Faster. I need to run faster, otherwise I won't make it. Please, legs, don't give up on me now. Oh god, I can feel them collapsing...
The crisp air stung at Josie's pale skin, which was saturated with sweat. She had no time to stop. Her boost of adrenaline from when she first started to run was dropping second by second, and she felt sure that she wasn't going to get there, that she was going to fail. Her chest was tightening, her legs were becoming more and more jelly-like and her vision was going blurry. She was on the verge of collapsing, until...
"Time! You made it, Josie!"
With that final declaration, a wide smile spread across Josie's face and she collapsed onto the cool grass of the school field. This was it. She'd made it onto the schools sports team. As Josie starfished on the grass, heart pounding from the intense amount of work she had just done, she felt a surge of pride wash over her. It was a massive accomplishment for Josie, who never really amounted to anything over the 4 years she'd been at secondary school. When she told her mum the news, however, Josie didn't quite get the reaction she was hoping for. Instead, she was bombarded with a lot of hurtful questions.
"Isn't the sports team for boys?"
"Why can't you be involved with something more... Girly?"
"What about if I signed you up to ballet?"
It was like a dagger to the heart. No matter what Josie did, she couldn't do it quite right. There was always something better, or so her mum thought.
Next on the list of people to tell was Josie's friends. She knew that at least her friends would be over the moon for her, and they were. Anna called her the next Mo Farah and Sarah told Josie that she was "über proud", whatever that meant. It was just the ego boost Josie needed.
That night, she phoned Sarah to ask her a question about the drama homework that was due in the following day.
"Listen, you're asking the wrong person, kiddo. When have I ever handed in a completed piece of homework?"
"That's very true. I'll remember that the next time I need help with homework. Alright, I'll speak to you-"
"Wait there a minute, Jo. I just want to remind you of how proud I am of you for today. I know you don't want a huge fuss made out of it, but I was thinking that we could maybe celebrate? After all, I have an idea..."
Josie rolled her eyes. 95% of the ideas that Sarah ever came out with would either get Josie into trouble with the law or with her mum, sometimes both if Sarah was in an adventurous mood.
"Listen, if this is gonna be one of your silly ideas again, you know I'm not gonna consent to it."
"It's not, trust me! I was thinking, what if we went on a little camping trip? Say, in Jackson Woods?"
"I don't think so, Sarah. I'm not really a camping person. And besides, I don't want to get in trouble with my mum, she wouldn't hesitate to take me off the team if I so uttered the thought of a trip so far."
"So far? Have you been living in a cave? It's only 2 hours from here. C'mon, don't be such a prude. What's the worst that could happen? Oh yeah, the boogeyman might creep into our tent and rip us to shreds in the middle of the night!"
Sarah's cackling rang through the phone and pierced Josie's ear. The fact that Sarah had called Josie a prude had made Josie desperate to prove that she wasn't a prude at all. The word swam around her head, until it planted a little seed, which brought Josie back to the cackling from the other end of the phone.
"Fine, I'll come. Are the others coming too?"
"Already sorted m'lady, they've all agreed to it and are in on both of my plans."
"You have another plan? Go on then, what now?"
Nothing else that Sarah could say would shock Josie now. She'd heard it all, so it came as no surprise when...
"We each tell our parents that we're stopping at each other's, then we won't get into any trouble and they'll never find out."
Josie sighed. She really didn't want to lie to her mum, but if it meant that she wasn't seen as a prude...
"Okay."