After struggling to slot a crumpled five cedi note into the vending machine, a red can of Coca-cola thunked out of the display case and into the pick-up box.
Taking the cold drink, I lifted one side of the tab up, pushed down and brought the can to my lips, pouring half of the carbonated liquid into my mouth.
Muffled cheers filtered in from the swim court. The competition was still in full swing. Ethan was currently in the middle of his fourth race, but I didn't feel like rooting for him; not after what Seth had told me about him.
I settled down on one of the empty benches available in the hallway, twirling the rest of the drink in the can. A part of me didn't want to believe any of the things Seth had spewed out, but there was also the other part that suspected that they were true.
I could vividly remember that night Ishmael came to the party with those pictures. I had insisted on reporting the issue to the administration but Nana Kwame was quick enough to shut the idea down. He was so determined to get rid of the pictures even though he had absolutely nothing to do with him.
My eyebrows dipped into a curious frown. Why would he go the extra mile to cover up something that he wasn't involved in?
Probably to conceal Ethan's tracks, my subconscious added and I couldn't help but see some element of truth in those words.
The sound of approaching footsteps pulled me out of my thoughts and I shot a brief look behind to see three burly guys from the football team, hounding the vending machine. Thanks to the huge plant sitting on my left, I was pretty sure that I was well hidden enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Yo, did you hear?" One of them voiced out in full bass. "That blasted swim team captain just won his fourth race today."
"Eh, not surprised," Another replied with a shrug, before bending down to get his drink. "Dude is probably on something."
"You sure bro?" The last guy quizzed. "Cuz I heard they had a drug test earlier. You know that big guy Seth, they found smack (heroin) in his system and had him disqualified."
"Well it's different for Ethan," the one who picked up the drink remarked. "That dude lives in piles of money. Even if they find something in his system, all he'll do is to tip them off for a new set of results."
"Yeah," the guy with the bass voice agreed. "Because of his dad's position, Ethan has got a lot of tricks up his sleeve and he's not afraid to use them. That's why the swim team gets majority of the school's funding every fucking semester, it's all favouritism."
"True talk." The other guy nodded. "Compared to the football team, that fucking mermaid team hasn't done much for Penfield. But thanks to Ethan, they're living like kings and queens. There's a lot going on in that team, and it's only a matter of time before it all comes tumbling out."
Sensing their movement in my direction, I silently stood up and dashed into the nearest corridor, heading straight for the lounge area.
Questions run amok in my head, so much so that I didn't feel Nana Kwame's presence until he tapped me hard on the shoulder. "Hey, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. I wanted you to help me lead the victory chant on the deck after Ethan won the 400 freestyle."
"Oh umm, sorry." I shrugged. "I just stepped out for a quick drink, I've been feeling a bit queasy."
"Well you better get rid of that feeling, cuz you're up after the current race." He pointed at the 43-inch flat screen tv displaying the event. "It's the girls 200 breaststroke. Princess is in it and Ethan's been cheering her on like crazy."
My eyebrows dipped low. "But he just finished a 400 meter race, in addition to three other races. He should be exhausted by now."
"Yeah, not our buddy," Nana Kwame chuckled. "He has the stamina of a boar to keep going for hours."
Like pulling the trigger of a gun, the conversation I'd overhead earlier shot itself in my head.
'Dude is probably on something...'
'Even if they find something in his system, all he'll do is to tip them off for a new set of results...'
'Ethan has got a lot of tricks up his sleeve and he's not afraid to use them...'
The longer those words echoed in my ears, the larger my well of doubt and curiosity grew. My mind was struggling to find answers that would refute all those stories. But nothing...nothing popped up.
So is it true? Is my childhood friend a drug user and a cheater?
"Yo, you ok?" Nana Kwame placed a comforting hand on my shoulder the moment I sat down. "You don't look too well. Are you still feeling queasy? If you are, I ca-"
"Is Ethan on drugs?"
The question was so abrupt that it caught him off guard. "Wh-what?"
"Is Ethan on drugs?" I asked again, keeping a keen eye on his body language.
Nana Kwame blinked furiously, then quickly snatched his hand from my shoulder like I had burnt him with my question. "Are you fucking crazy? Why would you think Ethan is on drugs?"
"I don't know... it's just," I heaved out a breath. "On my way here, I heard a couple of guys from the football team talking about Ethan's race and they were all pretty confident that he was on drugs."
"So what? You believe them? That's just plain stupid, Akwasi!" He retorted. "The guys from the football team are the last people you should listen to! They've always been jealous of the swim team because we're Penfield's pride. We put this university out in the open with our victories. Do you have any idea how many games the football team has lost over the past three years?"
Silence fell over heads as Nana Kwame pulled in a deep breath and let it out. "You know what, forget it. This topic isn't worth arguing over." Casting me a disappointing glance, he added, "To ease your troubled mind, I can assure you that Ethan is most definitely not on drugs. But it's a shame that his childhood friend thinks he is." With that, Nana Kwame walked away, leaving those heavy words in the air.
A sigh left my mouth. Ever since I came to Penfield, I'd heard a lot about Ethan, most of which I'd turned a blind eye to, but this, I couldn't shake off. Ethan was one of the best swimmers I knew. To hear people say that he was on drugs only made me curious and uncertain. Was it also wrong for me to feel this way about my friend's capabilities?
The sharp sound of a whistle cut through my thoughts, signaling the end of the current race. Shoving all my uncertainties behind, I stood up, ready to prep myself for my heat.
¤¤¤¤¤
The entire atmosphere reverberated with amicable cheers, chatter and laughter. It only intensified the pinch of worry swirling around in my gut as I made my appearance on the deck.
A 200 meter breaststroke race. My least favourite stroke was the only thing preventing me from securing a spot in day two's events.
"There's my cute bestie!"
"I'm not your bestie," I quipped, turning around to face her.
Princess gazed at me with a smug smile, "That's what you think." She'd just won the women's 200 meter breaststroke with a whooping 2 minutes 30 seconds, breaking last year's record of 2 minutes 35 seconds.
"How are you feeling?" Princess asked, adjusting the towel on her shoulders.
I sighed, "A bit nervous."
"What? I thought we were past this, Akwasi. Did you forget yours truly," she took on a dramatic pose, "who helped you improve your strokes and time."
"The fact that you won the women's 200 meter breaststroke doesn't mean it's going to rub off on me," I said then huffed, "Breaststroke is your thing, you've been swimming it for years. I on the other, have barely a year's worth of experience in it."
"Hey, hey." Her hand clasped around mine. "Don't look down on yourself ok. I believe in you. You're going to win this thing and you're going to win it better than you ever have in your life. You've got this, you've even got your nerdy friends to cheer you on."
"Nerdy friends?" I quirked up a confused eyebrow and Princess gestured to the left section of the audience. My eyes scanned the crowd for a minute until it landed on a couple of familiar figures. Akunna, Deon and a few others from the engineering club had painted blue horizontal stripes on their cheeks and were wearing white t-shirts that boldly displayed the words "Go Akwasi!" in blue ink.
"If they're here to support you," Princess crossed her arms, "it means they believe that you can win. So go out there and win!"
"Thanks." A warm smile crept up my face. "...a lot."
"Swimmers, please take your positions!"
Heeding the instruction, I pulled off my jacket and adjusted the goggles on my forehead before moving towards the starting block. Amidst the incessant chatter, the sound of my name touched my ears and I immediately turned to my friends.
The cheers Felix and Deladem sent my way expanded the smile on my face. I couldn't hear what Akunna was saying, but I returned the thumbs up he gave me and laughed when Deon blew that loud plastic horn of his.
It felt good having all of them here like this. Though part of me still wished that one extra person was here to support me.
Don't go there, mister! My subconscious warned, this is not the time to mope over Shola. We have a race to win.
Right. After rolling my shoulders, I climbed up block 3, ready to conquer the huge task ahead.
"Take your marks!" The voice echoed out from the speakers.
I bent low, gripping the starting block like my life depended on it. 200 meters. 4 times the length of the pool. You can do this, Akwasi. You can do this.
Beep!
Casting all fears away, I threw myself into the pool, drowning out all the cheers as I streamlined forward then broke the surface to begin my strokes. Extending my arms, I cut through the layers of the water and pushed myself forward with my legs.
Cut! Push! Cut! Push! Cut! Push! Cut! Push!
The mantra kept me going through till the first 100meters. Now it was time to pick up the pace. Two swimmers were currently ahead of me and if I wanted to win this race, I had to let them eat my dust...or in this case, eat my waves.
I propelled myself forward with rapid kicks, eager to pull myself in line with the second swimmer. But my efforts took me a step further, slotting me in second place. Only one person stood in front of me now.
The moment I hit the last turn; the final one for this race, the cheers soared past the sound of splashing water. The wall was just a few meters in front of me. In the next couple of seconds, I would be there to hit that cold wet tile. The anticipation kept building up inside me, to the extent that I even lost track of the other swimmers. I didn't even notice when I slipped past the swimmer ahead of me. All I wanted was the win and I was going for it.
One last kick was all it took for me to touch the wall and...
Peee!
"We have a winner!"
Desperate to see how well I did, I yanked off my goggles and sent my eyes to the scoreboard.
"Yes!" A neat 2 minutes, 29 seconds! I'd exceeded Princess' record and I couldn't have been more proud of myself. Happiness flooded every core of my bloodstream. This was what I wanted my life to be out; having the courage to overcome fears and challenges.
I climbed out of the pool, receiving a loud set of cheers for my victory. All of a sudden, Princess almost clobbered me in hug, nearly pushing me back into the pool.
"You see! What did I tell you? You won! You fricking won!" She yelled and twirled us around.
Laughing, I quickly pulled us to a stop before we both found our butts on the floor. My eyes then flew back to the crowd, eager to find my friends jubilating. Instead, I locked eyes with someone I wasn't expecting to see, someone who wasn't here when the race began. My arms fell from Princess' side.
Through her thick framed glasses, Shola stared at me with a flat expression. I wished I could run up to her and talk to her, to explain the hug with Princess. But a minute after our eyes met, she broke the link and turned to Felix, feigning interest in whatever he was blabbering about.
She was hurt. She didn't say anything, but I knew deep down that she was hurt.
On the lower seat, Akunna and Deon, who seemed to have witnessed that brief scene between Shola and I, both looked disappointed. Akunna just shook his and plopped back down on his seat, whilst Deon threw me a nervous shrug.
My eyes flickered back to Shola, smiling at something Felix had said. In less than a minute, she had taken away my reason to celebrate. Though my teammates surrounded me with cheers and congratulatory messages, I didn't want any of them.
What I wanted was Shola...and her forgiveness.
"Hey!" Princess swatted me hard on the chest. "You ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm...I'm fine." I pushed her hand away without taking my eyes of Shola, and that seemed to have pissed her off because she swatted me again.
"Arrgh, Akwasi! You need to get a grip on yourself. Staring at your crush in the middle of a public gathering is not cool! C'mon, we have a win to celebrate." Without giving me a choice, she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the locker rooms.
*****
It's good to be back on Wattpad again. I'm currently on a two months' vacation, so I'm going to try very best to make updates frequent. Do keep an eye out for that, cuz the plot is about to get even juicer!