Chapter 14

I slumped into a plastic chair under the tent, chugging down water like my life depended on it. Meanwhile, Kenan,the actual menace to society,had the audacity to follow me, plopping down in the seat next to mine like he didn't just ruin my blood pressure for the next decade.

"You should be thanking me," he said, stretching his legs out casually like he owned the place.

I side-eyed him, still gulping water.

"Thank you for what? If I was on any other team, I'd still win."

He smirked, tipping his chair back onto two legs, the picture of cocky relaxation.

"No, you'd be second."

My eyes twitched.

I considered kicking the back of his chair and watching gravity do its job.

And I did just that. I kicked the already unbalanced chair, watching the shock appear on his face. I was about to start laughing when he grabbed my hand, and before I knew it, I was falling too. A yelp left my mouth as I realized how strong he was holding on to me.

Thud!

Fuck, that hurt.

I could barely move.

Lying in pain, I glared at Kenan.

"Why'd you drag me down too?!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Before we could continue our banter, the announcer's voice cut through the heavy, humid air again.

"Attention, remaining teams! After the break, we'll have our final event of the day!"

I was helped up by Jacob who was shaking his head, while Kenan helped himself.

The last game was a puzzle challenge. We had a certain amount of time to unscramble and form a word from it.

We were voted to participate as a pair, but they took the easy way out. We walked back to the station. I was determined to win; every bone in my body screamed at me too, as I was way too competitive for my own good.

We walked up to the remaining team. I didn't recognize any of their faces, but I knew they were in team Six. 

I mean it was marked on their T-shirt.They had laid out random letter tiles on the table, separated by some distance from us. Kenan stood right beside me, his pheromones practically bursting out. I swear, I'd become sensitive to his scent,it was like I could sense it from anywhere, which immediately made me glare at him. You'd think he was a newly manifesting alpha. I put some distance between us.

The sun wasn't blazing anymore, and it was now almost 4 o'clock. We were waiting for the dean to commence the last activity of the day. My back still hurts from when I fell earlier on, and if I'd known it had inflicted me pain, I would've thought twice before kicking his chair.

"Okay, everyone, this is the final event of the day," the dean announced. "The last remaining team will be given a scenario, and the word will essentially be formed from the scenario. You'll have five minutes to assemble the word."

The scenario appeared on the big screen in front of us.

The scenario was: "You see a boat filled with people. It hasn't sunk, but when you look again, you don't see a single person on the boat. Why?"

The dean spoke again. "It's a little tricky, but focus on the word 'single' and think about its other meanings. That's the only hint I can give you."

He said this before walking off the stage. The countdown started, and the incomplete sentence showed:

"All the people were _ _ _ _ _ _ _."

We had five minutes to figure out the seven-letter word.

My brain short-circuited, but my mouth kept yelling.

We were left with five minutes remaining, and I didn't know what to make of it. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but my mind went blank.

There were people on the boat, but not at the same time.

I looked at Kenan for answers.

I stared at the scrambled letters on my table, wondering if this grade was even worth it, but it was too late to turn back.

"So, what word do you think it is?" I asked Kenan.

We didn't discuss it much, and we both decided to work on our separate words before agreeing in the end. I interpret something completely different from what he did. .

The table looked like a bomb had gone off ,tiles everywhere, no hope, no mercy.

"You're doing it wrong," Kenan said immediately, plucking a tile straight out of my hand and stealing it from me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Touch me again," I warned. "And get your own letter," I said, snatching it back.

We both lunged for the same tiles at once, knocking pieces onto the floor. Our hands bumped and scrambled like desperate raccoons.

I mean, it was the only remaining tile with the letter "i."

I could hear Kenan laughing under his breath—the smug little menace.

"Too late," he said, smirking. I looked down and saw it was his letters, and I shook my head. But I needed that "i," and he already had one.

"The word obviously..." he said confidently, lining up three letters.

I nearly choked.

"It's not that, you idiot!" I snapped, snatching the letter I needed and putting it into place while elbowing him for good measure.

With all our chattering, there were only two minutes remaining, and I had barely formed my word.

He grinned like he lived to annoy me. "You wanna bet on that, sweetheart?"

And then he leaned in—way too close, his arm lightly brushing past mine—and my heart did a stupid little hiccup.

Tiles blurred in my vision.

My hands jerked.

"No, if you think about it, he said focus on the word 'single.'"

"So, can't it just be 'missing'?"

"Alright, then spell 'missing.'"

He spelled it out, but his word was incomplete.

"You see, if it was that word, it would be missing necessary letters," I said, putting emphasis on "necessary."

He raised his hand in defeat. "Alright, we'll go with your idea."

The crowd roared with laughter around us.

Twenty seconds.

My brain kicked into full panic mode.

"Just spell 'married,'" I shrieked.

"Are you sure?" he asked, still grinning like an idiot.

"NO, BUT DO IT ANYWAY!"

Ten seconds.

We slapped the last tile into place, hands fumbling, bodies crashing into the table—

BUZZ.

We froze, still half-tangled over the stupid word.

I think we won. Maybe.

Kenan bumped my shoulder. "We better win," he said, pure smugness.

Was he threatening me?

The audacity.

I rolled my eyes so hard I think I saw another dimension.

"If I'm correct, you owe me."

I knew I was right. It was just a gut feeling, and it had to be because I could not lose this and lose face.

The dean came close to our table and inspected. The first team was suspected and boldly shouted wrong into the mic. That made me even more nervous.

Then he walked toward our table, and I swear he took longer than expected.

When he walked up to our table, scanning and inspecting with his hand behind his back, the crowd was quiet, waiting for the results.

"Correct,The word was married" Announcing it to everyone.

I let out a heavy sigh before immediately looking up at Kenan with a grin. "You owe."

"At least we won." 

Ungrateful.

"Thank you all for participating. We'll give a break and wrap up the sports event by announcing the pairs who won first place."

I didn't care anymore. I wanted this day to be done. More than anything, I needed my bed, and it sure was calling for me.

I immediately walked toward where Jacob was sitting. "I'm so glad this is my last. I could never do this a second time," I said, leaning on him.

He had a small fan in his hand, blowing a breeze, and that made me feel less irritated.

"I agree, because the university is doing the most."

The dean stepped up to the mic, his eyes scanning the crowd before he let out a dramatic pause. "And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. The pair that won the most events today was " He gestured dramatically toward the two of us. "Ciro and Kenan!"

A ripple of applause spread across the room, followed by some playful groans from the other teams. The crowd clapped and cheered, some giving knowing looks to the pair, as Kenan shot me a smirk, clearly pleased with our victory.

Why is he always smirking? Is that his default expression? Because if it is, he needs to pack it up. 

"Congratulations, guys," the dean continued, offering a nod of approval.

Of course, a smile was plastered on my face. Kenan and I stood side by side as the dean continued to speak. If this was any other time before this pairing, we'd be glaring at each other, fighting for first place.

"So, the prize for the winning pair. This should aid you guys in your task for next week."

They would be given a weekend trip to a resort fully sponsored by the university. "And don't worry, second place, you weren't left out."

Why would a resort trip aid us for next week? Not really thinking much about it, I assumed it was a separate weekend trip because why wouldn't it be? We were told we could collect the tickets from his office next week.

We were asked to take a picture together with our teammates for the university. If it wasn't the most awkward thing ever, I walked away from the middle to stand next to Jacob, and as soon as I did, his mouth started running.

"Shouldn't the pair stay in the middle and take the picture?" Jacob added.

I immediately shushed him, and because he ran his mouth, our other teammates chimed in and agreed. So, I was forced back into the middle next to Kenan.

The photographer came and immediately started judging. "Why are y'all standing so awkwardly?" he said, referring to Kenan and me.

I find this to be a respectful boundary.

"Come on, do what alphas and omegas do," he teased.

And just to get it over with, Kenan's hand wrapped around my waist. I immediately looked up at him, and he was staring ahead. Then a snap sounded.

The photographer looked at the now-taken picture. "This is perfect, no need for a retake."

I instantly removed his hand and walked off to finally change out of this big shirt.

I took off the shirt and decided to remain bare-chested, walking back to my team station. I finally reached it, and before I could think of a piece of peace of mind...

"What happened to your shirt?" a voice said from behind me.

"Nothing? Why?"

"There were so many people looking at you." Kanan said in an irritated tone.

I turned around because I didn't know why I was being informed of this.

Is he jealous? As if.

I stared at my already half-naked self. "What, were they even looking at my flat stomach?"

Weirdos.

"Well, put your top back on." 

 "It's too uncomfortable."

"I don't care, just put something on."

He flung his shirt at me. I caught it unconsciously.

"What's with you flinging stuff at me?"

He picked up his stuff and left. I was too tired to question anything, so I put on his shirt and left, acting like it was normal to do that .