CHAPTER XXIX: The Walk of Challenges

The two of us talked for the remaining hours until lunch time.

As usual, it was crowded.

People were lining up to buy their own trays of food. All of them chose different variations based on their specific tastes.

Nothing exactly the same. Nothing exceedingly different.

Distinct yet recognizable.

Just satisfyingly right for everyone…

With a starving purpose, I headed towards the main cafeteria stall and ordered a chicken rice meal with a side of corn and carrots.

I also bought a few mini muffins and a large mango shake to go along with my food choice.

I waited for Solar as she bought hers and when she was finished, we headed back to the garden.

However, as we walked past the sea of people in the hallway, I noticed that some of them kept glancing in our direction.

Why am I not used to this? Note the sarcasm.

I was about to disregard their obvious stares when one of the men in a particular group pointed at us.

When all of them turned their heads at us, they began teasing and pushing one another.

This made my eyebrows furrow.

I looked at Solar and she was literally oblivious to what's happening. The girl was mindlessly chatting away with the world.

"Hey." I whipped my head in the voice's direction in surprise.

That almost made me jump.

Who even is this dude?

When Solar took notice of my response, or lack thereof, she decided to step forward and reply to the man.

"Can we help you?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to say that you look familiar." The unwelcomed guy said.

"Who? Me?" Solar pointed at herself.

"No, her." He then turned his head towards me.

"You? Know her?" Solar questioned.

"Yeah. No one could walk away from such beauty."

"Is that the worst pick-up line you can master?" I butted in.

We heard loud and consecutive 'burns' from his group of friends just as I finished saying that.

"What? Come on babe, I'm just praising you. No harm intended."

I placed one hand on my hip and looked at him directly, "With what intention?"

He appeared to be lost for words because he wasn't able to come up with anything for a whole minute.

Obviously, it was too difficult for him to accumulate words of flattery as a rebuttal to that.

Fortunately, his savior finally came.

One man from his circle went near us and placed an arm around his shoulders.

"Um, excuse my pal here, he's still a noob in this sense."

I tilted my head to the side, "And you're not?"

I thought he would back away but he simply smirked against my intimidation.

"Chill, hotcake. I'm Krosh by the way and this is my buddy Phil." He introduced himself and his friend who is now known as Phil.

"My name is 'We' and hers is 'Don't Care.' Do I need to spell it out for you?" With that I pulled Solar away.

I'm hungry and my food was getting cold with all the useless chattering. It is not in my nature to waste a single bit of food for the sake of unwanted conversations.

I would never sacrifice my food for such people.

Solar kept on questioning me about those two men, asking if I really didn't know them.

Why do I even put an effort to convince her about such an irrelevant matter?

I mean, hello? Do I look like someone with an unlimited number of acquaintances?

I sighed. I think she forgot who she's talking to.

Isn't it normal to avoid people who just randomly show up out of nowhere just to do what? Compliment you objectively?

Dealing with people, sure enough, is a tough job that is seriously not meant for someone like me.

We were almost close to the garden's entrance when another distraction caught my eye.

Behind the backs of numerous people, posted on the bulletin board for everyone to see was a picture of a familiar figure.

Why is…

"…your picture there?!" Solar literally finished my thought.

Indeed, my portrait was plastered on that place.

I could highly guess that was the reason why people were gawking at me.

The bystanders paved the way as I walked closer to the large poster.

Solar who followed behind me was also awe-stricken with what she was seeing.

"Damn girl, you lookin' so fine there."

I turned to her.

"What? I just wanted to try it once in my lifetime…" She explained.

I rolled my eyes at her and directed my gaze back in front.

It was taken yesterday, that's for sure. It was evident with what I'm wearing in that picture - the goddess outfit.

It was a candid shot of me during service time. It probably explains why I wasn't even smiling in this picture, my face was unmistakably neutral. Completely unprepared.

When I roamed my eyes around, I noticed that my portrait wasn't the only one present.

There were plenty of other pictures of women wearing different costumes.

Is this some type of gallery or something?

I was busy scrutinising the catastrophe displayed before my eyes when I heard a loud gasp ring in my ear.

"Oh shit!" I looked at the person who said that and saw Gwenne standing frozen in her spot.

"You saw." Her voice trembled.

"I saw." I replied.

"I-I can explain!" She loudly exclaimed.

I crossed my arms and tilted my chin slightly upwards.

"And that would be?"

"Um…uh…you know, there is this thing…"

"It's a beauty contest, to be exact." A manly voice interrupted.

I whipped my head towards the direction of its origin and Ross came into view.

"You knew about this?"

"I AM the student council chairman." He emphasized.

"Does you, being the chairman, explain why my picture is up there without my permission?"

"Technically, I'm not the one who registered you. I just organize stuff and whatnot. You should ask her."

He pointed at Gwenne who was slowly backing away from the crowd.

"Although, she looks like she's running away."

"Way to state the obvious, mister." I heard Solar whisper to Ross.

"Let's see you take another step." I called out towards the retreating Gwenne.

She instantly paused and walked backwards to where she previously stood.

"Can you remove that?" I asked Ross.

"What? The poster? I can't. It's glued there." He answered with a deceivingly confused look on his face.

I glared at him, "I'll glue you along with it."

"You're already registered, I don't have any power over it anymore."

"So, let's blame you." I gripped the collar of Gwenne's sweater and dragged her with me to a quieter place.

Ross and Solar immediately followed suit.

I tugged her one more time to stop and pulled her to face me.

"What can you say for yourself?" I questioned her right off the bat.

"Okay! I'm sorry! We desperately needed a representative for the contest and you were the one we voted for."

"Without my consent?" I gritted my teeth.

"Well, you still did it…you know, at the end." Her voice grew quieter with each word.

"Not quite for the reason I expected!"

"I have no counter for that." She bowed her head in shame.

"Was the sick girl fiasco a lie too?"

"No, that was true! But she was originally just the second choice."

This was seriously making me want to rip her to shreds.

I took a step closer to her, "Let me make this clear, I am not competing in a stupid contest that I didn't personally sign up for."

I had enough of this crazy ass shit.

Just as I had turned around, Gwenne decided to latch onto me like some infuriating vine.

She literally won't let me go. What's worse was she kept on begging me to reconsider.

People walking by would definitely think that we're doing some kind of circus performance.

"I swear, if you don't let go of me, I'll drag Solar's hair!" I warned her.

Solar, who was busy recording on her phone, was shocked with what I had just blurted out.

"What the hell? Why did I get dragged into this?!"

"That's your effin cue to get her off of me!" I snapped.

"Ugh! Fine!" She pocketed her phone, hastily pulled the sticky limbs off of my body, and scolded her with whatever threat she could come up with.

"Why don't you give it a shot?" Ross suggested while I tried to regain my breath.

"You too?" I sneered.

He went closer to me and held my shoulders. "It's just an opportunity for you to finally socialize."

I pushed his hands away from me.

"It's not like I'm craving for human attention."

He lifted his right hand and placed it on the side of my face.

"You're not, but this will allow you to open yourself up again." He said soothingly as he stroked my face in a sweet yet calming manner.

I unintentionally found myself looking at his astonishing eyes.

Standing in front of hundreds of people along with their overlooking eyes manages to make my confidence waver.

It looked like Ross knew the source of my hesitance as he squished my face, this time using both of his hands on either side of my face.

"Stop hesitating, princess. I'll be standing on the stage with you." He stated and gave my face a light squeeze.

"You're going to catwalk?" I grinned at him.

"Oh, sister, I'll walk in seven inch heels for you."

"I want ten." I teased him further.

"You're a greedy little lady aren't ya?" His right hand moved away from my face and patted my head.

"Who says I can't?"

He seemed satisfied with my response as it is clearly reflected with his smile.

"You can stop backstabbing me, Solar. Let's go!" I called out to her.

She flipped her hair and strutted towards me, leaving a rather soulless Gwenne behind.

"For your information, I wasn't backstabbing you." Was her words once she stood beside me.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, in fact, I was simply insulting you with murderous intent." She smirked.

"You're outstandingly learning." I smirked back.

Ross chuckled from my other side. "You girls are weird."

"Says the guy who bribed me with ten inch heels."

"What?! Really?! You know my mother owned ten inch heels but never wore it again after she fell flat on her back right after she fitted it. Want me to lend it to you?"

I couldn't hold in my laughter at that.

Ross looked visibly distraught after what he heard.

The two of us continued to make Ross remember his life decisions as we headed towards Haru's game, though, only after a little detour after I remembered that my food had now turned cold.

Good thing Ross had his connections in multiple parts of this school. He helped us reheat our food using the microwave found in the student council room.

I found that very unfair.

After finishing our delayed meals, we finally reached the gymnasium filled with deafening cheers.

We struggled like warriors just to find ourselves a good spot.

Technically, it was only Solar and Ross who did the pushing, tripping, and fighting.

No way am I going to get all dirtied up with smelly sweat and flying saliva. No way in hell.

Once seated in the most comfortable place we could manage, the three of us grunted, shouted, and encouraged Haru's team as they fiercely fought for their title.

This is the first time in a very long time, I have used my precious voice to shout a person's name in the middle of the day.

At some point, I even got to hug Ross out of excitement for Haru's consecutive shots. Yeah, that's how obliviously excited I was.

It eventually turned into an awkward situation with all the blushing and ignoring of what actually happened.

Haru was still a complicated individual to me. He doesn't seem like the type to want attention with all the problems he encountered before, yet here he was, looking like the happiest person inside this gymnasium.

And as I watched the game play out, how Haru fought with all his might, and successfully won his hard-earned goal, I began to realize the capabilities of the undetermined.

With just a smile, Haru glowed like a newly created star.

Especially lighting up once he saw us waiting for him at his side.

Apparently, life continues to challenge me.

But it never felt wrong as I had the suitable companions for this stumbling journey.