Morning came and I woke up to my alarm blaring louder than I expected. As I turned it off and took a look outside I saw that the weather today was much fairer, and as such, there was no hope that the dreaded Athletics Day would be postponed. I began to get ready by stuffing everything I needed into the gym bag and then took the tracksuit jacket out of the shower where it was drying to take a shower myself. I did not need much time to prepare for a normal day, especially now that my hair was cut short, as such after getting ready for the day I left the house with time still to spare. My mothers car was in the driveway so she did indeed manage to arrive home after I went to bed. I did not see her this morning as it was most mornings, mainly due to the fact that she worked late and would need her sleep. I was trying to be as quiet as possible the whole time but now that I was outside I could finally relax and not worry about waking her up.
The weather was great today, and it was a calm late spring morning here on the east coast. I walked leisurely to school where we would be gathering in preparation for the day to come. Leftover rain could be seen here and there from yesterday’s tumultuous weather, thus giving a very serene atmosphere to my walk. I began drifting off into my mind again and as a result would be on ‘autopilot’ on the way to school. Thankfully there were not too many cars on the roads yet, so I could cross the streets calmly and relax at least until I got closer to Intercity High.
I managed to arrive earlier than I thought which meant I could mess around on my phone for a while before leaving it in my gym bag for the rest of the day, as more and more people began to make their way to the school. People began to break off into groups where they talked about the upcoming events at the Athletics Day, and what everyone would be doing and who they thought would win.
I sat down on a bench near the parking lot and decided to concentrate as much as I could on my phone to not hear the conversations around me, as I noticed some people giving me odd looks for being by myself when everyone else was already talking in groups. The way the events of Athletics Day would go is that for each grade there would be four classes, and by taking one class out of each grade they would make a team that would compete against the others. The teams were color coded and the team my class was assigned was Yellow, the others being Red, Blue, and Green.
Eventually the teachers came out of the school and the buses that carried students who lived farther away arrived, these same buses would be taking the 300-plus students and some twenty teachers to the field where Athletics Day would take place. Some of the students’ parents called in advance that they would be at the field instead, and some would take their children to the field so that there would be enough buses to take everyone there.
I spotted the bus with the poster saying 10-B on it and made my way into it, I sat near the middle, not too far back or forward, and waited for Mr. Phillips to come in and take attendance.
Eventually Mr. Phillips came in as most seats were taken, and began to read off the names of people in our class to make sure everyone was here. He didn’t read off all twenty plus names since some students were not able to participate due to health concerns, and others would make their way to the field instead of riding the bus. After making sure everyone who was meant to be here, was here, Mr. Phillips sat down himself and the bus began its journey. It didn’t take too long and I spent my time looking out of the window at the passing scenery, not knowing that this would be the most peaceful moment I would experience for a while.
After some thirty minutes we arrived and people began to make their way out of the bus to the fenced off dressing area to change into our sports getup. I made my way to a secluded corner within, and began changing while keeping my eye on the fence in front of me, and trying not to notice the stares I was getting from everyone else. I was not athletic as mentioned beforehand, and as such I could guess some of the thoughts of my schoolmates as to why I would even be here if I couldn’t handle the events that we were required to participate in.
After getting changed we went outside and I grabbed the water bottle that I filled up this morning at home knowing this was something I would definitely need. The events that everyone had to participate in are the 100 meter sprint, the one-mile run, the long jump, the high jump, and the tug of war. The other events that would be going on are optional but in which participation was encouraged in order to gain points for the relevant teams. I was not going to be doing so, the end result of today’s sports day was for bragging rights at most, and I did not have anyone I could brag to.
I made my way to the gathering area of the Yellow team and waited for everyone else to be finished changing, mainly the girls on our team. The school day was usually over six hours, and as such I would have a lot of downtime to recover in between the five events I was required to participate in. I had no aspirations for my performance in these events. I was just hoping I would not finish last like I did the previous year. Finishing last in your first year of high school was certainly embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as doing so in your second year. I mean after all, I’ve had a whole year to grow, and I was definitely taller than I was last year, but I also weighed more. Just the thought of finishing last was souring my mood, as I waited for everyone to be ready.
The first event all teams would be participating in was the 100 meter sprint, and the only positions that mattered were first, second, and third. First place would net your team five points, second place would net your team three points, and third place would net your team one point. We would be competing in groups of twelve, three people from each team, until everyone had a turn. The groups from each team that would be competing would be doing so through alphabetical order based on our last names, so I would be somewhere near the end. There was already a pre-marked area on the field where the sprint would be taking place, and if I had to guess the whole thing would take at most an hour. I sat down in the grass near the teacher that was making the announcements on who was participating, Mr. Reuter our P.E. teacher. I glanced at the treeline next to the field realizing that you couldn’t see any buildings in that direction, which was odd considering how close we were to the city. I looked around and saw that the same was true for every direction, apparently this was an area where few people lived, making it so that the only people who were present for Athletics Day were the students, the teachers supervising the events, along with the school nurse who was here to tend to the students who might get injured.
After about forty minutes my name was called up and I made my way to the lane I was going to be in, I got into position and took a pose I was most comfortable with to begin a short-term sprint. Of course 100 meters is not short in my estimation, but I suppose for the athletically-inclined it would be. After all other eleven participants were ready Mr. Reuter began the countdown.
“GET READY! SET! GO!” Mr. Reuter shouted.
As soon as I heard go I began sprinting, surprising myself that I could barely see the people around me in my peripheral vision. After getting to what I thought was the midpoint of the 'trek' I began to hear my heart beating in my head. This caused me to slow down a little and consequently, fall back behind the others around me. I began to worry that I would be last once again and so forced myself to maintain the distance between me and the others, or at the very least not slowing down any further.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Making it to the finishing line I noticed that I was not the last person to make it, relieving the stress building up in my mind. I could now take it somewhat easy while waiting for the one mile run which would undoubtedly be more difficult than the sprint. I tried to calm my breathing and saw the teacher at the end of the track noting down which teams gained points. The conversations going on around me informed me that the Yellow team managed to come second, which was at least something positive. I went and grabbed my water bottle where I left it and gulped down almost half of it before setting it back down, and plopping down next to it. I knew in my mind then, that I would never be a sprinter, which was fine with me.
I noticed the conversations around me, people were commenting on the fact that I was sweating after only the sprint, which would mean I would look like I came out of a swimming pool after the one-mile run. I focused and tried to ignore them, assuring myself over and over that this was just Athletics Day and would have no impact on anything in the grand scheme of things. Knowing something, and convincing yourself that something is true, is not the same thing.
I attempted to block out everything around me once more, this time successfully. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the warm spring sun and the gentle breeze that would sway occasionally. After some time I noticed that people around me began to get up and figured it was now time for the daunting one-mile run. This time it would be done in groups of forty with ten students from each team. I sat myself down nearby Mr. Reuter who began explaining how this event would be done, mostly for the benefit of the first-years. There are four posts on the field and we would all have to run around each of them and return to the starting post, and it would supposedly equate to a mile, although I doubt strict measurements were used to measure the distance, no matter. After the explanations were done I began to wait once more as this event would take more time to host than the others due to the distance. I began to plan out how I was going to pace myself in order to make the run in a respectable time. My thoughts returned to how I jogged home yesterday through the rain, and I realized it would be much the same, except I wouldn’t have to worry about slipping on a wet surface.
I watched the event unfold as people began to make their way around the field, and the congestion around the posts where the group would be making turns is a problem. Since the shortest path would be the one closest to the wooden posts, all the contestants are trying to stay as close to the in-line as possible. This means that when reaching a post in order to not get slowed down by the people around them, some of the faster students would go farther out, to ‘overtake’ the ones slowing down. I figured my body wouldn’t be able to handle the speeding up and slowing down during this one-mile run so I was hoping with a steady pace I would be able to make it to the posts and just wait my turn to get past them. The first group managed to make it back in no more than ten minutes, so I figured there would be no harm in taking it easy for a while.
I closed my eyes once more to think about how sore my body would feel after today, and that it would be even more so tomorrow morning. Thankfully today was Friday so I don’t have to worry about moving around much tomorrow. I began to think of what I needed to do over the weekend, and realized that there wasn’t much, so I would have more free time on my hands than I originally thought. My mother only had Sundays off, so tomorrow I would be alone for most of the day and decided to spend it doing what I wanted, and finish what was required of me for school and the like on Sunday. Tomorrow would be filled with books, maybe I’d play some video games, and perhaps watch a few episodes of a TV show I liked. This sedentary plan of mine would be just what I needed to get rid of the fatigue.
An hour or so later, it was my name that was called up by Mr. Reuter and I took a swig out of my water bottle, and made my way to the starting line. I noticed that there were people from other grades this time participating at the same time, which would mean that hopefully one of the first-years is just as athletically inept as I am. Mr. Reuter began to make his countdown and I focused on making sure my breathing was steady for the one-mile run.
“GET READY! SET! GO!” Mr. Reuter shouted again.
I began to jog at a pace I felt I could maintain for the next mile, and already there were a few people who broke out into full-blown sprints. Either they were highly confident that they could maintain speed for a long time, or they were overeager. As we neared the first post I had to slow down due to the fact that the people in front of me still hadn’t turned the corner. I was already feeling a little out of breath, so I decided to take this slow and steady my breathing until I’d have to pick up pace once more after the post. I turned the corner and began to jog once more and noticed that some people were already beginning to fall behind which meant that I thankfully wouldn’t come last. Luckily, not everyone in Intercity High was an athlete so this event is more about ‘school spirit’ or whatever than actually making sure that we were physically fit. There were some preparations done in our P.E. class for Athletics Day, but they were done half-heartedly and those that did not perform well were not penalized for it.
Right as I was about to near the second pole, I felt something hit me in the heel as I was jogging and that caused me to fall face-first into the dirt and barely cushion my fall with my hands. I was disoriented for a moment when I lifted my head up and saw Kevin grinning as he was looking back at me, before turning his head forward and continuing the run. I didn’t realize that one of the people who fell back earlier was Kevin and would have most likely paid more attention as to what was going on behind me if I did. Kevin, one grade above me, was a track-and-field athlete in our school and would certainly be able to handle the one-mile run without having to decrease his speed so early. I have known him for only a year or so, after I enrolled at Intercity High and he was one of the people who I felt enjoyed tormenting others more than one should. He probably fell behind just to have an opportunity to kick me in the heel near the second post where the supervising teachers would be too far away to see. This was not the first time I have had an encounter with him and I reminded myself to remain more vigilant in the future. I cleaned up some of the dirt that had gathered on my face and body and began to jog on, thankfully I didn’t get hurt, my hands cushioning the fall.
Due to being tripped up by Kevin I was unfortunately last in my group, since no one saw how I fell, people just assumed I did so because of my own ineptitude and I heard a few snickers here and there accompanied by unfriendly looks. Only Kevin and his friends were giving me a few knowing looks, since I assume he told them what had transpired. I have no doubt that others saw what had occurred as Kevin was not the only one who fell behind in the earlier stages of the run, but no one would risk ratting him out for my sake. The instinct of self-preservation of not only one’s life but also one’s status is quite strong in teenagers. The stratification of Intercity High was something I experienced within my first week of enrolling and it did not strike me as being too different from what I remember in middle school. Just like how in the medieval societies there were lords and commoners, so too were similar classes present in our modern world of equality.
No one would risk their own position in the societal ladder in order to tell the supervising teachers what happened, as others would default to see this as slander, rather than the truth. Being someone who did not entirely understand the complexities of how to fit in, and as such fell back into myself after my unsuccessful attempts to change things a year ago, I lost by default and was placed by others on the lowest rung of the ‘ladder’.
After grabbing my now-empty water bottle and filling it up at a nearby water fountain, I decided to now focus on the upcoming competitions while rehydrating. Ironically, by tripping me near the midpoint of the race, Kevin gave me some time to steady my breathing while I was cleaning myself up, and I was not as out of breath as I would have been, had I maintained a steady pace throughout the race. There were no longer any stamina-based events that I would be competing in and as such I would only have to strain myself for short periods of time in order to hopefully achieve a decent result.
The jumping events and the tug of war passed smoothly, I did not place last in the jumping events for my team and our tug of war matches were evenly matched for wins and losses. After all was said and done, and the points tallied up, the Yellow team placed third behind Blue and Green, and ahead of team Red. As the sun was already well past its zenith, we were required to be present at the awards ceremony where the most outstanding athletes of the day, and the best athlete from each team would receive their medals. Since we placed third I stood somewhere in the middle of the crowd, counting down the seconds until we could get back on the buses, which were oddly still not back from when they had left earlier in the day. The nurse left after all of the events were concluded as they probably didn’t want to be here longer than necessary; a sentiment I shared.
Suddenly a bright light enveloped my surroundings, where we were sequestered at the corner of the field closest to the changing areas for the awards ceremony, where an elevated patch of ground served as an impromptu stage. The light was brighter than anything I had ever seen, it could most accurately be described as an even brighter light than the ones I saw online of atomic bomb tests, which was probably the result of the screen not being able to convey the luminosity. My first thought was that WW3 had broken out, which would mean that this was most likely my last moment alive, but I dismissed that thought as strangely the light did not envelop the entirety of the field but rather just the crowd that had gathered of students and teachers for the awards ceremony. Others too turned their heads around in shock, trying to locate the source of this bright light, eventually my eyes began to hurt and I closed them for a moment to give them a moment's respite. When I opened my eyes again, the light was gone.