The Guidebook To Sobriety

Chapter 8

"On your marks."

Atlas fidgeted like an addict who was craving a fix in his starter's stance, but his eyes were laser-focused on the finish line one hundred meters away. 

For some reason, I was immensely confident in the buffoon winning the race. Perhaps it was my quick glance at his competitors who looked like they would have a hard time fighting against wind resistance when they walked fast, much less attempted to run full speed. Perhaps I had been wrong about the groups putting their best athletes in this race, or I'd overestimated the value of their best athletes.

"...Go!"

Off the boys went on their straight-line 100-meter dash. I didn't recognize anyone else besides Wyatt's lackey whom I had dubbed Thing 1. Thing 1 quickly fell into the background of the pack, huffing and puffing up a storm capable of blowing himself over.

On the other end, Atlas was well ahead of the pack and started to break away as he pumped his arms hard with a questionably lopsided running stride. By the 60-meter mark, he could've started jogging and still finished ahead with time to spare.

It sure didn't look pretty but I couldn't argue with the results.

"Oh my god!" Nellie screamed, jumping up and down like she had just witnessed the greatest circus show of all time.

"You did so good," She said as Atlas came back over. He hardly even seemed tired from the run. "Did you do track and field before?"

"Nah, but I ran on the beach with my father a lot," He replied with a shrug, returning my nod of approval.

"Good job," Thor offered timidly.

"You still run with that limp after all," A voice came from behind us. We turned to see the girl from breakfast that Atlas had a 'bad history' with. She had a pleasant smile painted on her face that you would expect from a lawyer or something. Her shirt bore the name Serpents, which I figured was her group's name like our shirts had.

"Kind of hard to lose it," Atlas replied in a guarded tone.

"I'm up next. Hopefully I can build on the good Arizona representation," She said with her spurious smile.

"I hope you're not expecting a good luck."

An awkward silence grew with the two staring at each other and Nellie and Thor looking from one to the other with a mix of confusion and interest.

"Well, as fun as this staring contest is, can you guys do it somewhere else - preferably far away before I feel sicker than I already do?" Indigo asked.

"Of course!" Makeup girl replied, breaking her gaze away from Atlas. "It seems like they're ready for us anyway." She added before walking away.

Sure enough, girls were setting up at the 100-meter mark.

Nellie started breathing heavily. "I think I'm about to have a nervous breakdown."

"Do your best, Atlas won his so I don't think you need to burden yourself too much with winning," Thor said with a supportive smile.

I think that was his new world record amount of words without stuttering and it was even semi-audible. Too bad the content of his clear speech reeked of a loser's mentality.

Nellie nodded. "Than-"

"Actually, you do need to aim to win. It's a chance for 20 points right off the bat, don't be delusional," Indigo pointed out.

"What Samantha Mason said," I agreed with a nod in Indigo's direction. Judging by her glare she didn't appreciate the nickname.

"I'll try."