Intertwine

19.

"Boys category semi finale, line yourself up around the red marks" the announcer proclaimed as Ella hurriedly brought the water bottle to Allan who was wearing his cap.

"Don't be afraid okay, don't be nervous? are you nervous?" she yelped, the brunette turned around placing his hands on both side of her shoulder.

"No I am not ..just sit down and shout my name when I win okay" he took the glasses flashing her a smile before running towards the mark.

The gun shot was heard as all the contestant dived, Jeremy was also one of them.

Ella's eyes were on the pool stuck to the lane 8, she jumped when there was a sound of buzzer however there were two similar buzzer at the same time, Lane 8 and lane 2 supposedly Jeremy and Allan had a tie between them, however, it soon appeared that Jeremy was 5 seconds earlier, which was a suspicious thing because she clearly heard the buzzer at the same time.

 "Son of chief as usual" the girl behind her gossiped with her mother, now that Ella has seen all this she knew how real it could be.

She saw how Allan's face was tensed up as Jeremy crossed by him, he must have said something, she gave him the towel "That son of a-" he paused and started brushing his hair off, 

"Ignore him, he just wants you to create a scene." Allan sat down glancing at the scoreboard, his name displaying on second.

After witnessing Allan, Ella now felt more nervous, she was able to compete along three rounds, coming in 2nd for two and 1st for one, 2 players were selected after each round to compete in the final one, The next call could be made anytime, she was busy in readying herself, drinking her 4th sip of water before it was snatched from her hand.

"You'll have cramps if you drink more than that... just relax okay" he urged her to move outside for fresh air since her face looked as if she would choke soon. However, Allan was surprisingly good at diverting her mind away.

Females were assembled for the final round waiting for the countdown as soon as the shot of gun reverberated, all of them plummet in the blue. Ella was along the second lane, chasing along, her mind out of any musings, since all she could feel was how her arm felt lactate, sprinting across the depth, she glimpsed at the front, she was still one behind, her mind revised the technique torquing herself half a degree taking more longer swamps. And if it hadn't been for Allan who distracted her away, she might have gave up before starting.

"The gold medal has been claimed by Lane 2 Ella Stefan." The announcer manifested, prompting the whole team to stand in cheers,

And just as Ella got out of the pool, she was pushed on to a hard chest, and soon her feet left the ground swirling in the air.

"You did it" Allan said after pulling away from her, his face signifying the boxy smile trying to welcome her on the reality, as Ella almost couldn't believe it. 

"I did it" she threw her arms around his neck again, her own face crinkled up as she smiled so wide, she won't even mind if her cheeks would burst because the way her heart, mind and whole body felt happy... was worth it.

Fear, it's something that can keep us away from experiencing things that could be terrifying, but at the same time if we try to overcome it, we could have some really beautiful things with us, like how a kid is afraid to ride a bicycle for the first time, but when he succeeds in it, he discovers a whole new concept of joy. And for a person like Ella, she thought that this kind of joy was too much for her, it was almost a miracle that for the first time in her life something worked out, and she didn't have a single regret. None at all.