Defending Parker

[Epilogue]

Epilogue

2 months later

My lungs contracted quickly and my heart started to race as I pushed myself into overdrive, a sudden rush of adrenaline kicking in as I ran. My strides were long and confident as my arms pumped readily by my sides. I couldn't focus on the racers that surrounded me as my eyes were fixed on the place I was pushing to get to; the finish line.

The end was in sight, and with one last burst of energy brought on by the cheers and noise from the sidelines, my whole body accelerated faster as I strode swiftly across the finish line.

Slowing my pace down, my breathing became heavy as I finally came to a stop, hunching over to rest my hand on my knees to cool down and catch my breath.

A few seconds was all it took for my heartbeat to slow down, for my breathing to return to normal. As I stood up straight and glanced at the scoreboard, a smile spread across my face.

I knew when I moved to Byrendale that it was a part of one of the most competitive regions for track, as most of the competitors I had faced in past provincial and national meets had come from here. However, as I saw my name flashing bright red in the first place spot, it went to show that working hard to achieve a goal really did pay off in the end.

Walking towards the sidelines, I saw my coach standing with a proud smile on his face as my teammates surrounded him.

"That was awesome Jillian!"

"You definitely deserved that win."

"Where have you been all my life?"

At that comment, which came from one of the more popular guys on the track team, me, as well as the rest of the team, started to laugh.

"Sorry Cam, but you must not have been paying attention as I repeatedly lapped you on the track." I replied sarcastically, causing his teammates and friends to 'ooh' and 'aah' as he just rolled his eyes.

"Good one Thomas." he said with a smile, and with that, most of the team broke off, heading towards the tent and the concession stand. Admittedly, Cam was quite attractive, but a guy, who unfortunately, couldn't be here, had already succeeded in stealing my heart.

At that thought, my mood fell slightly as I tried to seem delighted when my coach, who I noticed was still lingering, acknowledged me.

"When I recruited you at the beginning of the year, I knew you were good, but I didn't think you were that good." he said, nodding towards the track behind me. "Good job out there today, and I'm proud to say that you definitely deserving of racing today in Freedyn's colours."

"Thanks Coach." I smiled, my heart genuinely warming as the wind blew and my coach complemented me.

He shook his head as he returned a smile. "Now," he started, nodding to the middle of the field as the set up to hand out the medals for my race, "Go get that medal Thomas."

Heading towards the small stage they had set up, I, along with all the other racers, gathered to hear the results.

"Thank you everybody for coming out today, whether you were a racer down on the track or a fan up in the stands, it's my pleasure to say that this officially marks the end of our regional track meet." the head official announced, receiving an enthusiastic applause from the audience. "And now it's time to give out the awards, with the top three finishers for each event moving on to provincials."

The medals were given out then, event by event, with the top three finishers being cheered on by their teams and families. I, along with another girl on my team, went up to receive a medal for the 800m, and as I waited for the last event to be announced, I was proud to wear the bronze medal around my neck.