Extraordinary Losers 3 (2 page)

“Just sit and ch-ch-cheer, I guess. No?” Mundi scanned the sea of children who couldn't keep still. Blue, red, yellow and green, they were settled into different houses.

The four of us – Janice, Clandestino, Mundi and I – belonged to Red House. I was no athlete. Neither was Janice, and certainly not Mundi. The annual school sports meet was a spectacle of talents and only Clandestino could take part. Boring! I was itching to compose a new poem about Sports Day.

After a string of unexciting events, Clandestino rose and skipped down the steps of the grey stadium. “Hey, my event is next,” he said as he winked.

“All the best, man,” we said, offering our own little handshake.

“Sure! I can definitely beat those guys. But of course, I will take my time. I don't want to be toooooo obvious. So I'll play it cool.” He winked again and shuffled down the steps. Whenever he winked, we knew we were about to witness magic.

“Clan, your shoelaces!” I reminded him.

Clandestino bent down, and in less than a second, tied his shoelaces into a dead knot. “Watch me soar.” He winked a third time!

We were thrilled! Imagine watching Clandestino in all his glory! If you didn't already know, Clandestino was fast. And by fast I don't even mean speed-of-a-car fast. He was more like speed-of-sound fast. And for once, he could show off his talent. At the school sports meet!

“Yay!” Mundi clapped, then wrung his shorts in anticipation. “Go show them, Clan! No?”

Out of the blue, a strong arm brushed past me. There was a tattoo on the arm with the initials CH. What did it stand for? It was a familiar brush. A hostile and purposeful one.

I looked up to a hideous face. Adam looked down at me, his facial muscles contorting. Who else in the world had bulging muscles on his face?

Adam had been involved in the great Vandal Scandal not long ago. The four of us had almost exposed him, and now, he had revenge written all over his face.

Behind him were Leonard and Justin. The three of them were the Basketball Pros, the cool guys, the ring leaders and the trendsetters in school. Next to them, we looked like a bunch of losers.

“Not so fast, losers. You forget that he will be running against me,” Adam said, lifting his chin. “Mundi, just because you won the National Math Olympiad competition does not mean you're cool! Only NERDS like you win.”

“Yeah, those with no life. Just like Clandestino out there,” Justin parroted.

Mundi's tongue licked his lips nervously. “But he w-wi-wil-will…”

“Wi-wi-wi-will WHAT?” Adam challenged him.

“Wi-wi-wil-will LOSE!” they yelled. Droplets of saliva rained down on us.

“LOSERS!” they said, before sauntering down the steps.

Mundi whipped out his handkerchief and wiped his face vigorously. “Eeewww… do you know that there's about one million bacteria in just one millilitre of saliva? Yuck!”

“Don't worry, Mundi,” I assured him. “Clan will show them. Wait, where's Janice? I haven't seen her all day!”

I looked around, sipping my cold Milo. It was a real treat! A Milo van had parked itself near the canteen and we could all help ourselves to a free cup of ice-cold Milo!

Mundi and I squinted and stared until I saw in the distance something glittering. It was waving at us.

“Do you see what I see, Mundi?” I asked in disbelief.

“Y-Y-Yeah.” He hesitated. “Is that J-J-Janice waving at us? And is she holding a pom pom?”

“A cheerleader?” I was stumped. Since when was Janice a cheerleader? Cheerleaders are popular, aren't usually overweight and are light enough to stand on top of one another! Janice was all but cheerleader material. She was huge, always seen snacking on a donut and certainly very unpopular.

“Hey, guys, I am here!” Janice yelled, waving her pom pom excitedly. Because my sense of hearing was perfect, I could hear her clearly amidst the shrieks and cries of a thousand Brightstars.

“It is really her!” Mundi finally deduced, shifting his spectacles so that his long eyelashes weren't in the way. His eyes lit up when he saw Janice. “Let's wave!”

Janice suddenly spun around. Someone else seemed to have caught her attention. Mundi waved frantically, still exhilarated at the thought that Janice was his house's cheerleader. I wasn't sure I was too thrilled about it.

“Who is she looking at, no?” he asked.

“Clandestino, you goon!” I laughed.

“Of course, of course.” Mundi smiled. Clandestino had waltzed up to Janice and he was whispering something in her ear. I was too far away to make out the whisper, but I could hear the words “cheer… me”.

Mr Grosse, our form teacher and the Sports Day emcee, prepared us for the final event. “The next race is the 200-metre dash. All participants, please take your stations on the track! So far, Blue House is leading by two points. Red House is behind them. Red House needs to win this race to be the overall winner,” he announced.

Clandestino strode to the track. Adam was already there. He wore his Blue House T-shirt with pride. His mom had altered it so that it accentuated all the bulging muscles he had. It fitted him so tightly it looked like a wet suit.

In contrast, Clandestino's Red House T-shirt hung on his skinny body like a shirt on a hanger. The green and yellow houses were too far down in points to be in competition.

It was THE moment. The two houses – Red vs Blue. All the 250 children in red T-shirts had their eyes on Clandestino.

“Whaaaaaaat? It is the last race, and that loser guy is representing us?” I heard a P4 boy moan.

Another one chimed in, “There goes our trophy.”

Nobody was expecting Clandestino to win. It was HIM, after all. And bad things happened to him. But we knew better. On the outside, we were losers, but on the inside, we were different. Different in an extraordinary way! Clandestino, Mundi, Janice and I. With our powers combined, we were unstoppable. The four of us had already solved two cases of crime in school. But of course no one knew of our powers, for if they knew, we would never be able to lead a normal life.

“Hey, hey,” I said. “He's gonna do MORE than win.”

They all turned to me with looks of disbelief on their faces. “Seriously?!”

Clandestino made his way to the starting position. Adam was two tracks away from him. He wore his stiff hair like an army boy, and there was a smirk on his face when he turned to the sea of Brightstars and raised his arms in triumph. Blue House went wild with excitement. In contrast, Clandestino was stretching his legs awkwardly, like a frog dancing to the jungle beat.

“Oh no, oh no, what is he doing?” Mundi started blinking awkwardly at the floor. He felt embarrassed for Clandestino. Adam was stretching too, but in a way that was making the girls swoon.

Then, just when the match was about to start, Leonard hopped onto the track. He was waving a piece of cloth in his hand!

“Now?!” I moaned. “I can't believe this!”

I strained my ears to listen closely. He walked calmly and steadily towards Clandestino. It seemed odd that Leonard was taking his time when the whole school was waiting for him. He kept his right arm straight like he was marching while his left hand continued to wave the piece of cloth. I smelled a rat.

“Hey, Clan, you forgot this!”

“Huh?! My number 605!” Clandestino said in surprise.

It was Clandestino's race number! And true enough, he did not have it tagged to his house T-shirt.

Clandestino grabbed the number tag. “Why are you so nice to me all of a sudden?”

“No reason, just looking out for all the contestants in the race.” Leonard had a smug look on his face. Very bizarre.

“Thanks.” Clandestino grabbed the number tag, pinned it on his shirt and got into position again. Leonard ran off quickly and disappeared from our view.

I was definitely on edge. Every part of me was anxious for Clandestino; even my toes were twitching. “Come on, we need this! We need this badly!” I prayed.

Mundi's eyes glistened with hope. He turned to me and flashed his deep dimples. We knew we would see magic soon. Images of victory and our friends hailing Clandestino – and by extension us (since we were inseparable) – came to my mind. Would they throw us up in the air? Would our house stand up and applaud us and would we finally have the title LOSERS taken away from us?

Mundi was fiddling with something on his hand. It looked like a peculiar watch.

“Hey, what's that?” I asked.

“Noth…”

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud BANG! A single gunshot sliced though the air, electrifying the atmosphere. By the time I fixed my eyes on the track, Clandestino was already in the lead! Everything slowed down in milliseconds before my eyes. I could see his long legs stretch incredibly, like springs pulled to the limit. Every single leap seemed effortless. The other competitors were far behind. My cold muesli breakfast and ice cold Milo swirled around in my tummy like brown waves crashing about. The anticipation was just too overwhelming!

I heard Janice shout in the front row, “GO, CLAN! GO, CLAN!”

She was yelling at the top of her voice and from the bottom of her heart. It sounded like a thousand students were cheering for him when in reality it was only one fan. And the most loyal one at that! If you didn't already know by now, Janice had a special ability – her voice. She could mimic anything, anyone and everyone! She could mimic not only a voice but also amplify it a thousand times!

“Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, at 5 metres per second…” Mundi was counting Clandestino's speed methodically, blinking with every step. Clandestino was dynamic! He was running effortlessly. Pride was written all over his face.

“Yay!! We are winning!” I cheered.

Everyone could not believe what was unfolding before their eyes. Clandestino, the tallest and the most unhygienic boy in school with the oddly chopped hairdo, was leading the race?

Then, just when the dream of winning was becoming a reality, the tables suddenly turned!

“What is this?” Clandestino yelled. “My legs suddenly feel heavy. Something is pulling me down!” He slowed down considerably and grimaced in agony. The rest of the competitors quickly caught up with him and overtook him!

Mundi stopped counting. “Oh no. Oh no, Da-Da-Da-rryl. What is happening?” His eyes twitched in nervousness.

“BOOOOOOOOO!” The familiar sound assailed my ears once more. It was the sound of losing. The sound of failure and the sound of wimps. We were rudely knocked back to reality.

“GOOOOOOOOO, CLAN!” Janice did not relent. She was still his cheerleader and she was not about to stop now. With all her might, she mimicked the voices of at least 100 Brightstars cheering and applauding. Clandestino looked at the spectator stand, surprised that so many children were cheering for him.

“I have to finish the race,” he mumbled. Of course, only I could hear him. Sadly, my crusty ears (I have to keep them crusty in order to hear less) were my only assets.

Adam pounded fiercely on the track and he was now in the lead. Just as he was about to reach the finishing line, he turned to the crowd and flashed the most goofy grin. With his chest arched forward, he crossed the line effortlessly.

Clandestino was 15 metres behind him, scrambling to finish the race. His face contorted in agony as he used every last ounce of his superhuman strength to reach the finishing line.

“Blue House, five points!” Mr Grosse proclaimed as Adam crossed the line. The whole stadium was up on their feet in exhilaration!

Except Mundi, Janice and me.

“Hooray!” came the sickening yells from the other houses.

Clandestino finally made it to the finishing line, limping. “Leg cramp, leg cramp!” he moaned.

“Boooo! Loser,” the other houses jeered.

We couldn't believe what just happened! I zoomed in on Leonard and Adam and saw them congratulating each other with a high-five! Then Adam strutted back, shaking hands with other students along the way. His stiff hair remained untouched, and not a bead of sweat was on him.

Janice quickly toddled up to Clandestino and offered him a donut.

“Thanks, Jan. But I am not in the mood,” he said. “My feet are sore!” He tore off his shoes and flung them to the ground. “I don't understand how this could have happened!” Desperate to relieve his sore feet, he sat down and began massaging them.

“You started off well, Clan,” Janice reminded him. “Maybe your muscles cramped up.”

Mundi and I rushed down the steps to offer some comfort. We really didn't know what to say. A part of us was upset that he did not win the race. Janice stared at Clandestino while she gnawed on a tiramisu donut. Mundi couldn't bear to look at Clandestino. His eyes were focused on the ground. I mean, all our hopes were pinned on him – Clandestino Chang – and he had only brought us down further.

Some random kids from Red House whose names we didn't even know came up to us. “Hey, if you can't run a race, don't take part in it. Losers.”