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The atmosphere was quite tense. A shiver ran down my spine as I imagined the consequences of their unfounded accusations, but one of them responded.

"Uh... no, it's okay, we were just talking to this reckless cadet."

I was a little scared to hear that. If they wanted, they could accuse me of anything.

"Ok, if anything happens to them, call me."

When Arturo left, one of them made a rather derogatory comment about me.

"I see you, and I really don't know how you convinced Lucia, if she was such a serious and dedicated girl."

I felt a mixture of bewilderment and frustration at that statement, was I that bad physically for her to make that comment to me? I knew I wasn't very attractive, but I didn't expect to hear that comment either.

I tried to keep my composure and responded with a feigned smile.

"Well, I have my charms." Although I was trying to stand my ground, I knew my position was compromised. Those words only added to the hostility emanating from them.

"Do you have Lucia's number?"

Desperate for information, I asked them to help me, to share any details about what I was looking for. However, their refusal was immediate and forceful.

"Stay away from us, please, we don't have the information you need. She never told us about it" they said with contempt in their voices. I felt my last hope vanish, as if a door had been closed that I could not open.

Even though I had failed to get her contact number, I would continue to look for a way to contact her.

I decided to concentrate on the intergalactic games, immersing myself in that fictional world while tirelessly searching for information about the ungeizefer in the academy. However, my classmates continued to show their resentment towards me for what had happened. I felt their hate-filled stares and anticipated a new physical attack at any moment. As a precaution, I preferred to avoid secluded places and was in places where there were more classmates.

[...]

I returned to my curricular activities at the academy, and again I was uninformed. Most of the pilots already had their equipment, my only possibility was Arturo, so in one of the flight simulation classes I tried to talk to him. I walked up to his chair of his and spoke to him in front of other cadets.

"Do you have a spot for in your group?"

"I'm sorry, there are already five of us and your presence would be complicated for everyone. I think Guillermo is missing one, find him and talk to him."

He made a somewhat dismissive gesture towards me. It annoyed me in a way, but no one in this place wanted me around to avoid trouble and arguments. He avoided looking me in the eye when he spoke, and I took it as a matter of course.

I had heard about the guy Arturo mentioned to get me to stop bothering him. He was quite troublesome, but he was one of my few opportunities at this date, as most of the groups were full.

Although I was disappointed by Arturo's response, I realized that his group was already full and that adding someone else could create complications. I decided to follow his suggestion and seek out Guillermo, who apparently needed one more member to complete his team.

[...]

After the flight simulation class, I looked for Guillermo in a hold where the ships were located. He saw a cadet inspecting one of his team's ships, and I approached cautiously. He had long hair and a beard that was just growing brown, his eyes were green, his face round, plus he was quite tall.

"Excuse me, are you Guillermo?", I asked him.

Guillermo looked at me curiously and nodded. 

"Yes, that's me, what do you need?"

"I hear you're looking for someone to complete your group. I was wondering if you still have a position available," I explained.

Guillermo looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged.

"Well, since no one else is interested and time is running out, I guess I can give you a chance. But I will warn you, we are a demanding team and expect total commitment, we have definite training dates and only pretty punctual."

I nodded quickly, grateful for the opportunity. "I understand, uh... I have to take some kind of test or something like that to get in?".

Guillermo stared at me for a moment and then smiled.

"Well, I think I can give you a chance. We'll meet early tomorrow morning to discuss the details and plan our strategies. Make sure you are prepared. Not everyone can get into my group, that's why we're short one."

"Thank you, I'll be early at this place."

I thanked Guillermo for giving me the opportunity and promised him I would be ready for the meeting. Although I was excited to join a team, I also knew I had to prove my skills and earn the respect of my teammates.

His team looked at me sideways, and I felt that they started to argue a bit about this situation, but I preferred not to intervene in that.

I wanted to spend the night preparing myself, going over the flight manuals and combat tactics for movement, I knew I had to keep up with my peers if I wanted to earn their respect and trust. They were more experienced and to become second level cadets they had to do a lot of hard fighting to earn a spot in the academy.

[...]

The next day, I met with Guillermo and the rest of the team. We sat down together and started discussing our strategies for the intergalactic games. There were four teammates, two of them wouldn't even look at me. I only knew Guillermo, the rest I had never seen.

Although I knew there was still some tension because of what had happened between Lucia and me, I tried my best to be a good partner and show that I could be trusted. 

"Eh.... Hello?"

"That's the jerk I kicked Lucia out for."

Hearing those words, I felt uncomfortable and tense. I knew that my past generated distrust among some of my classmates, but I couldn't let that affect me. I decided to respond in a calm and assertive manner.

"Look, I understand that there are doubts and resentments about what happened with Lucia," I responded in a calm but firm tone. "But I'm here to participate in the intergalactic games, I don't want to be judged for this. I was already receiving my punishment for this."

Guillermo, who seemed to be the leader of the group, intervened at that moment.

"Listen, I know there are tensions and mistrust, but we need to be united if we are to succeed in the games. Nick has skills that could be valuable to us, and I'm willing to give him a chance. If any of you can't accept that, then maybe he shouldn't be on this team. He can go, with four two left, enough for me."

His words generated some discomfort among the others, but also like the atmosphere, they looked at Guillermo and then at me, assessing the situation.

Finally, one of the team members spoke up. 

"If Guillermo trusts him, then we can give him a chance. But remember, don't let us down. My name is Henry."

The boy who had just spoken was dark, brown-eyed and had freshly cut hair. It struck me that it was him because he was the first to speak. He was quite thin, had a rather serious look, his face was somewhat elongated.

I nodded with gratitude and determination. 

"I will not let you down. I will try to do my best in the intergalactic games."

The other two didn't talk about what they were feeling, it was rather awkward, they both looked a bit alike, maybe they were cousins or brothers. They had blue eyes and somewhat red hair, they had a droopy look and didn't feel much like interrupting the conversation.

Feeling a little calmer, I sat down in one of the chairs next to them. Guillermo started telling me about the plan. I had no idea what this was like.

"Basically, this is like car racing, there are several teams, but only one racer is the one who wins. Here you have to jump over hurdles and withstand the pressure. There are only 10 racer academies on this world. The other 210 on other planets, so we must necessarily seek to qualify."

I left me thinking that, I felt that it was very difficult to qualify, so I remained silent and did not give my opinion anymore, I just listened to Guillermo's comments to understand everything.

"We have to wait for them to tell us where the qualifiers will be, we have to go there on the dates they tell us and the academy will lend us the ships, although I don't think even half of them will support the race."

From what I was hearing, he had experience and obviously witnessed these events. I decided to ask a few questions.

"And the places where the competitions are held are they like in the simulation?"

"They are a little more complicated, there are people who have died, so they are done in the sea so they have a chance to survive and avoid unnecessary losses."

I was shocked to hear that, it was very dangerous. I had to take precautions not to die. I was quite worried, there was a moment when I hesitated to participate.

My face showed my concern, Guillermo noticed it and spoke to me. 

"Don't worry, the ships that the academy brought are water resistant, you would only die if you don't manage to get out of the ship, but that won't happen. There is rescue equipment, sailors etc. It avoids having many losses."

That didn't calm me down, it only showed how difficult these competitions were and how risky it was to participate in them, in spite of everything, most cadets planned to continue. This group was somewhat unique, I just hoped not to have any more friction with them.