Chapter 10: Volleyball
I wake up to the scent of pancakes wafting up from the kitchen. Bolting upright, I barely manage to save myself from tripping over Amy and Sapphire, still asleep on the inflatable mattress. Amy has half-fallen off the mattress, sprawled out, while Sapphire is curled up on the other side. I consider letting them sleep, but then my stomach growls, reminding me of the pancakes waiting downstairs.
"Hey!" I kick Amy's leg. "Wake up!"
She mumbles something and rolls over. Sapphire puts her pillow over her head.
"My mom's making pancakes!" I yank the blanket off the bed. Sapphire just curls up tighter, while Amy sits up at the mention of food.
"Pancakes?" Amy blinks, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Pancakes," I confirm. "I'll eat them all if you don't hurry up."
"No you won't," Sapphire mumbles. "You'll give up after 5."
"Hey, no fair!" I retaliate. "If you're awake enough for future vision, you're awake enough for breakfast."
"You're not going to stop, are you?" She mutters.
"Nope."
With a resigned sigh, Sapphire sits up, revealing a very impressive bedhead. I can't help but giggle.
"What? Is my hair a mess again?" She reaches up to touch the tangled mess, and audibly groans.
"It's not that bad," Amy says, surprising me. I figured she'd jump at any opportunity to tease Sapphire. I'm even more surprised when I see Sapphire's grateful smile. Well, at least they're getting along.
"Are you excited for field day?" I ask Amy as Sapphire hunts for her brush.
"Are you kidding me? 'Course I am!" Amy exclaims. "I'm just waiting for an excuse to bash Moonstone's face in."
"You can metaphorically bash her face in as much as you want," I tell her, "But I don't really feel like getting suspended in the last week of school."
"Found it!" Sapphire holds up her brush triumphantly, and I suppress a laugh. "Wait, what happened to your mirror?"
The full-length mirror which is normally on the inside of my closet door is conspicuously missing. I have a brief flashback to posing with my sword in front of the mirror and accidentally shattering it.
"It broke," is the only explanation I offer.
"Well, now how am I supposed to do my hair?" Sapphire grumbles.
"Here, let me help," Amy offers. Sapphire hands her the brush, and Amy starts working on her hair. Huh?
"I wish my school had a field day," Sapphire says after a few moments of awkward silence.
"You're not missing that much," I tell her. "It's basically just an excuse for classes to compete against each other."
"Well, be sure to crush Moonstone for me," Sapphire replies.
"I'm gonna personally destroy her," Amy declares.
"Just try not to get into too much trouble," I warn her again half-heartedly, because honestly, I want to see Moonstone's smug face bashed in just as much as the next girl.
"Wish I could see it," Sapphire says wistfully. "I bet it'll be a spectacle."
"Don't you already know?" I ask.
She shakes her head, to Amy's annoyance. "There are too many different outcomes to get a clear picture."
"Done!" Amy declares, dropping the brush into Sapphire's bag. "Now let's go eat pancakes."
As we're running down the stairs, Sapphire suddenly freezes mid-step, and pitches forwards down the stairwell. Fortunately, Amy reacts quickly, catching Sapphire in her arms.
"Sapphire!" She exclaims. I rush down to help. Amy looks close to tears. "She's freezing cold."
In fact, ice is starting to form on the stairs and around our feet. Sapphire is shivering uncontrollably, her eyes wide open and blank.
Neither of us know what to do, so we just hold her there and wait. Eventually she warms up and re-animates, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Amy asks worriedly.
"I'm fine," Sapphire says after a moment. "I just remembered something."
No matter how hard we press, Sapphire won't give more of an answer than that. Eventually we give up and go eat our pancakes, and for the rest of the morning it's like nothing ever happened. Sapphire's dad picks her up at 11, and Amy leaves around 11:45.
I try texting Jet and Bloodstone, but they don't respond. Neither does Jonathan. I wonder what he's doing right now… Oh, well, at least I'll see them on Field Day.
"One more week. Just one more week," I chant to myself as I drag myself through the doors and into the school.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what everyone's thinking now." I look to my right and see Bloodstone leaning up against the wall, Jet doing his best to hide behind him.
"Hey, guys. Um, are you still mad at me?" I ask meekly.
"Definitely," Bloodstone replies. "But I heard that Moonstone is out to kick our butts, and I say we bash her face in first."
I can't help but laugh.
"What?" Jet asks, confused.
"That's almost exactly what Amy said," I explain once I've regained my breath. Bloodstone smirks at that, but doesn't say anything else. The bell rings, and we each head to our respective homerooms.
The four of us gather beside the bleachers as crowds of students stream out of the building. Me, Bloodstone, Amy, and…
"Wait, where's Jet?" I ask, looking around. He wouldn't ditch on us, right?
"Hey, guys!" I turn around to see Jet and Jonathan walking towards us, waving. I wave back, and wait for them to get close before speaking.
"Hey Jonathan, you wanna join us?" I ask.
"Sure, why not?" He grins. "Always good to have a bunch of half-alien superheroes on your side."
"Okay, one, we're not superheroes," Amy points out, "and two, we're not on your side, you're on ours."
A lot of people might have found that offensive, but not Jonathan. He just laughs it off and starts asking about which games we should play.
"What about volleyball?" Bloodstone suggests a few minutes into our discussion. "That works for 5 players."
"And I see Moonstone and her gang heading over there now," Amy adds, smashing a fist into her other hand rather forcefully. Sure enough, Moonstone's team is standing on one side of the volleyball court, daring anyone to challenge them.
"Let's go kick her butt," I declare. We march over to the court and take our positions.
"Alice. Why am I not surprised," Moonstone scoffs. "Where's the blue-gem freak?"
"Her name is Sapphire, and she doesn't go to this school," I reply evenly, though I'm itching to whip out my sword and teach her a lesson.
"Oh well, at least she won't be slowing you down," Spinel remarks in such a nonchalant way that it takes all my willpower to refrain from fighting right then and there.
Surprisingly enough, Amy is the one to take a stand.
"Sapphire does not slow us down. She's an integral part of our team, and if you're going to keep insulting her, you'll have to answer to me!" She declares, one hand near her gem as if about to summon her weapons. Fortunately, she doesn't get a chance, as the ref blows a whistle and tosses a ball in Jonathan's direction.
Jonathan makes the first serve and we play normally for awhile. Suddenly, a few points in, just when I think we're about to get another point Zircon's jousting lance pops the ball up into the air, and Pearl spikes it. No one reacts fast enough to block, and they get the point.
"No fair! You can't use weapons!" Amy screams. Pearl winks playfully.
"If they're playing dirty, then so are we!" Jet declares, pulling out his glaive. The rest of us immediately follow suit, leaving poor Jonathan empty-handed.
Ruby serves, and I hit the ball with the flat of my sword. Spinel uses his own sword to hit it back, but Bloodstone spikes it with his gauntlets. Ruby catches the ball with her whip at the last second and hurls it back at our side. Amy tosses a dagger at it- I'm not sure what she was thinking- and it pops. I'm about to go get another ball when one lands in the center of the court.
Suddenly I realise that we're surrounded by a huge crowd, students and teachers alike. Most of the hybrids seem to be on our side, while the humans are cheering for Moonstone. Apparently we aren't the only hybrids Moonstone's bullied.
We keep playing, our various techniques getting more and more questionable. They win the first game, and we win the second.
"Best out of three?" Moonstone suggests.
"Best out of three," I agree.
We shoot back and forth for awhile, but every time the ball gets close to touching the ground someone pops it. I'm not proud to say it, but we're just as guilty of this as them. It happens again, and again, and again, until finally we run out of balls.
"Looks like it's a tie," I say smugly to Moonstone. Honestly, I'll take it, as long as they don't win.
"No, we had more points, so we won," Zircon counters.
"That's not how volleyball works!" Bloodstone exclaims.
"That's how it works for us," Pearl says, but I can detect something strange in her tone. I don't have time to put much thought into it, because that's the moment when Ruby sets the court on fire.
Jonathan scrambles off into the crowd as Moonstone's team launches an all-out attack. I find myself dueling with Spinel- our weapons are uncannily similar, but our fighting styles are completely different. He is very much a tank, putting a lot of weight behind his blows, making my arms ache just to block, although I usually manage to nimbly dodge out of the way, using my enhanced agility to my advantage. I wait for my opportunity to strike, and I take it, slicing a shallow gash down his leg. He doesn't exactly scream, but his fighting takes on a whole other level. I find myself parrying more and more often, and I realise that he's wearing me down. I can't avoid him forever.
3rd Person
At the same time, Bloodstone and Pearl are circling each other. Neither of them wants to fight, but they both know that they have to make it look convincing, for the sake of their safety on each team. Bloodstone isn't in any real danger, but he knows that Moonstone would literally torture Pearl if she found out.
Pearl swipes at Bloodstone with her spear, just slightly too slow, and he easily blocks. They continue exchanging blows like this until Moonstone shouts at Pearl to get her head in the game. For a single instant, she looks frightened, but that is quickly replaced by determination. She whispers "sorry" under her breath as she swipes Bloodstone's feet out from under him and loudly declares "If you know what's good for you, you won't get up." He plays "dead", knowing that Amber will come down hard on him later, and he doesn't care.
Amy, on the other hand, is dueling both Ruby and Zircon. Well, mostly Ruby- Zircon isn't exactly the best fighter, just swinging around his lance with next to no control. Ruby, on the other hand, is wielding her whip like a practiced expert, forcing Amy to zig-zag chaotically around the court to avoid it. She waits for the right moment, then curls into a ball and dashes at Ruby full-speed, ramming into the smaller girl and sending her flying.
That was a big mistake. Zircon takes the opportunity to hit Amy from behind, sending her sprawling. Ruby runs in a circle around her, setting fire to the floor. Amy coughs and stays low to avoid the smoke, glaring at the two of them through the curtain of flames.
As for Jet, well, Jet isn't exactly fighting. He's currently engaged in a rather vicious shouting match with Moonstone, holding his glaive but unwilling to strike.
"You're just a pathetic weakling who doesn't know his place!" Moonstone shouts. "You are beneath me! I am the leader of the greatest hybrid team in the world! You are nothing!" Moonstone's gem glows, and a flash of light blinds him for a brief second.
"I'd watch who you call pathetic, Moonstone!" Jet shouts back, unfazed. "You rule with fear. Your so-called teammates would abandon you in a second if they thought they had a choice! Me? I'd do anything for my team. And I won't let you keep ruining everything!"
"Why you…! Oh, for god's sake, Pearl!" Moonstone's attention shifts briefly. "Stop messing around and get your head in the game!"
Jet is done playing games. He tries to take advantage of her distraction and strike, but a voice in the distance holds him back.
Amber's perspective
Looking around at my team, I realize that we're losing. But it's not because they have an extra fighter, it's because we aren't getting the warnings we're used to. God, I wish Sapphire was here.
"JET! DON'T DO THAT OR YOU'LL SERIOUSLY HURT HER!" Sapphire shouts, sliding into the fray on a trail of ice. I swear I can hear everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
"AMBER! SWORD UP!" I parry just in time to block Spinel's blow.
"BLOODSTONE! GET UP, AND GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, IDIOT?"
"AMY! 3 SECONDS!"
Watching out of the corner of my eye, I see Sapphire using her ice to free Amy from her blazing prison, and at exactly the right moment Amy spin-dashes into Zircon, knocking him out of the way and leaving Ruby and Sapphire to duel.
I attempt to catch Spinel off-guard, but he parries, and the force of clashing blows sends us each back several feet. I suddenly find myself surrounded by a ring of flame, while Spinel's feet are coated in ice. Looking around, I see similar situations for everyone else, our team surrounded by flames and Moonstone's team slowly being encased in ice, save Ruby and Sapphire, who appear to be locked in a battle of wills. It's hauntingly beautiful, the blazing fire versus the freezing ice. At the last second, just when I think the fire is getting way too hot, frost puts out the fires, and the ice melts. Then the fire returns, as does the ice. At the last second everyone is freed again, and the cycle continues until it is obvious that Sapphire has had enough.
"Just leave them alone," Sapphire says. "There's no use in fighting."
"That's where you're wrong," Ruby retorts, and pulls out her whip. For a brief second, I panic- Sapphire is definitely at a disadvantage, since she doesn't have her own weapon, and there's not really anything I can do to help.
"Fine then," Sapphire says, and ice spikes form around Moonstone. I have to applaud her great strategizing- going after the leader? Great trick. I just hope Ruby doesn't follow her example.
Ruby grumbles, then lets her whip dissipate. "Fine. We'll call it a tie."
"That's all I wanted." Sapphire forms a trail of ice and skates away, presumably back to her school. We all sigh collectively, glad that it's over.
"YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE," an authoritative voice shouts through a megaphone. The school principal is approaching through the crowd.
Crap.
"Everyone, the principal will see you now," the secretary says, opening the door to his office. I go first, trying to look confident, and failing miserably. There are two chairs in front of the principal's desk, and some benches along the wall. Moonstone and I each take a chair.
"Welcome," the principal says in a decidedly creepy tone. "Would you care to explain what happened this morning?"
"She started it," Moonstone and I immediately say in unison, pointing at one another.
"I'm not trying to place blame, I'm trying to get the facts. Brittney, why don't you go first?"
"My name is Moonstone," she grumbles, and I can't help but relate.
"Would you prefer that Alice go first?"
"No, sir." she says. "So, we were playing volleyball, but then Naila started cheating by popping the balls with her daggers."
"You cheated first!" Amy shouts, and I whip my head around and give her a death glare.
"That's enough, Naila. Let Brittney finish."
"And then I said it wasn't fair, but then Peter started attacking my friend Alyssa! And we told him to stop but then the rest of them started attacking too! We had no choice but to defend ourselves! And then this other random girl showed up out of nowhere and told Jeremy to kill me! I guess he still isn't over our break up."
"WHAT!?" everyone who isn't Jet on our team screams at him in unison. Jet seems to sink into the ugly red couch cushions behind him. They dated? I'll have to ask him about that later.
"That's… interesting, Brittney. Alice, why don't you share your side of the story."
"Sir, it wasn't like that at all. Zane was using his lance to lengthen his reach, so since they were using weapons we did the same. Then Sampson started popping the balls and forced us to do the same just to keep the odds fair, when we ran out of balls we said we'd tied but Brittney insisted that they won, and then when we refused to say they'd won THEY started attacking US! Ara only showed up to help us, she protected us from them. You know Monica trapped Naila in a ring of fire? You know Sampson almost cut my arm off? We are NOT the ones in the wrong here!"
Sometimes the truth is your sharpest weapon.
"Your stories are very different," the principal said after some deliberation.
"Ask any other hybrid and they'll back us up, practically the whole school was watching," I quickly say.
"Like I said, I'm not trying to place blame," he repeats. "But none of you denied using weapons, therefore you are in violation of school rule 348: No weapons of any kind allowed on school premises, under any circumstance."
We all find our feet very interesting to stare at.
"It's too late to suspend you, but you will be prohibited from participating in any end-of-year activities, and instead will spend your last week in detention. I won't prevent you from attending senior graduation if you chose, however, but nothing besides that. I'll be calling your parents tonight, and you will all stay here for the rest of today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." With that he stands up, walks around the desk, and out the door.
"That went slightly better than I expected," I remark, turning the chair around to face my team.
"I'm really sorry, guys," Amy says. "I should've been more careful and not popped that ball."
"Don't beat yourself up," Bloodstone says. "We all went along with the cheating. Sapphire was the only one who tried to stop the fight."
"Thank god she succeeded," I remark. "I wonder if she got in trouble for ditching school."
"Knowing her, she'll weasel her way out of it," Amy says. "Future vision and all that."
"Yeah. Well, now we know, save the fights for after school, right?" I grin. We all laugh, but the mood is broken by the sound of sobs coming from Moonstone's side of the office.
Pearl is in tears, and Moonstone is still shouting at her, saying that it was her fault that they lost. Zircon is taking a similar verbal beating from Spinel, while Ruby just stands there, obviously glad she's not the one being blamed.
"Poor Pearl," Bloodstone whispers.
"Geez. There's a dysfunctional team if I ever saw one," Jet remarks.
"Speaking of which…" I look at Jet. "You and Moonstone?"
"8th grade. For 7 months. During which she was actually dating Spinel for like, 2 months, and didn't tell me we broke up. I found out from Ruby, actually. We used to be friends before Pearl invited her into Moonstone's group," he says bitterly. I nod.
For all that Moonstone's team is dysfunctional, ours certainly isn't. And that means that I'll have to be the bigger person. I stand up and walk over to them.
"Hey. Moonstone." The shouting quiets, and Moonstone stands up to face me.
"What do you want?" She glares at me, flaunting her 1 inch height advantage.
I hold out my hand. "Good game."
She stares at me for a moment, then slowly takes my hand and shakes. I smile. She goes back to talking with her team, though there's a lot less shouting now, thank god.
"Geez, Amber. That must've taken guts," Amy says.
"Hey, I'm not gonna let her keep ruining everything for us and her team," I say. "Gotta be the bigger person here, right?"
"Right," Bloodstone agrees. "We won't escalate into fighting again, not if we can help it."
"And we'll take down the corrupted gems, so they won't end up getting hurt," Jet agrees.
"Aww, team moment!" Amy has an evil grin on her face. "Group hug!" She grabs all of us in a bone-crushing squeeze, and I can't help but laugh.
"Wish Sapphire was here," I say once Amy finally releases us. "I mean, not here in pseudo-detention, but here with us."
"I know what you mean," Amy says, and there's a strange emotion in her tone that I can't quite identify.
Oh, well. This week is gonna be a lot less fun than it could've been, but even if I'm gonna get stuck in detention, at least I'll be with my friends.
Well crap, that's cheesy...
Author's Note: Yay, a long awaited break from romance! Hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter. The next chapter is called A Bloody Secret, so you can guess what that's about. Not much romance in that one either. Unfortunately… nevermind.
Please review, we'd love to hear your feedback so we can improve the story.