"So you want to compete in the University Open? Are you sure? You know people will judge you because you are an Ex-pro..." James asked, worried about the whole situation. "Right now, isn't it fine cause people do not know it, so you don't have many problems?"
Silvia shook her head, "People will eventually find out, plus I am not that bothered if they do or don't find out. I don't really care much about what others think of me as long as I can do whatever I like."
James sighed at this... "This is not about that guy, is it?"
Silvia gave him a blank face. "Which guy?"
James got even more frustrated at his sister and just gave up, "Do whatever you want then!"
---
[University Sports Office]
"H-hello Silvia, I am glad you could make it." Haruto, the senior, met Silvia at orientation, who was looking through the file given to him. "Thank you for these, let me check them."
He flipped through them as Silvia stood there motionless. Haruto looked up, feeling the awkwardness.
"Um... you can sit down."
Silvia nodded and took a seat, staring at him through the whole process.
He could feel her stare boring a hole through his head.
Why is she looking at me like that! It's making me quite anxious.
Haruto tried to ignore Silvia and looked through the paperwork.
Oh, wow. That is a fantastic track record. Why is she an art student? Did she get an injury? If so, is it safe for her to do this competition?
"May I ask... why did you stop competing? Because you have such an amazing record!" He thought about it for a bit and recognised a few of the competitions and realised who Silvia was. "I knew you were familiar! Lucas used to watch a lot of your swims. Wow, you could have gone for the Olympics with this history." Haruto could not believe that Silvia had such a past.
If it were an injury, would this be her comeback after healing?
Silvia did not know if she should say it, but since he had asked and was helping Silvia, she decided he was someone she could rely on.
"My mother died. That's why I stopped." Silvia said abruptly without a warning.
Haruto looked up instantly, shocked to hear this. Looking at Silvia's face, he did not know what to say.
" I-I am sorry about that." He whispered, trying to think of any comforting words.
"You don't need to apologise. It's not your fault. I am fine anyway." Silvia replied.
"Y-you can keep saying that, Silvia, but your face tells a different story." Haruto was looking at Silvia's face, which was bearing emotions she did not even know were there.
I never thought I thought that if Silvia were to show any emotions, this was the one I was going to see... I guess there is a lot more to the story than is said.
A face that screamed sorrow, which was more apparent due toSilvia'snot typically showing much emotion.
Silvia touched her face.
"I see..."
What type of face am I making right now? Senior Haruto seems worried. He seems to pity me, but I think I am fine.
The silence was dragged out longer as words could not be found. Instead, Silvia broke it as she tilted her head.
"So will I be able to compete?"
"O-oh! Yes! Absolutely!" Haruto collected all the paperwork and pulled out a form from his drawer, "You are lucky you were right on time! One more week and the deadline would have been up!"
Silvia looked at the form and held out her hand.
There was an awkward pause as Haruto was confused about what she wanted, and he placed his hand on hers.
Silvia blinked a few times, "Pen?"
"Oh! I see!" Haruto scavenged for a pen from his drawer, all flustered, and handed it to Silvia. His face was red as he silently muttered to himself.
She signed the form and looked at it for a few seconds. She was happy with her decision and handed it back to Haruto.
"Thank you, Senior Haruto. This process was easier than I thought, thanks to you. I did not know who to turn to." Silvia thanked Haruto for the help.
"No problem! That's what I am here for! Um... so help my juniors haha!" He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a clumsy laugh, "I will make sure to come and cheer you on!"
Silvia did not reply and just looked at him.
"Unless you don't want me to?" Haruto's face dropped.
"No, I am completely fine with that. I just never had anyone I knew come watch my competitions before, apart from family and colleagues, so I was just a bit shocked." Silvia felt an emotion she had never experienced before hearing this.
"W-well, that's it then! I am definitely coming!" Haruto gave a thumbs-up to Silvia.
She has never had people come watch her before? She seems to have a lot of things built up that she does not talk about. I still can't get that face out of my mind. I never knew she could make such an expression, filled with such sadness. Maybe I should invite her to mine too!
"Um... Silvia, by any chance..." Haruto hesitated, not wanting to hear a negative reply, "Are you free next weekend, Saturday?"
"No, why do you ask? Do I have to do something for the cooperation?"
"Ah, it's nothing like that! I just have a competition that week and wanted to invite you to watch me!" Avoiding eye contact, he stammered.
"What time?" Silvia asked right away.
If Senior Haruto comes to watch me, I should go watch him as well!
"My match should start around 1pm!" Haruto instantly replied, eagerly hoping she had the time.
Silvia took out her phone and messaged her workplace, and there was a couple of minutes of silence again.
Why are there so many long silences when talking to Silvia? It's like my brain stops working or something!
Haruto kept fidgeting, waiting for Silvia to say something.
A notification pinged on Silvia's phone, and she looked up at Haruto after reading it.
"I can come." Silvia returned the thumbs up towards Haruto, confirming her attendance.
"Thanks, Silvia! I will make sure to show you an amazing fight! I will bring back a medal!" Haruto was excited to hear that she was going to be there.
After finishing her talk with Haruto, Silvia made her way out of the sports building. With rumours still about, people would keep looking at her, thinking she was there for Lucas.
She swiftly made her way out, escorted by Haruto, who darted evil eyes towards the passersby.
Thanking Haruto, she then made her way to the art building for her afternoon lessons.
---
[After School]
Though Silvia really did not want to. Haruto had pushed Silvia to try out for the relay team at the university.
I don't really want to, but if Haruto insists, I guess I should do it. It's not like I am losing anything by doing this. Thankfully, I keep my swim kit in my locker on days I want to swim casually.
As Silvia made her way to the changing room, it seemed that everyone had already gone to the pool. Having to travel from the art building, it took a while.
Silvia walked in after changing, and all eyes were on, especially one person, Clara.
What the hell is she doing here? I thought she stopped swimming!
Silvia walked up to the group of people and walked up to the person who seemed to be the coach, carrying a clipboard and wearing a tracksuit.
"I am here for the relay qualifying test?" Silvia, who was not that focused on others and was just trying to flip her goggles and fix the straps of her goggles, did not notice the familiar faces in the pool.
"What's your name?" The coach asked.
"Silvia Elowen," she yawned, tired from the busy day she had in sculpting class.
Today was not so great. Working with clay is so hard; I need to focus more. I nearly cut myself.
Walking to where the coach pointed, Silvia finally looked at the people around the pool. The first place her eyes darted to was Lucas.
He was surrounded by a group of guys who were whispering and pointing towards Silvia.
He smiled and waved at Silvia, to whom she gave a slight nod before preparing for the test.
"I thought you said you were close to her. Are you lying?" one of the guys nudged Lucas, who was a bit flustered.
Is she acting like she does not know me or something? I thought she liked me and wanted to get close to me. Whatever, I guess, do whatever you want.
Lucas shoved the guys off his shoulder and started to stretch, too.
"Well, it seems like she's not interested in you, so I can try to ask her out, right? She is a rare beauty, I think she has to be the prettiest girl on campus," another guy chimed in.
"Whatever." Lucas was trying to ignore the whole situation.
The coach finally announced that now that everyone was here, the test was going to start.
Out of all the students, 4 from the girls' team and 4 from the guys' team were chosen to participate, with 1 more as a reserve player.
Clara stood next to her as the 9 girls all lined up to compete. This test was basically a race that they had to compete in to pick the best swimmers.
Clara started to bite her nail.
We are all professionally contracted swimmers, yet did she manage to get accepted into the Uni Open? How can she compete at the same level as us? It's okay. She hasn't really raced for a long time, so what if she has stamina? It's about power and speed when it comes to relays!
The girls, who were all annoyed to see an art student compete with them, gave snarly looks towards her.
With prep done, everyone was in their ready position on their lanes.