the genius' first love

2

"Those aren't mine nor my coach's…" I explained without any sense of guilt while sitting in the conference room of the board.

" ...Before the competition started, the contestants were asked to wait in the hallway. I was sitting on the long bench when a girl suddenly dropped her envelope. Its contents scattered on the floor. I helped her pick it up and the papers fell. That's how I had a glimpse of those printed layouts" I added confidently.

My mind brought me back to what happened earlier. Clearly, I just wanted to confirm if the contents in the envelope were the same with those that were given to us in the competition. And here I was few hours after, in front of twelve people trying to clear my innocence. Since I was confident that I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't tremble a bit.

"When the competition started and the links and articles were revealed, I noticed that those were the same ones I saw earlier. I know perfectly well that those are supposed to be confidential and shouldn't be given to any contestants before the competition. Seems like she was cheating, but I wasn't sure of that yet. That's why I tried to check it again when I saw the envelope in the bench during break."

"And that is when Mr. Lagdameo saw you right?" The Chairman of the Board asked.

"Yeah right."

I frowned when I remembered him—Darryl Lemmuel Lagdameo. I heard these adults talking about him earlier before we started, as if that boy was some kind of a celebrity or whatsoever. I even managed to know his full name just by listening to their unending stories about him. Not that I care much, truth was— just the thought of him made me want to vomit out of disgust.

"Well, thank you for explaining yourself Miss Dugmoch" The Chairman spoke with formality. "Actually, we have already investigated your case and have found your innocence. We just wanted to hear your side as a witness in this case. Also, we are a bit worried knowing that you passed out earlier. You think you can still continue throughout the competition?" He asked with some sense of concern.

I blushed a bit out of shame. I didn't know that my fake fainting had reached their knowledge. Was my acting that great that rumours about it spread as fast like wildfire?

"Well, I think it was a nausea I got from the long trip. You see, we came from a very far district."

I glanced towards the direction of my coach who sat on a chair beside me quietly. I gave him a sign to confirm what I just said and in return, he nodded hastily in front of the Board in agreement, but didn't say a word. Did coach Gem just lost his tongue?

Well, all I said was true. It took us twenty hours by land to get here, imagine the long drive we've come through. The competition we were attending was held in the capital city where they were commonly sponsored. We were on a STEP conference this time—a competition for student technologists and entrepreneurs. In this competition, all schools in different parts of the region competes in different kinds of contests like bartending, cake making, painting, embroidery, dance sports, publishing etc.

I was here for the desktop publishing contest where I needed to do a layout for a publication. A contest like this isn't new to me. I used to travel here in the city almost every two or three months to join one but this was the first time some beast accused me of some cheating. Did he even know I was from Rivendell? I wanted to slap that truth to his face. The nerve!

"I see. In that case I think you need to rest then. I'll dismiss you now, so you can go and find your room assignments."

"Thank you, Chairman," I replied gratefully. My coach shook hands with the Chairman and some of the Board members before we headed out the room.