October 13th. Friday, 2:14 PM.

Class 1-C had gym class. Despite not having exams for this subject, the academy still puts gym classes on the student's timetable to keep them active and healthy. Also, it would benefit them for the challenges. The boys and girls were split into their areas doing their own activities, so they were still in the gymnasium just on different sides. The boys played basketball while the girls played indoor soccer (football). In 1-C, there were 16 boys and 14 girls, so there were more boys. The girls had already started, while the boys had yet to start because some people were taking their time getting ready. The boys stood in a line waiting to be picked by one of the two captains standing before them.

Malakai looked to his right, across the gymnasium, "Why do they get to play football?" he complained, looking at the girls' play with jealousy.

"Foot-ball", William repeated in an English accent to mock Malakai.

"Yeah, that's what it's called", Malakai replied, not taking offence.

"No, it's not. It's called soccer", William said, annoyed Malakai didn't react to his attempt to piss him off.

"Soccer", Malakai repeated in a goofy American accent to mock William. "Tell me, what do you do with the ball? You kick it. What do you kick the ball with? Your foot", Malakai said, explaining to William like he was a child.

"We already have a sport called football", William replied, avoiding what Malakai told him.

"Yeah, and they barely kick it." Malakai smiled, knowing he got him.

"Shut up, no one calls it foot-"

"William!"

William turned to where he heard his voice being called from. "Yeah?" He cluelessly responded.

"You're on our team", Benjamin told him, disrupting their argument.

"Ha," William said to Malakai while walking to his team.

Malakai looked to his left and saw only one guy standing in line with him. "How am I one of the last guys picked?!" He rhetorically asked.

"Leroy", the other captain called out.

Malakai looked around in disbelief. He was the last guy that was picked. He turned to the coach,

"Coach! Racismo, no?" Malakai said in a Spanish accent, taking the piss.

"Malakai, I don't think race has anything to do with it. I think it's more your height", the coach responded.

"Woah. Coach, that was a bit too far", Malakai said, trying to play the victim but still taking the piss.

"Just go to your team", he replied, tired of Malakai's jokes.

"Sorry sir".

On the girl's side, Tanisha and Delilah were sitting on the side, leaning against the wall, watching their classmates play. They both told their teacher they were tired, and their teacher allowed them to rest and sit out. It was warranted as the two did run and give their best; the mini-games seemed to motivate them even more. Or it showed them how unfit they were.

"Maria's pretty good. Did she play a lot of sports at school?" Delilah asked, spectating the game.

"She did", Tanisha replied, proudly watching her friend. "She played a lot of different sports: soccer, netball, volleyball, even tennis. She's very competitive, you know", Tanisha told her.

"Really?" Delilah was surprised by that, as it didn't look like she was the competitive type.

"Yeah, when she was younger, she always wanted to win. When she lost, she used to cry, and I always had to cheer her up", Tanisha reminisced.

Delilah chuckled, "I feel that's every girl when they are young".

Tanisha scoffed, "Nope, she was like that till she was 15".

"Is she still competitive now?" Delilah asked, looking at Maria who had the ball at her feet.

"A little. Not as much as before, but even right now, you can still see that she wants to win", Tanisha replied. "She's incredible. Everyone may look at her like she's the daughter of a celebrity, but sometimes she does stuff that is like, wow, how did she do that?"

Delilah kept watching the game, seeing Maria dribbling with the ball, "How did you two become friends?" Delilah curiously asked.

Tanisha smiled after hearing that question. "I've been her friend since fourth grade. She sat next to me in most classes, so we talked a lot and became friends", she answered.

"That's a long time. Was she popular?" Delilah asked the obvious question.

"Course she was. Everyone loved her, but you know how school is. Everyone wants to be around the popular kids", Tanisha replied, looking down at her trainers.

"Did she have a lot of friends?" Delilah continued to ask.

"She had about five real friends, including me. All of us kept her safe from everyone else", Tanisha answered.

"Do you still talk to them?"

"Yeah, we text each other in our group chat. We all wanted to come to this academy together, but only me and Maria got in", Tanisha said, slowing down her tone near the end of her sentence.

"You still talk to them, at least; that's good," Delilah said, showing the bright side of things. Tanisha smiled at the comment. Where are they now?" Delilah asked.

"They're all back in California doing their own thing", Tanisha replied.

"California. That's a long way from here", Delilah said. There was silence for a few seconds; it wasn't an awkward silence. The two of them just watched the game for a few seconds.

"Did Maria get asked out a lot?" Delilah asked a question most people would want to know to kill the silence.

"All the time", Tanisha said, shaking her head. "She rejected all of them, but it's her fault she got so many boys after her".

"Why?" Delilah questioned.

"She's too nice. It's just how she is; she's a good person. So, the boys got the wrong idea," Tanisha explained. It doesn't help that she's a model," Tanisha bitterly added.

"Has she been asked out by anyone here?" Delilah asked.

"In this academy? Not that I know of", Tanisha replied. The two fell into silence again and kept watching the game for a few seconds before,

"What about your friends? Do you still talk to them?" Tanisha flipped it on her.

Delilah looked up, "Not really; I didn't have many friends. The few I had weren't close or anything, but I still consider them good friends. We all went and did our own thing", Delilah shyly answered, trying to avoid eye contact.

"It's better now, at least; you've made a lot of friends here", Tanisha said, cheering Delilah up.

"Yeah, I surprised myself", Delilah replied, smiling, thinking about how far she's come.

The two looked up and saw their classmates crowding around the teacher,

"Guess they're finished", Tanisha said.

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"Yep, time to go," Delilah replied, standing up. The two went to join their classmates and listen to their teacher's summary of the lesson. The teacher finished and dismissed the students; the girls were walking out of the gymnasium, but they passed the boys' area on the way. Delilah, Tanisha, and Maria glanced over at their game and saw Malakai standing still.

"Why is he standing still? Isn't he supposed to be running around?" Tanisha said, seeing Malakai with his hands in his pockets.

"Malakai, Whatcha doing?" Delilah called out.

Malakai turned to the sound of his voice and saw Delilah, "Just hanging around", he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Are you winning or losing?" Delilah asked.

"I don't know. I think we're losing", Malakai answered, not knowing the score. Maria giggled at his cluelessness.

"Why aren't you running around?" Delilah questioned.

"Noones passing me the ball", Malakai whined like a kid.

"Maybe we found something he's not good at", Tanisha quietly said to her friends.

"Malakai, you're not good at sports, are you?" Delilah presumed, watching his performance.

"Huh!" Malakai was in disbelief she thought that. "Are you doubting me?" he asked.

"I can see you're not doing anything", Delilah told him how it is.

"Aryt. If I make my next shot, you have to buy me suttin (something)", Malakais slang slipped out as he was excited by the bet he's made.

Delilah didn't get a chance to agree, as Malakai had already,

"RAY, PASS HERE!" Called for the ball.

Ray was behind Malakai to his right; Ray threw the ball. Malakai advanced forward, dribbling the ball. No one came to pressure or tackle him, so Malakai kept going into the free space. Malakai had passed the centre circle. With the basketball in his hands, he looked up and saw he had the opportunity to shoot. Malakai held the ball with both hands, dropped it and volleyed it. Instead of shooting with his hands like a normal person, Malakai kicked a basketball as a shot. You could tell his favourite sport was football. The ball went straight for the hoop; it dove in the air. The basketball smacked against the backboard and went into the hoop with ease, not touching the rim. Malakai walked straight to Delilah and positioned right in front of her. He then proceeded to raise both hands, showcasing his middle fingers. With a smile on his face, he was holding two middle fingers to Delilah, proving her wrong.

"I didn't agree to it", Delilah said, shaking her head and hands while smiling.

"I don't care; after that, you have to", Malakai laughed, excited by the shot he made.

"Delilah, I know I should take your side, but after what he did, I think it's only fair", Tanisha voiced her opinion.

"Noo, you're supposed to help me." Delilah looked over at Maria for help. Maria shyly looked away; she wasn't going to help.

"Malakai! It doesn't count!" David shouted from across the court.

"Huh, why?" Malakai asked in confusion, turning towards him.

The coach walked closer to Malakai, "You can't kick a basketball. It's against the rules; you can only use your hands", the coach informed him.

'Ha ha", Delilah mocked him.

Malakai sighed,

"Racismo no".

4:13 PM.

Adam was walking back to his dorm. Classes finished later than usual. Adam was walking alone; most of the time, this was the case. He would leave the class as soon as the lesson ended; occasionally, he would be stopped by some of his classmates, like Justin and Kyle, and then he was forced to accompany them. As he walked down the path, he noticed someone sitting on the bench further down; he couldn't make out who it was. Without hesitation, Adam continued walking, looking ahead, not directly at the person on the bench, but it was still in sight. Stepping closer, he soon saw who it was. It was like a wave had hit Adam, travelling from his head to his feet. A wave of 'I can't be bothered to talk to this guy'.

"Adam, can we talk for a second?" the guy said, getting up from the bench and stepping before him.

"Sure, what do you want, Ryan?" Adam replied, looking at him.

Ryan's facial expression was dead, not sinister or uneasy, just dead. "How'd you lose to Malakai?" Ryan learned that Adam didn't like small talk, so he asked what he wanted to ask.

"Me and my partner lost to Malakai and his partner. I didn't individually lose to Malakai", Adam answered his question. Adam knew this conversation was bound to happen; he just didn't know when. It's better to get it over and done with now.

"From what I heard, you were Malakai's opponent and allowed him to cross to your side. So I believe YOU lost to Malakai", Ryan bluntly replied, emphasising the 'you' making it known he felt like Adam lost.

"If you watched the match, you would understand. I lost because my partner wasn't on my wavelength. Malakai made the most of his partner." The two kept going back and forth, like in-laws arguing with each other passive-aggressively.

"Didn't I warn you this year that a lot of the challenges will be team-based and depend on your class? It's your fault you put yourself in 1-E!" Ryan raised his voice.

Adam looked away, "Don't say stuff you don't know", he quietly said.

"What was that?" Ryan didn't hear him.

"Why do YOU care so much that Malakai beat me?" Adam asked. "Because I don't care," Adam told the truth; when it happened, it was a bit of a shock, but after quickly analysing, he came to terms with it and accepted that he couldn't do much.

"I. Don't. Like. Him. Every time I open the leaderboards, he's number one. I see his name there, then I remember his stupid face," Ryan reiterated, describing his dislike for Malakai.

"That's not why you came to talk to me. It's fine, you can tell me how it is. Don't use your dislike for Malakai to mask your reason. Even you know Malakai will eventually fall." Adam wasn't buying Ryan's reply, he knew Ryan wanted to say more. Ryan stayed silent; he didn't know what to say. "You expected more from me. Well, it's fine; I don't care if you're disappointed. I'm not one of your chess pieces, test subjects or a piece of your puzzle", Adam said, walking past Ryan. Ryan kept the same face throughout his speech, but Adam stopped walking. With his back facing Ryan, he ended with, "It's the other way around; you're the one getting played".

Ryan hastily turned around, aggregated by the comment, but only saw Adam walking away. Ryan grit his teeth, thinking momentarily that what Adam said might be true. Ryan stood there, the cold air breezing past him, and leaves rolled across his feet. After hearing what he had just been told, he didn't notice these factors around him; he only thought of one thing,

"We'll see".