Raised From The Wild-Chapter 142: Gold Medal

Amaya along with the other athletes who passed the qualifying rounds were all gathered at the starting line. The venue for the championships were moved from the open ground to the oval inside the stadium. Amaya occupied the inner lane.

All the athletes who were participating in the sprint were paying attention to the referee. When the go signal was given, Amaya ran as fast as she could and she was undoubtedly the winner.

For the next event which was the 400-meter run, she run alongside Layla. Every time Layla falls behind, she cheered her on and prod her to run faster.

"You can do better than that. Just think that you are like the wind..."

Her encouragement lifted Layla’s spirit. She increased her speed and no matter how fast she went Amaya never fell back and was always by her side.

"Just a little more." Amaya prodded her.

Layla felt that her lungs would burst and that she was nearing her limit. The finish line was very near but it seemed that she could not feel her legs anymore. She felt a hand touch her back and she was pushed forward, and just like that she crossed the finish line.

Layla was panting. She tried to do breathing exercises until she felt that her lungs were not burning anymore.

"You did it Layla. Congratulations!"

The crowd was silent. Just what happened? Did the princess intentionally make another player win? And she looked so happy. What the heck was wrong with her? People watching could not comprehend Amaya. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Did you do it on purpose, Princess? Why did you let me win?" Layla would really like to see what was in Amaya’s mind. Who wouldn’t want the gold medal?

"I already have a medal and can get some more. I saw that you are really fast and deserve the gold medal for this event."

"But it is not something that I deserve Princess. Look at the people around you. Like me, they are baffled why you intentionally slowed down."

Amaya looked around and she did see that people looking at her have different expressions. Some were baffled. Some have looks of admiration while others seemed to be mocking her. Their gazes were telling her that she was stupid for letting go of an opportunity that was already in her grasp.

She went to where Julienne was seated. She was not participating in the next two events so she has a few minutes to rest.

"So, Julienne, do you also think that I am stupid because I let Layla win?"

"Princess, with that look of yours and the way how you called me by my name, then I don’t think I will share with you my real thoughts." Julienne’s said teasingly.

"It is confirmed then. You think that I am stupid." She released a long sigh. "I felt that I am too strong for them and I am taking advantage of their weakness." She looked at the athletes who were running on the oval for the relay.

"You are too kind, Princess. But do you think Layla would be happy? If I am her, I will feel bad because I know that I do not deserve it. But of course, there are a lot of people who will be blinded by the honor, that they can choose the path of shamelessness." Julienne said in a serious tone.

Amaya was caught off guard by her friend’s words. What a profound statement! She recalled that Layla did not look happy when she congratulated her. She was in deep thought. Was she causing more problems by giving in to her heart’s desire to please and make others happy?

In the world she grew up, she was very competitive because she was the weakest among her friends. In a race, she was always the one who trailed behind. The only times she won was because she mixed her skills and intelligence. For example, she would leverage the vines to increase her speed.

Here in the human world, things have reversed. During the elimination round yesterday, she knew that she can defeat her opponents in the track and field events even without using her full strength.

She stole a sideway glance at Julienne and at the crowd who were still discussing the reason behind Amaya’s actions. Amaya looked at the athletes who were running like crazy on the track. Then she decided that what she did earlier was indeed wrong. But she cannot return to the past and she can only move forward.

She went back to the oval when it was time for the 800 meters mid-distance run. When she heard the GO signal Amaya started running in a relaxed mode. She did not want to rush it. She wanted to conserve her energy and spend it to cover the last half of the distance.

"Princess... Princess...Princess..."

She heard the audience chanting her name. She was happy that so many people were rooting for her. Did they think that she was slowing down on purpose?

When she covered half the distance, she increased her speed and as she gained momentum, the distance between her and the one in the lead become narrower and narrower.

The audience became noisier.

"Princess... Princess...Princess!"

"Go, Princess, you can make it."

Amaya smiled. In the last 100 meters, she was running side by side with a sophomore. She was very tall for a woman. She was probably around 182 centimeters. Her legs were long so she has bigger strides compared with Amaya. Amaya used her full strength and she finally overtook the tall athlete who has been leading since the start.

Amaya won the race with a time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The audience gave her a resounding applause.

Julienne cannot contain her happiness. She ran to where Amaya was and hugged her.

"That was one awesome win, Princess. You got me there. You are very relaxed at the start, I thought you are giving up the gold medal again."

"I will expend my energy if I give it my all at the start." Amaya took a small tower from her backpack and dry her sweat with it.

"I am done here. Let us go and watch you yours."

Before they can come out of the stadium, the crowd that gathered to watch the games, or rather to watch Amaya started pushing each other so they can come closer to Amaya. They collectively said, "Congratulations, Princess Amaya."

The guards that the Rocas family sent to watch the Princess today became alert when they saw the crowd’s intention. Marx also sent a few shadow guards to protect the princess in secret.

Julienne pulled Amaya and they blended into the crowd before disappearing and heading to the direction of the tennis court.

The crowd was bewildered. Where did the princess go?

Amaya enjoyed watching Julienne play lawn tennis. She previously thought that Ibrahim taught her everything. But indeed she was very naive. There were so many things that she did not know. The knowledge she acquired was not even comparable to a speck in the vastness of the universe.

She took note that when she had time, she will learn to play lawn tennis with Julienne.

Her cell phone vibrated.

Marx: Where are you?

Amaya: I’m at the tennis court watching Julienne play.

Marx: Okay. I will be there in a while.

Amaya no longer replied to Marx’s message. She was focused on watching the two ladies smashing the green fist-size ball with their rackets. Amaya’s head moved from left to right as she followed the movement of the ball. She looked at the audience who was seated on the bleacher facing them. Their heads were moving in a synchronized manner from left to right and to the left, just like what she does.

She stifled a laugh. What a beautiful sight.

A huge figure sat beside her and her heart fluttered. She breathed deeply to control her emotion before looking sideways at Marx.

"You are so fast. Where were you when you sent that message?" Amaya asked curiously.

"I was at the stadium. I heard that you won two gold medals form today and another one for the relay yesterday. Congratulations!" Marx beamed at her and held her hand for a brief second.

Amaya shifted her focus to the two players on the court. "It looks like that Julienne is winning. Look at how she powerfully swings her arms." Amaya exclaimed.

"Would you like to play lawn tennis?" Marx asked her when he noticed that she was interested.

"Yes, I would like to."

"Lawn tennis requires hard work, discipline, and consistency. Are you still interested?:" Marx’’s voice was pleasant.

"Yes, I definitely will!" Amaya’s excited voice filled his left ear.

"Princess, you have a lot of things on your plate right now. I am worried that it might affect your studies and your health."

Amaya looked at Marx and considered him carefully. "Don’t worry Marx. I will take care of my body."