Chapter 3

I turned down Emily's offer coolly. "It's fine."

She teared up instantly. "Julie, do you still blame me for what happened yesterday?"

Elijah showed up right after that and pulled her into a consoling hug. "Em, that was not your fault. You had good intentions. Julie was the one who was ungrateful. Thanks for filling up my bottle. We'll win first place for sure."

She flashed him a sheep smile. "I believe in you. All the best to you all."

Before our turn, I took out my bottle, ready to drink, when I noticed some unknown white powder on the rim. My hand trembled in shock.

It dawned on me that I still failed to fend off Emily. Had I drunk the water just now, I would have gone through the same ordeal as in my past life.

I looked over to Emily and realized she was staring at me. She urged, "Julie, hurry up and drink. It's your turn to compete soon."

I put the cap back onto the bottle. "Nah, I'm good. I'll take a trip to the restroom. You guys go ahead."

At the restroom, I still failed to soothe my anxiety. I couldn't shake off the bad feeling that something bad was going to happen.

…

Half an hour later, the competition kicked off. As expected, my team won first place. All the team members received extra credit.

They hugged each other and cheered excitedly. "We've succeeded! I knew we could do it!"

Suddenly, two staff members approached the team and killed their buzz. "Who's Julie Schumer?"

All eyes were on me. I took a step forward. "I am. What's wrong?"

One of them took a look at me before announcing, "Someone has accused you of doping and cheating. Please cooperate with us to undergo a doping test."

I frowned and left with them. I could sense the nervous glances of my teammates.

"Julie, you didn't take any substances, did you? Our team gave our all in this competition."

I nodded, reassuring them, "I did not."

They seemed relieved as I followed the staff members for a doping test.

…

The results were out in an hour. The staff member submitted them to the organizer, who barked angrily, "We found stimulants in the blood of Julie Schumer from the winning team. As such, we will treat this as cheating. The team score will be nullified, and Julie Schumer will be banned from competing for life."

The findings shook me to the core. I obviously did not drink the water Emily handed to me. So, why did the doping test still come back positive?

My teammates turned to me after they heard the organizer.

Elijah, unable to contain his rage, slapped me across the face. "Julie, how dare you take stimulants? You've wasted everyone's efforts!"

Other teammates tugged and yanked me.

"Julie, how could you? We trained day and night for a year just for this competition. You've ruined it!"

The audience mocked me too.

"Don't compete if you are not as good. How could you take stimulants? That's appalling."

"I couldn't believe you're from our college. You're trash!"

"You don't deserve to represent our college. I will lodge a complaint with the administration and get them to expel you. We don't want you ruining the college's reputation."

In their anger, they hurled stuff at me.

Balling my fist, I turned to the organizer, protesting, "I refuse to accept the outcome."

Emily pretended to dispense earnest advice. "Julie, wake up! Just apologize. We'll all beg for leniency on your behalf."

I met her advice with a snicker. "I did not break any rules. Why should I admit my fault?"

Elijah pointed a finger at me angrily. "The results are out. How could you dispute it? What's worse than cheating is you refusing to admit to it. You are an embarrassment to our team."

The organizer looked at me. "Why do you refuse to admit it?"

A smile appeared on my face. "That's because I did not even take part in the first place."