Teenage Dirtbag (SeaChaos - REVAMPED)

2 - Race

"Ready!" A crowd has appeared as I raise my lower body from the crouch. All of the students want to see Adam kick my ass. Apparently, they haven't been paying attention. Casey blows the whistle and I shoot off, steady.

All is see is the track. I've blocked everything else out, blurred it from existence as I run, my breath coming out evenly. I keep myself from pulling away from Adam. It isn't time yet. I feel a smile on my lips.

This is a one-lap race, the full 400-metre dash. The others were only 200 metres, so the Rigor Mortis Bend is going to appear here. The thing about the Rigor Morris Bend is that it makes you feel both alive and dead, and it is absolutely terrifying. Your whole body wants to shut down and cease work, and it hurts like nothing else. But it's also the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. I love going through it, knowing that I've done it.

There's a part on the track that I've marked with a permanent mark. It's on the lane I'm in and I've memorized it to the point I don't even need to see it when I pass. I marked it a few months back as the place on the track where I should and can pull away. I grin the moment I pass it, and I easily pull away. My feet pound against the ground and all I can hear is the sound of my footfalls and my breath and my heartbeat in my ears. I feel sweat trickling down my body, and then I step over into the bend.

My lungs scream for air, my body is aching, and my muscles seem to have been set on fire. Logic and reason and every part of me except for my brain and my heart tells me to stop, that I'm killing myself, but I keep going anyway. I see the track. I hear the voices, all cheering on Adam, likely, but I don't care about that. I give a huff and push faster, and I pull out of the most terrifying yet exhilarating part of the race.

It's simple now. 200 metres left to the end. But Adam is close, I know, because I slowed a little after the bend. I usually am able to do so with no chance of anyone coming up on me, but Adam is surprising. But I never lose, and he never does either, so I focus my mind. But I do not speed up. Not yet.

I can feel him coming closer, behind me, trailing on my stream. I move to the side a little and he comes up beside me.

He is struggling. That much I can see. Sweat pours from his face, as it does mine, and he is grimacing in pain while I am grinning like a kid in a candy shop. I turn my head back to the track and test him. I pull ahead a little, and he speeds up a bit with a grunt. I nod to myself as we get nearer. It'll be a sprint, full-on, for the last 30 metres. I glance over at him as I speed up, and he does too, though he doesn't look at me. Just at that moment, his white T-shirt lifts up, revealing some of the pale, smooth skin of his abdomen. I feel myself trip, and I lunge forward with the momentum, still in first. I went almost face-first, and I roll across the finish line.

Automatic loss.

I come to a stop and I lay on my back, my chest heaving for air, my body angry with me. My heart is low, and I hate that I've lost. The image of his skin though, just above the waistband of his shorts, flashes in my mind, and if I could have blushed, I probably would have.

Ilost. This seems impossible, but from he looks on Ze's and Galm's faces as they come to help me up tells me it's true. My body is pained from my fall, and I know I'm bleeding from my elbow and knee and my cheek, and I have a few bruised places. I groan as Galm and Ze help me up.

"What happened?" Galm asks, looking me over for any major injuries. I ignore Coach Casey, who explains that I lost and Adam won.

"I don't know," I lied. "I think I tired out too quickly." I shrug. "I'm pretty disappointed." I mean, that's the first time I've really lost a race. Ze and Galm nod to me and head up with the class to the gym to dress back in, while I shuffle slowly, wincing. I really overdid it. My whole body aches like never before and the bruises and cuts from my fall aren't helpful. Then again, neither is the sound of Cathy's voice.

"Adam, you won, you won!" she exclaims as she grasps his arm, a whole crowd forming around them to chatter about it. Not a single person glances in my direction except to give me a glare. Whatever.

"Yeah, Cath, I know," I hear him respond. "But-- ugh, move, Cathy! Chaos!" I look up and over at the sound of my last name. He always calls me by that, so I always call him by his last name. Not that I ever have reason to call him over or anything. He pushes through the crowd and stands in front of my, and I feel myself widen my eyes. "Chaos."

"Montoya," I reply idiotically, and he chuckles, sending butterflies through me. He takes my hand then and shakes it.

"You're a great runner," he says, and I blush lightly thanking God that my face is red from exertion already.

"Th-thanks," I say. "I used to run for track. That was the first time I've ever lost." He smiles at me and I am starstruck as he winks, too.

"Well, we'll have to do this again, sometime. Maybe I'll get the privilege of seeing what losing feels like." I smoke shyly, but his warm hand disappears from mine as soon as it had appeared, as he is being dragged by Cathy.

"Adaaam, don't ignoooore me!" she whines. Adam gives me a wave before he turns around to walk easily with Cathy, and I sigh. My body aches. My skin tingles. I wince as I walk. And I feel like I'm going to throw up, though that's probably just an aftereffect of Adam shaking my hand and remembering the image of his stomach. I shuffle into school, grabbing my stuff and not bothering to dress out. The bell rings and I head off to my next class. I'll visit the nurse afterwards.

But, you know, even though I lost and got pretty banged up, I'm still happy I raced him.