The second term had began quickly. Much more faster than anyone had expected. Chantel and the girls had a lot of studying to do since the teachers wanted to cover almost half of the syllabus in no time. Considering the sporting activities that was coming up soon. Chantel hated sports. She has never been active in sports.
Adiepena loved basketball while Cynthia loved football. Both girls were good in their field of sports and encouraged Chantel to join in. She really did not want to. She almost embarrassed herself at P.E because she wanted to try her hands on hand ball. She fell so many times that all the girls in the group kept laughing at her.
She decided she would not partake in any sporting activity. Maybe she would just be a spectator even though she hated going to the inter schools competitions held by her school. But her fears almost came to pass when the PE teacher came into their class to get new students to try out on the school teams. She went round the class picking girls randomly, who she thought would be perfect for the teams.
When she got to Chantel's desk, she stopped and looked at her closely. Chantel's heart began to beat so fast. She could feel her whole body shaking as her forehead broke into cold sweat. She was praying inwardly that the teacher should not choose her. Her teacher looked at her again and moved away making her sigh in relief. When the teacher was done selecting the ones she wanted, she left the class. She was actually moving from class to class picking students out for her teams.
The PE teacher was known to be one of the strictest teachers in the whole school. She is a petite woman and looks very fit. She is a forty three years old woman yet she looks younger than her age. There were rumors in the school that she was the kind of woman who could make you train for hours non stop and wouldn't mind if you fainted from exhaustion. They said one student once fainted and died from all the vigorous training she always put students through but no one has been able to verify the truthfulness of the story.
Chantel did not know if the stories were true or not and she did not want to find out either. She actually did not want to be close to any pitch. She only wanted to stay by her books and study, like she always does. When they closed from school, she met up with her friends who were already waiting for her outside her class. The school is a three storey building and Chantel's class was the last class on the second floor while Cynthia's and Adiepena's classes happened to be on the third floor. She smiled when she saw both girls standing outside, waiting for her.
"Hey girls, what's up?" she walked towards them.
"Hey girl. Seems today your class was the last to close. What happened? Did you have integrated science? Mr Badu is known to always keep students in class for extra minutes especially, when his class is the final one for the day." Adiepena said and Cynthia laughed.
"I don't mind that, though. I love science, it's my second best subject." Chantel replied.
"And which one is the best one for you? Don't tell me it's maths," Cynthia asked, even though she kept smiling.
"As if you know it. Maths is my best subject. I just love all the numbers and the algebra. It just makes my day." Chantel said playfully.
"Ugh.. Please stop talking about maths okay. Let's just go home and have a bath or something. And, I don't want to hear about maths again." Cynthia groaned.
"Okay, what happened? Did you guys have maths today? I am sure that's the reason for this sudden mood swing."
"Well, yes we did. And she had trouble understanding most of the things the teacher was teaching. So imagine her disappointment." Adiepena mocked her.
Cynthia hit her on the shoulder making her jump up in pain.
"Ow, that hurts. What was that for?" Adiepena winced in pain.
"That's for mocking me. And, it is not my fault that the teacher taught something I could not quickly grasp. So, please don't mock me for it, I don't like that."
"Hey, I was just playing with you. You don't need to hit me for it, you know. Okay, okay, I am sorry. I won't mock you anymore."
Cynthia rolled her eyes while Chantel just laughed. The girls made their way to their dorm while they continued to chat on the way.
"So, did the PE teacher come to your class?" Chantel suddenly asked.
"Yes. And I am so happy because she chose me to try out for the teams. I am going to try for the football team." Cynthia said.
"Me too. I am so happy she picked me. I can't wait to try out for the basket ball team." Adiepena added.
Chantel was quiet. Cynthia and Adiepena did not know Chantel did not like sports. She seemed so perfect in everything she did. She was not the kind to hate sports.
"Girls, there is something I have to tell you." the girls stopped in their tracks.
"What is it? Did something happen?" Adiepena asked her, feeling a bit worried.
Chantel had her head down. She felt very embarrassed to tell her friends about her hate for sports since they both love it so much. She wanted nothing more than to join her friends enjoy what they loved doing but she just couldn't. She felt so bad about it.
"The thing is... I don't like sports. In fact, I hate it. I have tried so many times to get it right but I never did. I always ended up embarrassing myself instead. I am sorry girls," she felt like crying.
Both girls felt so bad for her. "Aw, Chantel. I don't think this is something to feel bad about. Besides, you are good in other things, you can't be perfect." Adiepena said.
"Yes, but being terrible in sports is not a bad thing. We all have things we are good at just as we have things we are terrible at. Just don't let that get to you. And, don't feel this will make us love you less. You are the same girl to us." Cynthia added.
Chantel smiled at her friends. They always knew the right words to say and that made her happy.