Bright for the Win

Chapter 2

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Bright's POV

I was already feeling the pangs of hunger because it was close to six in the evening but I needed to do those required laps in the university pool before dinner. If I were to eat dinner first I would only feel uncomfortable and usually for some reason I tend to suffer from cramps whenever I swim without fully digesting my food first.

I made my way to the building which housed the olympic size swimming pool where I had to train daily. My trainer's goal was to get me accepted into the swim team by the end of the year. I have to meet with him tomorrow and he expects me to be able to do sixty laps which I won't be able to accomplish if I did not do my usual personal training this evening.

By the time my swim was over my stomach was growling non stop. I made my way to my locker where I had kept a change of clothes from last semester.

I have been a full paid scholar in this university since last year. I went into this university to try to earn a degree in Sports Management but my phys ed teacher saw my potential in training for the olympic swim team since last year when I first came here.

After I got into my change of clothes, I made my way to the university campus mini plaza where I walked into my favorite restaurant that was simply named Seafood Shack. (A/N: fictional name for a restaurant, doesn't exist) It was a small seafood place situated between a fast food hamburger restaurant and a restaurant that offered Thai dishes.

"Good evening, Bright, the usual?" the pretty young waitress greeted me warmly.

"Yes, please, Chimlin," I replied and she gave me a sweet smile.

"Just call me Lin," she said before leading me to my usual corner spot.

I knew that even though she was working as a waitress, this restaurant was owned by her family and she helped out in the evenings after classes. She had told me that much one evening when I had come here to dine.

I skimmed through my phone while she went to the back to give the chef my usual order of grilled mahi mahi with asparagus and half a cup of brown jasmine rice.

"So how was your swim today?" she asked as she placed my order in front of me.

She knew about my daily swim and that I was training with the hopes of eventually getting into the olympic swim team.

"Gruelling," I replied before squeezing the slice of lemon that she had placed beside my grilled mahi mahi.

For some reason I wasn't much into conversation this evening. She seemed to have sensed that and walked back behind the cashier counter where there was a dispenser of ice cold soft drinks. Then she came back to my table and placed a 16 ounce bottle of ice cold lemon tea beside my plate.

"Thank you, Lin," I smiled at her.

"You have to slow down a bit on your personal training, Bright," she said, "you look a bit tired this evening."

I bit back my tongue. I didn't want to scold her for giving me unsolicited advice.

I gave Lin a generous tip before heading back to my dorm. It was a good fifteen minute walk back to my dorm from the mini plaza.

I was sweating a bit by the time I stepped into the lobby of my dorm. I nodded a greeting to the receptionist who waved and smiled at me. I didn't know her name but she recognized me because I have been living in this dorm since last year and she has been working in her spot since who knows when. She always reserved a sweet smile for me whenever she saw me and she always helped me out whenever I had any issues regarding my dorm stay. I keep forgetting to ask her name. I probably should do something nice for her one of these days for all the kindness she has been showing me.

I walked towards the elevator and pressed the button for service. I walked into it when its doors opened. I was not inclined to press the close button and just waited for the doors to automatically close. The doors had started to close when I heard someone yelling, "Hold the doors please!"

I was tempted to ignore the request but for some reason I'm unable to deny reasonable requests so I pressed the open button and waited for whoever asked to hold the doors open.

In a few seconds a young man was panting his way inside the elevator and said "Thank you" between gasps of air.

He leaned to press the same number at the same time that I did and my hand landed on his. He looked at me wide eyed before quickly withdrawing his hand from under mine. That was the moment I recognized his face.

"Didn't you just use this elevator a while back and I also held it open for you?" I asked to confirm that it was indeed him.

He nodded with a shy smile.

"So you remember my face as well?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't I... I mean... yes, I do," he replied in the same breathless manner.

Soon the doors opened and I let him step out of the elevator ahead of me. He didn't seem to mind that as he was walking I was also walking right behind him. We seemed to be going in the same direction and I didn't want him to think that I was stalking him so I slowed down a little and let him walk a little farther away from me.

I prayed that he would walk on past my door by the time I reached my room so that he wouldn't start to think that I was following him.

Wait, holy Buddha, he stopped right in front of my room door and started placing his key card into the slot beside the doorknob. I broke into a run.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded to know, trying not to sound alarmed or upset.