𝑾𝒆❜𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑭𝒂𝒓 - 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒔

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓

Thomas folded his arms across the seat and peered out the window as Coach showed them the 'hill' they would be running up today. It, in fact, was a mountain, not a hill. Camila frowned at it, but took a deep breath. They had trained for today, and she'd be damned if they didn't qualify for state.

"All we gotta do is be in the top four." White called. "That's it."

When they arrived, the area was packed with boys in different colour jerseys, and Camila felt a pang of anxiety. She was still the only girl who'd ever joined a boy's cross country team, and right now it was affecting her more than she'd like.

Coach signed them in and everyone got changed for the match. He came back over and they circled up, mentally preparing for the task in front of them.

"Danny, quit staring at the mountain. It's not going away, and neither are you. You're gonna be alright. I've seen you out in the fields. You're an ox." He turned to the rest of the team as Danny blew out a breath and nodded. "So when you're in pain out there on this mountain, I want you to remember, so is the guy next to you, and the guy in front of you. This is gonna come down to which runners can handle the pain. So I want you to look at them, and I want you to look at each other, and ask yourself, who's tougher? My money's on you. Call it, Danny."

"Uno, dos, tres-" Danny started.

"McFarland!" The group cheered. Thomas led Camila over to the start line, and the same group of guys from Palo Alto started the catcalls once again.

"Yeah, mamacita! After we win, why don't you come over and see what it's like to be around real winners?"

"It'll be a good time, we promise!"

"You'll be like our trophy!" They jeered. Thomas scowled at them, putting an arm around Camila's shoulders as they walked away. She looked up at him and he nodded solemnly, staring down anyone else who even decided to look their way. She smiled softly.

Taking a deep breath, Camila lined up, nodding to Coach who was standing close by.

"You know, women have a higher pain tolerance than men. I think it explains a lot." Coach stated, taking a sip of his water with a shrug. Camila shook her head, smirking.

"Nice shorts, dude." One of the other boys jeered at Thomas as he stepped up beside Camila.

"You play golf?" Thomas asked, giving him side eye as he stretched out.

"Yeah, I do." The boy snapped.

"This ain't golf." Thomas replied, grinning. Camila smiled as the gun went off, and they started running.

The McFarland team were dominating the hill as it came closer, even Danny overtaking a few of the other runners as they continued uphill. Camila pushed past the pain, feeling her muscles ache with every step, breath pushing past her lips. She kept her pace, as she was meant to do, as they ran across the mountain ridge.

At the end, Camila winced as she watched Thomas stumble and fall in front of her. She wanted so badly to stop and help him up, but she pushed forward, sprinting to take back his spot in the front, she overtook a few of the others, and ended up coming in third, with Thomas not far behind in fifth. He grunted at the pain in his ankle, but as Camila approached him, he assured her it was okay.

The teams gathered as the scorekeeper stepped forward, a piece of chalk in his hand. They needed to be in the top four, and if they could do that, they'd be okay. Camila shivered as she shrugged on her hoodie, and the team watched together as Stevens Creek came first. Palo Alto second, Salesian third, and, by some form of miracle, McFarland fourth.