[General POV]
"In the topic of optics, What is the shortest light pulse ever produced?"
"130 attoseconds." Edward pressed the buzzer and answered in a split second after the answer was thrown out, making the Dryden team groan in frustration.
"That is correct!" The old moderator announced with a happy face, but with no emotional changes in his voice.
"What is the lightest element on earth, with no stable isotopes?" The moderator asked the next question.
"Technetium." Edward answered again with incredible speed.
"And that is correct!" The moderator announced again.
The score was now 130 to 30, with the Franklin Middle School team holding a tight leash on the lead, putting the Dryden Academy team into despair.
"Formal protest, only one person is answering the question!" The Dryden Academy team leader stood up and accused Edward after he failed to answer 9 straight questions, courtesy of Edward's incredible question solving speed.
"Motion Denied." The moderator said before any of the panel could discuss the request.
"He must be cheating! He's a game developer. He must've hacked the question maker's laptop and read all of the answers beforehand!" Dryden panel members accused Edward without evidence.
"Umm…That's impossible." Dr Leonard Hosfstader spoke on the microphone to defend Edward. The accused boy just looked coldly at the panel member with a smug undertone in his expression.
"What do you know?" Dryden Academy panel members tried to dismiss Leonard's defense.
"I know because Dr Jacob Turnstein, the moderator, and also the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1992, is standing on stage. He's also the one who made the questions, and he had never once used a laptop in his life." Leonard explained much to the panel member's embarrassment.
After some laughter, Dryden's team leader shouted at the Asian kid who was working on the snitch, "WE NEED THAT TO WIN! THAT IS WORTH 300 points! How much longer are you going to work on it!"
The leader kept nagging and shouting at the asian kid in urgency, causing him to snap.
"aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" The asian kik exploded in anger, threw off his entire body over the table and ran to the whiteboard containing the question before he tried to destroy it.
"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!!!" He shouted to the innocent whiteboard as he hit his head on the board, destroying parts of it.
"Uhh. We're going to take a break. Everyone else, please stay calm…" Leonard said quickly to the microphone before he went to help the kid who lost his sanity from the question.
"I told you. That question is too much for a middle school student." Howard muttered to Rajesh who nodded in agreement with him.
"Please. I solved that equation when I was 9 years old." Sheldon added in a condescending manner. However, instead of his friends being impressed with him, they let out a groan in disgust.
On top of the stage, Haruna whispered to Edward. "That is normal."
"Mental breakdown is normal during a middle schooler's competition?" Edward widened his eyes in disbelief as he saw Leonard hugging the Asian boy from behind to try and subdue him, but failing.
"You'd be surprised." Alex muttered, adding to Edward's shock.
"SHELDON. HOWARD. RAJ. HELP ME!" Leonard shouted to his friend with a flushed red face as he couldn't stop the boy alone.
"Ohh How I wish I had popcorn to enjoy this right now." Howard muttered from his seat with no intention of going up the stage to help.
It took 5 minutes for the Asian boy to be exchanged with another Asian boy, and those who couldn't discern between Asian people were now wondering how the staff member managed to calm the boy down in just a short period of time.
During the chaos, Sanjay sighed in frustration as he couldn't find the answer for the Golden Snitch question.
"I guess we have to give up on the snitch." Sanjay muttered. Edward clicked his tongue, and before he could say he had already solved the question, he saw Mrs Henderson signaling him.
"Hmm?" Edward was confused, but then understood what was going on as he read the teacher's lip. 'Don't solve it on your own. Teach Sanjay to do it. Otherwise, the team will stop functioning.'
Edward paused for a while as he thought about the matter. 'True. I can solve it, but it'll break the dynamic of the team. I should do it, when Sanjay truly cannot do it.'
"Hey Hufflepuff." Edward called the Indian boy.
"Shut up Slytherin!" Sanjay retorted.
"On second thought.' Edward grimaced, but he saw Mrs Henderson egging on him with her facial expression, causing him to sigh and followed the order. "Let me take a look at your calculation."
"Here."
Unexpectedly for Edward, Sanjay gave him the paper without any hassle, making him a bit perplexed. Alex snorted and said, "He knows how to behave when necessary. Unlike someone else."
"Who? Haruna?" Edward thwarted the accusation, making Haruna confused.
Edward grabbed a pencil and showed Sanjay where he did wrong. He guided him slowly, and even told him what method he should use. He then asked, "Can you do it now?"
"I need some time. But I think I can." Sanjay replied with his eyes lit up.
"I'll try to stall for it, but if you cannot do it before the last question, then I cannot do anything about it."
"I know." Sanjay replied before putting all of his focus on solving the equation once more. But this time, Alex and Haruna joined their effort with Sanjay.
"If we can solve it, we will be the first team in the entire Decathlon competition to actually solve a Golden Snitch question." Alex muttered to herself with excitement in her tone.
The chaos finally subsides, and the competition resumes.
"List out the Earth's important Eons." The moderator asked.
Edward pressed the buzzer first as usual, and then he replied, "Well after the big bang, the first eon Earth faced is Hadean where the land is filled with lava."
"Erkk– WRONG!" The Dryden teacher in the panel made a wrong buzzer sound with his mouth and tried to stop Edward, but all of the Phd members there looked at him in confusion.
"Mr Hiles. You know the rules. You shouldn't interrupt a student when he's answering. You're now removed from being one of the panels." The moderator said sternly.
"Wait what? But he's wrong-" Hiles tried to fight, but he was soon kicked out from the judges table. His replacement? The caramel skin astrophysicist who never even thought he's going to sit at the judges table today.
"Please continue Mr Newgate." The moderator said.
Edward nodded and shared the rest of the important Earth development Eons, continuing from Archean to Proterozoic, and then to Phanerozoic Eons. He took his time, and even spoke about the time range, and the possible species living during the time frame.
"Perfect mark Mr Newgate. I will give you 50 points for that answer." The judges panel said after analyzing Edward's answer. They couldn't even find the tiniest flaw in it, making Edward receive an additional 10 points reward for a 4o point questions.
"I'm formally protesting it. What the f- is Hadean?" Hiles shouted from the audience seat.
Sheldon turned to face him and said angrily, "The first Earth's eon after the big bang! If you actually listen to his answer, you would know!"
Edward and the rest of the audience laughed at Mr Hiles, making him flush in embarrassment. However, his face was thick enough for him to stay there and didn't storm out as he was still wishing for a turnover in this whole situation.
The moderator continued with his question, in which Edward replied with the greatest details possible, thoroughly aweing the doctoral members in the venue today. A lot of the audience members were already half asleep, but nevertheless most of the audience still kept their interest in the competition.
Edward smiled as he answered the 19th question, but he was actually struggling inside. He could see Sanjay, Alex and Haruna were on the brink of solving the Golden Snitch question, but he also saw that the other team member was also almost there– or at least what he assumed by the boys' constant writing on the notepad in front of him.
"Alex. This is the last question. Can you guys do it?" Edward asked whisperingly.
"We still need some time. Just a few more minutes." Alex said anxiously while running the calculation for Sanjay.
Right now, the point was at 320 to 30. Dryden Academy only had one chance left to answer the Golden Snitch question before Edward answered the last question which was allocated with 50 points. Otherwise, they wouldn't have any chance of winning the game today.
Dryden team leader, Hiles Junior, turned to his teammates and said, "Whatever you do, we need to press the buzzer for the question first, even if we cannot answer it. Then, delay it until Ching managed to answer the snitch. Got it?"
"You know if we cannot answer, the other team will get the chance right?" His teammate replied.
"Yeah. But we can stall for time if…let's say…one of you suddenly has a medical emergency…" Hiles Junior said in a ruthless voice before giving a sharp pencil to his teammate who dared to question him.
His teammates regretted his decision, and prayed inwardly that he didn't have to resort to the drastic action of poking his own nose with the sharp pencil to induce nosebleed in order to stop the event.
The moderator tapped the microphone and spoke. "Last question, what are-"
Before he could finish, the Dryden team had already pressed the buzzer. He turned to him and asked, "So what is the answer?"
"Uhh…what is the question?" Hiles Junior asked.
"If you don't know, maybe you should've finished hearing it first, don't you agree?"
"Right. Sorry."
Hiles rubbed the back of his head apologetically, but he grinned inwardly as he managed to stall some time.
"What are the 3 parts of the soul that Plato describes? List and briefly explain?" The moderator asked.
Dryden Academy had already placed their hand above the buzzer before even finishing hearing the question. Although it was cheating, no one spoke to stop them.
Unfortunately for them, Edward was still the first player to press the buzzer despite them trying to cheat.
"OH COME ON! How is that even possible?!" Hiles Junior said.
"Alex. ETA?" Edward asked with a whisper anxiously as he faced the judges alone.
"Just answer the question." Sanjay said, but not giving up on solving the equation.
Edward sighed and spoke using the slowest pace he could, " Plato's theory of the soul divides the soul into three parts. There is an appetitive part, Epithymetikon, that deals with bodily desires, a spirited part, Thymoeides, that deals with more reflective passions, and the rational part, Logistikon, that deals with thinking and truth."
"Perfect answer Mr Newgate-" Leonard applauded, but then Hiles shouted, "Wait! We've solved the Golden Snitch!"
"No we don't." His teammate whispered to him.
"Just shut up and play along. Ching, how much longer?" Hiles asked in frustration.
"Huh? You think I'm answering the question?" The Chinese kid asked in confusion. Hiles asked, "You're not? Then what are you writing?"
"Well I think Newgate's answer is great, so I'm taking some notes."
"FUCK YOU CHING!"
"Also, my name is Li Xuan." The asian kid added. Hiles grabbed his teammate's collar, and a rumble started at the loser's table.
"FRANKLIN MIDDLE HIGH WINS!" Rajesh shouted using the microphone. The audience cheered for what was basically a one man show by Franklin high, but then Sanjay stood up abruptly and said, "I'VE SOLVED IT!"
His shout froze the entire venue, and people were holding their breath as he held the paper in his hands.
"Huh? Let me take a look." Leonard said and walked to the Franklin team table and read the team's solution to the problem.
Leonard grinned and raised the paper up in the air before announcing, "They CAPTURED THE SNITCH!"
The audience stood up and exploded with thunderous applause. Leonard ran across the entire stage and showed the paper to the audience while ceremoniously shouting, "They captured the snitch!! They captured the snicccthhhh!!"
But then the moderator threw some cold water to their enthusiasm, "Unfortunately, Franklin Middle School was already announced as the winner. Therefore the points from the Golden Snitch will not be added to the total."
"With a final score of 370 points, Franklin Middle School won the semi final, and advanced to participate in the final round of the Decathlon today." The moderator announced, making the audience cheered once more.
…
[Edward POV]
"So. Damn. Close." I clicked my tongue as I turned to the rest of my team.
Unexpectedly for me, all of them were still beaming up with smiles as they felt a sense of achievement to be the first people in the entire state to actually solve this high level equation. I turned to Mrs Henderson who had a proud smile on her face, and nodded slightly as I finally understood her request before.
Enid ran to the stage and hugged both Alex and I while saying, "Congratulations!! I knew you guys could do it!"
Then, she faced only me before saying, "And Ed. That was…LEGENDARY! You really humiliated those guys. I got turned on-"
Alex cupped Enid's mouth before I could hear the rest of what she was saying and said, "Lets go. We need to vacate the stage for the next game."
"Okay. Also Sanjay." I turned to the Indian kid who had tears in his eyes. "What?" He asked gruffly while trying to wipe his eyes.
"Nice. Fucking. Works." I complimented in a calm tone, which made Sanjay beamed up in a smile. He then muttered, "Thanks. I also want to say something."
"What?" I asked.
Suddenly, he bowed to me and said, "I'm sorry I've been a jerk."
I chuckled a bit and just waved it off. "Just forget about it. I never did take it to heart."
"Liar. You hold the longest grudge among all people I know." Alex retorted.
"Then you know I will hold your words against you for a while right?" I replied to Alex with a cheeky smile as I patted Sanjay on the shoulder. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."
"Me too." Haruna said.
"Yeah. I'm famished too." Sanjay said with a smile. We shook hands with the judges and the other player who couldn't even meet our eyes before we walked to Mrs Henderson.
I froze as the teacher suddenly hugged me the moment we arrived at her spot. "Congratulations Edward." She said as she brushed my back 3 times.
'What the hell? Why does this feel so familiar?' I thought with my hands shaking. She didn't stay there for long and released me, only to find me frozen from her touch.
However, she didn't say anything and went to hug Alex, Haruna, Enid, and a short hug for Sanjay. By the time she returned, I had already recovered back to normal.
"We won't have any matches until after lunchtime, so for now, you guys are free to do whatever you want." Mrs Henderson said.
I nodded and turned to Alex before asking, "Are you staying here?"
"Yeah. I want to study the competition. Atlas is the team predicted to win the competition, so I want to see how good they are."
The rest nodded at Alex's word except for Enid. "Well. I'm going to explore."
"Good. Let's go together."
Enid smiled and interlinked her arms with me before we went to the football field together to watch them practice. However, their practice was already over when we got there.
"Damn." I cursed.
"Hey Edward. Are you interested in football?" Suddenly, I heard someone speaking with a Nigerian accent coming from behind me.
"Sam!" Enid exclaimed in excitement.
"So. Did you fail to make the team?" I asked.
Sam was downcast and said, "Yes. I guess I should just stick to the original football."
In 'soccer', he was part of the under 15 Nigerian National team before he received a scholarship to come to Dryden– a scholarship which he only accepted because he thought football carried the same meaning here in America. It was a funny situation, even for him.
"I will return to Nigeria this weekend." He shared to me about his short experience in America, and the fact that he had no friends here. He couldn't wait to go back home, and back to his usual practice with his team there.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that you'll get another scholarship. Or maybe a contract with a football club."
"I wish." He said self-deprecatingly.
We talked for a while, and I even threw a ball with Sam Obisanya a few times after taking off my blazer. We played American Football, for I wanted him to at least have one good memory with this sport before he returned to his country.
But, as I started sweating, I didn't want to ruin my shirt, therefore I took it off.
"Hmmm~" Enid watched the show with a slight hum, crouching at the side of the field with a smitten look on her face, as I threw the ball towards Sam, which he in turn failed to receive it.
"You suck Sam." I shouted at him teasingly.
"Go easy on me. This is the first time someone has actually taught me something.." Sam shouted back helplessly.
I laughed and encouraged him before we played for another 15 minutes. I even exchanged numbers with him given that he was generally well mannered and a friendly guy.
Enid's face was flushed red when I got back to her, and so I asked, "You forgot to put on sunscreen?"
"No. I'm fine." Enid said before she ran back to the venue, with heart full of excitement, and cameras full of pictures that she was going to share with Alex and Haruna.
Then, we went to the cafeteria to get some lunch– in the VIP section. I called all members of the team together, and also Mrs Henderson instead of just having lunch with Enid much to the young girl's dissatisfaction.
We returned to the venue after lunch, just in time to watch the start for the match for third position, Dryden versus Gamma.
"So. They're going to lose again." I muttered with a smirk as I saw the points, 50 to 10, with Gamma Conventional School taking the lead.
"They completely lost all motivation after you destroyed them, so what else can they do?" Enid muttered. I had to say, I loved keeping her around. She truly knows how to appease my ego by flattering me.
"Huh." I exclaimed as I saw the leader of Atlas Middle school who was walking towards me.
"Hello Edward. I'm Tara Delavinge. I love your songs." The blonde girl with a catholic schoolgirl uniform and a voluptuous body that couldn't be hidden with her modest clothes offered her hand as she stood in front of me.
I shook her hand while secretly comparing her with the same actress that had the same last name as her. But, the one in front of me had a nicer body than the flat chested one in my memory. "Thank you Tara."
Then, she suddenly changed her tone, and pulled me closer before whispering to my ears, "But, I'm still going to destroy you."
I smirked and replied, "I look forward to it."
The result of Atlas's win versus Gamma: 350 to 50.