“Ahhh!” Carolina Bradley woke up scared and in a puddle of sweat.  What was “she” doing there?  “She” had no right to be there.   It was Carolina’s dream and “she” had no right to corrupt it by being in it.  Carolina was confused and annoyed.  “She” grabbed Carolina’s boyfriend and started making out with him.  “She” was practically eating his face, and there was nothing Carolina could do about it because it was a dream.  When Carolina got out of bed she tried to blow it off, she needed to shrug it off so she could still do good at her community cross country meet that was just hours away!
  Carolina got out of bed, got ready for the race, grabbed the two pies that her and her boyfriend had made a couple nights before, which were their race entry fees, and then left the house and headed to the race.  While in the car, she was thinking about how this cross country meet would be extra hard because it was the first one of the season, anyone could run it if they brought a pie because it was a community race, and there were going to be hills everywhere!  Also the girls and boys, of all ages, were running together so it was practically impossible for anyone to get a great place in finishing, plus her mind was completely jumbled because of the dream she had. 
  Carolina arrived at the course and her boyfriend ran over to her.  Maybe she had no reason to worry.  It really was just a bad dream.  It was in her head.  Carolina’s boyfriend knew nothing about it, so nothing had changed for him, which meant nothing had to change for Carolina.
  Until “she” came, why was “she” at Carolina’s cross country meet?  “She” doesn’t even do cross country.  Carolina hoped her dream wouldn’t actually come true.  She really didn’t want “her” there.  Carolina felt like her boyfriend’s eyes were constantly darting towards “her,” his past girlfriend, but whenever she looked at her boyfriend she knew she was the only girl he could see, and that he was not looking at his past girlfriend at all. 
  Carolina and her boyfriend started to warm up for the race and Carolina realized that the girl from her dreams was warming up too, so she must be running the race.  Everyone was nervous and excited and trying to help each other relax and be ready.  Carolina’s boyfriend braided her hair, let her sit on his blanket, showed her the course, and then gave her a back massage. He must really like Carolina to do all that for her, and then Carolina gave him a back massage.  When she started giving him a massage she realized the girl from her dream was staring at them from a distance.  That’s when Carolina decided to make it really obvious that she was giving her boyfriend a back massage by making her movement bigger and more dramatic.  Carolina’s boyfriend probably thought Carolina was trying to get rid of major knots in his back, but she was really claiming him and making it known that he was hers.
  Suddenly, they heard a loud “Runners to the start!”  They immediately jumped up and ran to the starting line of the race.  They wished each other good luck and then were off.  He was obviously faster than Carolina during the race, but that didn’t matter to Carolina.  She just wanted to be faster than the girl from her dream.  Carolina did everything she could to beat that girl, she ran harder than she thought she could, she could feel the vomit rising in her throat and the tears building up in her eyes.  That didn’t matter; she needed to prove to herself that she was the right girl, that her boyfriend didn’t make a mistake in choosing her over that other girl
  Beating that girl was the only thing she had on her mind.  Carolina didn’t ever look back during the race, but knew her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend was somewhere behind her.  She heard her bragging about how good she is on hills as she passed her while climbing a hill.
  Carolina kept passing people, picking them off one at a time. While she was sprinting through the finish line her family and her boyfriend, who had already finished, were cheering.  She was so happy that the race was over and that her boyfriend told her congratulations and brought her a cup of water.  Carolina’s boyfriend was so proud of her and that made her proud of herself.
  They cooled down together, and then there were pies to be won, and ribbons to be handed out to the people who earned them.  Carolina earned a ribbon and won a pie.  In the end it didn’t matter who ran what time.  Carolina’s boyfriend cheered her on under any and all circumstances.