Promises || Road To Nationals

|11| The First Stride

Jordan's POV:

   I seriously can't believe I just did that. Faith is a candidate for the world team, and I couldn't even stay on my blades a little over a month ago. How in the hell do I expect to beat her? She probably runs my sprint as a pace. 

   I've been sitting on the cold bench of our locker room for a long time now, trying to calm my racing heart. I rest my head in my hands, and my right leg jumps uncontrollably. 

   This isn't an unusual occurrence for me before races, but it's still enough to knock the wind out of my sails; not like they were going anywhere to begin with. 

Kai's POV: 

   "Man, she's totally wiggin'," Angel says to me as we take our shirts off, zipping up the top half of our skinsuits. 

   "What do you expect?" Vex asks, "She just challenged a world-level skater as a novice. I'd be shitting myself about now if I were here. Stupid kid," she mutters that last part. The faint hint of uneasiness in Vex's tone is enough to send a wave of anxiousness through me. 

   "Do you think she'll be okay?" Daiki wonders. 

   "Man, I hope so. She's gonna be one of our relay partners, after all. We can't have her break down right now," Angel says with genuine annoyance. I've never come so close to punching him before. 

   "Aye!" Vex grabs his earlobe and pulls him down to her level, "Don't be an asshole. This is her first race, shithead. If I remember correctly, in your first race, you broke your arm during warm-ups. So don't even start with me."

   "OW! Alright, fine! Let go! LET GO!" 

   I look over to the other side of the locker room to see Jordan with her head in her hands. It pains me to see her this way. And just the thought that she had to go through these kinds of things before ever race hurts my heart. 

   Not knowing what to do, I spot a red marker in my bag. 

Jordan's POV: 

   I'm an idiot. The stupidest of idiots. 

   I think about getting my gear on. Delaying will only push back my inevitable humiliation. Either way, I gotta race, no matter how much I hate the thought.

   Then I feel the gentle touch of someone's skin on my hand. It tugs on my fingers, binging my arm away from my head. Then I feel the cool sensation of something running along my arm. 

   I look up to see Kai kneeling in front of me, drawing on my arm with a red Crayola marker. 

   I feel my face get hot at the close proximity. He quickly sketches a snowflake on my wrist and looks up at me with those amber eyes. I take my arm back to examine it. It's clear that this boy isn't an artist. 

   "What's this for?" I ask. 

   "You watched Frozen as a kid, right?" He asks, totally throwing me for a loop. 

   I raise an eyebrow, "Uh, yeah, I did?" 

   "Well, no matter what happens out there, just let it go and keep doing your best," he says with a stupid smile. 

   If I were to laugh in his face, it would be rude. So I laugh over my shoulder with my hand covering my mouth. Whatever he's on, I want some. 

   "And you're laughing," he sighs, sitting down crisscross. 

   "I'm sorry," I laugh, trying to hold in my chuckles, "You're just such an awkward idiot. I mean, come on: using a Frozen reference to hype me up? Remind me why you have so many girls trying to hop on your dick."