Paper Heart

Chapter III: Fun

She's running and hears the cheers of the students, teachers and parents.
She's near the finish line and there's nobody behind her, she going to win the run: again. It became a game for her.
She turns in the corner and just have to make a little more "effort" to arrive.
"Go Johanna!"screams some people.
If they only knew that I was faking it!
The crowd suddenly goes wild and start screaming the name of another girl.

"Go Charlie! Charlie..."

She turns around and she sees the girl struggling to run faster. She can hear the girl's heartbeat going really fast and she also smells the effort she's making. She suddenly feels really bad  because it has been minutes that she is running and she is not even feeling tired- she only slower her rhythm on purpose so people can't get suspicious- whereas the girl behind her is probably in pain right now.
She then gets an idea. She stops and pretend to catch her breath and cough heavily. It doesn't take a minute before the Charlie girl passes beside her, with an expression on her face saying "What's going on?".
Johanna doesn't reply and the girl still continues to run. She finally arrives at the finish line before Johanna who follows her behind.

Everybody applause Charlie and cheer her. It makes Johanna smiles: at least the person who deserved the most to win today won. Charlie is greet by her group of friends who hug her and jumps happily. They scream "You're the best!"
Two of her friends are in the same history class as Johanna: Emily and Khloe. She doesn't like them that much: they are not mean with her or anything but they usually bitch about everyone during the lessons which usually gets on her nerves.
Johanna is not the type to have many friends anyway, not that nobody likes her and in fact she's kind of popular at school thanks to her sportive talents. She even hangs out with people from different grades like senior years or people from her grade, the junior years... But she is the one who decided to stay on her own most of the time, to simply avoid conflicts and bad friendships.
She feels someone hitting her back. It hurts so she immediately turns around.

"What the..."she wants to curse but bites her tongue when she sees who the person is.
He laughs.
"Hey cousin!" He also wears a shirt with a number on it, a short and trainers.

"Ethan I was going to murder you!"she yells.

"Sorry! Haha! Here's a bottle of water for the big looser!"he hands her the bottle.

"Shut up!"she laughs and punches him.

"Seriously, what happened? Are you hurt? You seemed fine earlier!"says her cousin in a more serious tone, checking if she has blood on her body. Johanna rolls her eyes at his behavior because he always takes his role of leader of the pack (and cousin) very seriously.

"I, hum no It's just... Never mind! I'm fine don't worry !" She smiles.

"Ok..." He says oddly. He knows Johanna well, very well. They are the same age and they were practically raised together.  She is like a sister to him so when she tells a lie he knows it... It doesn't even require his werewolf powers.

"Ethan!"shouts two boys gesturing him to come.

"Connor and Dylan are waiting for me! I think it is the boys turn to run. See you later Jo!"he says rapidly and leaves.

"See you yeah!"she replies although he's already gone.

Other students come to ask her if she is alright because it is unusual for her to arrive 2nd. She keeps raising her thumb to show that she is fine.
She's about to leave when she sees Charlie coming toward her.

"Hey!"

"Hey!"she answers back. She doesn't know the girl, they never talked .

"Congrats for the run!"says Charlie.