“Annie, wake up.” Annie’s mother yelled into her room. “You have to go to school, sub sectionals are today. You have to run the two mile. I know you’ll do good.” Annie nodded, then looked at her watch. 6:10, she’d overslept. She quickly jumped out of bed. She had to go to school first, then the race. It was Friday. “Man, I can already tell I’m going to be dehydrated.” She whispered to herself as she stretched. She grabbed a water from the fridge, threw on her track clothes, and prayed Juan wouldn’t be there. But it was an empty prayer, she knew, he was going to be there doing the shot put. “Well, here it goes.” She said to the air before she dashed out the door.
Cass saw her at school. “You don’t look like you feel very well.” She told Annie. “I don’t,” Annie replied, she started coughing.
“Well you have to make it through today, that’s it. Just get a PR and coach will be happy.” Annie nodded, not entirely sure if that was the truth. She coughed again. Damnit.
Sub sectionals. Annie was tired and didn’t really feel like running. Cass drove her, trying to motivate her the entire time. “We’ve got this Annie.” She said, but it seemed like she was talking more to herself. Annie nodded; her heart wasn’t in it though. “What’s your PR?” Annie shrugged. “ I think.” Cass nodded. “You can beat that.”
Slow heat. “They got to be kidding me,” Annie said. She was seeded at . “I have never run that slow.” She got in line and started doing drills. She saw that Juan was at the shot put and tried not to think about him, about the dreams she’d been having about way back when. She got in in her lane. Two part start…wait for the gun.
Bang.
She blasted it. It wasn’t too long and she was way out front. She looked up. They hadn’t started the clock and she didn’t have her watch. “Damnit.” She mumbled under her breath before she could stop it. She led them, took the next four laps hard. Didn’t know her time, but kept running, soon she started her last lap. She glanced over her shoulder, no one, not for a whole lap. Juan was cheering, his fake smile plastered on his face. He probably wants me to trip. She sped up, sprinted the stretch. Lapped someone. “Damn slow heat.” She started coughing at the finish, then blacked out.
“You didn’t tell me.” I said to Mark when we left. He was taking me to Cari’s so I could wash off the blood and cover the bruises. “I trusted you, and you, and you literally fed me to the dogs.”
Mark didn’t answer, instead he tried to kiss me. I pulled away sharply. He grabbed my arm. I flinched. “Sorry.” He said, realizing he’d just grabbed my bruised arm and letting go of me. He wouldn’t look at me for the rest of the walk.
When we got to Cari’s, he left me there. “Meet us at the warehouse tomorrow at . You’ll get your first chance to prove yourself.” I nodded. Wasn’t sure I could do whatever it was that they wanted me to. I knew that I wasn’t made for gangs. I knocked on the door. Cari answered and let me in. She was stunned.
“um, I uh… got in a fight.”
It was the first time I had ever lied to her.
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