We walk up to the stage, my body shaking as the stage lights hit my eyes and I squint. I sit down and stare at the other school, Gracious Academy. They were three boys and two girls. They looked calculated and worst of all, they wore glasses. Now my crazy imagination from when I was a kid was coming to haunt me.
"We have East High Hayward School and Gracious Academy. We will start with East High for this match up" The man shouts
"x² + 7x + 10" The questionnaire says
"(x+2) (x+5)" I shout
"Correct" The questionnaire says
"Guys we have to take note of their questions" Amelia says
"Yeah then maybe we can get bonus marks from them" Sam says
"Ok" We all say
"To Gracious Academy, x² - 11x +24" The questionnaire says
"(x-8) (x-3)" A girl shouts from the school
They are actually good, but if we are going to win this. We will have to find an edge. We have to make sure we don't loose any question and hope they do. Ok I know we might look mean, but that was the only way to win. We continue answering our questions smartly, not failing anyone. And then, boom we had an edge.
"To Gracious Academy. 3b+ 5a= 11, 2b- a= 3. Find a and b"
They immediately get to work. I reluctantly solve the question cause so far they had not missed a single one. Soon, I have my answer. I look towards their team and see they are still solving. Unknowingly, a smile crawls up my face. Yes!!!! This is our edge. Soon the buzzer is heard.
"Bonus Question to East High Hayward School" The questionnaire shouts
"A= 1, B= 2" I shout
"Correct" The questionnaire shouts
Our students erupts into cheers, clapping. They probably also knew this was our edge, with this we might be able to win. My teammates smile at me understanding I didn't ask for their consideration cause I was under pressure. I smile back.
"Alright, at the end of this match. Our winner is East High Hayward School" The man says at the end
The lights shine on us and I feel a huge weight lifted off our chests. Everyone was clapping as we walk down the stage. Mr. Maxwell patting us on the back and telling us how we did well as we sit down. Phew!!! It wasn't actually easy to beat that school. It's that bonus mark that really saved us.
In this competition, they are four sections. And we just passed the first, where five schools scale through. Rosary High School, Trinity International School, St. John Elementary School, Lavogue International School and East High Hayward.
After a five minutes break, the second section began. In this section, Rosary High School and St. John Elementary School had a match where Rosary High School came out as the winners. Also, we took on Trinity International School. Where we came out victorious, no bragging but we kinda crushed them. At the end of this section, it was down to Rosary High School, Lavogue International School and East High Hayward School.
In the third section, we didn't have a match. Which meant we made it to the finals. Right now, it was Rosary High School and Lavogue International School. Rosary High had made an impression on me of being very competitive and smart. I had not seen Lavogue in action cause I went to grab some snacks. So I expected Rosary High to win this match.
But it was the direct opposite, Lavogue flushed Rosary High. Like I mean flushed them down the toilet. I was so shocked. Then I recognize them as the school that had arrogant smirks on their faces. Every single opportunity they got to get an advantage over Rosary High. They used it potentially.
"Guys that school just destroyed Rosary High" Amelia murmurs looking afraid
"Right. They are very fast and calculative" Kenny says
"They literally used everything to their advantage" Sam says
"Can you guys keep shut. Even if they just crushed that other school, doesn't mean they will crush us" Bethany says
"Guys even if I don't wanna admit it. Bethany is right, we are gonna win this. No matter the school and no matter how good they look." I say determined
"Are you sure??" Sam says
"I have never been more sure in my life" I say
"Ok we will win this" They say nervously
I could tell that they were still nervous. I was also nervous, that school crushed, decimated, destroyed, i don't even know how many more verbs I can use. They killed Rosary High and they seemed pretty smart. But as the captain, I can't be nervous. I have to be strong at least for my teammates. I look towards our schoolmates and they also looked worried after that match.
"Ok this is the last and final match of this great Inter State Math Quiz. We are down to two great and exceptional schools, East High Hayward School and Lavogue International School" The man says
Everyone cheers and claps at the mention of our schools. I lift up my head proudly, even if I am scared right now. I am not going to give in so easily, we have worked hard to get here and I am definitely not going down without a fight.
"May the two schools please come to the stage for the final round" The Man says
I walk up the stage for the third time today. My body shaking and my hand sweaty. I walk steadily and sit comfortably on my chair. Lavogue had four boys and one girl, real gender inequality huh.
"This round begins now" The man shouts
"To Lavogue International School, Express 423six to base 10" The questionnaire says
"159ten" A boy from Lavogue shouts
"Correct. To East High Hayward School, Calculate 101*111+101" The questionnaire says
Damn!!! What a question. They weren't gonna go easy on us in this round. I begin scribbling on my paper. My mind in utter panick mode. Because of my anxiety I make a lot of mistakes. Gosh!! I wanted to be strong for my whole team and now we are gonna fail our first question. Suddenly, I hear a voice beside me
"101000" Amelia shouts
"Correct" The questionnaire shouts
I thank the heavens for you Amelia. I smile at her and she smiles comfortingly at me. Mouthing 'we've got this', I really hope so Amelia. I really do.
After Amelia's answer, I start trying harder not letting the fear overtake me. Luckily, we hadn't failed a question so far. The others were really active and answered many times. I had to admit, this final round put me off track but my team mates were amazing.
The fact still remained though that both teams were waiting for the other to perform a slip up, and get an edge. Lavogue looked like a wall not ready to fall at all and we also stood firm. Maybe we can do this, maybe we can win. But all my hopes got crushed soon.
"To East High Hayward, Find the 7th term in the sequence 0,1,3,6,10......" The questionnaire says
I look at the sequence and I know the pattern immediately. After some seconds, I get the seventh term but as I am about to say it out. Another voice interrupts me.
"17" Bethany shouts
"Wrong. Bonus Question to Lavogue International School" The questionnaire says shaking his head
"21" A boy says smartly from Lavogue
"Correct"
Ooo God no!!! This cannot be happening. I ignore the cheers of Lavogue International School, dropping my head in my hands. They had found a damn edge. Time ticks as we try to cover up but it was obvious it wasn't going to happen. My heart dropped every single time they answered a question correctly, we are going to lose
But the heavens heard my prayers and Lavogue made a mistake. Just by one number, they made a mistake. But unfortunately, we didn't know the answer either. So we ended the final round with a tie.
"This round has been ended with a tie. Hence, a student should be picked from each team for a final round" The man says
My teammates nod at me already saying the words. It's you. They leave the stage and I am face to face with the captain of Lavogue. He looked at me from top to bottom and he smirked, that same arrogant smirk that caught my attention. He thought he had already won, I love it when people underestimate me. But that's gonna be his greatest mistake.
"60 Seconds of Fame" The man shouts and the whole hall bursts into screams
"We will start with Lavogue International School" The man says
"The three angles of a triangle are given as x, 3x and 4x. Find x" The questionnaire says
The boy gets to work and answers the question smartly. More questions are thrown to him and he answers them quickly. At the end of his sixty seconds, he comes out with 150 points. Gosh!!!! He answered 15 questions. It seemed so unbeatable, so unbelievable. His school cheers and claps at his score.
"East High Hayward School" The man says pointing at me. I gulp down my saliva at that
"What is the sum of interior angles of an octagon?"The questionnaire says
"1080" I say
Questions are thrown at me and I try to answer as fast as I can. Not even bothering to look at the score board. I sometimes answer before he even finishes a question. I was answering and solving as fast as I could. Soon, I hear the buzzer showing my sixty seconds are up. Everywhere is quiet as I slowly look at the score board. 200 points written boldly, immediately the whole hall erupts in cheers. I can't believe it. We won! We actually won!!
Hey guys, I am so sorry if it is so long. I was thinking of stopping but I wanted to end the competition here. We have many other adventures and also, I think I have been super selfish about my updates, so should I update more or not??
Hope you can tag along till the end. Drop a vote and comment. Love ya and stay safe