My journey in ninth grade became even more adventurous than expected, not only was I doing great in all my courses, passing with straight A’s, but was excelling even higher than my expectations.
Of course my parents were always very proud, supportive and encouraging, but on the other hand something was telling me that they didn’t find it normal the way I was excelling in everything and even higher than expected.
There were times over and over again I would hear them whispering in their conversations, wasn’t sure what it was but it started becoming worrisome.
There were also times I just asked them to tell me something or anything that was worrying them.
They didn’t want to tell me anything and it was always “it is OK, everything will be OK” they would say.
I wasn’t sure how to take that response but as a fourteen year old teen, I didn’t want to overwhelm myself, nor give my parents any pressure.
I already had a full plate which I needed to take care of before getting my parents involved or asking them questions about the strange things that had been happening in my life.
As we were rounding up the school year and my first year in high school, the school was to end with activities, events and competitions.
These competitions, activities and events were taking place in our school with the attendance of other high schools in the entire Chicago.
The school was buzzing with excitement and full of energy.
It was the first time to see quite a large audience and students from many different schools coming to attend and take part in the drama and dance competitions, orchestra and singing performances, chess, math and science competitions and various sports competitions.
This year Chicago High School was hosting all the sports and performing arts competitions, it was like the ‘Olympic Games Competition.’ Parents and families were all welcomed to join, attend and cheer at all the sports, events and activities.
I was originally supposed to take part in the math competition with Jaime, Chris and Eddie but since it clashed with the archery competition, I dropped out.
I felt more comfortable taking part in the archery competition and besides I had some unfinished business to clear and set straight.
In the end I was competing in the dance, badminton and archery competitions which were all taking place on different dates.
I had the opportunity to watch the other events and see students from different grades and different schools competing in the events and competitions.
I even got to see Chris, Jaime and Eddie compete in the math and chess competition and OMG were they good, actually the best of the finest.
They beat all their opponents reaching the semi-finals.
I only watched until the quarterfinals, I knew they had reached the semi-finals through their classmates.
Our dance competition took place from Wednesday to Friday and the weekends.
Jaime, Chris and I had been practicing our dance routine for quite a while, different from the one we had done during the auditions.
We had four dancers who were our back up dancers and we were dancing to the song called “Mamacita” by Super Junior (a famous K-Pop Band).
I was actually the one who introduced K-Pop groups and music (such as EXO, Super Junior, BTS, NCT 127, BlackPink, etc.) to Jaime and Chris.
Although we didn’t quite understand the entire lyrics of the songs, it was the beat, the rhythm, the energy and talent put into the songs that really got our attention.
We were the last group to perform and we put on our best of the finest performance, dressed in jeans, t-shirts and matching sports shoes, we gave it our best shot ever.
The crowd was enjoying it and cheering for us, but we were all just concentrating on dancing and giving it our very best performance.
Jaime and Chris along with three other members did some incredible moves I had never seen before which were getting cheers and applauses from the audience.
Jaime, Chris and I completed the final moves with our hands slammed to the floor and it was at that moment when we got a standing ovation I knew we were not only going to be winners but the best dancing trio for life.
We were through to the finals and all we needed to do was practice the new song with different choreography.
The finals were going to be held on Saturday afternoon.
On the sports side, Nancy, Philip, Ashley and I were set to compete against three other high schools in Chicago, starting from the first to the fourth round then quarterfinals, semi-finals and the finals.
The four of us quickly made it to the quarterfinals eliminating two of the three top high school opponents.
For the quarterfinals we were eight opponents left; Nancy, Philip, Ashley, I and four other students from the Chicago Christian High School.
I had watched their matches and they were pretty good.
Each of us were set up with one of them and we beat all four of them, leaving Philip, Ashley, Nancy and I to face each other in the semi-finals.
I had not being paying attention to how my teammates were playing but I did notice their style and rhythm of how they paused calmly, the way they positioned before shooting every arrow.
Ashley had a habit of always looking at me every time she shot her arrow as if I was paying any attention.
All I knew was that if I wasn’t facing her in the finals, then I was facing Philip.
The semi-finals were to be held on Thursday and the finals on Friday.
I had been looking in the crowds to see if ‘black hood’ had showed up but saw nothing.
However, I did notice that my parents, Chris and Jaime were in the crowd and had watched the entire match, not so sure if they witnessed anything strange as I competed against the other students.
As for badminton, there were eight schools, each having five competitors to play against our school, just like archery starting from the first to the fourth round then quarterfinals, semi-finals and the finals.
Jacob had made the cut for the school badminton team which obviously meant he was going to participate and compete in today’s badminton competition.
I was the only mixed colored race student on the team.
Badminton not only included playing singles, but also doubles and mixed doubles.
Personally was not really keen on playing in any doubles matches, wanted to focus on the singles game, finish my mission, get my vengeance and go home.
Unfortunately that was not possible, ‘sportsmanship’ as they called it was very important in these competitions and it was also something competitors were awarded for at the closing ceremony.
As you can see my choices were very limited, being a team player wasn’t really my thing especially when you are not liked for being a mixed colored race person.
Surprisingly Anderson proposed to be my mixed doubles partner while Lisa proposed to be my doubles partners for the girls’ competition.
The fact that they proposed and never objected that I was a mixed colored race student was something I never expected.
Although, I had been practicing with them during our badminton club sessions and we three always got along, they were the ideal choices as partners for this tournament.
The games begun early Tuesday morning and afternoon with competitions of the first to the fourth rounds for the singles and doubles matches; four schools were eliminated which left four other schools including our school.
On Wednesday afternoon the quarter-finals commenced and unfortunately Tina got eliminated in both the singles and doubles matches including eight other competitors from other schools, while Anderson and Peterson were also eliminated in the boys’ double quarterfinal match.
Their opponents were to face Jacob and James in the semi-finals.
I was to face the student who eliminated Tina in the semi-finals.
The semi-finals were to be held on Saturday and Sunday.
Chicago High School was to be represented as follows: the boys’ single and double semi-finalists would be Jacob and James and the girls’ single semi-finalists would be Suzanna and I.
The doubles semi-finalists for the girls would be Lisa and I and finally the mixed double semi-finalists would be Anderson and I.
I had not paid attention to the names of our opponents or the schools we were going to face, but all I knew was that they were not going to be easy opponents.
After a full week of activities, events and competitions, I went home exhausted with aches and pains all over my body; the same was for Chris and Jaime especially after the dance competition.
I knew that I needed plenty of rest Wednesday night because the next four days were going to be full on with the semi-finals and finals of the dance, badminton, and archery competitions.
These were the main sporting and performing arts competitions that took center stage at Chicago High School.
My parents had attended most of all the events and competitions I competed and although nothing in particular happened including the ‘black hood’ episode, they seemed to be quite excited and ready for what was yet to come.
I on the other hand was nervous but also excited to be representing not only my family, but myself and Chicago High School in one of the biggest sporting and performing arts competitions in the entire Chicago.
Although being a newcomer in ninth grade, and add on being a mixed colored race student, the honor and glory was one that I was going to make sure it stayed and would always be remembered in Chicago High School.