"Good job Sachi!"
It was a warm welcome back into the tent areas for the house. The tents didn't have any walls, so you could look outside and see the other students from other houses. It didn't take long for my bathers to dry off although my hair likely wasn't going to dry for the entire day. I grabbed my water bottle, shaking of some of the dirt which had gotten stuck onto it and drank a little bit of water. I was still pretty shaken after the race, so I didn't really feel like doing anything. I put some shorts and a shirt over my bathers and decided to sit down on my bag for a little. I also put on a green tutu to show at least a little enthusiasm for the dress-up theme.
The mens heat was going to begin soon but I didn't really want to watch it. "If I win this race, I'm going to ask her out!" I heard a shout from across the pool. I wonder who he was going to ask out. The area was filled with an "Ooh!" sound like a group of Neanderthals. I felt a little urge to go an look but my legs were still quite fatigued.
Before long the siren sounded for the beginning of the mens heat, they were also doing the 200m individual medley so it was likely going to take a little while. After a few minutes, the race came to an end. For some reason there seemed to be a rambunctious crowd of people cheering. I guess that boy must have won then. I guess I'd stand and and have a look at the confession-to-be.
I made my way out of our house tent area and walked down beside the pool. There was a large group of boys all pushing the confession boy like he was some celebrity. They threw him a towel and his clothes and he put them on without even returning to is bag. Still wet and dripping with water, armed with his first-place ribbon, he began marching towards the girl he was going to confess to... Hold on, was he walking straight towards me?
"Sachi, will you go out with me?"
Huh?
There was a crowd of people surrounding us, all eagerly awaiting the response. Hold on, I don't exactly have a lot of thinking time here... The glaring eyes of over twenty onlookers put on quite the amount of pressure on me. The boy was still dripping with water, creating a mud mixture under him like some swamp monster.
"No, I'm sorry."
To the shock and dismay of everyone, the entire crowd erupted into chaos. The boy looked as if the entire world had come crashing down. A group of his friends surrounded him and pulled him away as some of the girls being interviewing and interrogating me like I was some wanted criminal. The news of this incident spread like wildfire, suddenly, the entire area was speaking about this, 'did you heard? Devan asked out Sachi...' was a common phrase that began by the side of the pool.
It was quite saddening. Although Devan was somewhat athletic, I wasn't really interested in the hot-headed, erratic type of boy. Just based on the fact that I had hardly spoken to him before now, I assumed that it was likely he was just interested in my looks. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, I for one was not to talk, maybe in a different timeline I might've even said yes. But right now, I had a goal and to reach it, I would have to make some sacrifices.
A few more races went by before it was about time for my second race of the day. I took off my clothes again, stuffing them quickly into my bag before making my way over. The ground had become quite the muddy mess. The soft sensation on my feet quickly became a hard rough feeling as I made my way towards the diving blocks. For some reason, I felt as if more people were watching this race than usual. It was the A division breaststroke, my best stroke, I really needed to get a first place here if I want to get first overall.
All the girls waited behind the diving blocks. I adjusted my goggles and tightened them, tucking my ponytail into my cap. The teacher instructed us to get onto the diving blocks. "On your marks." I grabbed onto the front of the diving block and looked down. A loud siren blare signalled the beginning of the race.
My focus and reaction time was pretty good so I got a decent start. This race was much more determined by how well you start, being only 50m. Throughout the race, I never really felt too fatigued, I was basically able to push through the entire 50m without really slowing down. Slamming my two hands on the wall, I looked up around me.
I didn't see anyone else's head above the water, it was looking quite good. After a few more seconds, the race finished and they handed out the ribbons. The blue first place ribbon really looked quite nice in my hand. All the water dripping off my body kind of soiled it, but luckily it was made from a waterproof material so after shaking it off a little, I put it into my bag.
My total points was now 34.
The theoretical maximum amount of points achievable is 104 if someone chose all the highest scaling races and won all of them.
My performance in the first race could've been better although I still had a pretty good chance. I didn't exactly see who came first and second in the first race but as long as they weren't in my year level it wouldn't matter too much. The relays were also quite significant, as they don't solely rely on your own skills, bringing the swimming strength of the house into consideration, which might be problematic for me. The reason why I got to participate in so many events was because our house didn't have many very good swimmers. We did have enough people to fill all the races but I'm really unsure of how well we'll do in the relays.
I wasn't too tired after the breaststroke race so I decided to go and watch some of the other races. I sat down on a bench by the side of the pool and watched a few of the races. The more I thought about, the more I thought about how this event is really something truly exciting. Every race, people were cheering and hyped up for their houses, it was a really well designed event. I wonder if I'd ever really be happy like that, being able to just cheer and participate casually, talking with some friends, enjoying the event.
"So you're the famous celebrity of the swimming carnival."
"Huh?"
I looked up to see Teru holding two cans of soft drink. He passed one over to be and I gave a soft, "thanks" in reply. I could see that his hair was also quite wet like mine. He sat next to me on the bench without saying much, just commenting on the races every once in a while. "You know, Devan talks about you a lot." He said rather abruptly. His eye focus didn't change however, he was still observing the races whilst talking to me on the side. I wasn't sure how I was meant to respond so I just let out an "oh".
It seemed that it was a one off comment and he continued to look forwards, talking about the races which were happening. "When's your next race?" He asked me, this time, he was looking at me, "in about ten minutes". The two of us continued sitting next to each other on the bench, happily watching the races which were going by. "Well, my race is now so I'll see you around." He said, the boys 50m freestyle was just before the girls, so Teru left before me, with a short "bye," he was off and I was once again alone.
It was the first time we had really properly talked to each other since my confession of sorts so it did feel nice to chat again. It was almost time for my race as well so I took off my clothes once again and made the short yet stressful walk towards the diving boards. I decided to wait and have a look at Teru's race. It seemed he was neck and neck with first place in his heat, I couldn't really tell but it looked like the other person might've been Shin but I couldn't really tell under all the splashing and the caps. The race ended a few seconds later with Teru taking a miraculous first place.
Good job, Teru.
Now it was time for my race. The freestyle is inherently a more difficult heat than the breaststroke, especially because breaststroke was my best stroke. I still needed to get first if I wanted a good chance at winning first overall so I was going to need a nice victory here.
Once again, all the girls in the race got up onto the diving boards.