Date The CEO.com

Chapter 216: The Race plus Leftover Burrito

The Sack Race had a few rules. 

The participants for each group had to be one student and two guests. The three of them would share one sack together and make their way to the finish line. The winning group would receive a coupon that could be exchanged for any prize at the designated booth. 

They also received free sweets from the dessert table.

Safe to say, Eri looked forward to winning.

Eve passed a glance towards the dessert table. A tower of French macarons caught her eye. Suddenly, the ad campaign fled her mind. Her stomach became her new brain. This was destiny and nothing was to get in their way.

Mikael shivered. A sudden bad feeling washed over him. 

He tapped Jordan's arm. "Is it just me or should I flee for my life?"

His manager frowned at him. Then, he followed the latter's line of sight. The Hart sisters seemed to be having a heavy discussion about the game. He snorted. "You're exaggerating, Mikael. Don't be dramatic."

Shrugging, Mikael lifted up the sack and gathered up the edges. 

"Are you ready, Mr. Davis?" Eve asked as soon as she reached his side.

"I told you to call me, Mikael."

"I will if we win."

Mikael narrowed his gaze and held out his hand. "Deal."

As their strategy went, Eri stayed in the middle of the sack. The other teams had thought the same thing. The principal waited until everyone was ready. A bright smile was plastered on his face. The energy was just right. He was glad he picked this one for the shoot.

"Uh, Ms. Hart, I think you should take off your glasses," Jordan advised while she and the others practiced their jumping. "They might fall off and be stepped on."

"Oh, I…" Was there really a choice? Eve pulled off her rectangular frames and handed them to him. "Protect it like it's your life. I didn't bring extra with me."

"You got it."

"This means I'll have to trust the two of you all I see is a blur." She said, turning to her teammates. Their faces were a blur in her eyes. She shifted her attention to the lanes and hardly detected the small fences. One misstep and they'd fall over.

Eri patted her back. "You're in good hands, Eve."

Mikael nodded along with her. "That you are."

"Thanks, guys."

"Alright!: The principal called out from the stage. The spectators cheered for the players. He aimed his pistol at the sky. "On your marks…, ready…, get set…, GO!"

"Squat!" Mikael yelled above the noise. The two girls did as they were told. "Jump!"

His instructions helped them to stay in sync until the end. It also helped Eve's lack of clear vision. Each jump resulted in a long stride. Others who chose to amplify their speed fell over halfway. No one was allowed to get off the sack during the race, making it hard to get back up.

The three minded their own business. There was only them and the finish line ahead. 

"We're almost there!" Eri exclaimed, her heart thumping in her chest. She held her breath as they made their last leap. "And…! Woohoo—! WOAH!"

Eve landed on a bad angle and toppled over the finish line. Her sister lost her balance immediately and Mikael fell flat on his face. He pushed the sack off his legs, scrambling to stand up. He checked on the girls to see if they were injured.

Eri sat up on her own and dusted off the dirt from her top. Once Mikael saw she was fine, he moved to the last person still on the ground. 

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!" Eve cackled, rolling over to her back. Her mouth was opened wide and her eyes were squeezed shut. She brushed off her black bangs from her face. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA...!"

Her amused outcries led to a series of coughs.

Mikael shook his head. Generally, he thought people who fell most likely to get laughed at by others—and not by themselves. "Is that a sign of a concussion?"

"I-I'm fi-fine," she managed to say in between coughs.

Eri whirled her head from left to right. "Did we win?"

"You most certainly did, young lady!" The principal announced from behind her. He held out his hand for her to hold. "Come! I have your coupon. Let's pick up your prize."

"Yay!" The little girl clapped and rose to her feet. The principal accompanied her to the prize booth, leaving Eve and Mikael alone.

"Better?" Mikael asked as Eve recovered from her fit. He had one knee on the ground and had rested his cheek on his knuckles. If she was okay, there was nothing else to do but wait. 

"Much. Thank you." She chuckled, finally getting up. She cleaned off the fallen leaves and dirt that clung to her sweater. "What's the next game?"josei

Jordan jogged up to them and gave her her glasses back. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "It would be a mini game around the park. Does Ede have anything in mind?"

Eve cleaned off the lenses before putting them back on. "Oh, well… There's one game she always loves to play. The key is that she is the boss though."

"Great! I'll tell the crew about it."

She pressed her lips together and searched for her sisters. Ede had joined Eri at the prize booth. They talked about the different options while the principal focused on smiling. Her gaze shifted and spotted the photographer with them. 

She chuckled and slapped the back of her hand on Mikael's torso. "I bet you ten bucks that they'd ask for that bunny holding a chainsaw."

"They're your sisters. I just met them today. That's an unfair bet."

"Pft. Fine."

A man took down the plushie and handed it to Eri. She hugged it tight. Meanwhile, the principal snapped his wide eyes to the representative of the booth. They hissed between themselves with the principal pointing at the camera crew.

"I still get to enjoy being right anyway," Eve celebrated by herself. Mikael rolled his eyes.

"Eve! Eve! I got a wabbit!" Eri showed, running back to them. Her twin kept up with her pace.

"It's very cute." Eve smiled and patted the plushie. Then, she turned to Ede and booped her nose. "Now, it's your turn, missy. Who do you want? Me or Mikael?"

The younger twin assessed them both. She circled them, inspecting every inch. Mikael felt like he was under a microscope while Eve wasn't bothered. When Ede reached their front again, she made her pick. 

"I choose Mikael."

"Huh." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Eve. "Guess, I'm better than you."

"Yes, I am absolutely devastated. I feel incompetent to be called their sister." She sighed, her shoulders hunched. She sent him a grateful smile and said, "Thank you for being here so she can have someone to rely on."

Mikael lost his train of thought. He wasn't sure what it was but that same feeling came back to him. Before he could say anything else, Jordan and the photographers picked them up. 

It turned out that he didn't need to ask. 

The answer came as soon as they reached their destination.

"Cling wrap?" Mikael eyed the tubes upon tubes of plastic film. 

Eve and Ede got to work. They unsealed as many as they could for efficient use of the actual game time. Jordan tried not to laugh. The task proved to be difficult. The look of utter horror on his model's face was hard to resist. 

Oh, it was good that this would be taken by a professional team.

He wanted this in high quality.

[Disclaimer: This is not encouragement for plastic to be wasted in this fashion.]

"That's right. You have longer and stronger legs so after we wrap you up like leftover burrito, you're gonna hop up to that apple on a string over there and eat it whole," Eve informed him. She walked up to his side and patted his shoulder. "Like I said, thank you for being a reliable teammate for Ede."

"Ha-ha." Mikael breathed on her face.

She wrinkled her nose and fanned off his laugh. Then, she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm sure it would also be popular in the ad campaign. Guaranteed success. Congrats!"

"I think that's enough," Ede declared, counting the unsealed tubes. She brushed her hands together and stood next to her sister. "Yes, I think that should be enough. You get the top and I get the bottom?"

"You got it. Are you clockwise or counter-clockwise?"

"Clockwise."

"Then, I'm counter-clockwise."

Eve suddenly pointed at Mikael. "Or we could have him spin for us instead."

"But then he'd get dizzy," Ede countered without hesitation.

"And this is why you're the smartest one out of all of us." Eve raised her hand for a high-five. Eri and Avery cheered from the sidelines. Gin watched from a bench behind them. 

Meanwhile, Mikael cursed under his breath. He took off his extra layers to speed up the process. The sooner it ended, the sooner he'd feel better.

The sisters picked up their first tubes. When they received the signal, Eve slapped the edge of her plastic film on Mikael, causing him to flinch. She stepped back for a long radius—which gave room for Ede to circle around him without either of them hitting each other. 

Their laughter echoed around the park, bringing more attention to the game.

It became the academy's most popular one for years to come.