Sincerely, Mysterious

20: I Might Have Picked the Wrong Team

He was lean and tan, much taller than everyone in the line-up. As he rolled his shoulder and stretched, his lips moved in a prayer.

Murmurs started in the crowd, but they flew into a rage of cheers when he waved and took a small bow. Crowd favourite, I guess.

Once the signal went off, splashes resonated throughout the room. I couldn’t see very well from where I sat, but I could tell it was a close competition with how people chanted their school slogans. The 200-yard race was over soon, and a guy in black trunks emerged victorious—the same one who had been late.

The announcer raved about his finish being a record-breaker. It sent the crowd into an uproar. Between the medals being awarded, and the various winners dispersing, I still couldn’t find Micky. So I ventured off the bleachers on my own.

It wasn’t hard finding the champion, but with the number of people surrounding him and screaming, it was pretty hard to get noticed. Still, I didn’t let that stop me.

“Hello! I just need a minute with you!” I waved my arms wildly, trying my hardest to stay upright. I could barely see over the tops of people’s heads, so all my efforts were fruitless.

“Are we done?” As if aware of my distress, Micky was back, looking very satisfied with himself. It was almost suspicious of how happy he seemed, considering he was going to face off a record-breaker soon.

“We?” I made sure he could hear the skepticism in my tone. “No. I need to get the winner to talk to me, so I can leave this place. Since you’ve done nothing to help.”

“Yo, Bunny!” As soon as Micky yelled, the guy’s head whipped in our direction, and the excited smile on his face disappeared.

“What is it, Michael?” he shouted back, the question almost drowned by the voices throwing questions and praise his way.

Micky sucked in a harsh breath, frowning. “My friend here wants to interview you, and you’re gonna do that for ‘em right now. We’re not a bunch of your groupies, y’know?”

“Could have fooled me.” Bunny rolled his eyes, yet made his way towards us, the crowd parting for him to walk through. It was almost mesmerising to watch.

“There. I helped.” Micky smiled in a sickly sweet way, patting my head.

Bunny’s height was more imposing now that he was closer. He wasn’t quite as tall as Adrián, but it was still intimidating having him look down at me. He wrapped the towel around his waist tighter as he asked, “What do you want?”

“Some words from today’s winner. It won’t take long,” I said.

He nodded slowly, staring through the fringe of hair that hung over his forehead. He raked it back, his eyes roaming down from my head to my cast. “Follow me. Can’t hear you well with all the noise.”

I turned to ask Micky if he was coming along, but he waved me off, saying he’d wait by his car. Sighing, I hobbled after Bunny.

He led me to an empty classroom, plopping down onto the teacher’s table, and gestured at the desk right in front of it. “Sit.”

I sat. I could feel his eyes follow my movements as I flipped through my notebook and dug through my pockets for my pen.

“First question. What’s your name?” I asked.

“You don’t already know?”

“No, I couldn’t see the scoreboard very well. And people were always screaming over your name, so I didn’t catch it.”

He looked amused, one corner of his lips turning higher than the other. “It’s Kai. Kai Hale.”

I cancelled out the initial name I’d penned down, and he lifted an eyebrow as he looked over at the notebook. “Don’t tell me you wrote Bunny?” Now, the amusement turned into an outburst of laughter.