They all unsheathed their swords and gazed at the giant English ship as it slowly approached their own.
"You guys nervous?" Tony asked. Karen looked over at Josh and he looked back. They smiled at each other.
"No." Karen said simply.
"Me neither." Josh added. They all stood poised now as the other ship began to line up with theirs. They could see the English Guard donned in their bright red uniforms. How scruffy they felt in comparison. They other ship continued to slide closer. Just then the friends heard "FIRE!" from below deck. With that the booming sound of the cannons could be heard. The friends all jumped slightly. They were not particularly focused on that, however. Instead, they were looking across the gap at the English guard who were preparing grappling hooks.
"Prepare to be boarded!" Jack shouted from the upper deck. No sooner had he said this, came the overwhelming number of grappling hooks flying through the air and catching on all parts of the rigging, shrouds, and railings. The crew all readied their rifles and pistols.
"Hold!" Jack called, arm raised in the air. The English guardsmen all leapt from their own railing and went swinging across the gap.
"FIRE!" Jack shouted, dropping his arm. BANG, BANG, BANG. Only about half of the Guards made it across the gap. The ones who did make it were upon the pirates instantly. Some of the pirates ran along the railing cutting the ropes of the grappling hooks. Josh and Karen had drawn their swords and were doing their best to stave off as many Guards as they could. So many English Guards were now upon them and it seemed as though this was a battle that wouldn't be won.
They had all been friends for as long as they could remember. They had grown up on the same street, went to the same schools, and they were together all the time. Through all of their trials in school and general life, they had become the best of friends and they shared a bond that was like none that any of them had ever known. Their names were Josh Davis, Karen McCleod, and Tony MacMullen. Josh and Tony had met each other before they met Karen. That was, of course, back in the days where "no girls were allowed" and cooties were an epidemic. However, Karen was really not like the other girls at their school. When the other girls were all playing dolls and dress-up, Karen opted for a football or a good mud-puddle. For this, she was rejected by many of the other girls. She never complained about it, but anyone around her could tell that she was lonely. One day as the young boys all rushed to the football field at recess, Josh noticed Karen sitting on the side-lines ready to watch the game just like any other day. Josh walked over to her.
"Do you wanna play?" he asked with a smile. She looked unsure at first, but then a smile met her lips.
"Do I ever!" she exclaimed as she stood up and raced onto the field. The game surged on. Tie game. Only seconds before the bell sounded to come inside. Time enough for one last snap. Josh, who was playing quarterback, shot a look over at Karen. She had proven that she was quick. Quick enough to burn the bigger boy across from her. He gave her a nod.
"DOWN! SET!..." Karen looked into the eyes of the boy across from her. Boy, he was big. Too big. She smiled, cockily at him. He looked surprised. She winked.
"HUT!" Josh called, and with that Karen was off like a shot. She ran the slant right past her defender. Josh delivered a perfect pass as Karen was bolting for the end-zone. Josh had led Karen with the pass. Too much? Maybe. No one could tell. It would be close. Karen sprinted as the ball was making its descent. The boys all looked on hopefully. Karen dove across the goal line and stretched out her arms. THUD. The boys watched her hit the ground. Had she caught it? They couldn't see. She stood up and brushed herself off. Then, she turned and held the ball high in the air. The boys on her team all cheered as the other boys stomped their feet and threw temper tantrums. Karen started to jog back to her team. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony, who had also been on Karen's team noticed that the biggest boy was making his way towards Karen and he didn't look happy. Tony tapped Josh on the shoulder and they both started towards Karen. The bigger boy got to her first. With a sharp shove he sent her crashing to the ground. Tony and Josh began to run. Karen sprang up and shoved the boy back, yelling at him. It surprised Josh and Tony to see her do this. She was so much smaller than him, yet she was acting as though she were eleven feet tall. They could just make out the last part of her sentence as they neared the two.
"…just 'cause you're too slow to keep up with a girl!" she yelled. With that the bigger boy tackled Karen to the ground. The two rolled around hitting each other whenever they were able.
"FIGHT!" called one of the younger boys as all the children rushed to gather around. Karen had found her way on top and was now simply hitting the bully rapid fire. Josh and Tony reached her and grabbed her arms. They pried her off of the boy and pulled her back. They were trying to get her to calm down when the bully spoke again.
"How about you go and cook or something, like a normal girl!" he taunted, wiping a bloody lip. Karen tried harder to rip herself away from Josh and Tony's grip. Tony stepped forward.
"Shut up, Nelson! Karen's better than a normal girl!" he said, loudly. Karen stopped struggling.
"Yeah!" agreed Josh, stepping forward as well.
"What do you two have a little crush on her or something?" Nelson asked. There was a cacophony of "oohs" from the crowd of children. "How could anyone ever have a crush on that?" Nelson asked gesturing at Karen. She was about to charge him, but before she got the chance Josh and Tony were already on top of Nelson giving him what for.
"Break it up!" yelled one of the teachers, as he made his way to the center of the crowd. The children scattered except for Karen, Josh, Tony, and Nelson who seemed frozen. "All of you come with me!" the teacher ordered.
They were all a mess. Nelson had been taken to another room and Josh, Karen, and Tony all sat now in the principal's office. The principal was not there yet. They sat in silence. Finally, Josh spoke.
"Are you alright, Karen?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you guys?" she asked. They were both fine. "Guys…um. Thanks for…well, you know."
"He was wrong to say those things, Karen." Tony remarked.
"I know." She replied. "But it would have been pretty easy for you guys to walk away, too. So, you know…thanks." The boys both smiled.
"Nice catch, by the way." Josh remarked.
"Yeah, that was the best!" Tony added.
"Thanks, guys." Karen answered. The three all started regaling the event all the while laughing and smiling. It wasn't until the door creaked open that they remembered where they were. The principal strolled in and sat behind his giant desk. The children all sat and gazed up at him with fear all over their faces.
"What do you three have to say for yourselves?" he asked. The three instantly started telling their own story creating senseless noise in the office.
"HOLD IT!" the principal shouted above the unintelligible racket. "One at a time."
"Sir," Karen started. "These guys didn't do anything wrong. They were just standing up for me. If you have to punish someone…it should be me, not them."
The principal sat back in his chair and looked at Karen, seemingly amazed. The boys' jaws hung open at what they had just heard. It was quiet in the room for what seemed like forever. Finally the principal spoke again.
"Boys. Can you step outside for me, please?" he asked, in a much warmer tone than before. They both looked at Karen and then back at the principal, confused. "It's okay, boys, this'll just take a minute."
The boys left the room and shut the door behind them. Karen looked at the principal awaiting her punishment.
"Karen, you know that fighting is wrong, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, sir." She replied, lowering her eyes.
"And you know that you could really hurt someone, right?" he asked.
"Yes, sir." She replied, trying to hold back tears. The principal just looked at her for a moment.
"Well, seeing as how you know that, I don't see any problem with just giving you a warning." He said. Karen sat up, shocked.
"What?" she asked.
"You're a good kid, Karen. I can see that. Nelson's a bully. I can see that, too. I'm sure you had a good reason for popping him the way you did. Plus, some other kids told me that he started it." He said. Karen just sat there for a moment, stunned. "You can go back to class now, Karen and tell the boys that they can leave, too."
Karen slid out of the giant chair and made her way for the door. She was stopped.
"Oh, and Karen?" the principal said. Karen turned around. "That was a very brave thing you did, trying to get those boys off the hook. You must really be good friends."
"Yeah, I guess we are." She replied as she left the office. The boys both stood up as she came out of the room.
"What happened?" they asked.
"We can all go." She replied with a grin. They all got outside of the office and Karen told the boys what the principal had said. They walked together back to their classes. Tony had walked into his room leaving Josh and Karen walking together. They stopped outside of Josh's class. Before walking in, Josh turned back to Karen.
"Do you wanna play with us again tomorrow?" he asked, with a hopeful smile.
"Sure." She replied grinning back. They both just stood there for a moment as a awkward silence filled the gap.
"Well…I, uh, better get in there." Josh said.
"Yeah, yeah. You should." Karen replied, quickly.
"So, see ya." He said.
"Bye." Karen said as he disappeared into the room. And she did play with them the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. When they had outgrown playing, the three went to movies and walked home together. They had all grown up and they grew differently. Tony was on student council and played on the hockey team. Josh was quarterback on the football team and loved to play video games. Karen had somewhat grown out of her tomboy phase, but she still played basketball for the school and she was on the student council with Tony. They had grown into different people, but they remained as close as ever.
They all held each other close out on the school's lawn.
"I can't believe this is it." Josh said, taking his graduation cap off and looking at it.
"I know. Just look at us." Karen said, gesturing at their gowns.
"What happens now?" Tony asked. "It might be a long time before we see each other once school starts."
They all looked at each other hoping that the other had an answer. None of them did. They all knew it was true. The carefree days of high school were behind them now and college was coming in fast. None of them were going to the same school. They all had to go where the money was for them. That just happened to be three different places.
"We are always gonna be friends." Karen said, full of conviction.
"That's right." Josh agreed. "No matter how many miles they put between us, nothing can split us up…nothing."
They all smiled at each other. Tony was first to snap out of it.
"Let's not get all sappy." He chimed in. "Right now, it's time to 'celebrate good times, come on.'"
They all laughed.
"Hey, Dream Team!" Josh's dad called. They all turned around. "Get close!" he said, presenting his camera. They all put their arms around each other and smiled. FLASH.
Karen set the picture back down on her desk as she tried to get back to work on her term paper. It had been a long time since she had seen those guys. She missed them terribly. Sure, she had made lots of new friends at college, but none of them were quite the same as the Dream Team. She had to try to get in touch with them over spring break which was quickly approaching. Just then the phone rang.
"Hello." She answered.
"Guess who." he asked.
"Oh my God, Josh?" she asked.
"None other!" Josh replied.
"Oh man! How are you?" she asked, wishing she could hug him over the phone.
"Not bad at all. How have you been" he asked.
"Great. I was just thinking about you and Tony. That is so weird." She exclaimed. "How is Tony? Have you talked to him lately?"
"Talked to who?" came another voice.
"Tony, is that you?" Karen asked. They were on three-way calling.
"And who else did you expect?" he asked. All three of them laughed. It had been a good five months since they had last spoken. It was good to hear each other again.
"Guys, listen up." Josh said. "I just found this ad for a pirate cruise. Have you ever heard of that?"
"Not really." Karen replied.
"Nope." Said Tony.
"It's where you go and you live like a frickin' pirate for a week. You don't have to dress up or anything, but you get to sail the ship and climb all on the rigging and everything. It'll be on an authentic pirate ship. They even teach you how to swordfight and shit. So I was thinking that we should go for it." Josh explained. Karen and Tony's eyes lit up. Before the three had separated they had seen POTC2 and become instant fans. Now they had a chance to do that kind of stuff. How awesome.
"I trust there'll be rum." Tony asked. The three laughed.
"Well, this is for college students so I'm sure!" Josh replied.
"I'm in!" Tony exclaimed.
"How about you, Karen?" Josh asked,
"Yeah, I'll go. Hell, it sounds like a lot of fun." She said.
"Sweet! I'll make the reservations. It'll be really good to see you all again." Josh said.
"Yeah, it will." Karen said.
"Superfriends, unite!" Tony exclaimed. They all laughed. It slowly died away.
"It's really good to laugh with you guys again. I've really missed you." Karen said.
"That's why it'll be that much better to go on this trip." Tony said.
"That's right." Josh said.
"You guys are right. Well, I better get back to work. Josh call me with the details when you get 'em alright?"
"Will do." Josh agreed. "Have a good night, Karen."
"Thanks. You guys do the same." Karen replied.
"See ya." Tony called.
"Bye." Karen said before hanging up the phone. A pirate cruise. What a blast. Karen closed out of her term paper and Googled pirate lingo. She wanted to be ready. Most of all, she could barely wait to see the guys again. She never knew just how much she would miss them until they were gone. They had been such a big part of her for so long and since they had been apart, it seemed that she had lost that piece. She was ready to find it again.
Across the state, Josh took one last look at the picture on his bedside table. Karen, Tony and him. What a team they had made. Thinking of all their exploits made him smile. He grinned as he flipped off his light and went to sleep.
