Author: Ren Kayashima
Rating: T
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me.
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Chapter Ten:
"What!" Stephanie shrieked. She whipped her head around to stare at her daughter. "Allegra are you crazy?"
"Mom it's a game," Allie said. "And one I don't plan on losing." She looked around the gym and spotted Helen and Frank Plum walking in with Grandma Mazur.
Allegra skipped over to her grandparents. "Welcome to Princeton High's annual Dodge Ball Tournament," she smiled. She pointed towards the small, but growing group of friends and family. "Mom's over there. She's saved you some seats."
Helen smiled. "Thank you," she said. "So this is where you go to school?"
Allegra nodded. "The classes here are really cool. The teachers are nice."
"What kind of grades do you get?" Helen asked.
"A's," Allie answered. "If I want to take classes at Princeton next year, I have to maintain a four point 'o' GPA."
"That's nice. You're coming to dinner with your mother tomorrow right?"
"Yes, she said that Valerie was going to come with her husband and children."
"It will be a tight fit around the table, but we'll manage," Helen smiled.
"M'kay," Allie hummed. "What are you going to make?"
"Baked pork chops," Helen answered looking at the curious teen.
Helen mentally sighed. There was so much she didn't know and it was tearing her apart. At least she knew about Valerie's children. Angie was prim and proper, like every twelve year old ought to be. Mary Alice was ten and still thought she was a horse. Lisa was two and had taken on the life philosophy that everyone was a friend, and not some creep who might want to kill you. And the youngest was only a year. Isabella was only just starting to babble and walk, but if you put her in a baby walker, she was hell on wheels.
Allegra was sixteen and a complete mystery. Helen didn't know her favorite color, movie, book, or food. All she knew was that she got straight A's and lived with a gay English Professor. Frank had tried to talk about Allegra, but Helen was determined to find out everything directly from the source.
"Allegra, do you think that you would like to help me make dinner tomorrow?" Helen asked.
Allegra looked up as they continued walking. Her purple eyes held a gentle curiosity and Helen felt herself smile. Allie smiled back. "I'd love to. Baked pork chops are my favorite. What time should mom and I show up?"
"Five should be a good enough time to prepare and get the pork chops in the oven."
"Okay, I'll be at the house at four forty-five. Does that sound good?"
Helen relaxed a little bit and nodded. "Sounds perfect."
"Could we perhaps do a homemade cheddar mac and cheese to go with it? I can make it myself. It's relatively simple," Allie questioned as they reached the bleachers.
Helen started to beam. Stephanie had a daughter who could cook!"
"Of course."
Allegra looked across the gym at the rest of the Wonderland Brigade. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go meet up with my friend. The tournaments going to start soon and we need to formulate a plan of attack. I'll be back after the game."
Frank took a seat. "Aim for the knees and knock the, down," he said.
"You got it granddaddy," Allie smiled. "I'll see you later Gran."
Helen looked at Stephanie. "She doesn't jump of roofs does she?"
Stephanie gave a small smile. "Only when there's a swimming pool below her," she answered.
"All right ladies and gentlemen." A young student spoke into his microphone. "We've come to the final match of the day. Our two final teams have come to the final battleground in a game that involves strength and power. Both teams have played well, and now we will see who will come out the victor in this brutal high school game"
Lester leaned over and spoke to Bobby with a playful smirk. "Where are we? A pro NFL stadium?"
"Shh. The Wonderland Brigade is facing off against the football team," Bobby hushed. His eyes were glued to the gym floor.
Connie sat next to Lester as she painted her nails a fire engine red. Lula and Sally were looking at a catalog of gowns trying to find something for Sally's next gig. They would occasionally look up to watch the game, but had lost interest after no one had been pegged in the head or the nuts.
"I remember playing this in high school, I was always out first," Sally said. "It was fine with me; I was more interested in puzzles."
"Fuckin A," Lula nodded.
The Dodge ball game was played with six red rubber balls all in play. The boundary lines were dictated by the black lines of the gyms basketball court. Presently all red balls were lined up on the halfway line, and each team stood on opposite sides of the gym.
Both teams waited anxiously for the shrill whistle to signal the start.
"Okay, remember each contest is three minutes and there are three rounds. Best of three wins the game and the tournament. Good luck players."
Wendy had taken a seat in front of Stephanie As an extra she wasn't required to play, and Julie had happily switched places with the one team member who wasn't really interested in playing.
The P.E coach gave his whistle a tweet and the football team rushed forward and grabbed the three balls assigned to them, while Allie's team hung back to watch.
Zook and James were the first to move as they sprinted to the middle of the court.
John Masters got ready to throw a ball at Zook, as another team member aimed for James. Julie and Allie both ran forward catching both balls to the chest.
"Oh, and McAllister takes Masters out, while Martine takes out O'Connell."
Allegra smirked. "Looks like we're winning Masters."
Masters moved to the sidelines angrily. "Get the girls out! They're the easiest."
"Yeah, right, you wish," Julie laughed as she tagged another football player in the shoulder.
"And Martine takes out Darbandi with a shot to the shoulder. I think this is turning out to be a quick game."
Allie dodged a ball as she handed hers off to Mason.
John McAllister was tagged in the leg and moved to join his sister on the sidelines.
Allie took a ball from James. "So far so good right?"
James quickly moved in front of her to catch a ball. "Four down, two to go."
"I'll take the guy on the left and you take the guy on the right?"
"As you wish," James said as he made a bowing movement before hurling his ball at a players feet. Allie held her own ball out as a shield, sending the other ball bouncing back to the opposing side.
She smirked slightly and aimed her ball at the final player's knees and waited like a cheetah watching for the appropriate time to strike out at her prey. She launched the balls forward and smiled as she watched the football player fall to the ground.
"Round one goes to the Wonderland Brigade!"
Stephanie jumped up and punched her fists in the air. Happy to see the first round over and done with. Hopefully the next round went to Allie's team. She watched as her daughter gave Julie a high five. Stephanie sat back down and looked at Ranger. "Julie's having a lot of fun with Allegra."
Ranger nodded. Seeing his daughter happy made him feel relaxed and almost at peace. He looked over at the Masters kid and saw nothing but rage, and it was all directed at Allie and James as they hugged. He got the sinking suspicion that winning a bet would not stop John Masters.
The next round was over in a minute, and this time the Wonderland Brigade had not come out victorious.
Stephanie's friends and family watched as the team of misfits huddled together to make a plan. A minute later they broke apart and moved to their starting line. Ranger placed a reassuring hand over Stephanie's. "They'll win. They play smart. The football team plays hard."
"But they can hurt Julie and Allie," she said.
Lester leaned forward. "Allie and Julie have grit. They can't be taken down by a simple rubber ball. That would mean the world was coming to an end."
Stephanie smiled weakly. The P.E coach blew his whistle and Allie and Julie sprinted forward.
"And our two leading ladies make the first move. So far these two have been the real power players, with Isles catching balls left and right."
Stephanie looked at Cayden. "How many balls have they caught?"
"James has caught fifteen, Allegra's at fourteen."
"And the female McAllister catches a ball, taking Jackson out of the game."
"Fifteen," Cayden corrected.
Allie backed up holding her ball out to provide protection. She stopped next to Julie. "We're still good?"
"Yeah," Julie answered before throwing a ball at a football player in midair. The ball caused him to lose his footing and fall on his back.
"Martine takes O'Connell out again. Zook takes out another player after catching a ball from the opposing side."
"Two more," Allie smiled.
She threw her own ball and watched it hit another player in the shin. John Masters watched and waited as Allie turned her attention away from him. Once she wasn't looking he threw the ball at her.
Allegra instinctually crouched down and covered her head as red flashed in the sidelines of her vision. She heard a loud thunk of the rubbed ball colliding with something and looked up in shock.
"And Isles catches the last ball of the game, making the Wonderland Brigade this year's winner of the Dodge Ball tournament."
James looked down and grinned widely. "I win," he said.
Allegra just stared at him before being tackled by Julie. "We did it!" she cheered.
Allegra laughed and returned the hug. "Yeah, we did."
Ranger watched as Julie pulled the petite Allegra up to a standing position. Allegra's smile grew as she continued to laugh, and Wendy pranced over happily. Stephanie smiled and looked at Ranger.
"It's hard to believe that last night they hated each other," she said.
"Nothing like a brutal game of Dodge Ball to bring teenage girls together."
Julie ran up to her dad. "Can I spend the night at Allie's?"
Cayden looked at Allegra as she walked over. "Would it be all right if the Wonderland Brigade came over to hang out for a bit? Also, can Wendy and Julie sleep over?"
"It's fine with me. I'll call Mike. Chinese or Pizza for dinner?"
Julie looked at her dad. "Please!" she pleaded.
"Cayden are you going to be at the house the entire time?" Ranger asked. This would work out. If Julie spent the night there wasn't a rush to end the date with Stephanie.
Cayden nodded as he pulled out his phone, getting ready to call his oldest brother and fellow professor at Princeton. Mike McAllister taught Italian.
Ranger looked at Julie. "Okay, but don't stay up to late."
"Thank you," Julie smiled hugging him tightly.
"Chinese," the girls chorused after a second.
"We can talk about you're going to wear when you go on a date with James," Julie giggled.
Allegra's eyes widened as she started to stutter. Cayden looked up from his phone. He laughed and pulled his daughter to di next to him. He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry about it," he told her. "At least it isn't a date with John Masters."
Allegra gave a depressed sigh. "But I don't know what to do on a date."
Stephanie laughed and looked at her daughter. "Dates are easy. You talk and you get to know the person more."
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Author's Note: Can I just say that writing the commentator was so fun! I felt like I was in a NFL stadium, and it made me smile. I tried to do the Dodge Ball game justice, but I'm not sure if I did. So let me know. I looked at the rules for Dodge ball and incorporated them into the game, so it should be close to the truth.
The next chapter will have the date and the sleep over, because I feel like we need to see both. It should be a lot of fun. Right now I'm in the process of writing this fic and wrapping up a fic in the Criminal Minds area. I've finally ended the writer's block on a couple Criminal Minds fics, but it will be a while until I start writing them.
Forum News: I added another thread for Pino's Pizza where you can go and recommend a story. There are a lot of fics on there right now. There are some great works there.
Anyway, leave me a review. It's great to hear from the readers.
Shane