My crazy father had gotten an idea. Even though he had never really been there for me (I had practically been raised by my track coach, Bear) he wanted to be part of my romantic life. And being the producer of a reality TV show his great idea was to have boys race me to be my boyfriend. I had only agreed because I was a national title champion and I had some jerks to prove wrong:

"What's one thing you've always wanted?" my best friend Bella asked quietly. The two of us and a few others were underneath the bleachers.

"There were golden sneakers that you get when you win the national title, but they didn't have any for me. They're a mark of epicness."

"That stinks," she patted me on the shoulder, "Hey everybody, can we congratulate Evanne because she's the fastest teenager in the country even without the golden sneakers!" I got a mediocre clap from the other racers. Then Jack muttered something under his breath.

"What was that Jack?" I asked him.

"I was just saying, you won the girls division, doesn't mean you beat any boys." He folded his arms.

"Are you saying that you could beat Evanne?" Bella proclaimed. 

"Yeah I guess I am," He got in my face.

"You all actually think this? He didn't even make the prelims!" Bella exclaimed.

"He's got a point," Rich said, "It's easier to win if you're a girl."

"Lay off her guys," Hugo said.

"Don't defend her!" Jack laughed.

"Jerks!" I yelled and stormed off. 

 Now it was time to race. I had made sure the first people to race me were the guys from last night, including Jack. Egocentric oaf. I could tell that he didn't even like me, he just wanted to beat me.

"You're going down Evanne." Jack walked up beside me. 

"You disgust me," I said back.

"That sucks because I'm about to be your boyfriend."

"Yeah right."

The race started. I won by seven seconds. 

"And you said you could beat me," I shoved him aside.

Then Rich stepped up to the line and I was convinced that all my friends had abandoned me. 

I barely kept a lead on Rich and when the turn in the track came up I took a miss step and rolled over my right ankle.

Ah!

I watched as Rich pulled in front of me. No, I couldn't let him beat me. Somehow I beat him by a fraction of a second. 

"That was close Evanne. I think it's time to take a break?" Bella asked.

"Never, I have to prove every one of those losers that I'm better than them."

"I'm here no matter what. Now your next competitor is Hugo-"

"Ha, piece of cake," I laughed.

"I wouldn't be so sure, he's full of surprises." She left.

"Hey!" Hugo exclaimed from behind me.

I then saw that he was holding something behind his back. 

"What do you have there?" I asked.

"I don't have anything," He said, but I could tell he was eating his smile, a sure sign was lying.

Then the shot rang to start the race. As we started running I saw something fly over me. I had been trained to stay focused on the race, but I couldn't help peek over at what had just been thrown.

A golden shoe was laying on the grass by the track. I couldn't help myself, I stopped and picked up the shoe. It was the same one that I should have gotten from winning at nationals. 

Then I remembered I was still in a race. I started running and quickly caught up to Hugo. See, even with a distraction I was faster than him! Just as I was about to pass him, he threw the other golden shoe into the air, this time positioned so that it would land in a bucket of white paint they were using to repaint the lines. If that shoe fell in the paint I would never be able to clean it. A choice was laid in front of me. The shoe, the symbol of my success, or winning this race. And just race the next guy who was a little too narcissistic. 

I lunged for the shoe. Maybe Hugo wouldn't rub his win in too hard. I caught the beautiful sneaker before it hit the paint, but tipped the can over in the process, splattering white over my shorts and legs. 

"I think you have a new boyfriend," My father said, materializing next to me. Hugo had just crossed the finish line.

"Come on Dad-" I began.

"You remember our deal, no? The person who beats you, dates you. Oh man, the fans are going to go crazy. This whole competition is going to make me- us so much money." He smiled like a father who had never really cared about his daughter.

"Are you ok?" Bella walked over to where I was standing.

"Did you give him the shoes?" I asked her.

"What?" She gave me a funny look.

"You were the only person I told about the shoes, you knew that they were the one thing that could distract me," I felt so betrayed. 

I must have looked it too because then she said, "I didn't mean to hurt you, but Hugo had a really good reason why he should win."

"Did he want to prove that he was better than me, because that's been a common them-"

"He really likes you," she interrupted, "But he's always really shy, so I gave him a push."

"Oh."

"Yeah, why don't you go talk to him," She tipped her head to something behind me, Hugo.

"Hi," he said as I walked over.

"Hey, thanks for the shoes," I called back.

"Thanks for letting me win," he smiled awkwardly. 

"You know I'm still faster than you, right," I half-joked.

"Oh definitely," he said with complete sincerity.

Is it weird that those words meant the world to me?