"One more lap!" Coach Ryan's voice boomed as Kevin crossed the finish line for the 7th time already.

Usually, Kevin was all too eager to be up training as the roosters just started their crowing at 5 AM but recently his training had been akin to torture. The way the track and field showcase worked was that the track team was split into four houses along with any volunteers from the student body that made a certain time in the races they sought to compete in, or distance in field events. Thus the competitors were split randomly to represent their assigned houses. 

Kevin was assigned to Bodecia who didn't have any strong 400m runners in the under nineteen division which led to Coach Ryan asking if he was willing to fill the vacancy, although he usually ran the 100 and 200 meters only. Of course, due to his love for running, Kevin accepted the position without much thought. 

Now that his morning practices had been altered to encompass running ridiculous amounts of laps to build endurance on top of his usual sprint training procedure though, he was starting to regret his decision more and more with each exhausted breath.

By the time he reached the last 200 meters on his now 8th lap, the wind lashing against his face no longer comforted him; instead, it stung his watering eyes, adding to the tremendous aching fatigue he was feeling.

'Is this how unfit people felt?,' Kevin wondered.

He fell over at the finish line in an exhausted heap. He was breathing so hard he half expected his breath to show even though it was spring and not winter.

"What are you so tired for? I even held back more than usual since you have the showcase later," Coach Ryan said.

"News flash, Coach, having me run eight straight laps after my full workout instead of the usual ten does not make it any less overkill," Kevin whined from the ground.

Coach Ryan rolled his eyes, helping him up. Kevin knew that one of Coach's biggest pet peeves was someone falling to the floor after a run, so considering he hadn't barked his head off, he was being atleast a little considerate.

A boy ran up to the two. "I got a tasteless smoothie from hell for the fallen soldier and a milkshake for his general here," he said with a grin.

"Right on time, Michael." Coach Ryan said, taking the milkshake gratefully. Kevin couldn't tell if he enjoyed coaching or consuming those extra milky milkshakes more.

Michael gave Kevin a little pat on the back as he handed Kevin his beverage. "Not sure if this diabolical concoction will make you feel any better, buddy, but here you go."

Kevin smiled despite the roaring pain that currently clutched his calves. "Just what the doctor ordered."

Michael was the only person Kevin could consider his real friend, a companionship that spanned as long as he could remember. The two were the same age and had grown up together. 

The smoothie he currently consumed was some healthy mixture that consisted of kale, cauliflower and god knows what other monstrosities, but it was supposed to be good for athletes, so he gulped it down, ignoring the nauseating smell that attacked him before the taste could even add the one-two punch to his tastebuds.

Michael made a gagging motion as he watched his friend force down the liquid. "I still don't know how you do it, man."

"By thinking of it as a sacrifice to be a winner," Kevin replied, doing his best not to actually throw up.

"That's what I like to hear," Coach Ryan said before greedily gulping down his milkshake. 

Some example he sets, Kevin thought to himself.

Kevin quickly waved goodbye to Coach Ryan before he could think of a new torturous scheme to build endurance. 

"To the Batmobile," Michael said enthusiastically as the two walked to the parking lot behind the stands. He liked to call Kevin's car the Batmobile, for what reason Kevin could only guess.

The stands that looked down on the track from both sides were extremely large, easily able to host their full student body while leaving significant space for their parents and other spectators. It was what one would expect from an athletics oriented school in Wisconsin.

Since school didn't start for another hour, Kevin and Michael simply lounged around in the Batmobile. Most of the time was spent with Michael chatting away and Kevin listening, as it usually went. 

Kevin had always considered Michael a walking encyclopedia, filled with a bounty of information about any topic imaginable. He was an aspiring scientist and with his grades, an academic scholarship seemed imminent, but for now, Michael seemed content to slum it up with Kevin. He even did shotput and often placed in it, because on top of being a world-class nerd, Michael was naturally built like a junior Vin Diesel, and those muscles weren't just for show.

As far as Kevin was concerned, Michael was the closest thing to natural perfection a human could reach.

Before long, the clock struck seven and Kevin started the three-minute trek to Eastwood High, which sat a few blocks down from the track and field stadium.

Eastwood High was almost as glamorous as the stadium. With its modern decoration, the school boasted wealth with its rich granite exterior and welcoming sparkling steps which preceded large glass double doors. Students could already be seen bustling about as they made their way into the building. Their demeanors were much more cheerful as usual, considering that they only had morning classes since the showcase was a whole-day event.

Kevin wished that there were no classes at all, but alas, life didn't always go your way.

"It's kinda weird seeing everyone in a good mood in the morning," Kevin commented as they tackled the steps.

"Tell me about it," Michael replied, "I had to check three times that the Eastwood High sign was still there and we hadn't been transported to another world."

Kevin chuckled. "Nope, same ol' place of torture."

"Speaking of torture, I have the Algebra class today," Michael said with a groan.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You love Algebra class, don't you?"

"I did...before today." He looked around as they entered the hallway and leaned in toward Kevin as if someone would be interested in eavesdropping on them. "Cathy is in that class, Kev."

"...so?" Kevin asked, rolling his eyes.

Cathy had been Michael's most recent fling which had lasted a full week. Michael had been pretty nonchalant about the breakup, and the whole relationship in general, really, which had caused Kevin to forget it even happened until now.

"So?" Michael repeated as if he couldn't believe Kevin had just said that. "She sits down next to me. Can you imagine how awkward that's going to be?"

If there were a list of things Michael hated, awkward situations would be right at the top. His hatred for them was so great that often times he refused to enter a full room unless Kevin went first, just to avoid being the main subject of the inevitable staring that would come their way.

He called it the staring of dumb sheep watching wolves enter the room.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. You're the one who dumped her, so isn't it going to be more awkward for her than for you?"

Michael shook his head. "It doesn't matter, dude. You know what, I think I'm gonna skip the class. My perfect attendance record isn't worth the wrath of a female with a big forehead."

Kevin couldn't help but laugh. That was the best excuse he could come up with, her forehead?

"Don't be such a wuss."

Michael immediately straightened up and stared intensely at Kevin as the bell rang. "You're right, Kev. I need to face this five-headed monster head-on." 

Second on the list of things that Michael hated is being called or even thought of as being scared. Kevin was no psychologist, but he was pretty sure that that went hand in hand with number one.

"See you later man," Michael said since their lockers were in completely different hallways and by extension, their different morning classes. "You're not nervous about later, right?"

"No, but I feel like I really should be," Kevin replied honestly.

"Nah, that's just your subconscious knowing there's nothing to worry about. In my eighteen years of experience, I can confirm that you are the chosen one."

Kevin smiled. "What about you?"

Michael made a pfft sound. "Nervous? You know I don't even really care about doing good in this crap."

"Fair enough."

Kevin's morning class in English Literature went surprisingly smoothly. He expected the class to drone on as things usually did when something much more time fulfilling was on the horizon, but the class was actually semi-enjoyable since Ms. Gollop didn't pick on him to read or discuss anything the entire time.

Before he knew it, he was back out in the parking lot watching Michael's slow approach.

"How'd it go?" Kevin asked after Michael finally dragged his way over to him.

"Word of advice," Michael said, grabbing Kevin by the shoulder and looking into his eyes, "Don't date five-headed monsters; only pain ensues."

The two hopped in the Batmobile and sped off, managing to beat most of the traffic heading to the stadium. Of course, 'most of the traffic' still turned the three-minute drive into a nine-minute one. 

The stadium was evidently going to be packed.

Upon arrival, they made their way to a backroom behind the stands where all the athletes were supposed to meet beforehand. There, Coach Maynard, the official Eastwood High track team coach, addressed them. 

He outlined how the whole day was going to go and the conduct that was expected since this was a televised event where they were representatives of the school and blah blah. Basically, stuff Kevin tuned out a good ten seconds in.

After they were dismissed, Kevin had to suffer through another ten-minute speech as both the principal and Coach Maynard again made opening remarks to the gathered crowd. 

And what a crowd it was. Kevin didn't know the exact number the stadium was supposed to host, but it was clearly near capacity on both sides of the stands. 

To put it simple Kevin language; a crap ton of people.

Finally, the field events began and Kevin and Michael began warming up on the many open spots on the infield. Most of the athletes were using it as their warming-up grounds too, but the field was simply large enough to host them and the field events at the same time, with room to spare.

Michael was called first for his shotput competition and Kevin got to watch his first few throws. He didn't know much about the activity but he could tell that Michael was throwing what he assumed was pretty heavy, really damn far. 

Farther than he would've managed anyway.

Coach Ryan appeared next to him after some time had passed. Heats had long since started on the track, but since there were younger divisions, it would take a bit to get to Kevin's heat. He was an automatic lock for the 200M and 400M races since the volunteers didn't often opt to try out for them, but the 100M was a pretty popular race that often had too many participants that needed whittling down.

"I saw your 100-meter heat roster," Coach Ryan said. "No Darius or Braylon in your race."

Kevin sighed in relief.

Darius and Braylon were the gems of the track and field team. Unlike him, they hadn't been injured last season and had gone on to do well in the track season. Braylon had even placed impressively in regionals. Their being in a separate heat meant that he could relax and coast to the line in his own, since the first and second place were an automatic lock to the final race. 

He was sure there was no one else who would make him have to really work for any of those positions, and so was Coach.

"Remember the plan, no need to push yourself showboating. You have a long day ahead of you; this is a great opportunity to pace yourself," Coach Ryan lectured.

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin replied. He wasn't a big fan of holding back. It killed all the enjoyment he got from the race, but he couldn't ignore the sense behind it.

Eventually, his race was called over the loudspeaker and he walked over to the designated position.

A tall boy sneered as he saw Kevin's approach. He wore freshly done braids and carried himself with the swagger of an extremely confident and capable athlete.

"I'm surprised you showed up. I thought you realized it would be a better career move to avoid embarrassment at my hands," Braylon said. His supporter posse laughed at the quip.

Braylon seemed jealous of Kevin ever since Coach Ryan had taken him under his wing. Although Kevin was still a part of the track team, Coach Ryan and he trained almost separately from the group, and that understandably opened the door to accusations of favoritism and the like. However, Kevin and Michael could never understand why Braylon, of all people, was the only one bothered by it. He was the golden boy of the track team: extremely popular, heavily favored by the main coach, and considered the fastest boy at the school.

But when it came to matters dealing with Kevin, that didn't seem to be enough for him.

Kevin ignored the quip as usual, walking right past him as if he'd said anything. That pissed off Braylon more than any words could anyway.

Kevin didn't even feel the usual mouth-watering anticipation as he got into the starting blocks and the starter started his on-your-mark call.

It stayed that way up to the gunshot of the starter pistol. 

Kevin didn't get a good start but quite frankly, he could've walked into his start and still come out on top. Due to his small stature, it wasn't obvious that he was jogging and he did get a small urge to absolutely blow away his competition and get the crowd on his side but he suppressed the intrusive thoughts and focused on doing just enough to finish first.

The wind on his face wasn't even comforting, as if it knew he was half-assing it and refused to reward him. Kevin almost hung his head when he saw his mediocre time despite his easy first-place finish.

In Braylon's heat, however, he had no such qualms about going all out. Kevin was sure Coach Maynard would've suggested just aiming to qualify in the heat but that wasn't exactly Braylon's style.

He ran a blazing 10.25, which created a huge gap between him and the easygoing Darius. Darius had clearly taken it easy since it was just a heat but that's not how Braylon would see it.

Among his pompous celebration, he found Kevin's eyes in the sea of onlookers and gave him a wink.

The message was clear.

This is what you'll have to beat if you want to be known as the fastest here.