1Chapter 16: Competition Day and Sudden Outbursts

Wednesday, October 17, 2006, my dad's car, 5 minutes to noon

I can't believe it. I can't. The day is finally here. The day Tyson and I have been training for, working for. The competition.

Now, this little hometown competition isn't all that exciting for Tyson; after all, he's the world champ, who battled and won people not only in Japan, but in China, Russia, and all these other places.

But, as you know, I'm not one to beyblade. And suddenly, and I don't even know how it happened, but I'm also beyblading. BEYBLADING WITH TYSON!!!!!! Does it get better than this, I don't think so.

So, yeah, here I am. Going to my first ever competition for beyblading. And I'm not even nervous. Not at all. Even though, you know, I've never even launched a beyblade before...or played the game before...

Okay, I'm such a bad liar. I am shaking in my Pumas. How embarrassing would it be if I messed up? Beside the World Champ? What if I get knocked out of the ring? Oh man, I'm screwed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same day, the arena, 1 pm

"This is it, Hil," Tyson had said, holding my hands reassuringly, "this is what we've been training for." He massaged my shoulders, hitting each nerve soothingly. I sighed and went out of his grip. It was like I was going to fight for my life, or something.

I looked up at him. "Do I need this pressure right now?" I said playfully, punching his arm lightly..

He smiled, but then turned serious again. "You know, Ben signed up for this, too." He informed me, his eyes glazed over with indescribable emotion. I recalled that day at Mr. Tate's shop, where we had seen Ben.

I shook my head. "No, he didn't. He left right when he came, remember?"

Tyson nodded, crossing his arms over his chest in an informal manner. "I know that. But when I went a couple of days after to get parts for your blade, I saw him signing up for it."

"Then who would his partner be?" I asked. The rules on one of the posters had said that it was tag team. I mean, seriously? Is Tyson running a fever or something? How bizarre is all this anyway?

Tyson shrugged his shoulders. "No idea." He answered.

I rolled my eyes. Then what was the point of saying it then? I didn't say that obviously, because I didn't need to argue with him before the competition. Besides, I don't believe Tyson. After all, I knew Ben longer than he has, and for a fact, he doesn't beyblade. That's a fact, for sure.

Tyson suddenly grabbed my hand then, tracing my palm. I leaned against the wall of the room, and closed my eyes. It was subtle; yes, but I read the message. It told me to chill, relax. And for once, he was right. I wasn't going to accomplish anything being all worked up. He needed me to know that I was ready for this; I practiced a lot.

But I don't know if anything prepared me for this.

I know, I know. Its like, what the heck is up with her? What's the worst that could happen, animals falling from Tyson's rear end?

Just trust me on this one, ok?

So, yeah. Tyson was tracing my hands, starting from my thumb, going down that place between my thumb and my index finger, then to my index and so on. Then, when he got to my pinky, he went back again. I sighed. I felt electricity go through me, and it felt nice. Great, even. As much as I don't want to admit it, it was like when Ben held me at sunset, at the beach, when Tyson was in Russia with the team.

This was the time when this came on: 'Would all contestants in the competition please head down to the arena. I repeat that's…'

All of a sudden, the waves of nausea and nervousness came back again. Oh, god! I apologize for whenever I made fun of beyblading! This is insane and I think I'm going to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tyson, sensing my feelings of anxiety, smiled. "It'll be fine, you're with the World Champ."

UGH!

Same day, 9 pm, my room

I am never leaving my room. It's now official that everybody knows my secret. My life is over. Maybe I'll move to Russia. Or Canada. Yeah, I'll move to Canada. I heard nothing happens over there. GOD!!

You know what? It's too early to recall everything. I'll tell you later.

Same day, 10 pm, my room

So, Tyson and I emerged from the room and made our way to the arena. And let me tell you, there were a lot of people. I mean a lot! Like, I was all, holy cow, what am I doing here?

What was worse was that I wasn't one of them.

I mean, what the heck was I up here for? I don't beyblade. I hardly even know how to assemble one! And to think, here I am!

"Tyson, I can't do this." I heard myself whisper. My brain was frozen and I think I was on auto pilot, I swear I couldn't control myself.

Tyson stopped waving at the crowd to look at me. "Yes you can." He said quietly so that nobody could hear.

I shook my head. "Seriously, man. I cannot do this anymore. Should I move to Canada?" I am not even joking. I think my body was being invaded by hobbits or something, because I don't say dumb things like this.

He looked over at me. "Canada?"

"Yeah, you know? The winter and snow and stuff. With the hockey and maple leaf."

He smiled. "I know that. But you're not moving to Canada; we are engaged after all."

I didn't say anything after it. Tyson continued to laugh and smile and wave to the crowd, but that wasn't what I was looking at. I wasn't even paying attention to the fact that some of the boys in the crowd were chanting my name, and Tyson mumbled something about moving me to Canada. But none of that was important.

What I was looking at was Ben. He was staring me from the other bench, his eyes fixed on mine. I saw something then, something from the past. The last time I saw him…

"Ben, wait up!"

He looked back over his shoulder, his light colored hair glistening in the evening sun. My heart started to beat faster with each second that past by.

I walked closer to him; my footsteps slow, unlike my heartbeats. He waited for me, his eyes widening ever so slightly. My eyes started to water at the thought of him leaving me, right when I was starting to open up. I had sheltered myself when my mom died with my studies, and right when he came in my life, I knew he was special. It was something about him; the way he laughed, the way he looked at me with admiration, the way I held his hand…

I wrapped my arms around his torso, my head settling into his back. Tears started to fill my eyes, misting up his shirt. How could he? Why would he leave me now? I needed him more than ever.

"Don't leave me." I whispered, so only he could hear. My finger traced letters on his back…I love you.

He turned around fully, his arms circling around my waist. "God, Hilary…" he whispered, our foreheads together. He kissed me, his lips soaked with tears. I wasn't sure if they were his or mine. We clasped hands, like we held tight enough, we'd never be apart. I held on with my life.

"Hilary!"

I kissed his neck, and buried my head in the crook of his neck. "Don't leave me." I repeated quietly, my breath on his skin. He shivered, but he didn't stay. We stayed like this for hours; but he didn't stay. He left the next day.

"Hilary!"

"Hilary!"I snapped out of my thoughts, and looked over at Tyson. "Yeah?"

Tyson looked over at Ben, who was still looking at me. "We're not battling until the very end. Let's go get something to eat." He held my hand, trying to lead me to the cafeteria, but I took back my hand. I had something to do first.

I know, I know, I'm being all sentimental now, but I can't help it. I can't forget what Ben did to me, or how I felt about him before. Those things are things that are going to stay with me forever. And I need to talk to him.

"Hey." I said, once I got up to him. He looked just like he did before, wide eyed, surprised. And my heart was beating just as fast.

But something was different. That's what I wanted to know.

"Hey." He replied, his eyes still sort of wide. He expected me to say something. But I couldn't. All these feelings I had inside of me was there, but they couldn't be made into words.

"Ben, I have something to say, and I really need you to understand what I'm about to tell you." I said, my heart stopping slightly. What was I saying? What am I doing? I can't tell him! Not now!

Ben smiled. "You know how much I understood you. Try me." Tears started to fill my eyes. It was just like before. I wanted to hug him, tell him those three words that were on my mind, don't leave me…

"Hilary! What are you doing here?!" Oh, god.

Kimiko bounced up to Ben, taking his hand, just like I had that time. "Oh, hi Kimiko." I said, with no enthusiasm at all. I didn't even look at her. Ben was giving me a look that told me to understand. Don't leave me, I had thought. Now I knew he was leaving me again.

I smiled at him. "Are you guys partners?" I asked, with fake sweetness. I felt fake, disgusting, someone I never wanted to become. I couldn't believe it. All this because of my engagement.

Kimiko grinned evilly. "Yep!" she exclaimed, "we're going to meet Tyson as the prize!"

Oh, right. The prize was to do something with Tyson, I forget what it is now. I didn't think that was much of a prize, since he'd be talking about himself all day anyway.

Anyway, skipping a lot of boring parts, Tyson and I were at the bench, waiting until the last beyblader is left standing. The rules are that we're supposed to face the two last people that are left with their blades in the dish.

What was weird was that Ben and Kimiko were both left.

And was I surprised. Ben could beyblade! Why didn't he ever tell me? And Kimiko! She beybladed aggressively, with no mercy whatsoever. I shivered slightly. Something was going to happen, but I didn't know what.

I grabbed Tyson's hand. "Oh my god, we're going to lose."

Tyson, still mad about before, let go of my hand. "Oh, so now you want to hold my hand, right?" he said angrily, his eyes narrowed.

I rolled my eyes. "What are you talking about?" I said, standing up to get ready for the big battle. I'd rather beyblade than argue with him right now.

"When you went to talked to Ben," he said, "did you tell him about us?"

I gulped. Not this, not now. "Why would I do that now?"

"Whatever, Hilary. He'll know somehow." He said, slightly evilly. I grimaced; I knew something bad was going to happen. And I was right.

So, skipping to the beyblading part, where everything happened, I think I was doing real good at first. I mean, for some reason, Kimiko was going easy on me. I have no idea why. And Tyson seemed too focused. He kept on attacking Ben's blade instead of Kimiko's, which meant that it was me and Kimiko against each other. Which was pointless, because she hardly attacked me.

Finally, I got fed up. "Kimiko! Hurry up and attack me already! God, even I'm better than you!" I called out to her. Her face went red, but she continued to evade my attacks. Ben said something to her, which calmed her down a bit, but she didn't even attack!

So, I tried again. "You know, if you lose, you don't a date with Tyson." I taunted, grinning when her face went red again. Again, Ben calmed down a bit, but I noticed she attacked me a bit more.

I continued to taunt her. "And, just so you know, I'll get the date with him. This would be pointless obviously, because of the fact that we can go out whenever because our dads are such friends."

"And," I continued, "it can be anywhere. We could go to Paris, the city of love, or Rome for some nice Italian food. Or, better yet…"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she started to attack me with full force. I smiled inwardly. Finally I could use the fruits of my labor to use. I attacked her back, with as much force, and watching her face flush was hilarious.

But, it soon got dangerous.

Kimiko's blade had so much power in it, that it went everywhere. As in, banged into everything, and everyone. It hit my blade, then it bounced to Ben's, then Tyson's, then Ben's again. The problem was, Dragoon's energy was being forced into one big ball, so when Kimiko hit his blade again, the ball of energy hit the dish, and made a huge explosion.

The explosion ripped the dish apart, all the metal leaving and flying everywhere, until the whole field was all dirt and floor. This wasn't what I was hoping for.

Kimiko's face hadn't changed a bit though. She was still as angry as ever. "YOU"RE DEAD!" she yelled, her beyblade flying at me.

I don't remember what happened after that. One minute I was on a steady boulder, and the next minute, her beyblade crashed into the boulder, and I started to fall. I heard Tyson and Ben's voices, but then I was on the ground, my arm killing me.

Even though, looking back, it was pretty dumb, I thought I was dying. I started to make a will in my head to what part of my stuff went to whom. Dad gets my money of course, or Sora maybe….then Sakura can donate my clothes, since she wouldn't want them anyway because they're too small.

Yeah, so when I could stand up again, Kimiko was already down on the ground with me, eager to finish the battle. She charged at me, sending me back to the ground. I got up, anger filling me up, and jumped on her, both of us falling to the ground again.

Tyson jumped down, trying to pull us apart. But I was stuck. All the anger I was keeping inside was coming out. The beyblades were still going, but it wasn't about the competition anymore. I had no idea what it was about actually, but I knew Kimiko was a part of it.

"Hilary, stop!" Tyson yelled, grabbing my waist and pulling me back. I squirmed in his arms, but he was too strong so I quit. My breathing was heavy and I was so mad! "Let me go!" I heard myself say, trying to get out of his grip again, but he wouldn't let me go.

Suddenly, I felt the ground moving, and I knew what was wrong. Kimiko had lost control of her beyblade. It was unstoppable now. You could tell that it was out of control by the fact that the blade wasn't attacking my beyblade…

…it was attacking us. Which was bad, since we were right in the way.

"Kimiko, get a grip on your blade!" yelled Tyson, letting go of me to go talk to her. I huffed and crossed my arms around my chest. Did he just ditch me for Kimiko? I know, it seems shallow at a time like this, but I'd rather be dead than talk to her!

"Hil, maybe you shouldn't have provoked her." Ben pointed out, walking over to me. I looked up at him and blinked. Maybe he shouldn't have picked her to be his partner, I was about to say, until I realized two things.

Tyson was shooting daggers at me with his eyes, which can give anybody the creeps. But that's not as important as the second one:

Her blade was headed straight for me.

Now, let me just say that time stopped still for a bit. All I heard was my head and heart pounding, and the feel of goose bumps coming on to my arms. 'This is it,' I thought, 'I'm going to die. I've never gotten married, never went to high school or prom, never…'

Then, I heard Ben yell out my name, and my body was crushed against someone else's, and I tackled to the floor. Next thing I knew, I was covered in dirt, my body aching, and Ben on top of me, his face buried in my neck.

All and all, it happened pretty fast.

I was looking up to the ceiling, my hands clutching Ben's back. The lights swirled above me, and the sound of the audience filled my head. I had no idea what was happening basically.

Ben started to stir, and he removed his face from my neck and our eyes met. Then I knew what was different about us. It was me. I wasn't needy anymore. Ben was the only non variable in my life, and I loved the feeling of stability. But stability wasn't what I wanted. I wanted variability, the feeling of not knowing.

"Hey!" Tyson yelled, running over to us. He stopped and looked at our position, and I blushed. It was pretty compromising, after all.

"Ben…" I said, telling him I was being crushed. He got off of me, and pulled me up to my feet. I had to lean onto him just so that I didn't fall over.

Tyson stepped in between us, and stared Ben in the eye. "Don't touch her." He said, his eyes blazing with anger.

Ben suddenly what was happening and grew angry. "Don't tell me what to do." He retorted. The beyblades sensed the anger and started attacking each other.

Ben pushed me to the side gently, telling me quietly to let him handle it. What was there to handle? Ben was the one who left me. There was nothing left to handle.

Apparently Kimiko didn't think so, because she came up to me, grabbed my arm and hissed, "Does he know about your engagement?"

I shook my head and turned back to the battle. "That's the problem."

He was attacking Ben's blade, hit after hit, and blow after blow. Ben couldn't handle it. He just wasn't experienced enough. He fell to his knees, his breath coming fast, and sweat coming down his face.

Tyson walked over to him, slowly. Once he got up to him, he said something quietly; I couldn't make it out. Then Ben was up, tackling Tyson to the ground, and they ended up fighting and wrestling in the powdery dirt.

"Stop!" I had cried, but Kimiko told me not to do anything. "They need to get it out of their systems." She said, holding my arm. I smiled at her. The first smile I've given her in weeks.

Tyson got out of the rumble, his breathing heavy. They stared each other down, before they started arguing.

"I've seen the way you treat her!" Ben yelled, "You've got no respect for Hilary!"

Tyson laughed. "So, to like someone, I have to be all gentlemanly? News flash, I don't do chivalry." He said, adjusting his hat.

"You call her names, ignore her, and think she's not important! That's not liking someone. When we were together-"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WHEN YOU WERE TOGETHER!"

"-I made sure she knew how much I love her. I never made fun of her, told her she was the prettiest girl around, held her tight…"

"Don't you lay a hand on her." Tyson said, in a warning tone. His anger had been channeled somewhere, not just beyblading now. His face was red, but I knew it wasn't all about the match anymore.

"So what if I do?" he asked accusingly, his fists clenched. I started to run to them, my heart beating. He was going to say it…

Tyson chuckled. Then laughed. Then bellowed. He was cracking up now. Once he stopped, he looked at him in a serious matter. "You don't have the right to anymore. You left her when she needed you the most. She was so helpless, and you left her by herself.

"I'm never going to leave her, ok? I just can't leave Hil alone anymore. I just can't. And even though it's none of your business or anything, but we're together now."

Ben's face drained of colour. "What are you saying? You're dating?!" he yelled, attacking Tyson again.

Tyson pushed him away. He waited until Ben was up again, until he announced, "We're not just together. Guess what? We're ENGAGED!"

Silence. It seemed like even the audience went quiet. I stopped running and looked at Ben, with his exhausted, defeated face. I looked at Tyson, looking arrogant and proud as usual.

Ben looked over at me, and I think I saw tears in my eyes. But I couldn't be sure.

Because right when I looked at him, he fell to the floor.