"The whistle blew and the girls dived in, the boys were watching them, cheering them on. They had to swim to the end of the lane and back; the fastest 5 were going to be picked.
Lucas smirked, watching Silvia zooming at the lead.
This must be nothing for her.
Clara was not far behind but still lagged behind in the lead. As they turned, Clara noticed she was neck and neck with another girl, and that one person had already started swimming back.
It can't be right? She does not even train? I can't lose to Silvia... anyone but her.
Clara fumbled as she got distracted and was taken over. By the time she reached the wall and popped her head out, she had placed 4th.
She looked over at Silvia, who had already finished, and now the coach was talking to her with an excited grin on her face.
Clara became envious and started biting her nails again.
How did she beat me? I train every day!
The girls all came out as the coach announced the ranks.
"1st place Silvia, 2nd place Bia, 3rd place Alice, 4th place Clara and 5th is Rose." The coach announced ecstatically.
This ultimately made it clear to Clara that Silvia had real skill.
The girls were not happy hearing this either.
"Coach Hull, I do not believe this is fair! It is probably just a dud race. I mean, she is an art student now, can she be better than us? We should go to the test again and see if she still wins!" Alice screamed, not able to accept the situation. "Doesn't everyone think so, too?"
Seeing the opportunity, Clara chimed in, "Well, since she is not professionally trained and with multiple swims each day, she could not have the stamina to keep up in the real thing, right? Or she may not be able to perform in front of a crowd?"
The girls all agreed, trying to push for a retest.
With this, I will be able to reclaim my 1st spot... I won't make a mistake this time!
Clara sighed as she saw the coach about to give in.
"Ha? Are you girls stupid?" one of the guys spoke up.
The girls all turned around.
It was Lucas.
"I can't believe girls are so bitchy even about things like this," he scoffed, "If you guys think she is not at the same level as you, can you guys call yourselves professionals? You guys lost to her in a casual setting, which makes you think you can do better than her in a professional setting? She did not even give it her all."
The girls were taken aback by Lucas, who rarely spoke or got involved in any sort of drama.
On the other hand, the coach was thankful she did not have to get involved.
Unlike the other girls, Silvia did not care if she got a place or not. She just came because she told Haruto she would give it a try.
It was true when Lucas said she did not give it her all. This was something he could say in confidence due to the fact that he had seen her swim with full power.
"Dude, Lucas, leave the girls alone, man. You don't want to get involved with their bullshit," one of the guys, Damien, tried to pull him back as Lucas shook his hand from his shoulder.
"Did you just call this problem bullshit?" Alice snapped at Damien.
Damien, who did not know why he was suddenly getting targeted instead of Lucas, held up his hand and walked back to sit on the bench with the others.
"What he said was right. It's nothing but bullshit. Suck it up. You guys lost to an art student." Lucas kept his strong stance as he looked at Alice, daring her to say anything more.
"I guess it happens, right?" Clara awkwardly laughed. She walked up to Silvia and grabbed her hands, keeping up the same act again, "That was amazing, Silvia. I was a bit worried, but if Lucas trusts you, I am happy to let you be 1st place and join the relay team!"
Silvia blinked, unsure what Clara was trying to get at.
"You did not let me win... I won all by myself." Silvia clenched the towel around herself.
Hearing these words, Clara went red with embarrassment, gritting her teeth. "Of course! Sorry, I must not have said it properly. I did not mean it like that."
"Wow, the art student's got bite!" one of the guys, Zitao, exclaimed, laughing with the boys. He was pretty intrigued by Silvia.
That girl is amazing... Lucas did not try to stop me before I asked her out, so it should be fine, right? She seems like she would be fun to play with.
Zitao looked at Silvia with greed.
Hearing the guys laugh, Clara became overwhelmed and started to turn on the waterworks. Turning around to Lucas, she began to sob, "You know that is not what I meant, right?" Lucas just stood there, grossed out by her act.
Clara then grabbed onto Silvia's arm, "You know I did not mean it like that, but why would you say something so rude, Silvia... people have misunderstood now."
Silvia, who was getting confused by the situation, tilted her head and asked, "Then don't say something that will confuse people?" in a questioning tone.
What else am I supposed to say? Is she alright? How is it my fault she said something wrong?
Silvia was no longer bothered to deal with this, as she turned towards the coach.
"Coach Hull, may I go now, or do I have to do something else? It's getting quite cold for me to just stand here soaking wet."
The coach had now snapped back to reality from the drama unfolding before her.
"Well, you can go, but don't you want to see who wins in the guys' team? They will be your training mates for the next few weeks. IT would be best to get to know them today." She replied.
Silently nodding, Silvia sat down waiting for the boys' team. Seeing that some girls had left since they did not qualify, there were extra towels. She grabbed one more for her legs and stayed put.
"Who said you could take another towel?" Alice spat out, trying to start something again.
"Well, no one is using it, so why can't I?" Silvia replied, wrapping herself tighter.
Clara, seeing that an argument like this was not going to be fruitful, pulled Alice away, "Leave it, Alice. There was a spare one; she got it first, so just let it be."
Following Clara's lead, Alice clicked her tongue in frustration and sat down.
Seeing that Silvia decided to stay, Lucas unzipped his jacket and took a big stretch. He made his way towards where Silvi was sitting.
Grinning, he leaned down and spoke directly into her ear, "Watch me closely, Silvia. You don't want to miss some good material, do you?"
He then turned away, stretching to prepare for his race.
That's payback for acting as if you don't know me. Girls can be scary, huh.
Seeing this, Alice and Clara were especially enraged, along with the other girls, except Bia.
"Should we just let her be like that? How can Lucas entertain her in front of you?" Alice whispered to Clara.
She shot a glance at Alice, shutting her up.
They watched the men get ready, watching Lucas bend over, waiting for the whistle to start. Silvia could not help but run her eyes all over his body. She thought of the night from last time they were together and how he felt in her arms.
Clara watched as Silvia lost herself in the sight of Lucas, making her more vexed.
"You know, you should just give up on Lucas. He is not a normal guy." Clara suddenly said as they watched the boys race, "He will just play with you and then leave you because for him, swimming is more important than anything else. You have no place in his life."
No reply came from Silvia, prompting Clara to become more aggravated, "Are you listening? You mean nothing to him."
She gripped onto Silvia's arm tight enough to leave a bruise. Silvia slapped her hand away. Clara rubbed her hand in shock, not expecting retaliation.
"I heard, but I don't care. It's my problem, not yours, so if you could stop inserting yourself, that would be great." Silvia asserted herself.
The guys finished their swim, and as predicted, Lucas came first.
"For the boys' 1st place Lucas, 2nd place Zitao, 3rd Place Damien, 4th place Shun and 5th place Justin. Great job, guys. That is all for the test. The ones I called stay behind. We have a few things to discuss." The coach announced as the devastated participants walked away.
As the guys had raced, Silvia had noticed how the guys swam differently from each other; she was intrigued by their forms and inspired.
I usually only watch girls swim, so seeing guys did not help me know how different they would look. I mean, they do have a different type of body, I guess.
Lucas and the guys were walking up to where the girls were sitting, as the pile of towels was on their bench.
Clara took this as an opportunity to pick up a towel and walk up to Lucas. "Here, Lucas, a towel for you. Good job winning, by the way, not that I expected you to lose."
Lucas walked right past her as if she did not exist and walked his way toward Silvia. Leaning in and grabbing the towel next to her, he smiled, "Did you enjoy the show?" he whispered into her ear.
Silvia slowly looked up at Lucas' face and blinked, "Yes, congratulations on 1st place."
As the two shared a moment, Clara stood there, embarrassed and unmoving, in the spot where she was. Gripping hard onto the towel, she was enraged.