How the TV Got Broken ("Mush-Head Sun-Baked")

Okay, he was impressed: having a TV that was connected to all the cameras was pretty wicked. Just by clicking buttons on the remote, Ezekiel could observe anything happening on the other side of the island, flipping from camera to camera. He could split-screen it too, and was watching the dodgeball game from four different angles when the sleepy Eva staggered in and flumped onto the opposite end of the couch.

"What's going on in here?" she mumbled, and then answered her own question by saying, "Oh, sure they have the freaking sports challenge right after I get thrown out."

Ezekiel shot her an uncomfortable look and reached up to rub his throat. Eva yawned and rubbed one eye, but her attention was all for the screen, so he looked back at it too. Together they watched as that chicken-hatted girl, the big dark-skinned guy, the party boy, and the guy with the weird green hair threw all four of their dodgeballs at that one really big kid. Owen, wasn't he? It was something like that.

"Hmm," Ezekiel heard Eva murmur, "I like Mohawk's style." Then, "I should be playing there right now."

"I'm… sure you'd be great, homes. Really, I think."

"Shut up, Homeschool."

The red team's dodgeballs came again. A dark-skinned girl went down, followed by Izzy, then the girl with the ponytail and glasses. After that it was a guy with dark hair and tan skin, and Eva sucked in a breath through her teeth and muttered, "Pretty-Boy."

There was an Indian kid sitting on the bleachers, reading a book. He looked up when Chef blew the whistle and stared out at the court, unimpressed.

"Come on, a little effort out there, people," he called, and immediately pulled away, eyes darting, as Izzy and the dark-skinned girl glared at him.

"See that guy, homes?" Ezekiel asked, pointing him out to Eva. "He's been sayin' stuff like that the whole time, and he hasn't played e'en once."

"What? That's freaking stupid. Why not?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe he hurt his ankles or somethin'. Maybe he just don't like sports."

"Not like sports?" Eva spoke with the same tone she might have used for 'Not like ice cream?'

One team had pulled aside to plan their strategy, and the other had gathered around the bleachers. A girl with long, shiny black hair like Jessica's had apparently taken charge.

"Okay. Not that Noah here cares" - the boy with the book glanced dully at her - "but we are not losing another game to these guys, got it? And where is Lindsay?"

She stomped away, and a few minutes later she had returned with a blonde girl in tow. After ordering her to sit down she asked Noah, "So how are we doing?"

At the same moment, a volley of dodgeballs slammed into the girl with glasses.

"Sports," Noah said without looking up. "Not my forté, remember?"

"This guy's a complete moron," Eva decided. The girl on-screen apparently had the same thought.

"You know, you could actually give it a shot and at least pretend to care."

The dark-skinned girl went down again. Noah's face had Mm, yeah, I don't think so, written all over it.

Eva said, "Seriously. That should be me playing out there."

Ezekiel also wished that Eva could be playing out there, as it meant she wouldn't be here with him. He was still hunkered down on the far side of the couch, one hand on the remote and the other resting protectively on his throat. He shifted one of the cameras, Eva snapped at him for it, and he fumbled to find the correct angle again. They both watched as Noah raised one fist and sarcastically said, "Go team, go," without raising his eyes from his book.

What a knob.

The game resumed. Apparently this was the tie-breaking round, and it certainly was a long one. The red team and the green team kept tagging each other out, catching the balls, bringing their respective players back in. Noah "cheered" them on from the sidelines.

"Knock 'em out, throw 'em out, rah, rah."

The blonde-ponytail girl threw the dodgeball, smacking Noah in the face with it. "Ow!" he shouted, dropping his book and falling backwards; only his feet stuck up over the bleachers. The girl clapped a hand over her mouth, but everyone else was grinning in amusement. The throw had certainly looked like an accident, but at the same time, Ezekiel wouldn't have been surprised if it wasn't. He chuckled, Eva snorted in amusement, and the black-haired girl on-screen smirked at her downed teammate.

"You're right. Sports aren't your forté."

"Hmm," Noah said. He righted himself, picked up his book, and went on reading like nothing had happened.

"I should be there," growled Eva, clenching her fists.

The blows began trading again, people swapping in and out. After being thrown out, a scruffy-looking boy with brown hair and a gap between his front teeth offered a dodgeball to Noah. One final offer.

Noah said, "Feh," and knocked it away with a backhand swipe.

"What the heck is that… that… fruitcake doing? Doesn't he know that if he doesn't help they're going to vote him off? How can he freaking just sit there and act like that? If I were still in the dumb competition, those pussycats'd see how much they need me!"

Angrier and angrier, huffier and huffier, half-standing now. Ezekiel widened his eyes and sunk deeper into the couch cushions.

"It's not fair that he's still in and I'm stuck in this dumb place! It's not fair that he's just throwing away… that he's not trying… It's not fair that he got the chance to participate in a sports challenge and I didn't! He doesn't even want it! That's not fair! That's just so freaking stupid!" Eva lunged forward, grabbed hold of the TV, and lifted it above her head. Wires snapped loose, sparks fizzled, and she turned and hurled the screen across the card room. It crashed and sort of rolled on its corners, then fell over face-down on the floor.

Ezekiel didn't know what to say. He was pinned to the couch, frozen, his knuckles turning white with how tightly he was gripping the cloth cover. A strangled noise came from his mouth: Something like "Uh, uh…"

Eva stared at the TV, her shoulders trembling, her lips twitching. Then she snorted and folded her arms, looking away from what she'd done. Her gaze fell on him.

"What?" she snarled after a few seconds, and when he didn't reply she stomped from the card room, calling, "Aw, forget this!" back to him over her shoulder.

"Ah…"