Chapter 26

EVERYONE WAS EXCITED Thursday morning and started arriving at seven o’clock. Dennis was dragged into the locker room by the girls to start taping. Judith, Tori, Laura, Janice, and Diane all wanted support for their ankles and Dennis set straight to work. Brenda decided against tape for her one and only event. Natalie and Debbie sat and talked, but neither was running on the first day of the competition.

Dennis was surprised that the girls ignored him as they changed into their track uniforms and pulled on their sweats. Most of the girls were wearing their sports bras and running shorts when they sat in front of him—even Laura and Janice. He occasionally caught a glimpse of panties being tugged over round butts. When Tori sat in front of him, though, she was still wearing her normal bra—a very thin nearly transparent thing.

“Tori?”

“You kissed me, so there’s no reason for you not to see. I could even take it off,” she said, wiggling slightly.

“Um ... I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he taped her ankles. Just having her in front of him aroused Dennis, but he also spent a couple of minutes just rubbing her silky legs.

“What is it about you that makes every girl want to put out for you?” Tori asked.

“They don’t. Really. I’m just lucky to have incredible girlfriends. Don’t think that means they’re all putting out,” he hissed.

“You could have had any high school girl from Bartley this weekend if you wanted.”

“That’s just a kind of an adrenaline response. We were all keyed up and there was a sudden release of emotions. Fear response. Probably every girl who had a boyfriend or girlfriend got a little loving.”

“I didn’t,” she pouted. “Well, I got some cuddle time with you on the bus, Saturday. That was just to calm you down. And just so you know, I’d do it again any time.”

“I can’t resist you, Tori. Will you be my girlfriend ... um ... Number Eleven?”

She sprang off the bench and kissed him, much to the surprise of everyone in the locker room. It was short but intense.

“That means yes, in case you were wondering.” She turned and walked toward her locker, removing her bra as she went. Just before she pulled on her sports bra, she looked back at him and winked.

Dennis led warmups for his little cadre and then sat to watch the races. Since Natalie was not running on Thursday, she sat with him, holding his hand.

“What have I done?” he moaned.

“You got us our eleventh girlfriend,” Natalie said happily.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t even talk to you all about it. And what is she going to expect? She’s just so hard to resist.”

“Don’t I know it?” Natalie sighed. He glanced to the side and saw her dreamy-eyed look as she stared into space.

“Um ... You know?”

“Yeah. I mean, we didn’t go all the way yet. But I went out to her farm after I dropped you off at the Browns’ Monday morning. She invited me out, just to show me around the farm a little. I helped with her chores a little and we were sort of up in the hayloft when we just sort of kissed. A little, I mean. And then, a lot. Let’s just say, I got a really good look at those perky tits of hers. You’ll love them,” Natalie said.

“You mean, you girls won’t be upset about having Tori join us?” Dennis asked.

“Tori, Lana, and Debbie are all on our ‘anytime you want’ list. I understand you already reserved Number Ten for Lana.”

“Yeah. Even if we never progress beyond the friendship we have right now, I consider her a girlfriend.”

“You should ask her like you did Tori. I mean ... well, maybe not today, but before basketball season next year.”

“She’s not ready for a boyfriend. Remember, she’s had a rotten experience.”

“Yeah, but it’s pretty easy to see she loves you. And all of us. She’s already on the honorary roll.”

“Hey! Look, Judith is in the next heat. Go, Judith! Angelines!” he shouted.

Judith took her place in the starting blocks for the third heat. The leader board showed times in the twenty-six and twenty-seven second range. She’d been consistently under that for her past three races. But so had the other seven runners in the last heat. The gun fired and they were off. It was a staggered start with a single curve. Runners had to stay in their own lane all the way to the finish line. As a result, it was difficult to tell who was in the lead until they were just about through the curve. Then they could see Judith as she appeared to lead the pack, but three other runners were bunched closely with her as they came down to the finish line, almost at the same moment.

Dennis and Natalie had yelled themselves hoarse in thirty seconds. The top four finishers were all within three-tenths of a second of each other. The leader board suddenly changed to show Judith in the fourth position. She advanced to the finals on Saturday. She was done for the day and joined Dennis, Natalie, and Debbie in the bleachers as soon as she had her warmups on. It was a bright day, but a cool breeze wafted over the stands.

“Nice job, baby!” Dennis said, giving her a hug. Judith kissed him, then kissed Natalie. She raised an eyebrow and launched herself at Debbie, giving her a good kiss as well.

“Oh, boy!” Debbie said. She kept hold of Judith’s hand as they sat next to each other. Judith leaned in toward Dennis.

“Saturday,” she whispered in his ear, giving it a little lick, which sent shivers down Dennis’s spine.

“You’ll do great!” he responded.

“Yeah. But later, you’ll do me.”

“I’ll what?”

“I managed to make it till summer. I can’t wait any longer. I want you, lover.”

“I ... oh ... I mean...”

“Just say how happy you are about it,” Natalie whispered on his other side. He glanced at her and then back to Judith. Instead of saying anything, he just kissed her again.

The next race the team was involved in was the 4x800 relay. This race was led by Tori. Janice had the second leg, Laura had the third leg, and Diane brought it home. Each runner had to make two laps around the track and started on a one-curve stagger. That meant they had to stay in their own lane around the first curve, but then it was a rush for position to hand off the baton in the exchange zone. Tori came around the last curve in second and moved to the second lane where Janice quickly moved to accept the baton. Janice normally ran the 800 in about 2:30. As a result, the team had dropped a position and Laura took the baton in the third lane as she took off after the handoff. Laura normally ran longer races in her individual events but did her best to keep up to the pack. Still, after her second lap, she handed the baton to Diane in the fifth lane. The team in the fourth lane had a bad handoff and stumbled getting out of the exchange zone, allowing Diane to pick up one position at that point. She focused on the three runners in front of her who completed the first lap in exactly the same order as they had started. Diane made a move on the backstretch, but the runner in third made her move at the same time, forcing Diane farther out on the curve. They both managed to get past the second runner, but Diane couldn’t quite pull ahead of the other girl before they finished. The girl in first had stretched out her lead significantly. Diane crossed the finish line in third.

The runners were greeted jubilantly by their teammates and were given towels and helped into their warmups. An hour later, Brenda lined up in the third heat of the 100-meter. She was off like a flash, that fantastic start getting her half a step on the next lane. These were the top seeds of the meet, though, and she pulled up in third place in a fraction under thirteen seconds. She made the finals, which would be run on Saturday.

The only race they still had a competitor in was the 400. Everyone else had a sandwich and a bottle of water, but Tori was too keyed up to do more than take a few sips as she paced back and forth and bounced on her toes. The 400 was a timed final with a two-curve stagger, meaning the runners had to stay in their lane the entire way around the track.

Tori stood in front of Dennis just before she headed to the starting line. She kissed him ‘for luck,’ then turned and went down the line kissing each of the other teammates—including Derek, who had finished 19th in the shot put.

It looked good for Tori as she led her heat around the track in a personal best 58:08. Sadly, three runners from the other heats edged her out into fourth place. It was still a great run.

“If the four of us had been side-by-side, I’d have beaten them,” Tori moaned. “I just needed to see them.”

“You did great, girlfriend,” Natalie said as she helped dry Tori with a towel. She slipped her jacket on, but just stuffed her tracksuit pants in her bag. The only event left after the 400 was the shuttle hurdle relay. Since they had no runners in that event, the team made its way to their bus and headed home. Tori jumped into the seat next to Dennis and turned to put her feet in his lap.

“Can you strip me?” she asked. “You know. I mean the tape?”

“Oh, girl,” Dennis sighed. “You have to know the answer to that, no matter how you meant it.” He got the scissors out of his waist kit and began slowly and carefully cutting the tape off her ankles. He said he was taking his time and being especially careful because the bus was bouncing. Tori didn’t seem to mind that he had one hand stroking her leg while he worked.

Friday, the Angelines competed in only three events. Only six girls were competing in the one individual race and two relay events. All wanted Dennis to spend time taping their ankles. Dennis had figured out that it wasn’t about supporting their ankles, but about having him quietly talk to them, encourage them, and even love them a little. Each girl leaned over to kiss him softly when her legs were ready. Even Debbie and Laura.

Warmups at Drake Stadium were brief. Judith, Debbie, Tori, and Laura were on at nine o’clock sharp for the distance medley. It was a timed final event with three heats for the twenty-four schools who qualified teams. In the first heat, the best time at the finish was by Prairie and it was a solid six seconds slower than the Bartley team best. But in the Qualifiers, Bartley had won with a four second slower time than their best and was still second seed for the race. That put them in lane five with rival Ridgeland next to them. Judith was out of the blocks like lightning and finished her 200 meters in just twenty-four seconds, leading the rest on the handoff. Debbie turned in her personal best at 26:10 when she handed off to Tori for the 400-meter leg. Tori was like lightning and Diane took the handoff a good five seconds ahead of their nearest rival. For the first two laps of the race—the first three runners—the race was run strictly in lanes, but as soon as Diane took the baton, she could cut to the inside for the last 800 meters. All the other teams could do was wave goodbye as she added three more seconds to Bartley’s lead for the best time of the day and the gold medal.