Fairytales

Chapter 5

I pushed my legs harder.

Just a little farther. Just a little faster. That's all I needed as the same trees flashed past for the fourth time.

I smiled, ignoring the burning that had taken up permanent residence in my chest. This was my element, the open skies and dirt—okay, track, but whatever—under my feet. I ran with the afternoon wind rushing through my hair, its warm embrace seeming to blow away all of the cobwebs in my mixed up mind. God knew there were a lot.

Out here, I was unstoppable.

"Don't think you'll beat me," Annie, my running mate who I was pretty sure had hated me since the first day of school, ever since I'd taken her place on the varsity track team, panted as she caught up to me, "Not this time DeAngelus."

I ignored her, letting my eyes roam the track, searching for my other opponents. There had been four girls in this race, Annie and I, and two freshman from the JV team coach had thought were getting too cocky.

We'd left both of the newbies in our dust within the first minute of the run, and we weren't even pushing it...or at least I wasn't.

I smirked inwardly, letting Annie get just a little bit ahead of me. It would make the win all the better when I came back from behind.

The guys, already dismissed from their own practice, cheered from the grass beside the track, each of them hitting one another when a single person got a little too rowdy.

Chase, as usual, was one of the ones getting hit...a lot.

I glanced at Annie out of the corner of my eye. She was looking at the crowd with a satisfied grin on her mouse-like face. Her dull blue eyes, the ones that I'd always thought were strange coupled with her pale freckled skin and bright red hair, all but lit up at the sight.

I suppressed a scowl as I blew past them, tuning out the mix of encouragement and catcalls that came with our little crowd.

"Tired yet DeAngelus?" Annie coughed at me, pushing to the front. She was getting as cocky as those dumb freshman. She wouldn't have tried talking if she hadn't. Any good runner knows that talking only throws your breathing rhythm off and wouldn't try it unless they were a sure win. Better runners wouldn't try it regardless.

I'd put her in her place.

The finish line was in sight. With that last burst of energy that I'd been saving just for this moment, I took off, feet flying against the red track. My eyes, already used to the rushing of the wind, centered in on the white line that marked the end of the race.

The cheers escalated. I smiled to myself, hearing Chase's cheers among them.

Twenty feet to go. All I had to do was—

Red eyes flashed through my mind. See you soon.

I stumbled, my feet getting tangled on each other for the first time since middle school.

The cheers turned to groans as my palms hit the track, just for a second, before I righted myself. But it was a second too long. Annie blew past me, beating me to the finish line with a second to spare.

"Time!" Coach yelled as I passed him. He didn't sound particularly happy. And who could blame him? His best runner—on the girls team anyway—had just choked two weeks before regionals.

There was a moment of stunned silence, our little crowd processing what had just happened, before the cheers erupted again. Bodies streamed towards Annie, yelling congratulations and excited squeals.