Chapter Text
“Ah! Kawaii~Chan can’t wait for sports day! She just knows that everyone is gonna do great!” squealed a pink hair meif'wa. Sports day. The one time every grade gets together and competes in many different sports.
“Kawaii~Chan make sure to settle down! You’re gonna have no energy for when you actually have to compete,” Teony scolded. Kawaii~Chan huffed, but remained quiet. Aphmau made her way to the secluded corner her friends were in.
“Aphmau! There you are. You ready to kick some ass?” Katelyn asked, slinging an arm around Aphmau’s shoulders. The three were generally a very chaotic bunch. Katelyn was athletic. She’s the captain of the volleyball team, afterall. Teony was a big scholar. An A never failed to appear on her report card. And Kawaii~Chan was just naturally energetic. Sometimes, Aphmau could barely keep up with all of them. They were older than her after all, with the exception of Kawaii~Chan.
“I, um, think so. Aren’t you next, Katelyn?”
“Yup! Speaking of which, I should probably get ready. I have soccer next,” Katelyn explains. The three wish her good luck as she leaves off to the field for warm-up.
“Is that Aphmau I see?”
Aphmau turned at the sound of her name, seeing icy blue eyes stare back at her. Laurence. The other problematic boy.
“Oh! Laurence! How was your first game?” Laurence flashed his bright smile as he put a hand on his hip.
“It went great. We absolutely crushed them,” Laurence bragged. Along with Garroth, Laurence was widely loved by girls. Not surprising. He’s pretty good looking, plus he’s the captain of the soccer team. Aphmau smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
“Ugh. She’s just begging for attention. I guess our message wasn’t clear enough from last week, huh?” Ivy whispered, out of view from Aphmau.
“I know. Maybe we should teach her another lesson,” Lilly giggled. The two stayed quiet for a second, a moment of thought shared between them.
“We should go for that Aaron guy. He seems to care about her to some extent. He lets her walk all over him, and doesn’t even fight back. I bet he has some kind of crush on her.” the green-eyed girl explained.
“Freshman class A and Senior class A, you’re up! Make your way over to the soccer field for your third contest!” The announcer called out over the intercom. That was Aphamu’s group vs. Aaron’s. Aphmau knew it was inevitable. She swore she would win every game against him.
Aaron smirked to himself. Of course he had to go against Aphmau at some point. This was going to be fun since Aaron knew Aphmau was a particularly competitive person and has a temper. All he had to do was push her buttons, and this game would be great.
The sun looked down on all of the students, basking them in its warm gaze. There was a slight breeze that day too. The grass on the floor and the leaves on the trees bustled, creating a beautiful melody of swishing greens and singing birds. The field had the drawn out lines of a soccer field and it was already quite muddy from previous rounds. The ball lay in the middle, coated in a layer of wet grass and mud.
Thankfully, Aphmau was great at soccer, she’d done it for a little while in elementary school, and almost everything stuck with her. This would be easy. She just had to keep her temper under control and-
“Hey!”
“Watch where you’re going, potato.”
Aaron had deliberately bumped his shoulder against Aphmau’s shoulder. Maybe this is going to be harder than she thought.
Aphmau was placed as a midfielder. This seemed normal considering she was pretty fast.
(Alright, pause. I know absolutely nothing about soccer! I had to look up the different soccer positions and what they mean to place Aph so… I’m not going to write this part with the fear of doing it inaccurately. With that being said, I will write the other sports because I actually know how those ones work. Uh.. Sorry for the interruption! You may continue! -The author ^w^)
“AAAAANNDDD GOAAAALLL!! FRESHMAN CLASS A WINNSS!!” The gym teacher avowed. Aphmau panted deeply, crouching down in the grass to catch her breath. Sweat drenched her gym shirt and face. The curve of a smile creeps onto her lips. Perfect. She was in the lead. Now, all she had to do was win all of the other games.
“Aphmau~sama! You did it! Kawaii~Chan is so proud of you. She bets that you will win for all the Freshman,” Kawaii~Chan throws her hands around Aphmau, pulling her into a big hug.
“Kawaii~Chan you’re gonna get yourself all dirty,” Aphmau remarked gently. Realizing this, Kawaii~Chan pulled away with a sheepish smile. She frantically apologized to which Aphmau assured her not to. Aphmau’s attention was promptly diverted to Laurence making his way over to them, comparable to Aphmau with the amount of sweat sopping Laurence’s clothing and hair. Despite that, he quickly ran up to the two girls, the usual confident smile playing on his lips.
“Damn, Aph! I saw those kicks! I didn’t know you played soccer. You should consider joining, eh?” Laurence coaxed. Aphmau pretends to think for a moment before answering.
“I’ll.. think about it. I have a lot going on already,” said Aphmau. Would she? Probably not. It was already hard dealing with all of the homework, but Laurence didn’t need to know that.
“Well,”Laurence began,“Tell me when you have your answer. Tryouts are closing next week.”
Aphmau nodded before turning her attention to Katelyn who was making her way over to the three.
“Ah, Katelyn! How did i-” Before Aphmau even got to finish, she already knew the answer. Instead of the victorious smirk that would usually grace Katelyn’s expression, she wore a scowl.
“Oh no, Katelyn~senpai. I’m sorry. You’ll do better during the next game?” This only earned a dark chuckle from Katelyn, then another, until it turned into maniacal laughter.
“Oh-um… Katelyn! How about we go and get you some water, hm?” Aphmau asked cautiously.
“I’m fine! Why on Earth would I need that, Aphmau??” Despite her words and “smile”, Katelyn had a vein popped out of her head and her brow furrowed.
Aphmau took a deep breath and whispered to Kawaii~Chan,
“Take care of her please. I have another game soon.” Kawaii~Chan nodded and went off with Katelyn, cheerful as ever.
Aaron’s team went on to win every other game they played until reaching the final contest: track. Against who? Freshman class A. Being so stubby, Aaron figured that Aphmau would be slow, but just as shown in the soccer game, Aphmau was fast, uncharacteristically so. Beating her in this contest wasn’t going to be easy, by all means. Aaron had a trick. Was it cheating? Probably, but he had to win this. If not for his team (never for his team), then for his pride.
He took a deep breath. This was it. Aphmau was directly across from him, purposely avoiding his gaze. He stretched to the right, then the left.
“Three! Two! One! Start!”
The first runners were off, baton in hand. Aaron had to admit, they were fast.
“Freshman class A takes the lead with a strong start!” The baton was then passed onto the next student. The senior passes the freshman this time, but only by inches. The two make it to the next runners pretty much at the same time. It was now Aaron and Aphmau’s turn. They both got into position, the gym teachers voice distant in their heads as they reach their hands out, getting ready to catch the baton. With clear goals in mind, both the same, who would really win?
Aphmay started in the lead, but running too fast too quickly into the race, she quickly ran out of stamina, letting Aaron take the front. Deliberately, Aaron slowed down to a stop. Confused, Aphmau did too.
“What are you doing?” Aphmau demanded breathlessly. Aaron merely smirked and shrugged.
“Letting you win, potato. That’s what you want right?”
“Not like this, I don’t.”
“Suit yourself.” And Aaron was off again. However, before he could make it, Aphmau sped past him, passing the finish line seconds before Aaron. Of course his plan didn’t work. He knew Aphmau was smart, but it was always worth a shot.
“AND FRESHMAN CLASS A WINNS!!” With that, Sports Day has finished with Freshman class A as the winner. Just because the day was over didn’t mean that Aphmau’s never ending bad luck would.
After the final acknowledgements, Aphmau was one of the last girls to make it into the locker room. She began to get changed out of the now sweaty and considerably soiled gym uniform and got changed into her regular one. She was tired. Not just from working her butt off to win these contests, but from Aaron. He’d tried to trick her into stopping so he could get the jump on her and win. Unfortunately for him, Aphmau was quick and smart. That’s not to say that the win was way too close for her liking.
“Potato!~” Aphmau’s head quickly whipped around at the familiar sound of that voice. Snotty, spoiled, and full of herself.
“Not today, Ivy. I’m really not in the mood. Find a different day to bully me,” Aphmau stated wearily. Of all times, she decided to show up now?
“Oh, I don’t think so. See, I vaguely remember telling you to stay away from Gerr-oth, but now you’ve moved onto a new victim to gasp into your stubby little potato fingers. Laurence, was it?”
Aphmau’s expression hardened. She refused to let tears fall this time. She wouldn’t show weakness. She wouldn’t let people walk all over her. Not anymore. She was worth more than that. She knew that now. Garroth, Laurence, all her friends had made her realize she is worth it. It’s about time that she stood up for herself and made it apparent that she wasn’t a good target anymore.
“No.”
“What’d you say, potato?”
“I will not let you do this to me. Not anymore. I am tired of you dictating who I talk to and who I’m allowed to talk to! I’m sorry if you like Garroth and he doesn’t like you back, but to have me stop talking to him just because he could never return your feelings is selfish. So find someone else who will let you walk all over them!” Aphmau shouted. Her voice was stern and showed no sign of backing down.
Ivy stood there stunned. What would she even say? She hated Aphmau’s guts? She wanted her to leave and never come back?
“You think you’re cool for standing up to me? You're meant to be walked all over. The next time you try that again, I’ll actually spread the rumors,” Ivy threatened.
“You’ve threatened that 2 times now, and you still haven’t, so are you actually or are just trying to scare me?” Aphmau retorted. Ivy felt her own blood boil. Aphmau really thought she was all that, didn’t she? She was just so smart for catching Ivy in her lie (even if she’d never admit that).
“Argh! You’re such a fucking bitch! I bet you’re so proud of yourself for thinking that you found me out. Well, you’re not! You are a pathetic loser who only gets in my way!” Ivy screamed. Aphmau took a small step back. Maybe she’d gone a little too far and provoked her too much. What else was she supposed to do? Calling her bluff was the easiest possible way to get Ivy off of her back. But, it seems to have backfired now.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that.”
Aphmau was suddenly getting shoved. She was enveloped by darkness as the locker she was pushed into was closed.
“This’ll teach you to learn your place!” Ivy sneered. Aphmau heard the faint steps of tennis shoes against the locker room floor as she walked away. Just great, she’s locked in a locker. At the thought, panic set it. Crap, I’m stuck in a locker!
“Uh, hello? Is anyone there? Please help!” Aphmau called out, hopeful that someone may have lingered around. After about 5 minutes of shouting, Aphmau eventually gave up, deeming it useless to waste energy.
Aaron made his way to the locker room after being held up for so long outside. He was positive that he’d sweat so much that day that he had no liquid left in his body. He ran a hand through his dark strands in an attempt to wrangle that mess he calls hair. He let out an exasperated sigh as the cool air of the locker room hit his skin, undoing the sun’s work.
“Ugh, fucking hell,” Aaron muttered to himself. He quickly puts in his locker combination. 3 to the right, 3. Pass 3 then go to 26. Go straight to 15. Clink! He opens the locker, attention on the amount of water he’s gonna drink as soon as he can get to his…
“What the hell…?”