Chapter 4

Katie's POV

"Who are you? What are you doing? Damn it, you ruined Terry's celebration!" Lily's shriek came from behind me.

I jolted, snapping out of the excitement of meeting my idol, and instantly felt even more embarrassed. I couldn't see my own expression, but I imagined it must have looked particularly pathetic.

Looking back on my nineteen years of life, no moment had ever been more humiliating than this. At the thought, my eyes burned hot again, that sense of grievance impossible to suppress, my chest feeling like it was weighed down by a heavy stone, tears streaming down silently.

I just wanted to leave this place immediately, right now!

The moment my feet moved, Coach Garcia walked past me toward Percy, his expression displeased and exceptionally serious. "You're still the same as before—impulsive, reckless! You should apologize to Terry and to all the members of our team."

By now Lily, Terry, and all the team players had gathered around, forming a circle that trapped me in the middle and blocked my way out.

Some tennis team members recognized Percy and whispered about his identity.

Lily looked contemptuous. "I don't care who he is—right now he needs to apologize to Terry."

Garcia took control, stopping their discussion. "Alright, no need to bring up the past. The league is coming up, and Percy is the practice partner I've found for everyone."

"Oh my God, Coach, the former U.S. Open Junior Champion is going to be our practice partner? Did I hear that right?" As I mentioned, George was really noisy. I glanced at him as he circled Percy like an excited monkey, making strange noises.

Terry frowned, the corners of his mouth turning down. Seeing him like this, I knew he was unhappy—extremely displeased, in fact.

What was he so upset about?

Terry and I had both watched Percy's championship match three years ago, and we'd discussed the overwhelming public opinion together. I stuck to my view that Percy hadn't used performance-enhancing drugs—not only because USADA had issued a compliant test report and the ITF hadn't revoked his championship or prize money, but because of Percy's consistency in matches and his match-by-match data that couldn't lie.

But Terry insisted Percy had used performance enhancers and that such an athlete without integrity should be banned for life.

I'd always thought Terry was righteous, just overly so.

Turns out I was completely wrong. A righteous person wouldn't betray someone's feelings and then frame them, letting his new flame destroy my dreams.

"Coach, Percy isn't qualified to be our practice partner. He's not even qualified to stand here and defile our court," Terry declared sanctimoniously.

Hypocrite, I cursed inwardly.

"Katie, do you want to leave here?"

A low voice reached my ears. I looked up and met Percy's gaze. "Do you want to leave here?"

He asked me again, his voice very soft and calm. I couldn't detect his emotions. How did he know my name? Why was he asking if I wanted to leave? He'd just ruined the celebration with a tennis ball, and now these people were slandering him—shouldn't he fight back?

Questions piled up in my mind. I couldn't think clearly. Too much had happened today, and my own affairs were already a mess.

Yes, I wanted to leave here.

Lily blocked my way, her harsh voice ringing out again. "Katie, you're quite famous! The U.S. Open Junior Champion who used performance enhancers knows you!"

Instantly I felt everyone's eyes on me, the air suddenly becoming thin, making me uncomfortable.

Trouble! Why did Percy have to call my name, making me the focus again? I'd become Lily's target for attack once more.

"Let me guess—earlier you were so confident our team would definitely win the league championship. Oh my God..." Lily covered her mouth, looking at me in disbelief. She hadn't finished speaking, but I knew she wouldn't say anything good.

Seeing I didn't respond, Lily was obviously unhappy, her tone becoming aggressive. "Coach, for the honor of our team, for your reputation, and even for the school's reputation, Katie must leave the team. She knows people like Percy who use performance enhancers—inevitably she'll use such dirty tactics on our players."

"Lily has a point."

"This won't just ruin our team, it'll ruin our futures."

Such unreasonable accusations, and yet people were agreeing, as if I'd already forced them to take performance enhancers.

The abuse shifted from me to Percy. I looked up at him. He still hadn't defended himself, just looked at me. This time I understood the emotions in his eyes—irritation, anger, and suppressed pain.

Endurance had always been my forte. The most advantageous thing for me right now should be to let them shift their attack target to Percy, so they wouldn't attack me.

But why should I?

What right did these people have to convict someone without evidence?

Public opinion had forced Percy into retirement before he could even compete in professional adult tennis, a rising star dimmed before its time.

That year's U.S. Open Junior runner-up was now a TOP 20 star athlete, surrounded by fame, applause, glory, and wealth.

And Percy? Enduring others' abuse.

"Enough!" I turned and stood in front of Percy, confronting Terry, Lily, and the others. "If you had any sportsmanship left, you couldn't say such things."

"Many people online who don't understand tennis join the discussion, but are you people about to compete in NCAA tennis also ignorant? Three years ago in the junior tournament, his first serve win rate was as high as 90%. Terry, if you took performance enhancers, could you reach those numbers?"

Data was my absolute domain. I was even more aggressive than Lily now.

Terry's expression could no longer be described as merely ugly—he looked like a monster about to breathe fire.

"He ran over 3.5 kilometers in every match, but his average heart rate remained stable at 135 beats per minute even in the deciding set. The heart rate changes from performance enhancers cause abnormal spikes and physical exhaustion. This is a body trained through long-term aerobic endurance. George, if you put any effort into your stamina, you wouldn't be stuck in doubles unable to move. With your technique, you'd have a place in the men's singles main lineup, and you could win championships in doubles too."

My gaze swept over the players one by one. Since I was going to offend people today, I might as well do it thoroughly.

This internship position was lost anyway.

My shoulder was suddenly patted by Percy behind me. I turned my face to look at him.

"Katie, thank you for believing in me. You don't need to say anymore. You've said these things many times. Thank you."

Many times? This was my first time saying it! I had said it many times online, but it was always covered by more rumors.

I wanted to say more, but Percy stared into my eyes. "Listen to me now."

"Coach Garcia, thank you for introducing me to tennis, but I don't play anymore, and I don't want to be anyone's practice partner."

Percy refused quite decisively. His gaze swept over the players and finally landed on Terry, but he was speaking to me.

"A month ago in the exchange match with CMS Academy, Terry defeated their men's singles number one. The analysis report of Terry's data was really spectacular—it got a lot of attention on the forum before being quickly taken down. Katie, did you write that report?"

That report? So it was that report!

Percy had actually read that report. It wasn't signed, but he must know that data-falsified report wasn't written by me!

How could I have forgotten about this?

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Lily, you're finished. You can forget about kicking me off the team!