I was screwed. Out of all the other days of the year today had to be dodge ball day! I sucked at dodge ball! This was going to be awful!
I was sitting in the bleachers, waiting for Chase to finish changing. I was wearing my new P.E. uniform which was actually a tad big for me. I tied back the end of my shirt with my hairband. As I did this, I glanced up. I wish I hadn't. I meet eyes with the football jerk, Trent. He motioned to his friends to follow him as he glared at me with an evil like scowl. I could only scare.
"Hey. You're that clumsy dork from the hallway." He shouted at me. I wasn't going to let him win this fight.
"And you're the stupid idiot from the hallway." I retorted.
"I see we have the same gym class." He observed, ignoring my comment. By this time he was standing in the row of bleachers in front of me. His buddies boxed me in by standing around me.
"Very good, Trent! I didn't know you actually had a brain in that thick skull of yours!" I taunted.
He grunted. "Whatever!" He barked. "Anyway, know that you don't have your little friend, Bree, here to protect you I can get my revenge. How do you feel about spending the rest of the afternoon in a janitor's closet?" He mused, bawling his fists.
"Um, no thanks," I exclaimed, sticking my nose up at him. That's when I saw Chase emerge from the locker room. "And actually I do have a friend in this class with me."
"Who?"
"Chase!" I called to him, leaning around Trent so he could see me. He looked up in surprise. Our eyes locked and I felt my heart begin to melt again. He noticed Trent and got an angry glare in his eyes. He began marching toward us.
"Davenport? That kids a joke!" Trent and his buddies chuckled. Chase came up behind him.
"You're the joke! I whipped your butt the first day I came here!" He cried with a proud smirk.
"Shut up!" Trent yelled, shoving Chase backwards. I flinched. Chase stumbled a little but didn't fall. I wanted to punch Tent so bad for doing that. "Now get lost! This is between me and her!"
"You are such a-" I began to say, but was cut off by our teacher, Mr. Benson.
"Alright, kids, form your teams!" His deep, rough voice ordered. "No more than eleven to a team!"
There were twenty-two people in our class so I guess that made sense. The football players gave us one last glare and exited the bleachers.
"He's such a jerk!" Chase raged. His face was red anger. I could see a spark of hatred in his eyes as he watched Trent strut across the gym floor.
"Yeah, but let's just forget about it." I tried to calm him down. I wanted to ask him about how he whipped Trent's butt, but he started talking again.
"Did he hurt you?" He asked in concern. That shocked me. I didn't know he Chase cared so much.
"No, but are you okay? That looked like a pretty hard shove."
He grinned. Was that lame to say? Was it wrong to mention it? What'd that grin mean? I always questioned everything I did around him. Talking to boys wasn't like talking to girls. If I messed up talking to one of my girlfriends we could just laugh about it. But a boy would shun you out of his life forever. At least that's what's always happened to me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. He'll occasionally shove or trip me in hallway. He's hated me ever since the first day of school." He sighed. 'Poor Chase' I thought. I understood his pain. I had gotten bullied too at my old schools. And there it was again. That first day of school! What had happened? Once again I was going to ask him, but he was already heading down the bleachers. I ran after him. When we got down to the floor, everybody was already in a team. I noticed all the jocks and hot girls were on the right side of the gym. On the left were all the nerds and unpopular kids. 'Typical high school' I thought. Chase and I joined the left side just as Mr. Benson shouted, "Go!"
Before I realized what was happening, the balls were flying. I ducked behind some tall kid with an afro and zits covering every inch of his face. I whipped my head around trying to locate Chase. Where'd he disappear to? I ran to duck behind another kid, but as I did, a red ball flew toward me. I let out a small yelp and ducked right before it made contact with my head. The ball slammed so hard into the wall behind me I could've sworn it chipped the blue paint. I already knew who'd thrown it. Trent was ginning as prepared to chuck another one at me. Before he could even get a good aim on me, a hand grabbed my wrist. I was pulled out of the way by Chase.
"Thanks." I cried over the noise of screaming teens. His grip still on my wrist made me blush for the third time today. His hand was so close to mine. Maybe I could just slip my hand into his and…no late. He pulled away and smiled at me.
"You would have been a pancake!" He laughed. I giggled as Mr. Benson started yelling at us again.
"Alright, there are two left on each team! All of you who are out can go get a drink from the drinking fountain! You four keep playing!"
I gulped. Sure enough, he was right. Chase and I were the only ones left on our side of the gym. I was terrified to see who the opponents were. I just couldn't stop myself from looking up. Why did I look up? It was Trent, no doubt, and some guy I'd never seen before. He must have been a football player to though. He was a little more buff and muscular then Trent. His ragged blonde hair covered his eyes. He looked shy.
"Let's do this!" Trent screamed, interrupting my thoughts. They both got their balls ready and aimed. Chase and I were left defenseless. Everyone else had cleared out of the gym to get a drink of water. Mr. Benson just sat there, messing on his iPad.
"Uhh…go." He muttered, not looking up.
Then, it all happened so fast.
Trent chucked the ball as hard as he could straight towards me. It was moving so fast, I swear if I blinked I would've missed it go by. I froze not knowing what to do. That's when Chase jumped in front of me. I thought, 'How sweet! He's going to take the ball for me!' But what happened next just confused me. Suddenly, a blue dome opened around us. Chase had his hands out to his sides, holding his palms out so they were facing the dome. Was he doing this? I screamed as the, now two balls, were about to crash into us. I squeaked my eyes shut, ready for impact. But nothing happened.
I heard Trent groan, fast moving footsteps, and the gym door shut. Then everything was silent.
