Kate has her head in the game, sketching with precision, speed, and ease; she captures the world before them; the shapes of the trees, the rigid buildings and houses, the waves crashing along the sea. Seeing it all come together, Dana comments, “Wow, you’re really good at that.”
Kate looks up at her, surprised, and tells her, “Thank you”, before adding the finishing touches.
“Have you drawn people before?”, Dana asks.
Kate shakes her head, “Not often, I don’t really ask around.” She's always stuck to her own lane, though being at Blackwell has helped her socialize just fine. It only takes her a few seconds looking up at Dana’s face before realizing what she wants: “Oh, you want me to draw you?”
Dana nods her head. "Yup! I trust you." With Kate ready, she leans back against the bench and relaxes, looking out at the Bay with a smile still on her face.
As with her work on the town, Kate is quick to her craft, sketching Dana between quick glances back at her. It takes a few minutes for Kate to make her masterpiece, which is ample time for both girls to think over this friendship of theirs. It isn't long before they both reach the same conclusion about one another: Sure, this has been a pretty sweaty date, but this girl's sweet... I like her.
Kate slows down on the sketch, surely adding some final touches. Dana notices and asks, “Are you finished there?”
“Mhm.” Carefully, Kate tears the drawing out of her notepad and shows it to Dana, proud of her work.
Slowly, Dana takes a hold of the paper, and it warms her heart to see Kate's attention to detail. “That’s- You're amazing!” She quickly wraps Kate up in a hug, making sure not to crumble the paper in her hands, and Kate softly returns the hug. This is nice, they both think to themselves. “Can I keep it?”
Kate lets out a giggle before answering, “Of course!”
“Aww. You’re so sweet, Kate... Can you hold it in the meantime for me?” She hands it to Kate, who gently stuffs it in her backpack. Quickly rising to her feet, Dana does a few stretches before asking, “Do you wanna continue running? I mean, we can walk if you’d like.”
“Are you going easy on me?”, Kate asks with an eyebrow raised for comedic effect.
Dana laughs, "No. Just making sure you’re comfortable is all.”
Kate hums, thinking it over. “Maybe we can just jog instead?”
“Okay. Yeah.” Dana extends a hand to Kate to help her get back on her feet. Together, they jog side-by-side up the hill, moving further into the Park. “How are you liking Blackwell so far?”
“It’s smaller than it looked on TV, but I still like it. Everyone’s super nice.” She thinks back to earlier in the week when she got moved in. It was a new experience for her, one that was a little scary at first. Fortunately, she had lots of help moving in: Stella and Alyssa introducing her to everyone, Courtney and Taylor presenting her with fancy hygienic gifts, Max and Victoria babysitting Alice for her, and Dana helping move the heavier objects into her room. As they slow down a bit, savoring the moment, she leans on Dana's shoulder and tells her, "You're the nicest though..."
Dana shakes her head softly, "Not when you're around!" The two girls share a laugh, trying to stop themselves from just going in a loop of complimenting one another. "I'm happy to have you here, Kate."
"And you, Dana..."