I loved the cheering that came with the audience. They supported me all through and I couldn't help but feel butterflies dancing in my stomach. That was what made me happy. Not some romantic story or not even food. This was enough diet for me.
But now, they were silent. The audience had gone silent. My breathing was unstable and I panicked.
The voice of the presenter called out again after he had repeated the question twice now. "Miss McQueen, what is your final answer?"
I paused. "Don't say anything yet. Think Suzie, think! What formula?" My hands were all sweaty as I scribbled calculations on the piece of paper before me. I suddenly hated my decision of putting on the brown cardigan on me now, and I wished I had worn something lighter.
After ten seconds, I concluded my answer. "56.7. The answer is 56.7!"
I waited for the presenter to confirm the answer. In the presence of twenty students, I was the one to even work out an answer, as the rest were puzzled and confused. I must be correct.
I must be...
"And the correct answer is..." the presenter announced. They sure knew how to grow tension in the mind of people. "56.70. Miss McQueen is the winner for this year's competition again!"
My heart was beating fast now, and then... There was the applause that always filled my pride. The crowd was cheering, screaming my name. I won... Again!
The joy I held in my heart was far greater than anything I could imagine. For a moment there I actually feared I would lose.
After the award, I was called on stage to give my speech. I didn't say much, I never did. "Thanks to you all for supporting me. I thank my brain too for the hard work it goes through, hehe!" I said and the crowd laughed with me. "God bless you all."
I left the stage and met with my friends. Not like I had many, but two of them, Mike and Chris, they were good people.
Mike was tall and slender, and he approached me with a hug. "Congratulations, tiger. I knew you could do it!" He said, and I was forced to smile.
"Thanks." I said to him. Chris shook my hands.
"Congrats bro." She said. Chris was unlike most girls. She loved dark colors and had piercings all over her–not literally!. At an instant, one would think she was a bully, but she was in fact a sweetheart... Well most times. You still don't want to mess with her with her muscular stature.
I was the tiny one amongst them, short and petite with brown short hair.
"I'm so happy guys. Come on, let's head home!" The excitement in me screeched.
My mother couldn't show up because she worked like three jobs just to keep up with our daily square meal. And my dad? Well... He wasn't of much help.
My sister was in college so she came home once in a while. But I was still glad I won so I could brag about my achievements again.
"You thank your brain?" I heard a bold voice call out from behind. Turning towards the sound, I found a young man with piercing eyes staring at me. His arms were folded beneath his chest and head shooted down toward me so he looked like a teacher, but a really hot and young one.
"I'm sorry?" I hoped he hadn't been talking to me. I don't even know him!
He relaxed his posture. I was not one to be called tall, so staring at this young man had me raise my head high up to meet his cold gaze. I wondered why he was frowning at me.
"You said you thank your brain. You always say that. What does it even mean?" He asked, and I frowned.
"Who else am I supposed to thank?" I queried.
"Hmm lemme see," he had his hand stroking his beardless chin, neatly shaped thick brows furrowed. "How about the teachers that taught you? And the materials you used? And some of the videos you watched online? And friends who supported you when you got stuck at a point?"
"Well, that's why I said I thank everyone for their support!" I was starting to get pissed now. Who did he think he was to talk to me like that?
"Yea guess you did. But that's not nice enough." He said, then scoffed. "You made it seem like you did it all on your own. Like no one else could have done what you did."
That was when I got even more interested in him. I heard my friends call from behind, but I ignored. "Well for your information, I'm not saying I've got some superpowers or something, but I was the only one who knew the answer, wasn't I?"
"Just by luck." He replied. I got a closer look at him now and realized that he had piercing blue eyes. They were so calm the more I stared at them, and I didn't understand why. How can someone who looked so calm and innocent be such a bully!
"What's your problem? You should just say congratulations and leave!" I flared.
"Congratulations? Ha! You tried. But I'll have you know that the answer was actually 56.07, which means when you approximate, it will give you 56.1 which is still the same as 56. Whereas your own answer, we get 57 when you round it up. You know, when you round up your answer." He said so... Fluently and confidently.
He was right... Well, he wasn't wrong entirely. As I did my calculations, I did realize that something was missing, but I was sure it was only by a small miss...
Realization cut up with me. "Wait, how did you even know that? You cheated, didn't you?"
"Cheated?" He leaned in closer to me... Slowly until his face met mine. I pouted, slightly angry, but I was enjoying the conversation. "So you think you're the only smarty pants in the world, is that it? I've watched you, you see... You're so full of yourself."
I pulled back. "Full of myself--"
"Suzie... The bus is about to leave. Hurry!" I heard Mike's voice call.
I needed to leave. "Well then, I'll leave first. And let's see how you can think like me and win more competitions! By then, you'll see it's not easy peasy work." I said, standing my ground as I tried to play cool. This young man stared at me with a mysterious glare... Observing me. Only God knows what he was thinking.
I needed to leave.
And so I did. I raced off, hurrying to meet my friends. For some reason, I never want to meet him again. He was... He was going to be a headache in my life. And Lord knows I hated headaches more than anything.