"I'm kinda of surprised that there aren't a lot of girls in here." Bubbles comments after she strips out of her bathing suit and steps inside of an empty shower.
"I'm not!" Midori declares.
She sits with her legs cross at the ankles and stares at the ceiling of the girls' locker room.
"Those girls out there play some type of sport and want to test their athleticism against one another."
Bubbles scrubs the pool's chlorine from her body with a bar of blue soap that smelt like blueberries and let the hot water to wash off the suds.
"So is this how you guys see who is who of the athletic crowd with Sports Fest? I mean, it would make sense because certain people only play their particular sport. Over time, they'll become arrogant until this time." Bubbles clarifies her question that she asks Midori.
"Bingo!" She confirms while she extends her index finger and thumb outward and cocks her finger upward as if she fires a gun.
"That's why we try to compete in as many events as we possibly can. We gain some respect for being able to do anything." The red head expresses before she listens to the water cease from the shower.
"So it's the same for the girls' that pride themselves on fashion? You can never have a bad day." Bubbles wonders out loud.
She dries herself in the shower before she emerges from it. Midori shakes to show that Bubbles had the right mindset from her point of views.
The girls giggle to themselves when the sound of a whistle captures their focus. This prompts Bubbles to speak up, "It seems as if the highly anticipated relay race is about to begin."
"I should go on and head back." Midori asserts as she stands to her feet and poses, "Are you okay on your own?"
"I can defend myself from these girls." Bubbles assures the red hair girl and includes, "Good luck on you guys race."
0000
"It's about time we got to the most interesting part of the whole competition. The relay races!" Boomer claims.
He removes his cheek from within the palm of his hands and straightens up.
"I gotta agree with you Boom, these three minutes are absolutely boring!" Butch offers his personal compliant.
Brick surprises them once again when he dwells in silence.
"Brick has his mind occupied with Buttercup's sister yet again." Boomer mutters to his other brother.
"Enough! This quietness is starting to bug me out! Will someone snap him out of his deep thoughts?!" Butch hisses since the sudden change in Brick's personality irks his last nerves.
"We can't worry about that now. The races are about to start." Boomer redirects their sights on to the pool.
"Listen up! I truly hate to repeat basic information such as this." Serena advises the group of girls as she drops her whistle from her grasp.
"This go round...you have to be ready to hear my whistle at all time. It will signal the start of the first race. Also, it will be blown again once a team has finished the entire race."
"When that person vacates the platform, I want the next racer to already be set. The format is the exact same as the individual races: breast, backwards, butterfly, and front crawl."
"Do you understand my directions?" Serena questions after she discloses to the girls' their specific direction.
"Yes ma'am." The girls bellow in unison from the other end of the pool.
"Alright then. Breaststroke, you're up first! Board the platform." The orange head commands the group of girls.
Buttercup did not give Princess any words of encouragement instead offers words of advice, "Try not to swim too slow."
Princess flashes a thumbs up and rotates toward the rope lanes that bobbles on the surface of the pool's water.
"Racers take your marks!" Serena yells loud enough from her lifeguard tower. The girls then poise themselves on their platforms.
"3…2…1…" She counts down and blows her whistle, which echoes throughout the entire pool site and the pressure was on for the racers.
"Would you look at that, never would thought Princess hax a good form." Butch, Brick and Boomer overhear a familiar feminine voice claims.
They identify that the voice belongs to Bubbles, who settles in on one of the lower portion of the bleachers. She opts to not block the others' view of the race.
"You did good on your race. Not half bad though," Butch compliments her on her performance in her race.
"Thanks Butch," She accepts the compliment from him, "Is there something wrong with Brick? He isn't as chatty as usual."
"See...and you thought I wasn't the only one who said that." The raven hair teen express.
The group then scope out Princess in the the crowd of swimmers that vies for the first four positions.
"You three wouldn't mind if I joined you? I finished all my races for today so I can just sit back and relax." The blonde poses to the trio before they simultaneously shake their heads yes.
She hikes up the bleachers and relaxes next to Boomer before she greets him with a smile and a hello.
The sight of Midori lauches her body inside of the water with a 'thunk' noise captures their sight. She proceeds to execute the backstroke maneuvers.
"In your opinion, do you think we have a chance to win the whole thing?" Bubbles inquires about Boomer's opinion on the race.
"If they continue with their high spirits then they can win." He honestly opines about the possible end results about the race.
"I hope so." She utters before she reminds him of the incident from earlier, "I hope Blossom will be ready this time. Midori is entering the end of her turn."
"Now that you mention it...do you think that the incident at Bell's pool party still haunts her?" Brick's voice pipes in their conversation.
"And so the zombie speaks…welcome back to the world of the living Brick." Butch revels after he listens to his voice.
Bubbles mulls over the question for a minute to repky, "It could be then again she might be scared of water but that's not it either. I mean, she was underground with you when Buttercup transformed."
Brick shifts his focus to Blossom, who angles her body for a smooth entrance in the pool of water. Her head pops back up on the surface and uses the full length of her arms to propel herself forward.
"Whatever it was had her spooked for quite a long time. I can say for sure and without a doubt that seeing Bell's sudden rebirth could be one of the reasons why." The blonde provides the best response she could to his question.
"What if I told you that I saw what she was scared of…would you believe me?" The orange heas questions, which earns three set of eyes on him.
Brick was unaware that it was something unnoticeable to him but to the others it was present.
'If I didn't know any better…he's wearing his emotions on his sleeves right now.' Boomer contemplates to himself.
'What's this vibe? It emitted from him when he asked that question?' Butch and Bubbles wonder at the same time.
"Why you giving me that look?" Brick lips after he studies the others' facial expression.
"Brick, are you suggesting that you read Blossom's mind?" Bubbles catechizes.
"Is that even possible?" Boomer wonders out of pure curiosity from his tone.
"I think that's a question, that only Serena can really answer. But there might be a possibility that he saw what she saw." Butch includes his statement in the mix.
Brick withdraws, for the third time today, from his brothers and for the first time from Bubbles.
"Has he been acting like this today?" She directs her question toward Boomer.
"Yeah. Ever since Blossom froze up, he has been quiet. It's weird though, because he isn't often like this. Rude and loud would generally sum him up." He remarks while he shrugs his shoulders up and down.
'Hm, Brick sure is one weird cookie.' Bubbles declared with a raised eyebrow.
The crowd abruptly erupts in to cheers and shouts. She then swivels her head to spot Buttercup and Bell draw near the opposite direction of the platforms.
'I want to beat that white hair/raven-hair bimbo/man.' Buttercup and Bell affirm before they submerge, flip away from the wall and shove off of it.
'If someone knew their secret then this wouldn't be exciting as it is now.' Serena assumes. She narrows her eyes on the girls incase of some foul play.
'...but even still, I wonder why Blossom froze up as if she saw a ghost in the reflection of the pool?' Serena recalled the expression she examined on Blossom's face.
'I will have to check that out later. For now, I have something I need to do and that is focus!' She redirects her concentration to the task at hand and that was to monitor the girls, who battle it out for first place.
Serena's whistle reverberates through the pool. The rest of the girls that did not make it back in time floats right in their current position.
"So who won?" Bell and Buttercup demanded with fierce determination written on their face when they stared at her for the answer.
"The scoreboard hasn't finished yet. The only thing it's showing right now are: the times, number one and two yet no names." Serena claims before the girls turn their sights to each other.
"I must say Butter, you impressed me for a minute there on that wall jump . I wouldn't have expected you to push off that hard. I mean it does make sense, because you have man legs." Bell taunts Buttercup.
"I swear Bell, your jokes and insults start to lose their shine like the fake diamond and gold jewelry you wear." She fires back at the platinum blonde girl and adds, "Oh a little heads up, it breaks you out around the neck."
"My, my, my Butter you sure aren't holding back today! I wonder what could have gotten you so riled up? Maybe, its because you know I have Butch and you can't have him." Bell expressed in a soothing tone as if Buttercup was depressed.
Her head shoots backward with a small tint of pink on her cheeks as her mind reels back on the "date" that she was on with Butch.
"You think I would give a monkey's ass that you have that arrogant self-centered boy, who has a shallow ego?! Frankly, you two seem to compliment each other. I'm glad you finally found your Ken doll Barbie." Buttercup snaps at her.
Before Bell could even reply to the statement, Serena blew the whistle, which motioned for them to exit the pool.
Principal Zeal materializes near the lifeguard tower and publizes an announcement.
"The official score between the girls' relay race will be withheld until the boys' have their race."
"Congratulations ladies for completing the first leg of the Sports Fest! You each can purchase one item from the concession free of charge."
"Aw man, and we wanted to see who had won." The girls', who were in last, complain.
When the last of them files out of the pool, they trudges to the girls' locker room.
Principal Zeal faces the bleachers where the guys already begins to shuffle about and verbalizes, "Fellows, I would like for you to go get dress. Make it as swiftly as possible."
"Ugh, its about freaking time! I was becoming stiff from being in these bleachers for so long! On top of that, I had to watch all of the girls have so much fun in the water." Butch conveys after he removes himself from the bleachers and completes a quick stretch.
"I'll catch up to you later, alright Bubbles." Boomer informs Bubbles, who has a small tint of red on her face.
She nods her head and mentions, "Sure. I'll be right here waiting. Good luck on your race!"
Boomer wears a wide smile on his face, eyes closed and shakes his head, "Thanks! Now, I'm sure I can win hands down."
"Come on lover boy," Butch humors as he snags his brother by the ear and drags him away from Bubbles.
'Whew that was a close one.' Bubbles huffs to herself. She buries her face within her forearms to conceal her face from embarrassment.
She feels someone hand pat the crown of her head with their hand before she listens to her sister, Buttercup's voice, "What's wrong Bubs?"
"I'm just tired. That little race on a slightly empty stomach wasn't a good idea." Bubbles admits, which was partially the truth.
"So how about we cash in the reward that Principal Zeal said we can get from the concession stand? Let's go before the boys start their races?" Buttercup suggests to her blonde sister.
"I don't feel like moving. Can you just bring me a bag of plain chips?" She poses when the bleachers creak from additional weight.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Midori's voice interjects when Bubbles feels the heat release from her cheeks and peeks up at them.
"Now you know you don't have to ask me, you're free to come on your own " The raven head remarks with both of her hands on her hips.
"Do you want anything Blossom?" The red head asks her while she steps out of Blossom's path so Bubbles could see her.
"Just get me some chocolate, I don't care what it is." She replies with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Okay then. Bubs wants plain chips and Bloss wants chocolate." Buttercup repeats the list of orders that she receive.
She gestures for Midori to follow her to the concession stand. Bubbles inclines her head when she inquires, "Blossom, what's wrong? You're usually detailed about what you want?"
Blossom diverts her sights on her sister and conveys the answer to her question in her eyes.
'I would have missed it if I wasn't so in touch with my empathy of others.' Bubbles conceives once she studies her sister's eyes.
Her answer soon blocks itself behind a wall of bricks, which earns a reaction from the blonde girl.
"You want to know something Blossom? You had Brick over here worried about you!"
She instantly refuses to voice her denial at the accusation of her and Brick as a couple or even entertain the idea that he would ever care for her.
"Did something happen? People are staring at me as if I hurt myself?" Blossom questions her younger sister, who sits with her eyes train in on her.
"Well…"
0000
Author's Note:
07.21.16 Major editing revision