Chapter Nine
Three Down…the Rest to Go
It was noon the next day, and all the boys who tried out for basket-ball were on at the library. The teams walked down the hall and the three who tried out were nervous.
"Wait, who checks first?" Blaze asked.
"Why don't you two go first?" Sprx suggested.
"I'll check for all three of ya, if you don't move your tails!" Nova said pushing the three.
They walked over to the taped up piece of paper. Chiro went first and then Sprx.
"Alright! Whoo-hoo!" They said giving each other a high-five.
"Hey Blaze. Did you make it?" Chiro asked.
Blaze walked over with a sad look on his face.
"What? You didn't make the team?" Sprx asked.
"No I did. I made captain. It's who made co-captain that I'm upset about."
"Who's co-captain?" Nova asked.
"Congrats Blaze. Looks like we're working together." Someone said patting Blaze on the back.
It was "Mandarin? You made co-captain?" Gizmo asked.
"Yes. Oh, Carbon…how are you feeling?"
"Shut up you jerk. And leave her alone." Chiro defended.
"Ah, my hair-less monkey. You do not scare me."
"Leave her alone. And you can Mandra that too."
Mandarin got a look on his face like he wanted to kill Chiro right there and then, but he just walked away. Chiro turned around and saw Carbon frozen in place. Chiro placed his hands on Carbon's shoulders.
"Hey, you good?" Carbon nodded slightly. Chiro hugged her. "It's alright. He won't hurt you. Not again."
Later that night…
"Ah! Seala!" Carbon shouted coming down the tubes of the MegaRobot. "Guess what! Guess what!"
"Carbon, please, settle down. What is it?"
"Prom!"
"What? When?"
"Two months!"
"You're kidding."
"Not at all."
Carbon handed Seala a flyer and they started screaming. That's when everyone else came in.
"What is going on here?" Melodie asked.
"Prom, Melodie! In two months!"
Then all the girls of the MegaForce screamed!
"Wait, wait, wait. What's prom?" Nova asked.
"It's a dance that you look all fancy." Gizmo answered.
"And…" Sprx asked.
"And…the boys ask girls. The girls cannot ask the guys to a dance unless it was a Sadie Hawkins Dance."
"Sounds like fun." Chiro said.
"Yeah, but I'm not going with anyone." Everyone starred at Carbon. "What? I can't unless Jin asks me and he's all the way on the other side of the cosmos."
"Hey, at least you'll have fun, right?" Elella asked.
"Yeah."
The next week…
Seala and Melodie had walked to their lockers, which were right next to each other. They were talking about prom.
"Yeah. I can't wait. Oh, here they are. I just have to get my science book." Seala said turning her combination. "13-left, 25-pass once going right, 1-left." Seala opened her locker door and inside were pictures of her and Gibson and a small mirror on the inside of the door. But there was something new inside. "Oh my gosh. Where did the purple roses come from?" Seala asked as she pulled them out.
Melodie saw a card and pulled it from the bouquet, and read it out loud.
"To Seala. My way of asking if you'll go to prom with me. Please say yes. With all my heart…Gibson. Aww…Seala, you cannot turn him down after this."
"I know. And I won't."
"So that's a yes?" A voice asked.
Seala closed her locker door and saw Gibson standing there.
"Oh Gibson. Thank you for the flowers."
"You're welcome. Did you say yes to prom?"
Seala starred at him and then wrapped her arms around Gibson's neck.
"Yes, of course. Thank you for asking." Then they walked to class. "Bye Melodie. See you later."
"Bye. Hmmm…" Melodie opened her locker and saw a paper note. "What's this?" She pulled it out and looked around, then back at the note. "Your name is like music. My heart loves the music. There's a surprise at the end of the hall."
Melodie looked to her right, but didn't see anything, then to her left and at the end of the hall, there was something on the wall. She walked down the hall and saw another hearted note. Melodie read the note out loud again.
"You find me. That's good. One thing is you're smart. Another is you're pretty. And one last thing…you're caught in my heart. Go?…Go? What's that supposed to-Ah!" Someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her up and then set her down again.
"It means…will you go to prom with me?" the person asked.
They let go and Melodie spun around.
"Antauri? You set up the notes?"
He nodded.
"So, what's your answer?"
"My answer? To go to prom?" Antauri nodded to each of the questions. Melodie looked at the floor and looked like she about to cry. "Antauri…I'm sorry…but someone already asked me."
"And you said yes?"
"That's how it happens. You go with the one that's asks you first. I'm sorry." And Melodie ran off with tears down her cheeks. She ran into the girls' room and locked herself in the biggest stall. "Why did I say no?"
After an hour, someone came inside the room.
"Melodie? You still in here?" It was Carbon. Melodie stayed quiet. "Melodie? I know you're in here. Come out, come out every ever you are."
Melodie unlocked the stall and walked out. Her face was red from crying and her clothes and hair were all messed up.
"Melodie? What happened to you?"
"I said no."
"What? What are-"
"I said no to Antauri. He asked me to prom and I told him that someone already asked me."
"Did someone ask you?"
"No! That's the problem. I wanted to say yes but it came out no. Carbon, what do I do?" Melodie asked as she hugged Carbon.
"Whoa, Melodie. I've never seen you like this…or ask for help…from anyone. Okay, I'll talk to him for you, alright?" Melodie pulled away and nodded. "Good. Now let's get you fixed up."
Scenes change to Nova, Elella, Gizmo and Chiro…
"Yeah, then Sprx said-" Nova stopped in mid-sentence at the site of someone.
"Nova? Nova? What's the heck…are…you-" Elella and Gizmo looked where Nova was looking and saw the new, exchange boy.
He had black smooth hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes. The girls starred at him as he walked by.
"Hey Chiro. What up?" he asked.
"Hey Will." Chiro said.
Then William walked away. After he was gone, Elella and Gizmo went crazy.
"Oh…my gosh. You know him?" Gizmo asked.
"Yeah…he's on the basket-ball team…What about him?"
"He…is…so dreamy. I can't believe you know him." Nova said leaning up against the wall.
"I thought you liked Sprx." Chiro pointed out.
"Hey, but he didn't ask me…yet." Nova said blushing.
"When?"
"I don't know. Oh…shh…here he comes…Hey Sprx. What up?"
"Hey Nova. Yeah, I'm stressing over practice. I can't make one hoop."
"You'll get there Sprx, don't worry."
Sprx pulled out an envelope. "Here…coach wants us to practice these words. Could you do a quick quiz?"
"Uh…sure Sprx." Nova opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of lined paper. "Okay…here it goes." Nova opened the paper and started reading out loud. "The prom is in one week. Would you go with me?" Nova looked up at Sprx, who was grinning. And smiled. "Ah! Sprx! Yes, yes, yes! Ah!" Nova said as she leaned forward and kissed Sprx on the lips. After a moment, they pulled away. "Sorry."
"Who cares?"
"I wasn't saying sorry to you, Sprx…I was saying it to the others who just watched us kiss."
"Who the heck are you talking about?"
Nova turned around and the other three were gone and up the stairs.
"Come on. Let's get to class." Sprx said from behind.
And they walked to class together.
