Running

Chapter 39: Competition

Vanessa POV:

"Listen up guys, you have all been working extremely hard for this competition and I'm extremely proud of every single one of you, I know this year has been difficult of all of us, family, friend, injuries. but tomorrow we put our issues aside and we show the world what we've been working for" Coach Diaz proudly said

"Make me proud tomorrow!" she added

After practice I made my way to where the boys and Tessa were sitting patiently waiting for me

"So, are you ready for tomorrow?" Cole asked

"Not really, I'm afraid" I honestly replied

"Afraid of what V? you're literally the best in school" Mason said

"Not of running... of freezing again..." I said almost like a whisper

Cole, Mason, Michael and Liam looked confused

"Freeze how?" Liam asked

"It's alright Nessa, you'll do well" Tyler said pulling me toward him and hugging me tightly

"Vanessa, I cant wait to see you kick some ass!" said Tessa really excited

"I'll do it for you Tessa" I replied laughing

"And what about me?" Tyler asked pretending to be extremely hurt

"I've know her for ages and yet here we are..." Daniel said laughing

"Sorry boys but I stole her from you, she's mine now" Tessa joked

"oh hell no Tessa, she is mine and mine only" Tyler burst out moving closer to me. once he stood besides me he put his strong arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be with her today" Tessa pointed out

"Wait you two are dating?" Liam asked in disbelieve

"Yeah we are" Tyler replied

"Any ways I need to get going" I spoke

"I can take you" Tyler said "Tessa you coming with?"

"Oh no, Cole is taking me. Don't wait up for me, I'm going to be late!" she announced

"why?" Tyler asked annoyed

"Alright lets get going Tyler!" I said dragging him away from my friends before he could say something else

"I wasn't finished with him" Tyler said

"Tyler, she'll be fine don't worry. Cole is an amazing guy" I reminded him

"I know he is, but I don't want her getting hurt again" he reminded me

"She deserves to be happy and live her life. she missed a whole year of her life, she just wants to be happy and want everything back to normal. its alright to care about her and worry that she will get hurt, but can't stop her life just because you don't want her getting hurt. If she is ready for this then you should be happy for her and should support her with whatever she decides" I explained

"Agh fine" he groan "I'm only doing this because I love Tessa and because you asked me to"

"Good" I replied

"So are you ready for the competition tomorrow?" he asked

"To be honest not really, I'm nervous... I don't want to do this anymore, is it too late to back off? I'll just fake an injury then tell coach I can't ran anymore" I said

"Babe, come on! you worked so hard for this and now you want to fake an injury? you've been through so much this past few years and now it about time you do something for yourself. this is something you've been training for so many years and now you get to show the world what you're made of... I believe in you!" he said

Did he just call me babe? he never did that! Usually he would just call me Vanessa or Nessa or even just V

"You're right. I just need to get myself mentally prepared for tomorrow. You're right I worked too hard to give up now and I need to show all those people what I'm made of and I need to make my mother proud." I agreed "Oh and by the way I like the new nickname" I said

Beep Beep Beep

I heard my alarm going off. Shut up I groan rolling over to turn it off, I close my eyes again and take a deep breath. Here we go

I got up and made my way to the bathroom, I took a quick cold shower, got dressed and put my hair up into a neat ponytail. I made my way downstairs and joined Emily and Aunt Lucy for breakfast.

"Eat up Nessa, you'll need some energy for later" Aunt Lucy mentioned

"What time are you running?" Asked Emily

"100m at 10, 200m at 12:30, long jump at 3pm and then relay at around 6pm" I replied taking a ship of a coffee

"Why so late?" Asked my aunt

"There are too many athletes and they don't want the competition to be more than a day" I answered

"How many school will be there?" Emily asked

"I honestly don't know" I truly replied

"Alright all done! Shall we go? Tyler just texted he is outside" I said looking at Emily

"Yeah, bye aunt Lucy"

"Bye... and good luck Vanessa, sorry I can't make it and be careful" my aunt said kissing my forehead

"It's alright Aunt Lucy, I know your busy with work and don't worry we will" I replied than walked towards the door where Emily was already waiting for me

"BYE!" both Emily and I shouted before shutting the door

We got to Tyler's car and drove off. the good thing was that the competition was taking place at our school so I felt more comfortable. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on my events later today

"We're here!" Tyler said bring me out of my thoughts

"WOW... so many athletes" Emily said looking at how full our school looked. so many athletes walking around with friends and family. I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I walked towards the register table that stood by the front entrance and registered myself

Number 251

wow are there really that many athletes here?

"Are you alright?" asked Tyler putting his arms around me and pulling me into a hug

"Yeah just a bit nervous" I replied hugging him back

"You'll do well don't worry" he said letting go of me "let me get your things"

"Thanks" I replied and watched him walk towards his car to grab my things

"Mom would be so proud of you Nessa! You've come so far, now its time to show everyone what your capable of" Emily said hugging me. I hugged her back and said nothing. we found the rest of the boys and sat with them waiting for my first race.

"100m athletes please get ready!" the women announced

"Its time!" I said getting up

"Good luck!" I heard everyone say

"I'll walk you there" offered Tyler

"Thank you, Daniel please keep an eye on Emily for me" I said

he nodded and Tyler and I walked away