I hadn’t been wrong. After the preliminary rounds of the swim meet, I found myself chasing after the competitors and the West Dale students in the bleachers. The few who spoke to me did so reluctantly, either out of boredom or pity, when they noticed my crutches.
Micky stayed by my side for approximately two seconds at a time—the rest of the time, he abandoned me with the excuse of going closer to the pool for photos. Never did I see him take the lens cap off the camera he had with him.
While I was keeping score of the rounds, my phone’s screen came alive with a new message.
Mystery: Hey, where are you?
For a long time, I could only blink at the screen. How come it had escaped my mind that I had told him to wait for me would forever be surprising. Not only did I feel terrible for forgetting about my plans with Adrián, I was reeling with disappointment that I’d given it up for this—watching people swim (and one boy almost drown) while Micky left everything to me.
Funny enough, I’d been mad at Micky for delaying me, while Adrián had to wait all this while.
Me: omg im so sorry!! i got occupied with the paper. are you still at the school???
Mystery: Yeah. You’re in the newsroom?
Me: im at west dale. I’m so sorry for wasting your time. will you still make curfew :/
Mystery: Yes, don’t worry about that. Should I come get you?
I bit down on my lip, thumbs hovering over the screen. How was I supposed to feel good about this when I was having the worst time, and Adrián was being so thoughtful? I considered saying yes, but I didn’t want him to go through the trouble. Besides, it was clear I couldn’t trust Micky to do this alone.
Me: no. im not sure how long I have to stay for. But i have Micky with me, he’ll get me home
Mystery: Okay. Lemme know when you get back❤
Me: will do!!❤❤
As I slipped my phone into my pocket, my co-worker appeared out of nowhere. He had a half-eaten hotdog in his hand, and he wiggled his eyebrows at me when I gave him a look.
“How many laps are there left?” I asked.
“Beats me.” Micky slumped forwards, jaw moving slowly as it worked at whatever was in his mouth. He took another bite and pointed the remaining inch of bread and sausage in my direction. “Want some?” he offered. He must have misplaced my amazement as interest.
Shaking my head, I looked back at the pool. This round was over, and the next set of swimmers were the ones in our league. Turning to prompt Micky that his time to be useful had arrived, I was met with an empty seat. Again.
I could only hope it was to do his job.
Seven swimmers lined up at the edge of the pool, a couple waving at people they knew in the bleachers. Right as they were asked to get into position, another boy arrived, sending the audience to a standstill. Suddenly, all eyes were pinned at the pool, steeled and ready to witness whatever was going to happen.
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.
“Micky called you that, so I thought that’s a thing everyone calls you,” I said, turning so he couldn’t see what I was writing anymore.
“No, Bunny is a name only he calls me to annoy me. It’s why I call him Michael. Drives him nuts.”
“Ah, you have a whole rivals-to-lovers dynamic going on,” I commented.
Kai seemed to ponder over it, head tilted and lips in a pout. “Nope. Not at all.”
“You have, like, a ton of things that suggest it. Both captains of competing teams. Both charismatic... mostly. Even the dyed hair you’ll insist is your natural colour.”
“Ah ha! Gotcha there. Black is my natural colour. It’s not this dark, but it’s not a different colour.”
“Why dye it then?”
“Patches of white in it. It makes people stare,” he said, legs swinging lazily.
“I thought you like the attention?”
“Love it. Just not when people give it to me because they think I’m strange or something.”
“Okay. Do you have anything to say regarding this competition, or any future ones, Kai Hale?”
“Lemme think about it.” He bent forward and held his chin up with both hands. A few beauty marks dotted his knuckles. “I’m ready to take on every challenge that comes my way—not that Northwood’s swim team is one. Oh, and at that West Dale is taking the championship Cup and bringing it here, where it belongs.”
“Oh, you and Micky would definitely pair off well.”
He laughed. “Nah, I don’t swing that way. What about you, little man?”
“I’m not a man, Bunny.” He visibly flinched at the sound of the word, but then he looked up at me with wide doe eyes, confusion on his face. I shrugged. “I’m outside the gender binary. But yeah, I do. Got the boyfriend and all to seal the deal.”
His mouth formed a small ‘o.’ “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t know.”
Again, I let my shoulders rise and fall as I turned to my notebook. The only sound in the room now was the dragging of my pen against the paper.
“E hoomau maua kealoha.”
“Sounds smart. Another quotable saying, I guess,” I said, poising my pen against the paper once more. “Can you spell it out and tell me what it means?”
“It’s just something my folks say, so I don’t think you should write that in your paper, but it means ‘may your love last forever.’ You know, with your boyfriend and all.” Kai smiled at me, wide enough to reveal the gap between his two front teeth.
“Wow, thanks.” I smiled back. “I’d wish you luck in your next competition, but it’s against Northwood, and I can’t betray my school that way. Especially after what you said about our team.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t need luck to beat, y’all.”
“We’ll see.” I closed the notebook and stood up, grabbing my crutches.
“Oh, you’re leaving?”
“Yes. I have no more questions, and I need to find Micky. He’s my ride.”
“All right. I’ll see you at the next competition!”
“And I’ll see you lose at it!”
Kai shook his head, bellowing with laughter. “What’s your name, though? So I know who to ask for when I do my next winner’s interview.”
“I’m Parker.”
~~
We've finally met Kai and I want to know what you all think of him :D
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