“First competitors! Please step up on the platform.” The coach said. Erika stepped on the platform hesitantly. Her opponent was calm. Like she knew she would win; while Erika was shaking. She looked at me and I mouthed ‘Hwaitting!’ she took a deep breath and steadied herself. The gun fired. She jumped on the pool and started swimming.

Once she touched the other side of the pool, she has to go back and it will be declared she’s the winner. I could see they were really close but somehow I know we’ll win.

Omo! Erika’s behind her! I think we’re gonna lose. But I have to believe we’ll win. The two of them touched the wall of the other side of the pool. But the swimmer from the other school had done it first. Erika swam behind her again. There’s no chance of winning. Suddenly, the student body started to say ‘boo!’ The opponent got distracted but continued swimming. It was obvious that she slowed down. So Erika had the chance to catch up. I saw her smile at her and stuck her tongue out.

She won!

She won as soon as she reached the base. Our schoolmates cheered very loud. It was deafening my ears. They were very proud of her. Erika is not really popular and well known at school. But when I came and helped her in developing her swimming skills, she was known in the whole school. Now that she won the first round, it is expected she’ll be popular; and Kevin might notice her from now on. ^^

“Erika you did it!!!” I hugged her tightly and she cried.

“I beat her.” She whispered to me happily. Doojoon hugged her too. Erika’s shy towards him but she didn’t care to hug back.

From a distant, I saw our opponents. The leader slapped her friend very hard. *the one who competed*her cheek started to turn red but she didn’t show any emotion.

“I’ll do it.” I heard her say then she turned to me. I looked away. Omo, she’ll compete with me herself. I can feel that we’ll lose it. But I know we’ll win. I have an instinct that something will happen. Something will come.

“First round winner is…from Oxford University! *your school*” the announcer yelled happily. The student body went wild again. And Erika received a lot of flowers and was still crying a lot. Of course we’re happy. This is the first time the South Harmon lost in such a popular sport in their school.

The crowd was able to calm down after a few minutes. The announcer held the microphone and yelled.

“For the second round competitors…please step on the platform.” He said. The leader stepped up mightily and proud. Head held high. I sighed before doing so. Doojoon hugged me and wished me good luck. I wish AJ were here. I don’t know if I pass this now that AJ’s not here. As I stepped up, I could feel the nervousness of the crowd. There were soft claps and murmurs. It got me nervous.

The gun fired.

I wasn’t prepared yet and the gun fired. It was my fault. I wasn’t probably listening to the announcer. I swam on the pool while my opponent was half way now. I pushed my body further to bring my body forward. I was also half way when she touched the wall from the opposite side of the pool. I yelled because I was losing hope. All I heard was the water splashing. Suddenly, I heard the doors opened. But I ignored it. I finally touched the wall and chased her.

“____-ah! Go for it!” someone yelled. No one had addressed me like that in my two years in this school -and neither had Doojoon. I got the chance to look up and saw a white haired guy jumping with a poster. He was at the top of the gym.

Choi ____! Do your best!!!

Yoseob! He came! Nah, must be my imagination. I swam hard and was able to catch up to her.

“____! Don’t lose to her!” Now Sooyoung’s voice rang in my head. But somehow it made me faster.

“Swim faster ____!” Now AJ! Omo, am I hallucinating? But I could feel his presence. I looked up again. AJ, Sooyoung and Yoseob were at the top of the building were the door was. Dongwoon, Hyunseung and Junhyung were there too! And for once, they were focusing on me. Dongwoon had no book and Hyunseung had no flowers. Junhyung wasn’t flirting anymore! All eyes were on me. Sooyoung was yelling just like before. Her cheering encouraged me. Yoseob almost jumped to the crowd from shouting. And AJ couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Suddenly, my body went faster. Like everything went slow motion. As in slow. And I was the only one who was acting normally. Then I realized I already touched the wall. I thought I was sleeping and hurt my head on the wall but I actually reached it. I won!!!

The crowd went wild again. Everyone was off their seats and danced around the gym in happiness. As if they were the one who literally won. Erika and I brought victory to our school. Doojoon hugged me first and I was crying like Erika. The leader eyed me sternly and went to our coach.

“Shut up!!!!” she yelled and the gym was silent at once. “You!” she pointed at me.

“Eh?” I was surprised.

“You cheated!” she said.

“I did not!”

“I know you’re strategy. To let people distract us. First, when my friend was competing with her *pointing at Erika* the crowd went ‘boo!’ so obviously, it distracted her!”

“What are you…” Erika got mad.

“Second!” she interrupted. “While the two of us were competing, those bloody people went in. Shouting and yelling!” she pointed where my friends were. Yoseob just waved at me happily; not knowing what was happening. I almost cried. I couldn’t speak.

“You’re accusing us which are not true!” Erika protested. Doojoon held her before she could slap her. They began bickering when the coach spoke again.

“You’re wrong.” She said facing the leader. “Actually, you’re disqualified.” The crowd gasped. We also did.

“What did I do?” she asked calmly.

“Ms. ____, don’t you feel anything unusual? Like, pain? Or something distracting you’re body?” she asked me. I looked around me and shook my head.

“Nothing. Why?” I asked.

“As what I have recorded here,” she showed her video cam to us when I felt something sticky coming out from my nose. I hesitantly reached for it and stared at my fingers. Pure blood was on my hands and it started to flow from my nose.

“Doojoon,” I spoke. He looked at me with wide eyes.

“Sh*t! What happened?!” he began wiping the blood.

“That is exactly what I was saying. Here” she played her recorded video and it was seen that the leader kicked me right in the face. Too bad I hadn’t noticed it.

“Even if you will in, you’re still disqualified from violating some rules.” The coach said. “You’re expert in cheating but you can never underestimate my eyes.” Her eyes sparked. AJ and the rest just got down since they were curious what was happening. They couldn’t see what was happening from above.

“Doojoon, I can’t…” I coughed out blood and everything started to turn black and I felt nothing.

Narrator:

“Ya. ____!” he yelled as he was holding her in his arms. AJ ran to them and saw ____ full of blood. Doojoon was about to carry her but he carried her himself. All of them followed in the clinic.

They were waiting outside the clinic. Erika came back with her clothes on and brought ____’s clothes. It was hard for her to pass by since the hallway was filled with the students. The gym was clear and not one student stayed; except for the South Harmon swimmers.

“You stupid! Why were you distracted?! I thought we’re trained for this!” the leader said to her friend after she slapped her. There was little blood that came out.

“That’s enough. You already hurt her much.” Another one said. “Hurting her doesn’t solve anything.”

“Do you want to get slapped too? Don’t you know how much effort I put in there?!” the leader yelled.

“Effort on what?” the girl who got slapped spoke. “Effort on cheating? I was distracted but I never cheated. This is the first time I knew you were cheating. How about your previous competition? Were you also cheating? Shame on you!”

The leader was about to slap her again but the other one stopped her and slapped her hard.

“You deserve that. For years we’ve endured the punishments you gave us. We give up. Not because we’re losers. But we can’t stay in a group where real losers are.” With that, they left the leader crying. The three of them went to the clinic where the students were whispering at each other as they passed by.