74 A NUMBER GAME 3
"I couldn't remember myself competing against you."
Zoe uttered as thoughts of her past entered her mind.
'When we were still bosom pals, I made sure that everything that I was able to possess, you could also have, so that we didn't have to compete for anything.'
Zoe clenched her fist as she recalled how she reacted to her evil acfions toward her then.
'When you betrayed me and slowly took away everything from me, I didn't fight back. I just allowed you to take them all. I was so in pain to care.'
She gazed at her scheming face and gritted her teeth.
'But now that I had accepted my parent's unusual death, I realized how you are so unfair to me when I didn't do anything wrong to you at all!'
Zoe readied herself to run.
'Even though this is just an event, I could have an edge against you. After I saw how horrible your condescending attitude is until now, I will not just set my heart to be the Survivor Queen. I will also win over you!'
She glimpsed at her direction again.
Savannah was also taking a butchers at her and intimidated her with her sarcastic remarks.
"You think you can be the Survivor Queen? But tell me, how can a tragedy magnet do that?"
She mocked her as they were the only ones left on that side of the beam.
"Watch me," Zoe simply said.
She readied herself as the ninth participant of Norfolk Tribe spruced up the numbered tile from 161-180.
"I'm done!"
As soon as she raised up her fist in a feat, Zoe zoomed with all her might to the balance beam.
All the nine contestants of both the Norfolk and the Tasman tribe were already up front, waiting for their last team contender to finish the tournament.
They all were cheering for their own bet.
"Norfolks!"
"Tasmans"
Their voices rang in the air.
Because of Zoe's overwhelming determination, she untied the bag earlier than Savannah.
"Go Zoe!"
She quickly went like lightning to the box and scattered the numbered tiles from 180-200.
As she was arranging them from the smallest to the most significant number, Savannah's friends, who were part of the Norfolk Tribe, started hitting her brain like a ton of bricks.
"185, 192, 181…"
Zoe glared at them with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?"
As she saw their eyes, they were all taking a sly look at Savannah and nodding at her in agreement.
Savannah was smiling at them as she hurtled from the balance beam to the box.
Now they were a close tie.
"Think straight Zoe."
A drop of sweat fell from Zoe's forehead.
Her fingers went numb as she pressed on to assemble the numbers again. She opened and closed them repeatedly.
She glanced at Savannah, who was also numbering her tiles now.
Her loyal friends were still mudding the waters as she did so.
"Do you really want to sleep in the camp?"
She snarled at them.
"198, 189!"
They just ignored her as they stuck to their guns and prattled random numbers even louder.
"Stop it!" Kristie tried to stop them.
But like a scalded kitten, she quickly cowered up as one cast of the terrorizing group retorted.
"195! 187!"
One of them stuck her face on Kristie and hammered her babble with her sarcastic face as if she's saying, "you can't do anything about it."
Another delegate of the Norfolks tried to take revenge for her by doing the same to Savannah.
"199! 181!"
But the Tasmans just shooed her away.
One of the Norfolks tried to stop them by covering the mouth of one of them.
But her other friends pulled her arm violently.
"Are you messing with us?"
They glared at her and shoved her to the back.
Other challengers in the Norfolk Tribe didn't dare repeat another word as they pushed on in their attempt to mess with Zoe's head.
They were too strong for them. They have been the bullying group ever since. And no one dared stand up against them then.
Seeing her despair, Raigon bolted up.
"This is clearly wrong!"
Mr. Qigang gave him a once-over and sniggered.
"How come Mr. Gao? Our lovely coordinator just said that there are only two rules in the competition. And I don't see them violating it. She said they could do anything to win this match. And this is their strategy. Am I right, Ms. Erin?"
He gloated at her with scrutinizing eyes.
Erin drew in a deep breath.
'This is the reason why I picked up Raigon as one of the councils in this challenge.'
Mr. Qigang has always been biased in his judgments toward his students.
'He always goes with the popular ones, those whose parents could provide him monetary benefits, even when their children are wreaking havoc in their school.'
Erin gritted her teeth as she remembered.
He was also one of those who favored Zoe at first but turned his back on her when her parents died and couldn't fund his greed anymore.
'I was hoping you would change somehow. But it appeared as if you are the same Mr. Qigang from before.'
She observed Zoe as she struggled against the pouncing group of friends.
'I should've not invited her here.'
Though she wanted to defend her longtime friend, Mr. Qigang was right. Those were the rules.
'I can not change it or Zoe would be in bigger trouble.'
She had no choice but to admit it.
She shifted her anxious eyes to Zoe, who also happened to glance at her.
Even though not a word was uttered in their mouths, through their conscious minds, they instantly communicated their thoughts.
"It's okay," Zoe made out with her lips.
Erin nodded, drew in a deep breath and said out loud.
"Yes, they can do anything to win this challenge."
Raigon clenched his fist.
"How dare they!" He muttered under his breath.
Mr. Qigang snickered. It is a clean sweep.
Mr. Fu didn't say anything, but kept on observing both teams.
"191, 192..."
Zoe tried to concentrate so that she could coordinate the numbered tiles properly.
But with these insects bugging in her ears and Savannah on the other side, humming and smiling while arranging hers, she couldn't manage to pass from 190.
"200!" Savannah shouted and clapped her hands.
"Woooh! We won!"
The Tasman Tribe hooted in unison at their ultimate victory.
*******************************************
I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig.
You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.
George Bernard Shaw
*******************************************
Zoe uttered as thoughts of her past entered her mind.
'When we were still bosom pals, I made sure that everything that I was able to possess, you could also have, so that we didn't have to compete for anything.'
Zoe clenched her fist as she recalled how she reacted to her evil acfions toward her then.
'When you betrayed me and slowly took away everything from me, I didn't fight back. I just allowed you to take them all. I was so in pain to care.'
She gazed at her scheming face and gritted her teeth.
'But now that I had accepted my parent's unusual death, I realized how you are so unfair to me when I didn't do anything wrong to you at all!'
Zoe readied herself to run.
'Even though this is just an event, I could have an edge against you. After I saw how horrible your condescending attitude is until now, I will not just set my heart to be the Survivor Queen. I will also win over you!'
She glimpsed at her direction again.
Savannah was also taking a butchers at her and intimidated her with her sarcastic remarks.
"You think you can be the Survivor Queen? But tell me, how can a tragedy magnet do that?"
She mocked her as they were the only ones left on that side of the beam.
"Watch me," Zoe simply said.
She readied herself as the ninth participant of Norfolk Tribe spruced up the numbered tile from 161-180.
"I'm done!"
As soon as she raised up her fist in a feat, Zoe zoomed with all her might to the balance beam.
All the nine contestants of both the Norfolk and the Tasman tribe were already up front, waiting for their last team contender to finish the tournament.
They all were cheering for their own bet.
"Norfolks!"
"Tasmans"
Their voices rang in the air.
Because of Zoe's overwhelming determination, she untied the bag earlier than Savannah.
"Go Zoe!"
She quickly went like lightning to the box and scattered the numbered tiles from 180-200.
As she was arranging them from the smallest to the most significant number, Savannah's friends, who were part of the Norfolk Tribe, started hitting her brain like a ton of bricks.
"185, 192, 181…"
Zoe glared at them with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?"
As she saw their eyes, they were all taking a sly look at Savannah and nodding at her in agreement.
Savannah was smiling at them as she hurtled from the balance beam to the box.
Now they were a close tie.
"Think straight Zoe."
A drop of sweat fell from Zoe's forehead.
Her fingers went numb as she pressed on to assemble the numbers again. She opened and closed them repeatedly.
She glanced at Savannah, who was also numbering her tiles now.
Her loyal friends were still mudding the waters as she did so.
"Do you really want to sleep in the camp?"
She snarled at them.
"198, 189!"
They just ignored her as they stuck to their guns and prattled random numbers even louder.
"Stop it!" Kristie tried to stop them.
But like a scalded kitten, she quickly cowered up as one cast of the terrorizing group retorted.
"195! 187!"
One of them stuck her face on Kristie and hammered her babble with her sarcastic face as if she's saying, "you can't do anything about it."
Another delegate of the Norfolks tried to take revenge for her by doing the same to Savannah.
"199! 181!"
But the Tasmans just shooed her away.
One of the Norfolks tried to stop them by covering the mouth of one of them.
But her other friends pulled her arm violently.
"Are you messing with us?"
They glared at her and shoved her to the back.
Other challengers in the Norfolk Tribe didn't dare repeat another word as they pushed on in their attempt to mess with Zoe's head.
They were too strong for them. They have been the bullying group ever since. And no one dared stand up against them then.
Seeing her despair, Raigon bolted up.
"This is clearly wrong!"
Mr. Qigang gave him a once-over and sniggered.
"How come Mr. Gao? Our lovely coordinator just said that there are only two rules in the competition. And I don't see them violating it. She said they could do anything to win this match. And this is their strategy. Am I right, Ms. Erin?"
He gloated at her with scrutinizing eyes.
Erin drew in a deep breath.
'This is the reason why I picked up Raigon as one of the councils in this challenge.'
Mr. Qigang has always been biased in his judgments toward his students.
'He always goes with the popular ones, those whose parents could provide him monetary benefits, even when their children are wreaking havoc in their school.'
Erin gritted her teeth as she remembered.
He was also one of those who favored Zoe at first but turned his back on her when her parents died and couldn't fund his greed anymore.
'I was hoping you would change somehow. But it appeared as if you are the same Mr. Qigang from before.'
She observed Zoe as she struggled against the pouncing group of friends.
'I should've not invited her here.'
Though she wanted to defend her longtime friend, Mr. Qigang was right. Those were the rules.
'I can not change it or Zoe would be in bigger trouble.'
She had no choice but to admit it.
She shifted her anxious eyes to Zoe, who also happened to glance at her.
Even though not a word was uttered in their mouths, through their conscious minds, they instantly communicated their thoughts.
"It's okay," Zoe made out with her lips.
Erin nodded, drew in a deep breath and said out loud.
"Yes, they can do anything to win this challenge."
Raigon clenched his fist.
"How dare they!" He muttered under his breath.
Mr. Qigang snickered. It is a clean sweep.
Mr. Fu didn't say anything, but kept on observing both teams.
"191, 192..."
Zoe tried to concentrate so that she could coordinate the numbered tiles properly.
But with these insects bugging in her ears and Savannah on the other side, humming and smiling while arranging hers, she couldn't manage to pass from 190.
"200!" Savannah shouted and clapped her hands.
"Woooh! We won!"
The Tasman Tribe hooted in unison at their ultimate victory.
*******************************************
I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig.
You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.
George Bernard Shaw
*******************************************
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