Joan

Chapter I

Sun at my back, girls on either side of me, eye locked and focused on the rusty colored dirt laid in a strip before me.

"If I can't take it, break it."

The flag raised, the stopwatch in hand, ready to start its count. The summer air is not only thick with its muggy humidity but the stench of curbed adrenaline rages to come out.

"And if I can't break it, fake it."

With no hesitation in mind, my nostrils fill with the competitive whiff of sweat glean bodies.

"Then fake it till I can make it."

The flag drops and it's every girl running in uniformed tightness towards the finished line. It's a 200 meter. I can run a 200 meter. It's only 200 meters.

"Don't look at the competition, studying the victory line."

My breathing remains as it should be, in and out in a steady, fluid steam from both my mouth and nose.

"One, two, three, in. One, two, out."

To be the best well-oiled sprinting machine is the goal- it's all that matters.

But it's hard for that to matter when you're gradually being overtaken by the girls who started behind you. You don't want to get lost in the pack and you certainly don't want to get left behind.

"Pushing forward like a bullet through water."

Keeping up the stride, I pay attention to nothing but the distance in front of me, of other girls' heads. Exerting my extra stored energy, I keep using that adrenaline to propel myself even farther ahead.

"Know the curves like the back of your mind."

We turn and the staggering of runners starts, but not like expected. They're good, they're uniformed, they're almost like the body of one synchronized runner.

A sharp pain in my side signals a mistake made.

"Bad idea to do the boost, bad idea."

But I have no room, no time, for regret. I'm catching up to the pack leader- leading by the slightest bit that makes a whole lot of a difference. Blondie with the short, bouncy hair is good.

"Almost there, hold out on me."

She's just a fingernail away, just a ha-

Splat.

That was my dreams.

"Fuck!"

My face kisses the ground.

And that was my dignity.

The whistle is blown as the rest of the girls finish the run. Blondie comes in first.

Even before I'm dragging myself off the dirt staining ground, a girl, who had been hanging in the middle, pauses to help me.

"Hey, you okay?" She asks, already holding out a hand for me.

I accept the hand, though I'm not in such a gracious mood now after that wipeout. Dusting myself off, I grimace, keeping it together while she's present.

"Yeah, I'll live, thanks."

Nodding, she starts back up, finishing the practice run, leaving only me left to half-ass it the rest of the way.

"As if this day couldn't fuck me over any more than it already has."

Welp, I can surely kiss the dream of making it onto the track team goodbye. Not only have I managed to look like a dumbass in the last hour or so, this is by far the worst I've performed in my life.