I Say I Can(sequel to WSGCPF)

Chapter thirteen

"Guys let's get going you can't just lay on the ground during practice;we've got to get you ready. You can't just not practice with your team and to be able to work with your team, you need to know how you're teammate play so you know what to do to be able to work better with them"

"Listen no offense but it's a new year. Who said you'd be captain again?" Dan asks angrily.

"No one said I wouldn't and if it works why change it?"

"Why not?" Dan accuses.

"Coach why is Delilah caption again?"

"Because she single handedly improved the team"

"What if I want to challenge her?"

"Go ahead" I say. "Listen if this is the only way to get you in line fine I know listening to a girl must really hurt your ego so let's go I accept and if I win you'll do what I say without argument as long as it's within reason."

"Okay and if I win I get captain spot."

"Let's go, coach. Come up with some challenges please."

"Seven times around the track then five push ups then 30 sit-ups then twenty jump squats. The first one to finish in the shortest amount of time will be captain this year."

I could lose all my progress in the next hour but I'm not going to because I've work to hard just to give it up not I want my dad to be proud.

We both line up at the start of the track ready to race gage starts the countdown "3..." soon the whole team joins in"...2.." even the coach joins in "..1..go" I start jogging but not full speed so not unexpectedly dan gets a major lead on me. I kinda giggle myself after the first lap because he thinks there's no way I'll ever catch up but slow and steady wins the race. I speed up just slightly so that it's almost not noticeable. Then after the third lap I speed up even more gaining on dan. He looks at me over his shoulder and notices I'm closer which causes him to increase his speed. Rookie mistake.  By the fourth lap I'm only about a hundred feet behind him. I speed up just a little bit more speeding up slowly just to drive him crazy. By the fifth lap I'm right on his tail a good five feet behind him. I'm so close I can see the sweat droplets on the back of his neck sliding down and disappearing under his neck line. By the middle of the sixth lap we're side by side. He tries to speed up but he has nothing left. I haven't even reached full speed yet. So four the last two hundred meters I go as fast I possibly can. And I finish a whole thirty second before him. I hurry up and do 1-2-3-4-5 push-ups and then I drop to the ground to do my 30 sit-ups. I've done seven of my sit-ups when dan has just started his 5th push up so I push harder and get another ten done before he's at his fifth. I'm now on my twenty fifth and I just keep pushing even though my core feels like stone and my legs are throbbing. I stand up and start my jump squats. "Gage! Water!" I huff out while falling into a squat. Gage brings over my water and I take a swig of it. I fall into another squat "thanks". I do another and another and another till I can almost not move my legs I only have two left but dan is gaining on me I do another and it's almost impossible to get up out of the squat. My body is on fire as I push myself out of it with everything I've got. I jump about three inches of the ground and then land in a squat position. I've finished not even a full second before dan. He was so close it just reminds me no one is perfect.

"Man, you really gave me a run for my money." I say in astonishment because not everyone could pull off what we just did.

"I kinda knew I wasn't gonna beat you" he replies with a shrug.
" then why challenge me"
"I wanted to make sure you were there because you deserved to be not just because you were last year." Dan replies,"it's nothing personal I just want what's best for the team and wanted to erase any doubt that it may not be you."
He starts to walk away and then turns back. "By the way I'm sorry to be so rude I just wanted you to take it seriously"

"No I get it better for the group as a whole and all"

"No of course I just wanted to make sure you knew"

"Thanks, for the whole challenge thing. Not many people would have had the guts to try and make me mad"I say with a giggle, " I can get to be a little rude when I'm mad"

"Just a little bit." Dan says. Holding his hand out and almost pinching his fingers together with an inch of space to separate then to signify the small amount.

We both laugh with each other for a few second both knowing it's quite a bit rather then a little bit.