Pain is Life

Chapter 14

There were so many people at the huge track meet. Ten schools in total.
Our schools jerseys were purple and blue and crappy compared to the other schools' jerseys, but that's not what we were worried about. We had prepared hard for this and it was finally here.
Coach Yaul brought us all power bars and I ate one. I needed all the power I could get. I was doing a four mile race, a mile sprint, a two mile relay race, and the 200 meter dash. It was a lot to do.
The meet began and a throwing event was first. Our best thrower Chase, got third which was pretty good. Next was a couple running events. Then another throwing event.
It was time for me to do the 200 meter dash. That would be my easiest event and I was ready. It started and I was sprinting down the track really fast. I got fourth. I was disappointed.
Shotput came next, and we actually came in first place for that event. We were proud.
Some races were next, and we won them all with first place. It was amazing!
I had the two mile relay race for my second event. I did it with Martha Peterson, Brunnette Witherfork, and Katie Heron. We ran and ran with all our might and ended up placing second place in this event. We were proud. Our training really did pay off. Even Coach Yaul was proud. Bob would be real proud. He was watching from heaven.
There were some more events, and then it was time for my one mile sprint. I was ready to run like a cheetah. We began and I felt like I was running through time. It was a crazy sensation, and I kept pushing myself to go faster and faster. Someone in the crowd was yelling my name really loudly but I couldn't tell who it was. I made it past the finish line in first place beating everyone by at least ten seconds. Our whole team was cheering and all gave me a huge group hug. It was an amazing feeling.
After some more events, it was time for my final event. The four mile race. It was the event I was dreading. At the start, I was shaking like there was an earthquake. When we began I started off quickly, easily passing everybody. That lasted for many laps, but then I started to get tired. Really tired. I realized while people weren't going so fast at the beginning of the race. People came and passed me, and soon I was in last place. It was humiliating. I felt like such a disappointment. When there were two more laps left, I felt like I was going to pass out. I was way behind everyone. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let my school down. It was my last chance. I used every inch of my body that I could. I sprinted like never before. Extremely fast. Everything around me was a blur. But I just kept sprinting and people were very close to the finish line. I sprinted to the finish line with other people seconds behind me, and then everything went black.
I woke up on the bleachers and people were screaming "WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!" I wasn't sure what was going on and Coach Yaul explained to me that I had won first place in the four mile run and our school won first place in the meet.
All of a sudden, someone came running toward me and kissed me till I almost passed out again. I didn't even know who it was but I just kissed them back because there lips felt right. I opened my eyes.
You will never guess who it was, Jake Wong! I was so shocked! We went back kissing for what felt like hours but it was only a minute. The crowd was cheering for me and Jake.
When we stopped, Jake asked me, "Remember the note?" It suddenly hit me. That secret admirer note was from him. Also, I solved the Jake list mystery. The last person I would ever expect to be on it, me.
It made sense now. At lunch, he wasn't looking at Ashley, he was looking at me. When I kept getting tripped, he was always around because I was there. In Geography, he was mouthing things to me, not Rocky.
We kissed some more, and then Jake took me to his house. We hung out for a long time.
Late at night, Jake and I walked to the pond and sat together by the edge, holding hands.
He wanted to tell me a story. He said, "A long time ago, I had a friend that died. He was a very special friend, and he had a best friend that I was very fond of. She was beautiful, and had a wonderful personality like you. I had forgotten her name though, you're the only one I've ever told that to. It always floated in my mind."
That was an interesting story, and I asked him who the friend was. He said it was Gavin. Then I suddenly remembered, that was Bob's middle name. I asked him if it was a guy named Robert and Jake said yes.
The Bob mystery was solved. This friend that Bob had, who loved me was Jake. It was Jake all along. I knew him a long time ago, and then the memories came seeping back. I remembered an Asian kid, who had the same exact face as Jake, because it was Jake.
I told Jake all of this, and he was surprised. Then the memories came seeping back to him, and then we knew if we didn't have Bob with us down here, we had each other, and from heaven, Bob was bringing us together because that's what he thinks will make us all happy. It was God and Bob's plan.
Jake kissed me, and in that moment, with Bob watching us from above, us kissing in the moonlight, all the depression came running out of me. For the first time, I knew every thing was going to be okay after all.