MATTHEW'S POV
Sometimes, I wish Zed would just tell me everything I missed in the last two years, but he was a good guy - and a guy who knew how to keep secrets.
These secrets just keep piling up. Maybe it wasn't secrets, but still unknown to me. Samuel's and Ashley's past, and I also didn't forget the interaction between Zed and Samantha.
In desperation of wanting to know at least something about my 'fellow' elites, I had asked Zed impulsively, "What about Samantha? Does she have... You know... Something that's been troubling her?"
Silence rang around us, except for birds chirping. A gust of wind whistled by us, blowing my hair away from my eyes. As it did, I saw Zed biting his lip to stop a smile from appearing. His attempt was futile as he burst out laughing loudly.
I didn't know why, but I felt offended and confused.
"First, it was Ashley. And now, Samantha?" Zed managed to cough out between laughs. "Are you trying to get to know all of the girls in the school?"
I frowned to hide my embarrassment. I shook my head and elaborated on my question. "It's just... Samantha is Samuel's sibling and... I noticed she's been acting a bit weird lately... So, I just want to... Uh..."
As I stumbled over my words, I failed to see Zed's lips curl into a smirk before he spoke. "Well, if you must know, Samantha's perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned. I think she's just going through a phase."
I arched an eyebrow at that. "What phase?"
"She is a teenager. What's one thing we all go through and feel at least once in this age?"
Zed gave me a disappointed look when my confused expression remained intact. "Crushes. She's having a crush on someone."
Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with waves of emotions again. It was a battle between hope, jealousy, and confusion was added to the mix. Hope for thinking someone, for the first time ever, might have a crush on me. Jealousy for the lucky guy who Samantha was secretly admiring. And confusion, since I assumed Samantha, had a crush on Zed, yet why did he know that? Could Samantha be dropping hints to him or was it simply that she needed someone to confide in?
Why not her brother, then? Why Zed?
I stopped to think about it carefully.
Nevermind. Samuel might go haywire if he found out Samantha is having a crush.
Now, it all made sense. But not all of my questions have been answered.
I opened my mouth to speak once again when I was surprised by the glass door of the gym. Everyone inside was already in their uniforms.
"Oh, they're all ready?" Zed voiced out. "We gotta hurry too, then." He pushed the door open and held it for me.
I nodded to show my thanks and smiled.
I'll leave my questions for another day.
I heaved a small sigh. Somehow, my chest became light and I felt a bit joyful. The smile on my face wouldn't come off. Why do I feel relieved?
Whatever the reason, I liked what I was feeling right now.
Mister Jacob saw we were approaching and threw his hands up. "Finally. We can get this competition started. The two of you, get changing."
He didn't have to tell us twice. Zed and I fastened our pace, walking towards the lockers to get our gym clothes. My hands went into my pockets to make sure my red button was still there. Sure enough, it was.
The two of us silently walked into the changing room and put on our attire for today. I pushed open the door of the bathroom stall and saw Zed washing his hands. When he looked at me, he smiled and held out a fist for me to bump. I couldn't bite back a smile and fist-bumped him.
"I can tell you're going to win by a landslide." Zed laughed. "But good luck anyway."
"Thanks, you too."
I felt confident now because of that. My heart was slightly slowing down, a little bit less nervous than before.
Exiting the changing room, we made our way over to one corner of the gymnasium, just in front of the bleachers. Mister Jacob started to take attendance. Then, he smiled and exhaled deeply. "We're not running in the gym. This isn't practice anymore. Instead, we're occupying the field today."
I've already been here for a month and I have never seen the field before. Now that I think about it, I've never thoroughly explored the whole university. I got thrown into the elite stuff a day after I arrived, making me have no time to see how big this university truly was.
Maybe it was because I"ve recently been inattentive to everything but elite stuff, but the university seemed bigger than ever. With a shed leading to who-knows, where, an amazing view of a waterfall and a lake, and a weird old building that looked like no person had gone there in ages. But that wasn't all.
We entered an area I had never seen before. It was surrounded by a metal fence wire, with a door camouflaging with it.
It was obviously made for outside club activities like soccer, track n' field, and whatnot, with a hundred-meter dash circling a grassy field that had a goal post at the center on the very end.
Mister Jacob whipped out a key from his pocket and inserted it in the lock hanging from the door. He opened the door and let us in first. It was slightly steep, as its layout was like a crater. We were all cautious, as one wrong step could make your life flash before your eyes. One student didn't even take the risk and sat down, sliding downwards on the grass.
The gym teacher sighed and frowned at that, scolding the student for being lazy. He didn't know it was fear that made the student do a stunt like that. Zed chortled in amusement while I was too busy planting my feet on the ground, making sure I wouldn't fall.
It took some time, and quite a lot of effort before I landed safely on flat ground. Zed on the other hand got bumped by a girl who was on the verge of falling. This led him to faceplant on the ground, letting out a short scream at mid-fall.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" The girl screeched, looking scared to death as if she just turned into a criminal. I was too busy grinning at Zed to wonder why she was so frightened.
That was until another student spoke, "You... You have hurt an elite!"
The girl turned to him and raised her hands. "I-I didn't mean to... I swear! I was j-just... A-About to fall so I-"
"It's okay." Zed groaned, cutting the girl off. "It was an accident. All is good."
I saw the girl sighed in relief.
I walked over to Zed and offered a hand. I may still be a bit bitter about earlier, but I should be kind while the rash was still not acting up. I really hope I could trust Ashley on this.
Zed took my hand and stood up, dusting his jersey shorts. I caught a glance at his knees that both were starting to lightly bruise and his palms were covered up in dirt.
I couldn't help but worry. "Are you sure you're okay? That must hurt." Now, I felt guilty for laughing at him.
"I'm fine, promise." He placed a hand on his chest, causing his shirt to wrinkle. "I was in a worse condition than this."
The last part was barely a whisper, but I got what he meant. So, I shut up and let his stubbornness win. Mister Jacob noticed all of us were in the field and blew his whistle.
"All right, kiddos! We'll do this in batches. Since there are about 25 of you and five lanes in the track n' field area, we'll do five batches. Each winner per batch we'll compete again in a second round to determine the true winner for this class." The gym teacher eyed me as he said the last part.
I shook my head. 'Is he really expecting me to win? I may be confident in my speed but, who knows? Someone might be faster than me. Though, all those times in practice says otherwise.'
"I'll be placing you in your batches now." Mister Jacob cleared his throat. "James Williams, Aurora Hudson, Kate Clementine..."
I zoned out as Mister Jacob mentioned names of students I didn't know one thing about. My gaze unknowingly went to Zed's knees, which were bruised and scraped. I sucked in a sharp breath and forced myself to tear my eyes away.
'No matter how many times I've seen someone get hurt, I still can't stand looking at their wounds.'
I almost didn't hear mister Jacob's voice from how engrossed I was in my own thoughts. "Greta Chester and Matthew Martinez will be in batch four."
I snapped back to reality and turned to approach my batchmates standing next to who I assume are people from batch three. I stood a little bit further away from them because I wasn't acquainted with them, and that I was an awkward person.
I didn't hear who was in batch five, all I know was that Zed was placed in that batch. Mister Jacob immediately had the first batch position in the sprint track, with the rest of us just standing up on the side.
The first batch did a little warm-up - stretching, jogging into place, craning their head side to side, actions like that. Then, they bent their knees and placed their hands on the ground, ready to boost their speed and wait for the whistle to blow.
A gush of wind flew by, increasing the tension already lingering in the air. I sneaked a glance at the gym teacher, and I could tell he was enjoying the focused expression on everyone's face. Finally, he placed the whistle on his lips, took a deep breath, and blew.
The next thing I knew, I was hearing the thunderous noises erupting from the runners' feet. They were trying so hard to outrun the person currently in the lead, her name is Lena Vane if I remember correctly.
She didn't look back, she kept her eyes in front of her. I could tell she knew she was in the lead as she didn't pay attention to anyone around her. All that was important to her was securing first place. And her efforts weren't wasted as, minutes later, she was the one to finish first.
'I guess I'll be competing with her later on.'
Batch two was up next. It was an intense run as two people, Hans Fernandez and Kevin Hale, kept overlapping with one other. I think the other students made bets on who would win because when Hans Fernandez came out as the winner of the second batch, a student cursed and handed his friend money. I didn't see the amount though.
Batch three was a bit boring, as Patricia Clove, probably the one who could rival me based on my observation in practice, came out as the winner in the end. I already expected it. No anticipation at all.
Finally, it was my turn. I walked on the center lane of the field, heart pounding and breaths heavy. I did a few squats, stretching my legs, and any other warm-ups involving the lower body. While I was at it, I needed to appease my mind, knowing that being nervous could result in nothing good.
Mister Jacob looked at me, smirked, and whispered to a student. As he was done talking, I heard the student say, "Deal." Though I might be wrong since I was a bit far from them.
Ignoring their exchange, I got into serious mode. Taking a deep breath that didn't help calm my nerves, I heightened my hearing. Any slight sign of a whistle being blown and I would take off.
After moments of silence, a loud piercing sound triggered my instinct to run. I dashed forward, my feet were landing on the ground with harsh noises. I felt the wind on my face and my heart pounding faster than ever. Like the girl from the first batch, I didn't dare look back, but I did notice the awe on the other batch's faces.
This assured me that the first place was mine, but I didn't slow down - not in the slightest. The finish line was still not in sight, so I wasn't about to let the reaction of others get to me.
After what seemed like hours of running, even if it was only less than ten or fifteen minutes, I finally saw where we started. I was still in the lead and this caused me to smile. The adrenaline kicked in when the thought of what the prize was appeared in my mind. As soon as my foot landed on the white line, I stopped to catch my breath, sweat sliding down my forehead under the midday sun.
A cheer was heard. I turned in the direction of it and saw mister Jacob smiling brightly while the student next to him looked gloomy. Then, mister Jacob spoke, "I told you he would win this round, now you have to clean the gym for a whole week!"
I soon found out the guy he made a deal with was his cousin.
I sat on the grass, not caring if my jersey shorts would get dirty. I was too tired to even lift my head. Suddenly, a white towel was shoved in front of my face. With the remaining energy I had left, I faced a proud-looking Zed. He was the one handing me the towel.
"You were so far ahead from the others, we were convinced it was a sure win from you."
"Thanks for believing in me, then." I laughed with him. I was about to take the towel until I saw the scratches on his palms. I paused when my eyes landed on his hands.
'Doesn't it hurt?' I thought to myself. Seeing his happy face though, I concluded he was fine and proceeded to take the towel.
"Thanks." And at that, he was called out into the field. It was his time to compete with his batch.
I watched as he got into the starting stance. He bent his knees and his hands were on the ground. Mister Jacob commenced the race and, probably expected from an elite, he had taken the first place already. Until the end. His expression as he ran got all the girls swooning.
Now, all that's left in my mind was that I needed to beat Zed in order to win the prize. That made me both guilty and excited. I stood up and praised Zed. Even if you two are enemies on the field, you should still have good sportsmanship. There were no hard feelings between us anyway. Well, except earlier with what happened with him and Samantha, but I knew it was just me being a jerk.
"So, Matthew." He smiled wholeheartedly. "I hope you'll go easy on me."