STORMS AND TWISTS

CHAPTER FIVE

It was two weeks later. They had made it to the finals to Melissa’s utmost bewilderment. Everyone loved them at the talent show and it was as if they would emerge winners. Just after their victory was confirmed in the semi-finals, Melissa went to meet them.

“I just hope you survive the final”. She said with a harsh tone.

“Come on, everyone likes us”. Cody said, shoving her irrational comment off.

“Your fame will soon wither away. Trust me guys, trust me”.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, you know. You are just being jealous and seriously, it’s going to do you no good”. Casey added.

She laughed at them.

“You guys think you have talent, isn’t it? I didn’t partake in the contest because all finalists including you both are no match for me”. She said with pride.

“Do you think we are no match for you or you are you are scared of losing?” Casey said, folding his arms.

“I don’t compete with people way below my status.”

“Just eat up your pride. It’s killing you”. Casey added.

“Let’s just get out of here”. Cody said and they walked out on her.

“You fools don’t think you know what I am going to do. If the worst comes to the worst, I’m sorry I will have to sabotage everything completely. You both are fools”. She said and walked towards her friends.

. . .

The day everyone was anticipating had finally came. It was the final of the Mill High School Talent Competition. The school arena was filled with crowd of people. The CM Stars (Casey ‘Manuel and Cody Morris will be facing the Hemi-Gods (Carl, Harry and Jeff) in the power tussle for the ‘Talent 2023 title. The Hemi-Gods were dancers unlike the CM Stars.

The first round came and went. The audience applauded them equally. The second round was more like the first. Both teams were tied at the same point. They were given a short break.

At the backstage, Casey was pacing up and down.

“Calm down bro, let’s think of this together.”

“Can you roll the ball thrice and give it a scissor kick. You were able to bring that into perfection in the rehearsals.”

“Let’s do this bro”. Cody said and they did their signature handshake.

They were called back to the stage. Carl and his friends did theirs perfectly. Casey was frightened. They needed perfection to be crowned as champions.

“Cody, have you got this?” Casey asked.

“Yes. I’m sure”. He said.

Casey walked up to the presenter and took the microphone.

“Thanks everyone. Our next performance is a triple roll and a scissors kick. He’s going to juggle the ball within his feet thrice, push it into the air and kick it. Let me explain this more”. He said and paused to ensure he had everyone’s attention.

“He goes at 5m/s and then uses the pull and push force to take it up. He defies gravity for about five seconds to use the scissor s kick and get a wood work into that goalpost over there”. He explained.

Cody stepped forward with the ball. He exhaled. He did the triple roll but just as he was about to do the scissors kick, he slipped and fell.

Murmurs came from the crowd. Casey rushed to him.

“Cody, are you okay?”

“Yes but my right arm just got broken and I don’t think I can move.” He said, groaning in pains.

Cody was taken to the school infirmary. He was injured and there was possibly no way he could forge ahead even if they were given another chance. The Hemi-Gods were announced as winners. The injury was the end of the journey for the CM Stars as far as the competition was concerned and the Hemi-Gods walked away with the trophy and the huge prize money.

The awarding of prizes signified the opening of Music Fest ’23. Melissa was to sing the opening performance and she did so cheerfully and without hesitation.

It was the next day. Casey entered the clinic. It was lunchtime and had decided to check on him for the third time that day. Cody saw him as he walked towards his direction.

“What more do I want from this guy. It’s 11:00am and he’s already here for the third time.” He thought happily. He was lucky to have such a caring friend.

“Hi, I brought you some pretzels. It’s honey flavor”. Casey said placing the box he brought in beside him.

“Thanks, you even got my favorite. Even my sister hasn’t checked on me not to talk of bringing gifts. You are the best”.

“Please, don’t flatter me”. Casey said with a smile.

They were silent for moments. Casey gave out a wry smile. Cody noticed the change on his facial expression.

“What’s wrong man, you look worried.”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m the one responsible for your condition. Seeing you like this troubles my countenance.”

Cody sat up. “No, you are not responsible for this. You are the best friend I’ve ever met. You are nice and caring. Sometimes in life, what we plan doesn’t fall into place and that’s just what happened.

Casey felt relaxed after listening to him.

“I just felt like a heavy burden has been lifted from me. Thanks for your word.” Casey said, heaving a sigh of relief.

“You are welcome. So what happened in school today?”

“We did the Geometry lessons for an hour today instead of the regular forty minutes. Besides, Carl and his urchins also tried picking on me. They called us losers”.

“Those boys are mean. They’ve got the trophy and I don’t know what else they want”. Cody retorted.

“Anyways, I wrote your notes for you and got Mr. McMillan’s signature on your Math note.”

“Thanks”.

“Do not mention it”.

Just then, Melissa walked in with her two friends, Olivia and Priscilla. She walked up to them.

“Look at what we have here. Two pathetic losers with one maimed just when their hands could have being raising the trophy instead of being broken”. Melissa said and laughed hysterically.

“You are mean. He’s your twin brother and that’s all you have to say?” Casey said.

“You should just shut up. He’s your twin brother; you were born on the same day. That’s what you say all the time”. She said, imitating Casey’s voice to mock him. Her friends laughed.

“Walk out of here you b***h”. Cody yelled at her.

“Well, suit yourself”. She said and walked away with her friends.

Casey said and turned to Cody.

“Do you remember the day I was arguing with you that there still some good in her?”

“Yes, that was the first time you met her in the school”.

“I was wrong. She’s bad and evil”.

Cody stopped for a moment. His countenance changed.

“Why are you looking sad? Casey asked.

“I feel bad. We got into that competition to show off to Melissa. You warned me but trying to prove her wrong got us here. I’m sorry”. He said with sincerity.

“It’s okay. There’s no need to be sorry”. Casey said, patting his shoulders.

They were both silent for moments. Casey felt someone was behind him. He looked back only to see Mr. Frank Hudson, the coach to the school’s football team. As far as they could recollect, they had no business with him or the football team.

“Good morning sir”. Casey said nervously.

“Good morning boys. Cody, how are you feeling now?” Mr. Hudson asked out of concern.

“Quite better sir.” Cody replied.

“I know you might be pondering about my presence here because you don’t have any affiliations with me. Well, I have a reason for being here”.

They turned to each other in confusion and back to him.

“I saw all your performances at the talent show and none of my players have what you’ve got”.

“Sir, it was an epic fail. It went viral”. Casey countered.

“I don’t allow mistakes to decide for me; instead I find the best mediums to rectify them.” He said and paused to see if they still their eyes and attention fixed to him.

“So how about Cody Morris be the assistant captain of the football team and Casey ‘Manuel be the coach for the junior football team.” He said in a suggestive tone. Actually, it was more of compulsive than suggestive.

“No sir”. Casey replied politely.

“Nonsense, I would not hear of it. You guys have the potential and that’s what the football team needs.”

Casey and Cody turned to each other for approval and then back to him.

“Okay sir, we accept”

“Okay. I will come and brief you guys about everything and Cody, I wish you speedy recovery.”

“Thank you, sir”. They said after him.

. . .

It was soon the end of lunchtime. Casey pondered at the invite as he strolled through the school premises. Cody too couldn’t get it off his mind. They couldn’t quite place the dramatic turn of events. The epic fail shattered their hopes but now the invitation to the school football team had its way of pacifying them.

It was soon the close of the day’s academic activities. The bell chimed to establish that fact. Melissa walked up to the desk; this time not in the company of her friends.

“Hey, what do you want?” Casey asked with a shrug.

“It’s nothing actually. I see you are still heart-broken. That epic fail really crushed your spirit so bad. I hope you recover soon.” She said, expressing pity on her face. It was not genuine.

“Haters got to hate.” Casey said.

“No, you got it wrong. Winners got to win and losers got to lose. You see, I am a winner but you and my brother are big losers”. She said, chuckling loudly.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

“There’s one thing you don’t understand now. Who you are today does not matter but what’s in you does. The end does justify the means”. He said in his usual way that was hard to detect whether he was angry or not.

Before she could say another word, he took his backpack and walked away. He had planned to study till 3:30 p.m. before he went off to see Cody but Melissa’s irrational behavior made his plans flexible. He had to check on Cody earlier than he had expected.

As he walked on, he tried placing differences between Melissa and Clara. They were both celebrities but way different. Clara was his mother, comforter and everything while Melissa was working towards shattering her brother.

“I’m so lucky to have Clara”. He thought.