Racing: a competition to see which is the fastest in covering a set course.
*
"What is with this group and being obsessed with blindfolds?" Bonnie asked.
I rolled my eyes as I continued rolling her towards the school. "Because everyone loves a good surprise," I replied. And surprise I hoped it was, I cornered her after school, told her to be ready in ten minutes and to wear pants.
"Blindfolds can mean a lot of different surprises," Bonnie countered, "Like some screwed up kinkery to hey you're not gonna see me drop you off a cliff edge."
"Bonnie, you grew up around here, same as me, where would I get a cliff edge from?" I asked.
"Out-Lookers Peak," Bonnie answered.
"I'm going in the complete opposite direction to that," I assured as the gates of the school came into view. Even this late into the afternoon, the school gates were still open for club goers and late-working teachers, making no issue when I walked through.
As I made my way to the track fields, I saw Amada sitting on the lowest bench, playing with his fingers and staring at the ground. As we approached, he lifted his head and quickly for to his feet, his fidgety nature transferring to his feet as well as his hands.
I mimed a greeting.
Bonnie slouched in her chair when I stopped, reaching over the side of her chair to touch the loose soil on the ground. "Are we at the track fields?" she asked.
I was surprised, as was Amada, "How on earth did you guess that?"
She scoffed, sitting upright as she wiped her hand of the dust. "We've gone from dirt, to concrete, to dirt, to cobblestone, to dirt. I know the roads to get to school and to the track field. I don't need eyes to figure that out." She pulled at the knot around her blindfold, managing to loosen it and rest the fabric around her neck. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Amada standing in front of her. In the same motion, she looked around for anyone else, but aside from me, we were alone.
"Hi, Amada," she greeted plainly. Her posture straightened and she rested her hands on her lap, hiding her twiddling thumbs.
Amada managed a smile as he scratched his head, "Hey."
The two looked nervous in each other's company, borderline uncomfortable. I clapped my hands, startling the awkward silence forming between them, "Amada is gonna help you participate in a field race."
Bonnie widened her eyes and shot a quick glance at me. "Pardon?"
I nodded, crossing my arms, "Yep. Field race, you, me, Amada and Ava."
"Ava?" Bonnie looked around for her.
Amada was rocking on his heels, opting to pocket his hands so he'd stop scratching at his hair. "Ava went to get a stop watch," he informed.
Bonnie nodded, "This is why you told me to wear pants."
I nodded, "Yep. We're gonna complete that bucket list item today, whether you enjoy yourself or not."
Bonnie sighed, resting her head on the back of her chair to look at the sky, the blue slowly turning orange with the later afternoon sun.
Amada gestured for me to come closer, stepping away from Bonnie as he said through his teeth. "I don't think this is a good idea," he commented, his whole body as stiff as a board, his hands still firmly in his pockets.
"Don't be silly," I replied, placing my hands firmly on his shoulders, "Don't think of this as a date, think of it as any other field day."
Amada's face relaxed but he was still tense. "And my partner is Bonnie," he added.
I slapped him on the back, "That's the spirit, bud."
Amada ran his hands through his hair. "Interesting that you didn't mention my name or what she's doing here."
I made a low chuckle, "Well, I figured you'd be a greater surprise."
Amada rolled his eyes, "Do you think this is going to work?"
I shrugged, "If you don't think it will then it definitely won't." I put a hand on his back again and tried to be comforting when that familiar look of unease returned to his face. "Don't stress, bud. Just be yourself." He went to say something, but I held a finger out to silence him, "Be yourself. Yourself. Not who you think you should be."
Amada pursed his lips but nodded, assuring me he would. Moments later, Ava announced her presence, "I found a stop watch!" As she approached us, she was fiddling with the dials and knobs of the digital clock, frowning when she accidently started it. A few feet behind her, Mia was strolling over, shaking her pompoms alongside Robyn as they made their way to the bleachers.
"Why're they here?" Amada asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Everyone needs a cheer squad," Ava informed, her attention still on the timer as she stopped before us, "Besides, Mia's cheer practise ended early and there's a bet on who will win."
Bonnie lifted her head, her eyes wide, "You placed bets on us?"
Ava nodded, shameless. "Yep." She cleared the timer of its numbers, "An entire bag of jelly beans and some pretzels are on the line." She pointed a finger at me, "There are high stakes, Dandy, we gotta win this."
Bonnie blinked, "We? What's going on?"
"We're doing four races. Girls verses girls, boys verses boys, everyone verses everyone and then teams," Ava held the timer out for us to see, "Fastest time wins."
Bonnie shook her head, slouching, "That's not going to work. You guys will beat me, easily."
"There's an adjustment made," Ava assured, "I don't remember the equation off the top of my head, but it's so people can compare times to each other regardless of ability or gender. There's one when boys and girls join the military and compete in races, there's an adjustment so you can see how they compare." Ava's explanation went over our heads, so she added plainly, "Don't worry about it. We're just racing."
Bonnie shook her head, "This isn't a racing chair, it's just a normal-"
"Oh my gosh, will you stop making excuses and have some fun, Bon?" Ava countered.
Bonnie stuck out her tongue, making Ava argue with a raspberry, "Let's start. Boys first. We're doing the 100m sprint."
Amada and I puffed out our chests as we approached the starting line. I hadn't raced Amada since before he'd left. I had always beaten him, but I felt that was because I had longer strides then him. Now that he was taller and fitter, I wondered if it was a fairer playing field.
We braced ourselves on the line, waiting for Ava's go.
"Good luck, kid," I heckled, rocking on my heels in anticipation.
Amada laughed, "You're gonna need it."
Ava and Bonnie came into view on the sidelines, stealing a glance I saw Robyn signing applause and Mia shaking her pompoms at us in fake excitement.
"On your marks, get set!" Ava lifted her hand and brought it down, "Go!"
From the initial push off, I could tell it was going to be close. Amada lined up with my shoulders perfectly, following closely after the first few meters, until he managed a lead with a sudden burst of speed.
For the next few meters, we fought for first place, managing to overtake each other for a split second before the other got in front. As the finish line came into view, we both stumbled over the line, struggling to stop ourselves after the intense sprinting. To try and stop himself, Amada braced himself on the track, stumbling forwards and rolling back to his feet, his speed now gone as I continued to stumble to a stop.
Ava and Bonnie approached us as we panted, Amada leaning on his knees as he caught his breath, I was trying not to look like I was heaving.
"What was that?" Bonnie asked, gesturing to what Amada had just done.
Amada chuckled, straightening as he rolled his shoulders, "Weird trick I learnt. It just helps stop you."
Bonnie raised a brow, "You sure you didn't just trip or something?"
As I walked over to them, Amada chuckled nervously. I knew he had done that deliberately, so it was funny watching him try and pretend it was an accident.
"Who won?" I asked. My body was beginning to heat up from the run, I regretted not stretching beforehand.
Ava blinked, "Umm… I dunno, but I can tell you it took one of you about twelve seconds."
Amada braced his hands on his back as he arched his head up, still panting, "So you couldn't tell who got over first?"
"Your arms were waving about, they morphed together," Ava joked, mocking our arm movements.
"Sprinters need to move their arms. That's where some of our speed comes from," I explained, "It's not all in the legs."
Ava shook her head, "I'm not a sprinter. I don't need to know that. I'm declaring a tie!" Ava pressed the timer against Amada's chest and pressed a second one against mine, "Our turn. Time us, sweaty."
Amada rolled his eyes, composed much quicker then I had, as he cleared the timer. "Alright. Start at the starting."
"Heaven forbid we start at the finish," Bonnie remarked as she turned her chair and they both started for the starting line.
I nudged Amada when the girls' backs were to us. "Mild sarcastic comments, that's a good sign," I cooed as I fiddled with the timer to see how it worked.
Amada's cheeks were already red, but I watched them deepen as he focused on his timer, "Let's just set it up." He faced the finishing line and squatted down, glaring at the line waiting for the girls to get ready.
I looked to the bleachers and waved at Robyn and Mia, who both rose to their feet and gave their own enthusiastic waves.
"Whenever you're ready!" Ava called.
Ava clearly didn't know any techniques in running. She lost her balance when she braced herself against the ground, her ponytail kept flicking her in the nose from how far forwards she leant and when we called for them to start, her foot slipped out from underneath her and she hit the ground. Bonnie made it one stride before realising, and the girls burst out laughing.
After some quick techniques involving how to start, Ava managed to keep her balance and within minutes their race had started.
As expected, Ava beat Bonnie in the run, but Bonnie was much quicker than we had anticipated. At home, Bonnie was known for throwing her wheelchair around, managing to make sharp corners in bursts of speed, but I had assumed in short bursts it was something she had learnt to do over time.
Ava was panting but having not sprinted the whole time was quick to recover. "You good?" I asked, telling her what her time was.
She nodded. "I'm not running fit," she said, "I'm more hitting things with precision fit." She wiped her brow and turned in time to watch Bonnie cross the finish line.
"Nineteen seconds," Amada stated, showing Bonnie's time.
Bonnie was barely out of breath, her cheeks showing little sign of being flushed as she looked at the timer. "Cool," she remarked, handing the timer back.
"I'm really excited about this one," Ava announced as she walked towards the bleachers, when she came back, she was pushing an empty wheelchair.
Bonnie frowned, "What're you planning on doing with that?"
"Probably something insensitive but you'll get over it," she said as she sat in the chair, "Landon is gonna push me, Amada is going to push you."
Bonnie blinked, stealing a glance at Amada, who could only offer a smile. "I can see this ending badly," Bonnie informed.
"So, you don't want us to do it?" Ava asked.
Bonnie tilted her head, "I never said that. Amada and I are going to smash this!" Bonnie sudden enthusiasm was almost startling as she triumphantly made a fist. When she turned to Amada, the same determination surfaced. "How about it, Amada? We got this!" She pinched his side, startling him.
I couldn't dampen the smile on my face even if I wanted to. It was nice to see Bonnie trying to connect to Amada like they use to, still making the effort to playfully tease him or talk to him. Her sudden enthusiasm, having just completed a race, was heart-warming to watch as she got more excited for it.
After waving down Robyn and Mia to explain what we were doing, they stood at the finish line ready to time us.
I didn't know how we were going to do this, or how horrible this could end, but Amada and I braced ourselves on the wheelchair handles and readied ourselves to start running.
"Okay, I have a question," I started, getting the attention of both girls, "What're you two going to be doing during all this? If we're pushing you guys aren't pushing."
Ava turned in her chair, sitting on her knees as she pinched my nose, "We get to yell at you to go faster. The most important part." I raised a brow, to which she added, "This was your idea, dude."
I pulled my face from her hands, sniffing and scratching the sudden discomfort, as I rested my elbows on the back of the chair, leaning forwards to get in her face. "What? Are we just brawn for you ladies?"
Ava softly headbutted me, surprisingly me as she turned back in her chair and pointed to the sky, "Nothing more, nothing less, Dawson! Charge!"
At the finish line, Mia dropped her pompoms signalling us to start.
Wheelchairs were harder to push then I expected, or at least quickly. Ava's wheelchair struggled to turn at first, giving way and allowing me to start running. Amada and Bonnie's chair moved more fluently, the pair taking off and getting a several stride lead on us.
I put my weight into the back of the chair and started running harder, gaining some ground as the gap between us got closer. The girls were heckling us, cheering at the top of their lungs to go faster, to hurry up, they were gaining, we were so close.
I lifted my head, seeing the back of Amada's head and the quick look of Bonnie as she glanced behind her. Her hair was in disarray from how quickly Amada was pushing her wheelchair, as we started to catch up, Ava continued to berate me, while Bonnie was just all smiles. She stretched her arms out and lifted her chin to the air, closing her eyes as she felt the breeze on her face with the smallest but most genuine smile.
Slowly, so as not to make it obvious, I dragged my feet, Amada and Bonnie sailing in front of us and crossing the line a few meters before us. Despite my subtly, Ava didn't object our loss, even grinning when Amada and Bonnie exchanged cheers of glee at winning. In the moment of bliss, Amada reached around Bonnie's shoulders and hugged her, to which Bonnie clutched his arm and continued to smile.
While such a small gesture, one that lasted only moments and appearing to go over both of their heads, it was nice to see them so happy.
The moment was ruined however as Bonnie started teasing Ava and I for losing, prompting us to roll our eyes. "Come on, let's race again!" Bonnie pleaded, looking from Amada to myself, "That was so much fun!"
It was only at the possibility of running again I realised how sore my arms were, my muscles warm and somewhat throbbing under my shirt. I sighed, leaning heavily on Ava's chair as I waited for the buzz to leave my arms. I managed a glance at Amada, who was standing behind Bonnie who, despite still smiling, was rubbing his arms, a flicker of tiredness also crossing his face at the mention of another race.