Description: Neither of them had truly cared about winning the competition. All they cared about, though they'd never admit it, was winning each other's heart.
The notice was bright and bold. The students of Venture Falls Junior High would have had to have been blind to not notice it. Two students in particular were the first to see it as they walked out of their classroom to go home.
"Venture Falls Charity Marathon - 5 miles. Everyone welcome. All proceeds will be donated to a charity of our students' choosing." Toby read aloud, picking up one of the flyers.
"Hey, we should take one home for Mom and Dad!" Nick suggested as he also picked up a flyer, ignoring his older brother's groan of dismay.
As the brothers walked toward the entrance of the school, they spotted one of their friends, Jessica. She was also holding one of the flyers. When she saw Toby and Nick, she waved madly and called out: "Hi, guys! Have you seen those flyers?"
"They're pretty hard to miss!" Toby pointed out and the three of them started laughing as they walked out of the school.
"I think I might enter." Jessica mused to herself. "After all, I am the fastest runner amongst the girls!"
"Oh yeah?" Toby said, unable to resist the temptation. "Well, in that case, I'm entering too. Just to prove that I'm the fastest runner in the school!"
Nick rolled his eyes. He didn't think there was ever a time when Toby and Jessica hadn't been competitive against each other. In fact, he thought. I bet they'll still be competitive when we're all in our eighties and they'll be trying to beat each other at card games!
The thought of that made the boy laugh. In fact, he was laughing so much that he didn't notice Toby asking him something until he practically yelled, "Nick! Are you entering?"
Nick shook his head. "I can't, can I? I blew my knee out in that last soccer match and the doctor told me to avoid strenuous activity for six weeks. Believe me, bro, walking is hard enough, let alone running."
"Well, what about Lucas?" Toby enquired.
"He won't be in town." Jessica piped up. "He and his parents are going to see his Great-Aunt Sylvia."
"Anyway it's not a competition, you two." Nick told them.
Toby pulled the flyer out of his bag and, after clearing his throat, read: "A prize will be awarded to the winner." He patted Nick on the shoulder. "I think that makes it a competition, little bro! One that I'm going to win!"
"Keep dreaming!" Jessica laughed. "If anyone's going to win this race, it'll be me!"
As she reached her house, she waved goodbye and the boys waved back before heading to their own house.
Next Day (At the start of the race)
The runners all lined up at the starting line after receiving their numbers. Toby and Jessica kept shooting each other competitive glances as the Mayor of Venture Falls stepped up to the microphone to make a speech.
"Hello, everyone! Thank you all for being here today and a big thank you to everyone taking part." The crowd applauded and cheered enthusiastically. "Before we begin the race, I'd like to introduce our special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Finn Hewitt, lead singer of Disco Beats!"
Everyone, especially the girls, cheered as a handsome man in his twenties joined the Mayor on the stage. He had spiky brown hair and wore a black shirt and jeans. "Thank you." He said, pulling out his own microphone.
"Hello, Venture Falls!" He yelled as the crowd cheered. "It's great to be back here! What an honour it is to be hosting this charity event! I'd like you all to give another round of applause for our runners please!" The crowd complied immediately. "Now there is a prize for the winner , which I will be giving! However I would just like to say that winning the race isn't important - taking part and helping those less fortunate than ourselves is. Thank you and enjoy yourselves today!"
The mayor spoke again. "Thank you, Finn! We'll be seeing more of him and the rest of Disco Beats later on but now let the race begin!"
The official held up his megaphone whilst another held a pistol up in the air. "Okay, everyone! Feet behind the line! Ready! Go!"
The pistol fired once and the race had begun. The crowd began cheering again, supporting their friends and family who were taking part.
Both Toby and Jessica had learnt from their past mistakes and they were pacing themselves so they didn't get breathless too quickly. By the time they had reached the halfway point, they were far ahead of the rest of the runners and they still had plenty of energy for the last straight.
"Hey!" Toby said, glancing sideways and seeing that he and Jessica were neck-and-neck. "You're pretty fast - for a girl!"
"I told you I was, didn't I?" Jessica said, as she carried on running, determined to not let him get ahead of her.
As they approached the last straight, the two friends sped up until they were sprinting. They were surprised to find themselves still neck-and-neck at full speed.
Jessica suddenly felt a twinge in her ankle. Shrugging it off, she carried on running but was forced to stop after a couple of metres. She slowed down to a walk and lifted her right foot off the ground. For some reason, she couldn't put any weight on it. She gingerly started hobbling along, wincing every time her right foot moved or made contact with the ground.
Toby didn't notice at first that he was now in the lead. He turned to his right to address Jessica and blinked when he saw she wasn't there. Something in him told him to turn around so he did. Immediately he saw his friend, limping along, clearly in pain.
His eyes flickered between the finish line and Jessica. Suddenly Finn's words echoed in his head. Winning isn't important... helping those less fortunate than ourselves is. Making his decision, Toby turned away from the finish line and ran towards Jessica.
"Jess, what happened?" He asked when he reached her.
"I don't know!" She said miserably. "One minute I was running, the next I was limping. I can't put any weight on my right foot."
"Maybe you sprained something?" Toby suggested and Jessica nodded before she glanced toward the finish line.
"You can still win, you know." She told him. "Don't worry about me." To her surprise, Toby shook his head.
"I care more about you than winning this race, Jess." He told her as he supported her carefully and the two of them headed towards the finish line.
To their surprise, no runners were waiting at the finish line and, when Jessica glanced behind her momentarily, there were no runners close behind them.
"We still have a chance!" She said excitedly. "Toby, we can still win this!" He nodded and smiled at her which, for some reason, made her get butterflies in her stomach.
She was still pondering this when they crossed the finish line. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the crowd cheering until she heard Toby yell, "We won! Jess, we actually won!" She turned towards him and was stunned when he pulled her closer to him and kissed her.
Jessica was very confused. Up until today, she hadn't even thought that Toby liked her as more than a friend. She reciprocated eagerly until she suddenly wobbled sideways.
"You okay?" Toby asked, catching her before she fell.
"My foot!" Jessica winced. "I forgot that I couldn't put any weight on it and I stood on it and - ow!" She kept making tiny noises of pain as Toby guided her towards a chair and sat her down. She pulled off her trainer and examined her ankle. "I don't know what happened."
"Jess, what size shoe are you?" Toby asked suddenly.
She frowned. "A 6. Why?" Toby glanced at her trainer and informed her:
"You're wearing trainers that are a size too small!"
Jessica took the trainer from him, unable to believe her eyes. "Wait, so it's my fault? I was rushing this morning and I just grabbed the first pair of trainers - believe me, I have a lot of trainers - I saw!"
"Well, you wait here and I'll go and find you an ice pack or something." Toby told her, grabbing another chair so Jessica could rest her foot on it.
About an hour later, when all of the runners had completed the marathon, Finn Hewitt stepped up to the microphone. "Well done, everyone! I can tell you all that we raised a phenomenal amount of money for charity so thank you very much! Now it is my pleasure to present the winners with their prizes!"
Toby and Jessica sat up in their seats. According to the medical official who had checked on Jessica's foot, she had simply twisted her ankle and needed to rest it for a couple of days. The prizes for second and third place were awarded. When Finn Hewitt called out their numbers, announcing them as joint first place, they both stood up. Jessica had found that the ice pack had numbed the pain enough that she could now stand up without her foot collapsing underneath her. Nonetheless Toby still kept his arm firmly around her as they went to collect their prize.
Later on, Toby went to get a drink when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw none other than Finn Hewitt himself. "I just wanted to congratulate you in person." The man said, smiling.
"Thanks, uh..." Toby stuttered, not really sure how to address the celebrity. Finn simply laughed.
"You can call me Finn." He told Toby who nodded.
"I'm Toby." He took Finn's hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you!" They started walking along the street through the crowds. "You know, what you did today was very impressive. It was something I've never seen before and I've been hosting charity events for four years now."
Toby tried not to look too pleased at this as he admitted, "Well, I remembered what you said about winning not being important and how it was good to help those less fortunate than ourselves. And turning away from that finish line to go and help Jess actually felt better than winning the race!"
Finn nodded. "Well, that's actually why I wanted to talk to you. You see, I also award a special prize to a person who shows great heart even in the midst of competition. Believe me, it's hard to be compassionate when you're in the middle of a race and all you want is to win. When you turned away from that finish line, though, you proved that you cared more about your friend than winning the race. That took a lot of courage and compassion so I think you deserve this." He handed Tony an envelope which felt empty. "They'll help you with your friend!" He said, winking as Toby turned to look at Jessica, a smile on his face.
Toby thanked him before quickly asking, "Wait, before you go, could you-?"
Later on, Nick was making his way through the crowd when he found Toby and Jessica who were sitting a little closer to each other than usual.
"Congratulations on winning the race, you guys!" He said, grinning.
Jessica smiled. "Thanks, Nick! Hey, guess what? Toby managed to get Finn Hewitt to give me a signed copy of his autobiography!" She waved the book in his face excitedly.
"Yeah, and that's not all I got for you." Toby informed her, waving something at her.
"I don't believe it!" Jessica squealed. "He gave you tickets to the next Disco Beats concert?"
"It was basically an award for compassion or something. Hey, I was thinking - I mean, it's totally up to you - maybe we could go together?"
Jessica blinked at him. "You and me?" She asked and Toby nodded mutely. "Wait a minute. Are you asking me on a-a date?"
"I guess so." Toby said, looking at her nervously. "It's totally fine if you don't want to, though-"
"Yes!" Jessica said, giving him a radiant smile.
"Yes?" Toby asked, not understanding straightaway what she had just said. "So you want to?"
He was cut off by Jessica kissing him suddenly. "Does that answer your question?" She breathed.
Nick cleared his throat. "Well, I'm going to go and leave you two alone. Well done for winning the race."
"Ah, winning the race was overrated. We ended up winning something a lot better!" Toby told him.
"Oh really?" Nick asked curiously. "What's that?"
"Each other." Jessica finished, as Toby held her close.