Thursday Morning
Everyone was rather lively in the hostel since the academic section was over. There was no going to class, so while Liam and some of his classmates were chatting, Joseph's voice could be heard calling Liam from downstairs behind the hostel, causing Liam to frown. He already knew what was coming.
"I'm coming!" Liam responded as gently but audibly as possible.
He was someone who preferred not to shout. Even later in the future, people knew that he'd rather not answer than shout to someone who was far away. But since this was his senior, there was no way he could snub him.
Liam and several of his friends decided to go downstairs since they had peeked through the window and saw what was happening. They thought perhaps they'd want to witness it upfront.
Reaching the location, they were greeted with a makeshift high jump obstacle course. Of course, it wasn't your typical standard high jump technique being used. It was more like leaping over it, since there was no one who would actually want to break their backs.
"Come and try to jump it. You're tall, so you should be able to!" Joseph said, pointing at the obstacle that was just below his chest—not too high that it was unjumpable, or too low that it was too easy.
Liam had remembered this scene clearly. Of course, now that he knew high jump wouldn't be included later, it was pointless to engage in this. But in the original timeline, he couldn't help but notice that participating played a few roles in his school social life—like giving an impression of him to those that didn't really know him closely.
"Okay, senior!" he said, creating a distance between himself and the obstacle before running slightly and leaping over it.
It was not a great feat—at least, not only he could do this. Those that were confident in their ability jumped after him, including people like Lucas and David, and a few from other hostels like Roosevelt from Vale House and another Daniel from College House.
Of course, this was supposed to be a strategic move from Joseph to see where his hostel would stand in the high jump section. So probably every good jumper from the four hill houses participated. After that, Joseph raised the obstacle to about Liam's chest level.
Once again, Liam jumped with ease. Roosevelt did the same. Daniel also, with Lucas. David had failed, as he didn't even find the courage to jump. Not jumping was actually better than falling and embarrassing yourself in this gathering that had reached at least 40 people from different classes and hostels.
It was raised to above Liam's chest, and this time it was Lucas and Daniel's turn to fail. Well, rather, they both did jump—unlike David, who knew his limit, the rest two didn't. Daniel was rather a do-or-die guy, while Lucas didn't want to fall behind Liam. And as such, they did jump, but thank goodness it was rope they were jumping over, so they could easily press the rope downwards with their hand mid-air to jump it without any harm.
So now it was established that among the hill hostels, Roosevelt and Liam were probably the best jumpers—or rather, one of the best, since not all people had tried, as they weren't present.
However, there was no tension for Liam, as he knew how it would end. This time, it was raised to his neck, and as usual, he jumped it without much difficulty. Roosevelt did the same.
Now it was raised to his head, and he was quite tall, meaning even most people could walk under it directly. He and Roosevelt were also around the same height, so no one had the advantage over the other. It all relied on their skill and technique.
Many people had gathered to watch this. At this point, they viewed it would be impossible for anyone to jump this. However, Liam had other plans. Even in his previous life, he was already confident he could jump it, let alone now that he knew he'd jumped over something even higher.
He got into his running stance, exerting enough force, and with a fluid motion, he leaped into the sky. Time seemed to slow as he looked at the lively and energetic faces of everyone around him. It was a feeling of surreal achievement, even though it would be temporary since he knew Roosevelt actually jumped it as well.
"Guy, how the fuck did you jump it with that much distance between you and the rope?" Lucas asked. It seemed that even if the rope were higher, he'd have no problem leaping over it.
Roosevelt did the same and also jumped it, but less impressively, as his leg was almost touching the ropes. At this point, they could tell who the winner of the next round would be. But Roosevelt wasn't giving up anytime soon.
So they raised the ropes a few inches higher. Liam remained calm, performing the same jump and landing in a graceful motion without even staggering forward. It all felt like amusement for him rather than something he should be taking seriously—perhaps because he knew he would win the final jump.
Roosevelt jumped this time, but it wasn't a clean jump, as his leg touched the ropes, signifying that this was his limit.
Everybody was happy—or rather, mostly people from Ashford House—since they knew their hostel already had the best jumper and would win the high jump competition, even though it was merely an assumption that he was probably the best jumper. Liam could feel every eye on him, but he had to stick with the script of his life, even though he knew it was all meaningless and there was no high jump.
"It seems we're likely going to win the high jump competition!" Joseph said proudly.
However, Liam's words shocked almost everyone present.
"We're not done yet. Just to be sure, raise it even higher!"
This earned gasps and surprised looks from almost everyone present, as it was already pretty high, not to mention Roosevelt was already out.
However, they would be lying if they said they didn't want to see how high he could jump. At this point, even people could be seen watching the scene from College House upstairs, including Class 5 seniors and even the head of school and others. They had all paused what they were doing just to witness this scene.
The ropes were raised even higher—about a head and a half higher than Liam's head—enough that even the juniors holding the ropes had their hands stretched upwards.
"Are you sure you can jump this?" Lucas asked, genuinely worried. It would be a shame if he were to fall and ruin all the buildup and amazement—and probably respect—that people watching probably had about him.
"Go downstairs and bring two beds!" Joseph ordered one of the juniors present.
But Liam simply dismissed it, saying there was no need. He was already sure of himself, unlike in the original timeline.
He took a deep breath as he took off in a burst of speed. After getting close enough, he leaped up in the air. He felt every microsecond pass slowly right before his eyes—the surprised look of some, the smile on people's faces.
There were two faces his gaze had lingered on. The first was Mason, who was looking at him with a smile on his face. Of course, everyone had the same expression.
The second was one of Mason's friends—who, of course, Liam knew at some point had been bewitched by him, but he just didn't know when. Perhaps it was at this moment?
He looked at Liam with curiosity and amazement as Liam crossed the rope, landing perfectly on the ground with a calm smile on his face.
Everyone erupted with different emotions. Even Joseph temporarily lost his cool.
"It's over for you all! Ashford House already has the high jump in the bag!" Joseph shouted toward the upstairs of College House, where not only the head of school but also the HP was watching, as if directly telling them that they should give up on scoring points for the challenge.
Liam, hearing that, couldn't help but smile. He knew that it was all meaningless.
While the rest of the people, seeing the smile, couldn't help but think of it as a smile of confidence—but in reality, it was far from it.