Monibridge College

Chapter 4

“Readier than I’ll ever be…” I mutter as they show us which lanes we are in.

~~~*~~~

As luck would have it, I was placed on the end lane, the one that was right next to Brooke…

 Great.

Right now it was recess and everybody was sitting under their house tents, well, except for the people in this sprint. Convenient, right?

Not only was I risking my fate at this school with a stupid bet, but I was also being watched by hundreds of faces.

Perfect.

“Okay girls, everybody ready?”

I feel my stomach churn in nervousness, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I might have a chance of winning this.

There were 6 people competing in this event; Brooke, Alyse, Rin, Belle, Nikkita, and last but not least, me.

We all nod except for Brooke, who ‘excitedly’ says,

“You bet ya!”

Probably already plotting on how she will rub in her win.

I look up and see Felix standing next to Kim behind the fence, a concerned look on his face. He then notices me looking and gives me a thumbs up and what looks like a smile of encouragement, but it was a bit hard to tell from this distance.

The race starter holds up her popgun.

“On your marks.”

I bend down into my running position along with the other girls.

“Get set.”

Shit. Shit. What if I don’t win?, I think, my mind losing concentration of what’s going on while it whizzes around all of the possibilities of what could happen.

“Go!” The race starter yells while pushing down the trigger of the popgun, making a huge BANG!

I snap out of my panicking to see everyone running down the beginning of the track.

Oh my god, no.

Well don’t just stand their, run! Part of my mind orders me.

And so I run, my eyes filling up with tears as I imagine what will happen after this, and how stupid I am looking right now as I try to catch up to my competitors who are already a good 60m ahead of me at least, with Brooke leading the pack by about 15m.

Don’t think, just run. My mind orders me again.

I take its advice, realizing I have nothing else to lose anyway, and let go.

I let go of all this worry, this sadness, this anger, all of the stuff that has been holding me down. I let it go, look down, and run. I kept my head down and ran my heart out. I looked at the ground and willed my feet to go faster until they became a blur.

I swear I have never ran that fast before, literally everything around me was blurring. I just ran and ran. I didn’t stop when I passed Belle. I didn’t stop when I passed Nikkita. I didn’t stop when I passed Alyse and Rin. I didn’t even stop when I passed Brooke.

Then I saw it.

The finish line. A mere 100m away.

I ran, forcing my legs to go faster, ignoring the fiery pain of fatigue in them. I lifted my head up, determined to win this. Then suddenly, out of the blue, I hear the noise of someone’s running footsteps behind me. I didn’t dare look behind me, in fear that it might somehow slow me down.