A Geeks' Choice

•••

The chime of the bell clanged, making the students dart into class and settle down.

Julia sat in her seat with her classmates, sticking to her normal routine of minding her own business. They were supposed to have English that morning. Her friends were making a fuss about having a free period.

The English teacher hadn't come yet, and it was already twenty minutes into the class-with another twenty to spare. Julia was a nerd who loved her books, and ever so often she hoped for her teacher's appearance. Now, only ten minutes were left.

A man walked into the class, making them all quiet down and look at him with confused expressions.

It was the sports teacher, Mr. Obai. Maybe he was going to punish them all for their noise pollution? No one knew. Their hearts were pounding. Hoping for the best, they sat with sweaty palms and pretend smiles.

"Good morning, students," he greeted between gritted teeth, eyes bloodshot red as he fumbled with his notepad.

"Good morning, Mr. Obai," they gave their usual response. It was weak, but acceptable.

"The sports competition is approaching, but your principal has decided to add a few people to our sports participants," he said, scanning the room while flipping open his notepad.

"Joel will participate in the relay for his team." At his words, a hunch-backed male shrank into his seat, making his chair shift in response. He was never the jock type-always the class shadow.

He continued, "Also, Thelma will participate in the long jump for her team."

Some boos were heard from the back. Before Thelma could duck down, several pairs of eyes met hers. Thelma was a slightly tall, skinny Black girl.

He said deftly, looking right at her, "And finally, our new participant for the skipping race: Julia." His words were faint and held a lot of doubt.

"And if any of the new participants refuses to train or cooperate, he or she will repeat this class."

Julia was a self-conscious person. She had never practiced a sport in her fifteen years of life, and now she was confined to a particular one: skipping.

As if on cue, gasps were heard all around, followed by small whispers here and there. It was a mystery to Julia why they were picking these specific participants for sports. It surely was the principal's hard work, so she shrugged it off.

"Any questions?"

No one dared to speak up. Neither smart-talk nor crude jokes were heard. If anyone did speak up, they'd find themselves sitting in the unwelcome chairs under the freezing glares of the principal, receiving an unwarranted sermon for the day.

The deadly silence of the class and the creaking fan were enough to answer him.

He blinked twice, snapping his notepad shut, and scanned the room again before walking out.

...ᘛ

Julia had made little headway in convincing the sports teacher. He was like a loyal robot to the principal, waiting on his every command-even at his own risk. She was now standing inside his office, where the school's sports equipment was kept.

"Mr. Obai, please, I'm not the right participant for skipping," she begged. "I will just go out there and disgrace myself, and then I'll lose. Please put someone else."

"Trust me, if I could, I would, but my hands are tied. All you can do is train," he said. "And don't come back begging." With that, he slammed the door in her face, turning her away.

By now, she had dropped the thought of begging both the principal and the vice-principal. They were both hard to convince anyway, even by the brightest student.

Deep in thought about what to do, she marched down to the school's tuck shop to meet up with her usual lunch mate, Delilah. Delilah had gone ahead of her to buy both their lunches.

It was a long walk from the sports teacher's office to the tuck shop under the scorching sun. Julia hadn't even noticed she was in the lunch queue until someone spoke up.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Delilah asked, knowing where she had been since break time began.

They both walked to an empty canteen seat nearby, away from the crowd of students queuing at the tuck shop. They dropped their snacks and sat down to eat.

"I don't know... practice?" Julia said. It was a stressful prospect, but she had no choice.

"You, practice?" a voice said out loud, making everyone across the room tilt their heads.

"There's a reason why nerds are nerds and jocks are meant to stay as they are."

"Even if you practice, you'll forever be a failure at sports," a girl named Mackenzie taunted, while others laughed. That was more than enough to smash Julia's fragile self-esteem.

The other students sat in their mini-groups, devouring the lunch placed on their plates-which was either brought from home or bought at the school tuck shop.

"She wasn't talking to you," Delilah snapped at Mackenzie. Then she turned to Julia and asked, "So, which sport did they put you in?"

Delilah played defense for the girls' football team at school. She knew Julia inside and out. They were cousins, after all.

Julia cringed at the question, but shyly answered anyway.

"Skipping."

Julia had actually always dreamed of the skipping rope. Jumping to dodge the rope under one's feet, sweating with pleasure-she had often skipped when she was younger, but stopped because of a nagging reason. Still, the memories were blissful to this day. Delilah knew what Julia was thinking, but could only relate on a different level.

"If I were you, I wouldn't participate," Delilah advised, taking a sip of her drink.

"Then I'd repeat SS2."

"Tell your mother, and then change schools."

"I can't," Julia said, checking around to see if anyone had heard her.

"Okay, participate. But only practice will save your butt out there from humiliation," Delilah remarked. Nosey students nearby laughed at the comment. To them, the situation was a joke, and Julia's failure would be the punchline.

...ᘛ

The morning birds chirped as the sun's rays beamed down. Julia stomped on the grass outside, wiping away the morning dew.

Saturday had come with an overwhelming task. Delilah had tried yet again to persuade her to forfeit the competition, but it all fell on deaf ears.

Julia had dug out her old skipping rope and practiced for fifteen minutes straight, which proved to be incredibly frustrating. Her feeble muscles and sweat-soaked body practically begged for a bath and a nice warm nap. Though giving up was an option, she couldn't. Skipping was not on her usual agenda, which was exactly why she needed help.

Mackenzie wouldn't help her; she'd only leave her with a bruised ego. Delilah would help, but she was already a participant in two or more sports activities. In short, most of her friends were too busy to tutor her.

Then it hit her. She would have to settle for her last option-the only person who would never say no to her.

Daniel.