typical | rilaya au

o n e

I paced up and down the field relentlessly instead of doing my warmups. There was 3 minutes to kill until the first race of the season began.

My head turned from side to side when I glanced around quickly, squinting my eyes due to the bright sun. I counted about 70 girls warming up on my right. Each of them anxiously waiting for their heat to be called.

It was obvious that I was nervous, everyone could tell but none of my teammates dared to bother me before a race.

My hands were shaking, my heart was racing and my head was ringing. I've learned to tame my nerves over the years but today just wasn't one of my days.

I figured that I wasn't going to calm down anytime soon so I called my team over to the start line to do our school cheer.

"Nice of you to show up captain" Smackle teased, while pulling me closer into the circle by my singlet.

"Save it Smackle" I said sternly, before turning my attention to the rest of the group. I took a deep breath and started the cheer,

"ONE, TWO, THREE,"

Everyone else quickly joined in, all screaming at the top of their lungs;

"LET'S KICK BUTT"

I smiled to myself as my heart seemed to return to its normal rate for the first time all day. Walking backwards, I took my place on the white start line; taking a deep breath and looked straight ahead.

My thoughts were interrupted however, when a certain blonde beside me chimed in. "Good luck Matthews".

I kept my head forward because I didn't need to look to know whose voice that was. Plus, I just really didn't want to see that annoying shit eating grin that would be waiting for me when I turned my head.

I put no effort into sounding genuine as I replied through my teeth. "You too, Hart."

Venom laced each word I spat out and I had a feeling she could tell.

But in that moment, something took over my brain and I found myself turning to look at her.

She hasn't grown since last year. I saw the same 5ft tall, feisty blonde as always. She was sporting her usual high ponytail that restricted blood flow to her brain and a cocky half smirk.

I was taking note of these features when I heard the loud BANG from the starting gun go off.

Shit.

I quickly coordinated myself and started off by sprinting to the front of the pack; beside Maya.

I knew that she knew I had a rough start because I was too busy checking her out. It didn't help my focus either when she decided to comment on it.

It was just the two of us now, the next person behind us had to be at least 40 metres away.

"I know I'm cute but god, you almost cost yourself a silver medal there" she teased.

Something about the way Maya spoke infuriated me, even though I knew it was a lighthearted joke. Coach always warned me not to talk during races but no way was I letting her off the hook.

"You wish Maya, I was checking out the hot senior behind you." I managed to get out without stopping for air.

A part of me was jealous that she could speak so easily while running. But the other part of me absolutely despised Maya and her big ego.

It returned to quiet after that. Both of us ran side by side on the rubber track, with Maya staying the slightest bit ahead of me.

Sighing, I looked around at the scenery to distract myself from the pain in my chest starting to build up. It was nice to  be back out again, something about running really is addictive.

~

I carefully planned out my breathing as I neared the finish line.

One, two, three, one, two, ..

My legs were heavy and I felt them beginning to give out along with my lungs as it became harder and harder to breathe.

Maya had passed me during the last 200 metres or so like she does every other year. So I was by myself crossing the line, as usual.

I saw Maya ahead of me pass the finish line as all the spectators cheered.

First place, typical.

The crowd quickly diverted their attention to the would be second place runner, me. I crossed the line and dropped to the ground, lying on my back as I tried to even out my breathing.

The freshman began to surround me, each offering their own unique compliments and a bottle of water.

I sat up, to down one bottle. Only to lie back down again and look up at the blue sky.

One of the freshman was extra eager to congratulate me. They pushed their way through the crowd roughly. She stood behind my head hovering over me. The freshman bent forward and leaned down to gain eye contact with me.

"Amazing race Riles."

It took me a while, but I quickly realized that I was talking to Maya Hart. Not a prepubescent ninth grader.

For the first time ever, I think she was actually being genuine.

I grabbed the soft hand she was offering and pulled myself up. She lifted our arms up, spinning me around like we were ballroom dancing, to face her in the process.

"Thanks, you too" I said gently, still a little breathless. Either from the race or from talking to Maya.

Maya smiled back and I could feel her looking for something to break the silence when she finally said "Hey let's go look at the times?"

I nodded and only noticed that I was still holding her hand when she tugged me towards the results table.

She didn't let go, and for some reason, neither did I.

We were the last group of girls to race so the results were most likely already up. Since there's so many competitors, they will race 6 girls on the track at once and compare the overall times once everyone had ran.

Using my free hand, I scanned through the table.

3000 Metre Sophomore Girls
First place: Maya Hart
Second place: Riley Matthews

I knew it wasn't bad considering the race was out of 118 girls. But a certain fire built up inside of me when I saw that Maya only beat me by 4 seconds this time, as opposed to her usual 9. Either I was getting faster, or she was getting slower.

I let go of her hand and suddenly the world seemed a lot colder. What was I doing holding hands with a rival runner?

Maya opened her mouth to say something but I didn't hear it. I stormed off and went looking for Smackle to ask how she did.