Neither End Up Alive

Victory

Dash's POV

"Ready... Set... Go!"

I take a running leap over the pile of thick mud, stumbling a tiny bit when I land on the other side. I hear the thud of footsteps beside me.

I have to win.

I fly over the hurdles and dance around the barrels of sand. I quickly scale a twenty foot plastic pole before sliding down it again and racing to the next obstacle.

I hop in and out of each of the giant tires on the ground, leap over five more hurdles, and dodge past eleven mannequins.

The finish line is so close, I can see it --

Suddenly, blond hair whips across my face. I blink and see that my best friend, AJ, has passed me.

"Oh no you don't," I growl, speeding up. AJ huffs and runs faster.

I ram my shoulder into her's, making her stumble. I get ahead quickly.

Suddenly, I feel a strong force shoving me sideways. All at once, AJ is ahead again.

I shake my head and leap at AJ's back, tackling her to the ground. We both fall. As we hit the ground, I somersault over her, landing face first in the dirt.

Dust clouds around us. AJ and I begin to cough uncontrollably.

Finally, the dust clears. I glance over my shoulder.

The finish line is a few feet behind me.

And half a foot in front of AJ.

"Yes!" I cheer, leaping to my feet. "I won! Oh, sweet victory is mine! How do ya like them apples, AJ?"

AJ laughs, spitting out dirt. I knew she'd find the joke funny, considering she lives on a farm.

"I hear ya, I hear ya," AJ mutters, wiping her mouth. "You won."

I just laugh. "Yes, yes I did."

It's three hours after school ended for the day, and AJ and I are just messing around in the PE field behind the school building, as we have been for the past three hours.

"Well, as much fun as this is, I gotta get home," AJ says. "My granny ain't gonna be too happy if I'm not home 'fore sundown."

"Okay," I say, disappointed. AJ's grandma is really strict, but she can be really nice. She just likes it when things are done properly, I suppose.

AJ and I stroll past the school building, talking and laughing. Suddenly, I see some kind of giant pink shredded cotton ball up ahead. It takes me a second to realise it's attached to a person.

Pinkie. Of course.

What's a loser like her doing out here at six pm? She wouldn't be exercising. Or cleaning up.

Pinkie is just standing there, playing with something small and shiny in her hands. She's wearing a pastel blue hoodie that looks relatively new.

I smirk and saunter over to her.

"Hey there, Mena," I sneer. Pinkie looks up, slipping the shiny thing into her pocket.

Pinkie smiles, though I can tell it's forced. "Hi, Dash! What are you doing out here this late?"

"I could ask you the same question, Frizzlemeister," I snicker, gesturing to her hair. "I'm always here after school."

Pinkie tosses her hair over her shoulder. Not in a sassy way, more like she's trying to hide it.