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We steer toward each other, trying for a high-five, but can’t quite stretch far enough, so we wish each other good luck and return to our exceedingly poor performance.
“Alpha Two, do you copy?”
“I’m in physical pain right now, Princess. My organs are shutting down. Will you tell me what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Deny, and if that fails, obfuscate.
“Your brother is as far from me as possible, and I still hear him yelling. He’s as confused as I am. What’s going on?”
“She’s my best friend. Is it so strange that I’d want to give her a quick shot of encouragement? Can you tell me where Lilyis?” Another great tactic is changing the conversation.
“She’s three laps ahead. You aren’t going to beat her. Our performance today isn’t enough.”
“No, but we can help her win.”
∞∞∞
“How did we do?” I ask.
“I’m a broken man. You broke me. There’s nothing left.”
“Yes, but will we win?”
“I lack the capacity to answer your question,” Jake says.
The track is mostly empty. I turn into the final stretch, and Maddie pulls up beside me.
“We’re competing for last place,” she tells me.
“High-five from a distance.”
We take our feet off the throttle by unspoken agreement and slowly creep over the finish line. It’s a photo finish for last place.
“What was that? You two did this on purpose.” Jake’s at the finish line waiting for me. His messy hair and red face hint at what he’s been through. His arms move like a squawking chicken.
“I tried my best. We aren’t professionals like you, Jake. This was very stressful.” I climb out and stretch my arms and back. That was a challenging run, especially considering how little I tried. “Who won?”
Jake’s arm jerks as he indicates the winning couple.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. She worked so hard for the win.”
Across the yard, Julian swings Lily before setting her down. His arm remains casually draped over her shoulders.
“No, no, she didn’t. She was bad,” Jake says. “You two helped her.”
“Isn’t that what you do? Help teammates out when that’s the best option.”
“Deliberately throwing a race is against regulations,” he says. “It’s deeply unethical.”
“I’m not a professional; this isn’t a real race.”
Boone and Maddie are nearby, paying us little attention. Their body language also suggests they’re engaged in a similar conversation.
“When did you two plan this conspiracy? I can’t believe you two fixed it. This is a scandal, Sarah.” Jake sounds genuinely upset. It’s possible I underestimated how seriously he’d take the whole endeavor.
“Look around, Jake. No one cares.” I spread an arm to show no one is paying us any attention.
“Let’s go.” Jake nods with his chin to a hay bale wall further away. “We can talk in private.”
