The next day at school, there's a sports festival, which you were forced to join all thanks to your best friend December.
"Come on, don't be so sour about it, it will be fun" you raise an eyebrow at the red-haired boy.
"I'm sorry, but did you ever see me participating in such festivals before? You didn't even participate in those festivals back at our old school"
December stares at you, chuckling at you upon realising that you are stating facts.
"Yes, we didn't participate before, but now is our chance to prove ourselves" you shook your head at him.
"Or humiliate ourselves" you assert
"Don't worry, everything will go well, just trust me on this"
While you two converse, you don't notice the Faerie prince, Nayzak, and his gang walking up to you two.
"Well, seems like someone is nervous about the festival" Nayzak teases, staring you down.
"I'm not, December and I are good at sports" you lie, not wanting to appear weak in front of Nayzak.
December raises an eyebrow at your change of attitude but stays silent to not ruin your prestige.
"We will see your talents even though I'm not expecting much from a human"
With that, Nayzak and his friends walk away, leaving you fuming in anger.
"I thought you didn't want to participate in the festival" December teases.
"Well, I'm going to participate and win"
"So what sport are you going to participate in?" he inquires curiously.
"Swimming"
꧁ꕥ꧂
You are pretty sure you are going to lose the swimming contest before it begins.
Why?
Well, there's a siren in the participants who happens to be Struan.
You didn't even know that you will have to swim in a river to reach the other river bank first.
Even though Struan helped in healing your burn wounds, you are pretty sure that he will win this swimming contest without lifting a finger.
He's the siren prince after all.
"Good luck, don't let anything distract you," December says with an encouraging tone while hugging you.
He notices Struan glancing at you two, which made December place a quick kiss on your cheek before pulling away.
After December walks away, you prepare yourself.
"One...Two...Three...Begin"
The moment you jump into the deep river, and start swimming is the minute your mind concentrates on reaching your goal.
But, something unexpected happens, someone grabs you by your waist and drags you deeper into the water.
Panicking in fear, you try to escape that person's grasp, but fail.
"Calm down, it's me, Struan"
He turns you around to look directly into your eyes.
"I just want to mark you" you shook your head quickly at his words.
The siren only smirks at you.
"Don't worry, it will be a small bite"