Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Daisy's POV

It was a day before the inter-house sport and we were supposed to do the final practice today, students from each team were gathered on the field, and we would compete against each other, although, it was just a friendly competition, everyone was pumped with adrenaline but I was extremely scared and nervous and my nervousness went top notched when I found out that Celine is running the relay for her team, thank goodness I'm the first runner up for my team, while she's running the finishing for her team, that means, although we're all running the relay, I'm not competing directly against her, that calmed my nerves just a little bit.

I know she's smart and good at everything she does but it's important that I beat her in this race if I were up against her, for Aires' sake, I would have to, I had watched her interview the other day when she was asked if she has a boyfriend, she had laughed and left a hint that she likes someone and hopefully, he would be her boyfriend in future, I wonder if that person she was referring to is Aires, of cause, Aires would like someone like her, sexy, beautiful and smart, that's why, I have to act smart too, even though I might not look sexy, but at least I could pass off as being beautiful, I cleaned my sweaty palm on my jersey and glanced to my right, smack, my eyes came in contact with stormy grey eyes with a rim of gold, he was regarding me solemnly, was he already thinking that I would lose to Celine? my heart thudded painfully, and more sweat came to my palm and also, my upper lips, slowly, he flicked his fingers, beckoning me to come, my eyes widened a fraction, was he referring to me? I gaze around to see if he was talking to someone else but there was no one, just me, taking a deep breath, slowly, I went towards him, but before, I got too close, he gestured with his palm, asking me to stop right there, I paused, "chill, take a deep breath" he instructed, although, confused, I did as he asked, "you had better run with the aim of winning" he warned, "I told you I can't run, I can't compete, why did you still insist that I should be among the runners" I asked, for the first time, curious why he would want me to run in the relay, "I see you're only good at writing a love letter and professing love, outside that, you know nothing" he said and I frowned, so this was about the letter I wrote, "so you're getting back at me?" I asked but he made no reply, simply corking his head and staring at me, I took a deep breath and turned to leave, "I won't go easy on you if you fail" he warned, just then, I heard my name being called to come and take my position, everyone was waiting for me, it was time for the relay, I quickly ran in and entered my lane, heart thundering in my ears, I listened for the whistle and took off immediately it was blown, to my surprise, I ran faster than the others and handed my baton real quick as the second runner went flying off, in the end, we took the first position in were cheers all over, I wished it was the real deal and hope tomorrow's own go as smooth as this, Celine's team took the second position, I was elated and my eyes scanned for Aires, our gaze met and he smirked, that was all? He just smirked at me? He turned away from me and went to his basketball competition, he was the captain of his team, I stood on the court and watched him, he played like a professional, I wonder if there's anything that he's not good at, he's so blessed and charismatic, his parents must be really proud of him, I can picture the pride in his father's eyes when he looked at his son, his father has indeed bred a very good heir to manage his company, my mind wandered to my own dad, I wondered where he is right now, would he be proud of me? Or will he feel disappointed, I wondered if he would deem me good enough to be called his daughter, perhaps not, if he had thought of me as worthy to be his child, he wouldn't have left in the first place, "goal!!!" The audience shouted, jerking me out of my thoughts, Aires has scored yet another goal for his team, the other team hasn't even had a chance of putting the ball in the basket, soon, it was time up and Aires' team won, Celine ran over to hug him and I felt a pain in my heart, I wished I was the one hugging him right now, why was she so happy anyways, it wasn't her team that won but mine and she's just all over him, Aires drank deep from a bottle of water that was thrown to him, "you can go and congratulate him too, he's in your team, after all, don't just stand there" Desiree said from beside me, I didn't know when she sneaked up on me, I quickly shook my head at her suggestion, "I can't possibly do that", I argued, my liver will fail me, nope, I simply cannot, "so you'll just watch Celine do all the hugging while you stand here burning with jealousy?"

"I'm not jealous, they're not even dating okay"

"Very soon they will, with the way you're acting, I thought we agreed you'll make him fall in love with you, will you do that by always standing on the sideline and watch?" She gave me a little nudge, pushing me forward and I have no choice but just keep moving towards him, besides, everyone is busy cheering and no one would notice, perhaps, not even him, Desiree is right, I have to do what Celine is doing, slowly I walked closer to him, he finished the water in the bottle and turned to dispose of it when he saw me standing in front of him, he raised one brow and I smiled awkwardly and then, without thinking, I got closer and wrapped my arms around his waist, I hugged him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, gosh, I love the feel of his lithe and athletic body, well toned and muscled in the right places, I was already daydreaming, I imagined always doing this, hugging him whenever I want and running my fingers through his body, placing tiny kisses all over his face, I was woken from my daydream when I felt him shook my shoulders, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" He fumed and I blinked, I noticed the hall had gone silent and everyone was staring at me, "why were you running your hands all over my body and kissing my face?" He asked and I gasped, jerking away from him completely as if I have been burnt, that means, I wasn't only daydreaming, I was putting into action, with everyone present, my face flamed with heated embarrassment, and without answering him, I fled, I couldn't stand the embarrassment, I ran as fast as I can and didn't stop until I reach the safety of the ladies room.

******************************************* It was finally the day of the inter-house sport, this is the day that every wins count, our team was truly the best as we have won in almost all the competition, now it's time for the relay race and the inter-house master was busy showing us where we'll start from, I positioned myself to run first as during the practice, from where I was standing, I watched Celine stretched her arms and kicked out her feet, jogging on the spot a little, she showed she's ready to take on whosoever, I saw the inter-house master beckoned to me and I frowned, now what? Reluctantly, I went to answer him and he told me to run the finishing, confused, I took a little step backward, "b-but s-sir, I'm not the person running this" I protested,

"I know, but the student who's supposed to run it is not feeling too well and we can't use who didn't practice, hence, I want her to start the race because it's shorter distance, so she can go and sit down, stand in place of her" he instructed and before I could protest further, he moved away from me, Celine was staring at me with a triumphant look, "be ready to lost to me, you're no match" she bragged, damn, this wasn't what I was expecting, this unexpected change has unnerved me, I heard the master telling us to get set, my heart was pounding and I was sweating profusely, the whistle goes off and the race started, so far, my team is taking the first position, I stood where I was, praying that the baton gets to me on time, and it did but it got to me just as Celine's mate handed the baton to her and we took off, all I could think about was Aires as I was running, his stormy grey eyes staring at me coldly and telling me not to lose the race, I was running with all my might and was in the first position, I could hear the chants of my name, the crowd cheering at me, I wondered If Aires is also cheering, it will be nice to see him chanting my name and cheering me on, "keep running, I'm almost there" I thought, I could see the finishing line ahead of me, I maintained the first position, and then I made a fatal mistake as I turned my head unconsciously, my gaze searched the crowd for Aires, just before I reach the finishing line, I tripped and fell, diverting from my lane, my baton slipped off from my hands, I turned and watched Celine get to the finished line and became the champion for the day, the medics ran towards me and we're treating the bruises I have sustained on my knees and elbows but I wasn't feeling those pains, I was feeling pained in my heart, my heart was bleeding profusely, not only have I wasted the effort of the other runners that ran before me, I have let my team down because my race was disqualified, I glanced to where my team are and met their angry gazes, they'll have my hide today, I stood up when the medics were through with me and limped out of the field but before I could rejoin my team, I paused, I do not have the confidence to face them right now, most especially Aires, it's better I hide from them all, dejected, I retraced my steps but before I could take two steps, Aires was in front of me, gazing menacingly at me, oh,hell, now, I'm in for it.

"Where do you think you're running to?" He snarled.

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