Penfield's Greatest Swimmer

🌊~20

Clutching my goggles, I followed Seth and Ethan out into the court.

The medley relays had already begun with four teams battling it out for first place. The entire room reverberated with cheers of encouragement.

"Well good to see that you're ok." Akunna wandered up to my side, Deon in tow.

"Yeah, why did you take off like that?" He queried. "Shola was worried."

My head moved to the bleachers to find said person's eyes already on me. The concern wafting in them sent a slight pang of guilt through my heart, and I quickly averted my gaze.

"Look, I'm sorry I made you guys worry. After the race, I just got really embarrassed that I lost when you guys had so much faith in me, and I just..." I hesitated then heaved out a sigh. "I just couldn't bear to look you in the eyes."

Akunna chuckled, shaking his head. "Only you will let something like that affect you."

"Bro." Deon placed a comforting arm on my shoulder. "Win or lose, you're always going to be the best swimmer we've ever known. So don't let stuff like that bug you, ok? It's not going to change the way we see you."

"And I bet the same goes for Shola." My roommate added with a teasing smile.

Pretending not to notice, I clapped Akunna on the back, bringing him to my side. "Thanks, guys. You don't know what it means hearing this."

"Akwasi!"

At the sound of my name, I turned, only to have Princess capture me in a tight hug. Her breast pressed hard against my bare chest, making a flush of heat crawl up my face. "Oh, I'm so glad you're ok."

Akunna and Deon backed away, surprised at the sudden gesture and even though I was too, I tried to mask it by hugging Princess back. My eyes quickly veered back to where Shola sat, hoping she wasn't witnessing the scene. Luckily, she wasn't. Felix had her attention warped with something on his phone. Good.

Princess soon pushed me out of her embrace and hit my shoulder. "Don't ever take off like that again!"

"Ouch!" Despite the stinging pain, I nodded. "Noted, won't happen again."

Princess smiled. "Better."

"Ladies and gents," a feminine voice crackled out of the speakers. "It's time for the 100meter men's medley relay, heat 3. Will the respective teams find their lanes, thank you."

"That's our cue," Akunna voiced out and extended an arm for a bro handshake. "Good luck out there, roomie."

"We'll be rooting for you on the sidelines, ok." Deon gave me a solid pat on the back.

Their unwavering support already had me feeling good about this next race. "Thanks, guys." I waved them off as they made their way back to the bleachers.

"Nice friends you've got there," Princess commented, then grabbed my arm, pulling me in the direction of the starting blocks where some teams had already started assembling themselves. "Ok look, I know your first race didn't turn out as you expected and I don't want to put that same pressure on you but..." she stopped, turning to meet my eyes. "I really want you to come with me, to regionals. And that's why you need to kick ass in this race. If Penfield as a team wins the medley relay, you will qualify for regionals, even though you lost your individual race."

My eyebrows flew up. "What! Wh-why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

"Because it's all based on your time," Princess replied. "If you manage to do better than you did in your first race, Coach will keep you for the regional medley relay. But if you don't..."