chapter 1 victory

A collective groan from commentators and crowd was followed by a deep hush, as Sarah hit the grass hard. Ellie covered her mouth - hoping her friend was all right, but also desperately willing Sarah back to her feet for the sake of the race. Meanwhile Joe and a few other guys were bellowing unsportingly at Troy, who hadn't seen the fall, to keep going.

As Sarah valiantly pushed herself up, it was clear she was badly hurt. Standing with one foot lifted slightly off the ground, it looked as though her ankle had gone - either broken or strained. Steadying herself, she bravely hobbled on on one leg. The girls cheered, but Ellie bit her lip. Troy was a way behind, and having failed again to up his pace in response to Sarah's stumble, he was still struggling along with great difficulty. Yet with Sarah now no more than hopping and grimacing each time she landed, Troy was bound to close the gap, even continuing at his current pathetic pace. This was going to be close. Sensing the same, the crowd was going wild: howls of unfairness, yells of encouragement, and a general excitement as what had looked like a foregone conclusion morphed into a possible photo-finish.

*******

An semi-enthusiastic but still noisy male cheer spread across the crowd as a puffing, red-faced Troy finally staggered past Sarah, with just one corner and stretch of the race remaining. But the drama wasn't over. For, with an obvious grimace of pain, Sarah heroically managed to place her right foot down on the turf, and was hobble-sprinting the last hundred meters. Joe's wild cheers as Troy had passed Sarah now gave way to urgent exhortations for his man to speed up. Ellie thought both Joe and Troy might burst a blood vessel. The latter staggered on, pruce-faced and perspiring like a hog in the Sahara - and moving just about as fast - frantically glancing over his shoulder to see Sarah slowly eroding his lead.

The final moments of the race seemd to happen in slow motion, with the crowd going crazy as a hobbling Sarah and a waddling Troy approached the finish line almost neck and neck.

Then it was over. A loud and raucous final cheer, as face contorted in agony Troy somehow staggered over the finish line and immediately collapsed onto his knees. Sarah, griminacing with a different sort of pain, completed the race no more than two seconds later.

*******

Amidst the post-race commotion, Ellie stood in dejection. She just couldn't believe the injustice of it. Of all the damned bad luck! By any measure, Sarah had whooped Troy's chubby ass - and some. Everyone knew it. After all his bragging in the weeks before the race, and his bravado during it, the supposedly elite athlete had been staring at a completely humiliating defeat. Ellie just couldn't believe it. It was so out of character for Sarah to slip. She had run that field a hundred times, often in wetter conditions, and had never slipped. Her balance was impeccable.

Indeed, to look at the two competitors after the race, you would think it had ended very differently. The contrast was quite something. Leaning back in a plastic chair, with his legs spread out and sweat pouring, Troy looked ready explode, and was gulping water into his crimson face between huge pants that caused his chest and stomach to rise and fall heavily. A cheerleader stood behind him, vainly fanning him with her pompoms, while his stunning French girlfriend Sophia fussed worriedly over her man like a wounded hero, cupping his cheeks, stroking his forehead and holding the bottle of water to his lips. A few male students came up and half-heartedly congratulated Troy, whose red cheeks bulged with each back-clap; Ellie thought it a wonder he didn't throw up.

Sarah, on the other hand, though obviously disappointed, seemed not remotely tired. There was barely a bead of sweat on her and her breathing, though enough to swell her chest, was barely above normal. Ever the happy optimist, she didn't even seem in particularly bad spirits - despite her "defeat" and its consequences. She lay on the grass, with her arms back and her hands propping her up, accepting consolations with a gracious nod, as a medical student examined her ankle.

"Ellie..."

Ellie turned to see the far-less-gracious face of Joe smiling at her.

"Yes?"

His smug smirk said it all. With a sigh of resignation, she turned and headed for the hotdog stall.

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