It had only been a few hours since the whole ordeal ended.
Zen, wanting to be respectful, asked Jen to send a message apologizing for the situation. Yu did the same.
But just a day later, Zen received a few texts from Jen informing him that her sister—Yu—had been badmouthing him behind his back, saying things like,
"Him going to get another chair to sit on was very immature!"
Zen was honestly fed up.
(And who wouldn't be? Getting called immature for simply removing yourself from someone who hurt you is just… sad.)
He vented hard—so hard that for a moment, he wanted to punch a wall—but then he remembered:
He had God on his side.
So instead of breaking something, Zen left it all in the hands of his Savior, Jesus.
A week later, Zen made the painful but necessary decision:
He would only keep a few close friends and distance himself from the larger groups. His trust had been weaponized against him once—he wasn't about to let it happen again.
His true friends became clear: Marinette, Anya, Tim, Nathaniel, Jasmine, Mary, and Jude.
Zen didn't completely cut off the others—he just moved them into a wider, less personal social circle.
During that same week, sport selections were happening.
Zen decided to sign up for the 1.5km race and discus throw.
Zen (thinking to himself): "It can't be that bad… it never is."
The next week came—the final training sessions. Surprisingly, they only practiced field events, no track runs.
The day before the race, during the field events, Zen competed in discus and secured second place behind his teammate with a combined throw of 18 meters.
When he got home, fired up and determined, he instantly started researching how to dominate the next day's race.
Zen: "Yoo ChatGPT, could you hook me up with the best ways to run a 1.5km?"
A few minutes later…
Zen (grinning): "I might actually win this race. Just need to note this down."
The next morning, he went to school with a whole strategy mapped out in his mind.
An hour before the race, he met up with Jude.
Zen: "You won't believe this. I found an easy guide to winning a 1.5km race."
Jude (laughing): "Dayummm, you ain't lying—most of this is true! I might need that too."
Zen: "I think I got the first race… I'm gonna need it."
Thirty minutes before the race, Zen hit his warm-up stretches.
Before lining up, he pulled his teammate aside and said:
Zen: "Let's work together. No need to outrun each other. It's about points for the team, not individual wins."
Then came race time.
He took his stance…
BOOM!
The starting gun fired.
Zen took off, keeping his rhythm and breathing steady.
By the second lap, he was in third place, holding strong.
At the start of the third—and final—lap, the guy in second place began to slow down.
Zen seized the moment. He surged forward, overtaking him, sprinting with everything he had left.
Zen crossed the finish line in second place—an incredible achievement considering he'd never raced long distance before!
His teammate clinched first, locking in a victory for their group.
As the event carried on, Zen thought his team had it in the bag. But when the final points were tallied, Green Team—the team Yu was part of—took the overall trophy.
The Green Team exploded into celebration.
Meanwhile, Zen, exhausted and disheartened, sat there at the brink of crashing emotionally and physically.
He had given everything, pushed harder than most—and yet, it hadn't been enough to carry the day.
At first, bitterness clouded his mind.
But after some time, he realized something more important:
It wasn't about the trophy.
It wasn't even about winning.
It was about what he had discovered inside himself:
Untapped potential.
Potential that had been held back for too long by toxic friendships, especially the one with Yu.
Zen made a silent vow:
When ball sports season rolled around,
he would be unstoppable.
Epilogue
Out of the ashes of betrayal and disappointment, a stronger Zen began to rise.
No longer shackled by manipulation, no longer dimming his light for anyone else's comfort, Zen understood now what he was capable of.
He had survived heartbreak, isolation, and the sting of defeat—and he hadn't broken.
He had leaned on his faith, pressed through his pain, and found the quiet, unshakable strength that lived within him all along.
The next chapter of his life wouldn't be easy.
There would be more challenges, more battles, and more moments where the easy thing would be to give up.
But Zen had already chosen a different path:
The path of resilience.
The path of purpose.
The path of greatness.
And this time, nothing—and no one—would hold him back.