The cold air made goosebumps rise on my bare arms, but I’d warm up once we started running. I shifted from side to side, my entire body tingling with nervous energy.
I knew I was prepared. I’d followed the training program religiously. When I’d completed the final long run before the race, I’d felt good, considering I had just run ten miles. Logically, I had every reason to believe I would not only complete this race, but finish with a time I could be proud of.
And yet doubt lingered in my mind. The girl who would have done just about anything to skip gym class in favor of sitting on the sidelines with a book was still inside me. Could I actually do this? Could I run an entire half-marathon?
“Where’s Mr. Calloway? I mean, Shepherd,” Sophie asked Everly. “Is he coming down to watch? Or is there a view of the route from your condo?”
“He’ll be here,” Everly said. “He said he’d see me at the finish line. And I think my sister and her wife are coming, and so are Richard and Dahlia.”
“Are Ethan and Grant running today?” Sophie asked.
Ethan and Grant were Everly’s brother-in-law and his partner. “They are, but they’re so fast, they’re probably starting way up front. Ethan texted me early this morning to wish us all good luck.”
“You’re going to have an entire cheering section,” Nora said with a smile.
“It’s so nice. I love them so much,” Everly said. “Is Jensen still in town?”
Nora dramatically rolled her eyes. “Yes. I made the mistake of telling him about today and he said he’d come watch me finish.”
“That’s sweet of him.”
“I suppose, although he probably has an ulterior motive,” Nora said with a shrug. “But that’s okay, I’ll make him buy us all breakfast after the race.”
“My dad wanted to come but I told him to stay home and just watch the livestream online,” Sophie said. “He doesn’t get around very well these days and he’d probably just yell curse words like a drunken pirate.”
Nora laughed. “Oh my god, your dad is my favorite.”
My friends didn’t ask me if anyone would be waiting for me at the finish line. We all knew there wouldn’t be, so I was glad they didn’t bring it up.
“Well, look at this, they actually showed.” Bella Fernadale’s sneering voice made my back tighten.
The Bedazzled Bitches had never looked so… bedazzled. They wore black baseball caps with gold gems lining the edges and the word Bitches spelled out in pink rhinestones. Gold, silver, and pink gems filled the lettering on their tight tank tops. One of the girls turned to the side and I saw that they even had Bitches bedazzled in sparkly pink and gold across their backsides.
“Nice outfits,” Nora said, her voice laced with sarcasm. “It’s a good thing all those gems are cheap plastic, otherwise the weight of them might interfere with your time.”
“These weren’t cheap,” Drew said, pointing at herself with both hands. “We ordered the rhinestones from a specialty manufacturer.”
“That’s weird, they look exactly like the ones I saw at the Dollar Store the other day,” Sophie said.
“Shut it, Miss Piggy,” Bella said.
Nora lunged for her but Everly and I caught her by the arms. “I swear to god, I will claw out your eyeballs and replace them with those trashy gemstones.”
“It’s okay, Nora, they can’t hurt my feelings,” Sophie said.
I kept my grip on Nora in case she tried to pounce again. Although part of me wanted to let her.
Bella shifted her weight onto one leg and put her hands on her hips. “Whatever. I have to give it to you four, you have balls. What do you think, girls? Can a ditz, a slut, a fatty, and a freak beat us?”
Drew threw her head back with a fake laugh and nudged the other two when they didn’t laugh quickly enough.
Bella laughed, too, dabbing the corners of her eyes. “Oh my god, I’m hilarious.”
I glared at them. “It doesn’t matter who finishes first today. Even if you win, you’ll still be no better than a swarm of mosquitoes. Vicious and small with tiny brains, and at the end of the day, just a passing nuisance.”
She huffed. “You’re so weird. We’ll see you at the finish line. I hope you brought cash.”
They turned with clichéd flips of their hair and sauntered away.
A new sensation spread through me, overtaking my nerves. Resolve. I was going to beat those awful women, even if it killed me.
“I think I need to go back to rage yoga,” Nora said, straightening. Everly and I let go of her and she raised both middle fingers at their backs.
“Nice double fist unicorns,” Sophie said. “They’re the worst.”
“This might not provide much consolation, but their unnecessarily antagonistic behavior indicates a deep dissatisfaction with their own lives.” I crossed my arms. “But I still say we bury them.”
“Oh, we’re going to.” Sophie tightened her ponytail. “I might not be able to walk for a week after this, but I’m winning.”
“It’s a worthy sacrifice,” Everly said. “I’m all in.”
Nora narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Let’s show those bitches what we’re made of.”
The noise and energy intensified as the last minute before the start ticked down. A huge banner with the Soggy Seattle Half-Marathon logo and the word Start in block letters spanned the street in front of us, and an enormous digital timer awaited the signal. We wore bands on our ankles that would begin recording our time when we ran over mats at the starting line, and they’d stop when we crossed the finish.
The bet would be won or lost by our individual times. We’d set a goal of averaging ten-minute miles. It wasn’t terribly fast, but maintaining that pace over the full thirteen point one miles would be a challenge. I just hoped it would be enough to beat the Bedazzled Bitches.
With ten seconds to start, the crowd started counting down, the loud chant growing. My heart beat rapidly and a renewed rush of nerves made my stomach jumpy. My friends stood on either side of me, leaning forward, wearing matching expressions of fierce determination.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
A sharp bang filled the air and a cheer rose up from the crowd. The competitive runners in front were off, and the rest of us began moving toward the start.
It took a full minute before our section made it to the start banner. We clasped hands as we approached the start line. Our feet hit rubber, our ankle bands activated, and we were off.
As soon as we reached the pavement on the other side of the starting line, my anxiety disappeared. I still felt the buzz of adrenaline flooding my system, but running gave me something to do with all that energy.
The crowd was thick, so we dodged around knots of people, looking for more open space so we could set our pace. I kept an eye on my Fitbit, making sure we didn’t start off too fast. I’d read that one of the common mistakes first-time distance runners made was to push their pace too hard in the beginning. The increased adrenaline and excitement of the race could make you feel unnaturally confident and energetic. But you risked burning out before the end. We were running faster than planned, but we could ease up once we found a more comfortable space among the crowd.