An entire week went by, and Mia Mills changed jobs again. She started working at the reception, greeting the visitors, and helping out any way she could, be it guiding people to the ones they wanted to meet, preparing rooms for reunions, or taking care of booking flights or accommodations for her father or his business associates.
Her schedule was better because she didn’t have to wake up so early or leave work so late, so for Jack Cross, it was another change in his daily routine, one that granted him more free time and more sleep.
Or it would grant him more sleep if it weren’t for the little annoyance who lived with him, one that got a liking for waking up early to go to school and train for the Schools Competition.
On that morning, Sophia was unusually restless, mumbling non-stop while grinning and eating. Jack wondered why she seemed to be scheming, and then he remembered, “It starts today, right? The Competition.”
“As if you dared to forget! You are supposed to go there with that spoiled girlfriend of yours and root for me!”
“I know that. I was only messing with you. But why are you grinning so much? You are plotting something, aren’t you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about! This is my usual mood in the morning! You didn’t see it that much lately because you were too sleepy. By the way, did that guy annoy you or Mia again? The one we kind of… tortured? Hehehe! Tortured, such a nice word!”
Jack took a sip of his coffee and answered, “The last news I got was that he came out of the hospital. He lost his balls. They kind of exploded. Maybe he got hit by something? Like a metallic rubbish can lid? He is in a wheelchair because he needs surgery on his knees. He can’t even eat by himself because he has both elbows and hands broken. It seems he got into a massive accident! And the weirdest thing is that he can’t remember anything! Except that he must stay away from Mia and me. That is the only thing he shouts in terror whenever he hears our names. Mia told me that, at least. I guess his father told Mia’s father because they are friends or business partners; I am not sure of their relationship.”
“What about all the stuff you took from those guys?”
“I kept the money and sold everything else in a pawnshop. I didn’t know such shops even existed! You can go there with anything, even if it is stolen, and they will buy it from you! At least that shop did, no questions asked. Mia’s driver took me there and said pawnshop shop is on the dark side of the law, if that makes any sense.”
Sophia swallowed the last bit of her juice, stretched her arms up, and jumped out of her chair. “I am ready to go! Come on, I have places to go, medals to win, and people to hurt!”
Jack grabbed a slice of bread and followed her out of their apartment.
Downstairs, Emma Pearson was already waiting next to her parents, who greeted Jack and Sophia with smiles. Mia’s limousine arrived minutes later, and they all went to pick up Mia Mills at her mansion.
As soon as the limousine stopped, Mia came out of her mansion as if she had been waiting for them.
Her driver opened the door for her, and the moment she sat on the back seat bearing a huge radiant smile, it faded away the moment Sophia asked, “You were almost dying in anticipation, weren’t you? And why didn’t you learn to open a car door? Do you really need to have your driver do that for you? And why do you still need a driver to take you everywhere, anyway? You used to know how to take the subway! Returning home made you regress to your spoiled brat behaviour, right? And why-”
Sophia put her hand over her face, flinching from the pain caused by the slap Emma just gave her. Mia was about to mock her and immediately stopped when she saw Emma raising her hand.
Her parents were even more surprised the moment Emma spoke: “I warned both of you last time, didn’t I? You are both going to behave! You are not going to ruin this for me! Don’t you dare!”
While rubbing her cheek, Sophia complained, “I was just joking, Emma! Geez!”
“If you joke like that one more time, I am going to punch you. You hear me? You need to focus today and not waste my time and patience with your usual bickering with Miss Mia!” Emma then looked at the grinning young woman and warned her, “This is also for you, get it? You are supposed to be a grownup, so act like one!”
Mia and Sophia nodded and leaned back in their seats, while Emma kept complaining, “Every single day! It was funny in the beginning, but now I am fed up with all this! Two dumb brats pick fights with each other for the most stupid reason! I am so going to beat you two if you don’t learn how to behave like civilized people! You are not animals, and you are not going to make me go crazy with your wild behaviour! So, help me, God, if I am not going to put a stop to this, even if I have to slap you both every single time!”
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Everyone was silent inside the limousine, and only the driver muffled his laughter. Emma looked at him through the rearview mirror, and he quickly explained, “I am so sorry, Miss Emma, but you just sounded like Miss Mia when she was younger.”
The young girl leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest while complaining. “I doubt that! As if I ever acted like her!”
“Yes, also Miss Mia’s usual answer every time she spoke about someone. Talk about a view of the past!”
Mia Mills burst into laughter, making Emma frown at her when she said, “Hahaha! He is so right! You really sounded like me! It is nice to see that I am being such a good influence on you!”
“As if! Shut up and don’t annoy me! I need to concentrate and be calm so that I can win the Competition!” Emma then looked at the smiling young menace next to her and said, “And I am counting on you to not let me down! Don’t mess this up, or I am going to be so angry!”
With a military salute, Sophia sat straight and said, “I am on it, boss! I won’t let you down! You can count on me to win all the medals!”
…
After arriving at their school, Emma and Sophia left the limousine behind, and Mia Mills, together with Jack Cross and Emma’s parents, quickly followed them to the main building.
There were a lot of students entering the school, most of them with one or two parents, and students from other schools arrived in groups, and wearing the same-looking sports clothes.
A school’s assistant was telling the parents and students to go to the open field behind the main building, while the students that were going to enter the Competition should go to the gym to hear the Principal’s speech and participate in the starting ceremony right after, which was going to be held in the open field as well.
Emma and Sophia entered the building, while Mia, Jack, and Emma’s parents followed the other parents to the field.
Inside the building, in the main hall, the students were all seated in front of a podium with a microphone, with the Principal behind it, waiting for all the students to arrive.
When the last representative of a participatory school sat down, he tapped the microphone a few times, asking for silence.
After taking a good look around the room, he started, “Welcome to the 11th Schools Sports Competition! Like in the previous editions, several schools from our City are participating, and today, I am honoured to receive you all! This Competition, like the previous one, will have three events, one per day. Each event will be in a tournament format, with only the winning team advancing to the next step until we reach the finals!”
The students clapped, and the Principal waited for the noise to diminish before continuing, “I want to remind you all that everyone should follow the rules set in stone since the very first Competition, which I am sure you have already memorized while you were training for this day! Let’s not forget to also have fun and pray so that no participant gets any injuries during the events! In case some accident happens, we have ambulances on standby, and we are also only five minutes from the nearest hospital.”
Sophia noticed the way the Principal was looking straight at her, and she whispered to her nervous friend right on her left, “Why do I have the strange impression he was warning me not to cause any kind of weird thing?”
“Probably because he was? Like every kid in our school, considering they are all looking our way?” answered Emma in a whisper, making Sophia smile left and right at everyone who was staring at her.
The Principal continued with his speech, but Sophia was no longer paying any attention because she was too busy watching the students from other schools, the ones she had to beat if she wanted to win the several events.
From what she saw during the last few days while she was training with her team and gathering intel about the other teams in her school, no one had any chance to beat her, but as for the other schools, she wasn’t sure if there was someone who could give her a hard time.
With a slight grin, she mumbled, “Game on, dumbasses… I am going to rub the floor with all of you.”
“Did you say something? What are you plotting there?” whispered Emma, making Sophia smile at her and deny saying anything, making Emma even more suspicious.
When the Principal finished his speech, all the participants were told to go to the gym’s changing rooms to get ready for the first event, the Athletics, with the relay race as the main attraction. There were some side events, like a two-hundred-metre timed race and a four-hundred-metre race, but those were to be done in the intervals between the main events.
Sophia and Emma joined the other three members of their team, and together, they went to the changing rooms, crossing paths with Eliza Francis and her team.
As Sophia was walking past her, she spoke in a low tone, “I hope you have good health insurance. You are going to need it.”
Eliza slowed down her walk, and her two friends wondered why she looked so pale, making her explain in a whisper, “That crazy kid just threatened me! If she tries anything, we have to be sure everyone sees it! We have to expose her as the violent bastard she truly is, and not everyone’s hero! I am the only one… I mean, we are the ones that everyone in this school should admire and worship, not her!”
One of her friends nodded and whispered back, “We have everything ready, remember? Our parents are going to film all the events, and if she tries anything, we will catch her!”
Meanwhile, Sophia and Emma were in the gym’s changing room, and she was all set and already stretching her arms.
The three boys on their team were outside waiting for them, and the moment Emma was fully equipped, they both joined the others and walked straight to the open field at the back, wearing similar shirts and shorts.