Chapter Two Jake took one last look at the picture on the screen and then shut down the computer He’d been looking at photos of the Barry’s Bay area Lakes hills trees It looked awesome Jake was tired but he didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep Excited didn’t even come close to describing how he felt 7
So much had been going on lately There was the big cross-country run in Deep Rapids the previous Saturday where the Diamonds had come in second overall Jake glanced at the silver medal hanging over the corner of his bulletin board and grinned Then came the news that the team had qualified for the provincial race this weekend in Barry’s Bay And then the final city race just the day before where Spencer had come in first and Jake right on his heels was a close second He could still hear the cheers and feel the sting of the high fives from his friends on the team Coach Dave had told them that their other regular teammate Paul had come down with chicken pox and wouldn’t be able to make it to Barry’s Bay Jake had recommended inviting Spencer to run in Paul’s place surprising even himself 8 Sylvia Taekema
All season long he’d considered Spencer Solomon his enemy number one But that was only because Spencer had come in first in every city race he’d run races that Jake had been trying so hard sometimes sometimes too hard to win But there was no denying that Spencer was one amazing runner Now they’d be teammates and Jake couldn’t be happier Jake placed his team jersey in the duffel bag He’d finish packing the next day but he didn’t want to risk forgetting his jersey He was glad Spencer had been able to come out to practice on such short notice and that their buddy Simon was there as well Simon was a good guy and he was funny He’d come all the way to Deep Rapids just to cheer Jake on and had instantly made friends with the rest of the team So Coach Dave had invited him to Barry’s Bay His main duty was to provide 9 Running Behind
