The school bell rang signaling the end of my second day at school. Man, what a wretched day it was…
But there were things to look forward to, as Ajin promised me that she would take me around to various after-school clubs so I could consider which one I might want to join. Normally she has to head home straight away after school finishes but she was nice enough today to make an exception for me.
When I was here before, I was always in the so-called 'go home club' too but things were different now.
And oh, just how different it was…
It turned out that I, as Jenn, was good at pretty much anything. I already learned yesterday that I was damn good at football. I could solve math problems subconsciously. When I went to try out for the softball club I could hit the ball out of the park. When I shot some hoops at the basketball club they all went in. I even found out that I was pretty good on piano, and well, the photography club wanted me as well just so that they could have a resident model.
I was interested in everything and every club seemed to be interested in having me join them. It felt wonderful to be good at things, and even more wonderful to feel wanted.
After busily going around the school to see all these clubs, I checked the time and figured I had just about enough time to visit one more club before Uncle Tan was to come to pick me up (a block away from the school gate actually as I did not want to be making grand entry and exit from the school every day since our posh car really stood out in this neighborhood).
"Oh, Ajin - you mentioned track and field club yesterday too"
"Ah, that's right. Seeing you do all these things today I wouldn't be surprised if you were good at that too. You are just amazing!"
"Te-he, thank you. So could we go check them out?"
"Sure, let's head over together"
This was going to be fun, I thought. By now I knew I was technically good at many things and very dextrous, but how about raw power and speed? It was time to find out.
"Wait here for a second"
When we got to the area in the school ground where track and field guys were training, Ajin told me to wait a bit while she went ahead to talk to the captain of the club. When I watched them from afar, even from a distance I could tell that he was a very tall and handsome dude. I never knew him before though because I had zero interest in sports.
Ajin then looked my way and waved me to come over, which I excitedly obliged and I ran over to them.
"So this is Jenn. And Jenn - this is Lee. He's the captain of the track and field club"
"Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too" - I noticed he had a very nice smile. Maybe physically fit people just have that positive vibe about them? Something I obviously lacked before…
"So, well, there isn't much to explain here. We just train to run faster and jump higher and further. It's hard work but also honest work. The training pays off and you feel great and proud about every millisecond shaved off the clock, every centimeter jumped higher or further, and so on. Physical talent and athleticism are of course important and not everyone who joins will become an Olympic runner, but everyone can enjoy testing and pushing their limits further each day. It's a very rewarding activity"
"That sounds great. So, er, what are you guys practicing here today?"
"We are doing long jumps now. You wanna give it a go?"
"Sure"
"Have you done this before?"
"I guess I just run and jump as far as I can?"
"Haha. That's right. But bear in mind that your steps are important. You want to be kicking off using your strong foot, so you will have to time your run for that. Just give it a go"
"Sure thing"
Well, although I was never a sports kinda guy this really was as straightforward as it gets. No rules to learn and understand. Just run and jump, and don't step over the line.
Here goes nothing…
With that, I started to dash towards the line, picking up speed with measured strides. All this felt just so natural, and with a strong kick-off, I flew across the air and landed on the sand. Embarrassingly though, I kinda messed up the landing and ended up falling on my ass. Welp, even Jenn can't be absolutely perfect in everything I guess, but it was a good jump, I think…?
"Hey, hey, are you serious?", Captain Lee asked while he was walking toward me.
Hmm, did it look like I was just messing about? Did I offend him?
"Sorry… I just kinda landed wrong"
"No, I mean, hang on, what's your name?"
"Jenn"
"Yes, Jenn. Forget what I said about just enjoying the personal challenge. You HAVE TO join us"
"Huh?"
"It can't be - I mean you are genuinely new to this. Your strides were not perfect and your timing was off, but you got one heck of a monster kick on that jumping leg"
"Monster…?"
"You are a natural. Come train with us"
"Well, that's Jenn for you. Every club wanted her to join them too, so let her have some time to think things over", Ajin intervened with a forced smile.
"No Ajin, seriously. Forget all the other clubs. She HAS TO join us"
"Captain, please. Jenn will think about it and come back if and when she wants to. Jenn, let's get going"
After saying these words Ajin turned around and started to walk away. Captain Lee was trying to say something to Ajin but now that she's walked off he turned to face me as if he was going to try to convince me again. I was of course flattered but as Ajin said, this will do for today, so I got up from the sand pit, shrugged my shoulders, waved him goodbye, and ran after Ajin.