Chapter 1- Soaring

Me and the other racers were lining up at the starting point for the mile and a half race. The date was October the fifteenth, of the year two thousand and nine. It was a chilly, Wednesday afternoon and we were having our second to last meet. I was fourteen years old, and this was my second year on the Mount Pocono Bobcats Cross Country Team. The Bobcats were a school team, not a town one. I participated on the cross country team in the fall, and the track team in the spring. At this time, our cross country team had a losing record of two wins and three losses. We wanted to win the next two meets to get a winning record of four and three. That would be a lot better than a record of two and five, or three and four.

Our team consisted of about fifteen boys and thirty girls. Surprisingly (sarcasm), the girls were faster than me and the other boys. Especially Janet Lane. She had a record mile time of six minutes and thirty four seconds for the girls. As far as I was concerned, this was the fastest time in our group of girls. Janet was fourteen years old, like me, but was pretty small and skinny for her age. She had straight, light, blond hair that came down to her shoulders, and crystal clear blue eyes. Her skin was also ghostly white, and she had a very beautiful smile. In fact, I had a bit of a crush on her. I just never got enough courage to ask her out. We had been friends since the fifth grade, but I was just too nervous to go for it. She would be the perfect girlfriend for me one day if I ever got the courage. I really liked to watch her run. She looked so confident, over-powering, and hot when she ran. She never lost a race. Even I, as fast as I was (and that was pretty fast) could not beat her in a race. I couldn't beat her in the mile, or when sprinting. When she did girls track in the spring, constantly leading the team to victories. She only sometimes came in second place. Other then that, she always won.

"Okay, on your marks, get set, go!" yelled the referee, as he shot the starting pistol to begin the race. With that, our fifteen boys, including me, and the other team's twenty five, began to run the mile and a half race. The guys on our team, well..., is probably why we lost most of our meets. Not to insult them, but they were all pretty slow. I was the fastest boy. The girls were always the ones that lead our team to victories, if we got any. Some boys, like my friend James Jenson, were not half bad at cross country. James had a mile time of about seven minutes, and mine was just under seven. We were usually the first two boys to score for our team. Today though, it did not look like we were going to get a victory. There were at least ten boys from the other team in front of me as I ran, and I was in first place for our boys. That was not a good sign at all.

After three quarters of a mile had passed in our race, there were still seven boys from the other team in front of me, and I was still in first place for my team. I started to pick up speed a little bit to see if I could pass some of the boys. After another half-mile, I passed four of them, with only three more to go. The only problem was that I was getting a sharp pain in my side from running too fast, and I had to slow down a little bit. Because this happened, two boys from the other team were able to pass me. I was not happy about this.

I tried to ignore the cramp that I was getting in my side and pick up speed, but as did, the cramp in my right side became even more pronounced than before. By now, the finish line was approaching and I was still in first place for our boys, but still in sixth place overall. This was nowhere near where i wanted to be. There was not a remote chance that we would win the meet now. For no apparent reason, I started sprinting as fast as I could toward the finish line, and I passed four of the other team's boys to come in second place overall.

As usual, nobody cheered for me. Nobody ever cheered for me, even if I did come in first place. It was like I was invisible. It was like I didn't exist. I really hated it, I really did. Then the crowd started cheering for James, our second place boy, tenth place overall, like they always did. James always got all the glory, never me! Despite this, I was still James's friend. We had been friends since second grade, as well as Scott Pensky. He was my other friend. He did not like sports. He proffered to sit down in his room all day and play videogames and use the computer. Scott was very tall and heavy for his fourteen-year old age. He towered over James and I. He was almost six feet tall, if I was correct.

The boys race was now over. Of course the other team slaughtered us. They beat us by so many points that even if all the girls from our team beat all of the other team's girls, we would still lose the meet. After the race, we all sat down on the park benches as the coach from the other team gave us our times for the mile and a half race. First, he told the first place boy, a boy from the other team, that his time was nine minutes and fifty three seconds. The coach slapped the boy a high-five. The boy then turned and gave me a dirty look. It was a look that said, "ha! In your face!" I did not like this at all, but i just ignored the guy for now.

Then the coach came to me and told me that my time was nine minutes and fifty five seconds. He said good job to me and I thanked him. He was the only other one, becides my coach and Janet, that would congratulate me on a job-well-done. After the coach gave me my time, I shot a look at the first place boy that said, "ha! I came close!" He just ignored me and turned around. James's time was ten minutes and thirty five seconds. This may have actually been his best time yet. He was so happy to hear this. He was always good at the mile, but the mile and a half was quite a bit harder for him. Getting this time gave him a feeling of accomplishment. I smiled at him when he turned to face me. He smiled back.

By now, the girls from both teams were lining up to race. Janet looked determined at the starting line, but she was awfully pale, paler than she usually was. Something was not right. There was something wrong, but I could not get to her before the race started. Before I knew it, they were off. The girls from both teams were pretty fast. Janet maintained a steady pace in fifth place to start. She always paced herself so she would not suddenly die out half way through the race, which is what some other suckers did, and she would always pass them in the end. After the girls disappeared from sight, I walked up to James to congratulate him. "Hey, Doug," he greeted me as i approached. "Hi," I responded. I then congratulated him. "Thanks, Man. You did great too," he praised me. "Those suckers were just so fast," James continued. "If they were a little slower, maybe we could have won," he suggested. "I'm not so sure, James, those boys were pretty speedy. Let's see how the girls do," I said. "Yeah, maybe Janet will win," he suggested. "Hopefully," I responded.

A few minutes later, the girls came approaching the finish line. The strange thing was that Janet was in only tenth place overall. At this point, I knew there was something wrong. She was never that far behind in a race, never! Her face looked even paler than before. Then, right before the finish line, she stopped and started puking all over the place! I was stunned. So were my teammates. The girls that were behind her had to go around to avoid being barfed on. Janet would not stop. She kept on puking over and over and over again for at least thirty seconds. Then some of the guys from the other team began laughing at her. This got me really upset. The girl that I liked was puking like a crazy maniac, and those idiots from the other team were laughing at her? How dare they!

Without thinking, I ran up to those jarheads from the other team and punched a few of them in their faces as hard as I could. "Doug! What are you doing!" my coach and teammates yelled at me. They sprinted over to me and pulled me back. Three of the guys that I punched were lying unconscious on the ground, and the other two were holding their faces and crying. It took me five minutes before I could finally calm down.

Preface

"Come on guys, just one more," my dad said. My friends, James and Scott, were helping my father and I build the fort behind my three story house about one hundred feet into the woods. It was a warm and muggy August afternoon in the year two-thousand and four. I was I was ten years old at the time. This was when everything was right. There was no trouble, no sorrow, no nothing. My life was perfect here. This was a time when I found school easy, making friends a piece of cake, and my parents were getting along just fine. This would all change in the years to come. With that, James, Scott, and I helped my father lift the last log into the air a few feet, then he lifted the log the rest of the way to put on top of the other three logs which created our second and final fort.

"Phewooo," my father, John Dennis, sighed. "All done," he said, joyfully. "All right!" yelled my two friends, happily as well. Now that these two forts were done, me and my two friends could start playing games, having snowball fights when winter came around, and faking animal attacks (we would try not to get anyone scared that a real animal was attacking). These forts would be a sacred bond, a symbol of my friendship with Jake and Scott. This was a symbol that i never thought could be broken. I thought these symbols would last forever. I was wrong.

Facing Life By: M.J. Synopsis

This is the new title for my blog novel just so u all know. the plot is still the same, i just like this title better. the preface will be uploaded next :).

M.J.