The next day, Maz and Guy walked together to the School without Kelly, because she decided to go early for some kind of class president 'business'.
"Dude, that sucks. If it makes you feel better, I can go with you so we could be together if a Shemergency happens."
"No need, I will be alright by myself," he beamed, though, deep down he knew he would regret saying that "after all, I'm SheZow." Guy gestured and fell to the pavement as soon as he finished the sentence.
"Ah! Shit dude, are you okay?" Maz stopped and gave a hand to his friend.
"Yeah, I don't know what happened." He took his friend's hand and got to his feet, a bit dizzy.
"Maybe the She-Penalty?"
"I sure hope is not that. Today we have gym class right before the club activity begins, and if the penalty is already activated, it will be a pain in the butt."
Maz nodded and both decided to walk close to each other in case of another falling.
The rest of the day was a loop of Guy fainting, Maz catching him and Kelly trying to cover up the situation a bit when she was around. The thing was getting more and more annoying as the day moved on, and finally, gym class arrived.
"All right, today is girls versus boys, so you better prepare yourselves because last time it got bloody." The coach looked at a giant guy in the back that crossed his arms. "I'm looking at you, David. Is your nose better?" the mentioned kid nodded while blushing a bit. "Okay, get ready for this! Remember, we are playing dodgeball and whoever wins gets a free soda."
The students started to cheer and run to the field. Maz lit up a bit, maybe if he won the soda, he could give it to Guy so he would feel better. He took his friend's arm and shook him gently.
"Still feeling sick?" Asked the older guy, patting his friend's back.
"Yeah, I think I might get to the last round until I faint again. I hope.".
The game started, and it didn't take long for it to become more violent with every player that got out of the field. At almost the end, the only guys were Maz, Guy and another three that were taking the situation quite seriously. On the Girl's side was Kelly, Wanda and another four girls which looked as angry and concentrated as the guys.
"Jeez." thought Maz. "it's just a soda." though he was not the right person to judge.
The game was getting very serious when the number of people on both sides got to three people. The chanting got louder from each side, with the classmates chanting for their respective teams.
"Maz-" Guy whispered, almost painfully.
"Shoot dude- Keep up a bit more."
"I can't, I'm-" The younger teen lost balance and fell, to which his friend responded by catching him before he hit the floor. Maz felt like the situation was being way more dramatic than it should.
Wanda saw this as an opportunity to knock both Maz and Guy in one shot and smiled creepily. She aimed the ball at them and threw a perfect shot. The girls shouted happily at her but got silent when Guy woke up just to catch the perfect shot, canceling it before it could strike his friend.
"Super She-SP!" Maz whispered. That was a trick that never failed to impress him.
"You know it." Guy snickered weakly and blacked out, letting the ball roll off his hand. Maz left his friend on the floor gently and ran towards the ball to throw it to any of the girls that were left, luckily striking one. The guys' side shouted and cheered happily.
The coach stopped the game and walked towards Guy, that was unconscious.
"Yo, Kepler, what is wrong with Hamdon?" Asked the man.
"Ah, he's dehydrated." Maz lied and looked at the ball with determination.
The coach nodded, gesturing at some students to come and get Guy to one of the benches. As soon as the other kids gave a thumbs up for the teacher to continue, he played his plastic whistle and the game kept going.
After a while, the only players left were Maz and Wanda. The girl had a death gaze as if she was in a life-death coliseum battle and she was a bloodthirsty gladiator. Ever since Maz knew her, she had always been intense in competences, especially against guys. She would always try and show that women were way handier than men, and Maz feared her.
"I can't believe Guy likes this psycho." Thought the sidekick, a bit afraid of his friend's taste on women.
When the whistle sounded, announcing the beginning of the last round, the chanting and screaming became more intense. Both were throwing and dodging as if their lives depended on it, with every ball that went nowhere the crowd would get louder. After five minutes, Wanda caught a ball from the floor and threw it while Maz looked back to get a sight of Guy, still unconscious. The ball got to his face right when he looked to the front again and a cracking sound was heard, silencing the chanting. The coach sighed.
"Again, Wanda?" Howled the teacher.
"Oopsies." the girl said with a devilish smile.
While Wanda received a warmth cheering form the girl's team, Maz was sitting on the floor with a broken nose surrounded by the same classmates that took Guy to the bench, with a first aid kit.
"Sorry about that nose, dude." Commented one of the guys, Alec, that was holding the box for one of the others, Max.
"It's fine, I'm just kind of salty that I couldn't get the free soda."
"Well, it's not that expensive anyway, maybe a dollar per can." Commented the last guy, Stephen.
"Guy's better if you want to know. He woke up a while ago but was too weak to move, and he might have a fever." Max said when he finally put the last bandage on Maz's face.
"Right, thank you, guys."
The three classmates nodded and left to the changing room.
Maz walked over to where Guy was laying in. He sighed heavily and stared at the soda machine by the bench, trying to figure out a solution in his mind. After some time, he kneeled by his friend's side and tapped softly his ring. Sheila's lips appeared in a small blue hologram screen.
"Maz, what a surprise, is everything ok?" The computer asked.
"I need to get a soda, but I don't have any money." Maz felt embarrassed to ask something like that. "It's for Guy," he excused "he fainted because of the penalty, and I'm trying to give him an energy soda so he can at least go to the drama club."
"Ah, I see. Fine, I will hack the machine but you will have to pay for it once you have the money."
"Thank you, Sheila!"
The lips disappeared and the machine made a clicking sound. Maz got up and typed the number of the energetic soda he wanted, which got grabbed by a metal claw and was kindly placed in the small gap where Maz put his hand and took out the can.
He threw himself by Guy's side and gave him the drink. It was difficult to make him swallow, but in the end, he could pour all the drink. He sighed and threw the can aside, waiting for his friend to get up. In the mid-time, Kelly appeared in the gym and ran to Maz.
"Holy SheZow! Your nose!" She pointed, covering hers as if the sight of the wound made her own nose break.
"Yeah, I know, send my regards to your sweet friend Wanda." Said Maz, in a cold tone. Kelly blushed and laughed nervously.
"Go to the changing room and take a shower, I'm sure you deserve it. I will take care of Guy." The girl said pulling Maz up.
Maz hesitated, but he knew that Kelly was the best option when it came to leaving someone with the (now) weak hero. He nodded and left.
Kelly took his brother's head softly, sat down, placed it on her lap. Hesitantly, she started to play with his hair caringly. After a few seconds, Guy opened his eyes and slowly sat up, a bit disoriented. "W-"
"Maz is in the changing room, you are in the school gym and-" Kelly was interrupted by her twin.
"Were you playing with my hair?" He said with a dry voice.
Kelly laughed. "So, you are better."
"I feel a bit dizzy but too energetic to faint again." He said, getting up.
Kelly got up along him and smiled. "I'm not sure how Maz got you that drink, but he was worried for you. You should start paying him for all the stuff he does for you."
Guy laughed coldly. "I pay for him! With my friendship, and my kind and understanding personality." He smiled, still with a dry voice. "Dang, I would kill for a bottle of water."
Kelly sighed and put two dollars on the machine. She typed the numbers and grabbed a water bottle. She smirked as she handed it to her twin.
"Here, but you owe me this."
Guy was in front of the drama club's door, wondering if he really needed to get in. After all, he didn't feel that bad anymore.
"Come on dude, I'm not sure if I can deal with you fainting all the time anymore." Maz said trying not to think about his broken nose.
"But-"
"No 'but's from you, go there and meet all those amazing people from the club." Kelly said, placing her hands on her hips.
Guy looked at Maz with puppy eyes, but his friend frowned and crossed his arms. The hero sighed and opened the door, a bit scared.
The room was full of chairs around a big, rounded, and well-decorated stage with big lights facing it. Some people were sitting on the chairs talking happily, others were on their phone, talking now and then in their small friends' groups. Guy stepped in, trying to keep his confidence even when he was feeling like throwing up in any second.
"Hey." He said with a smirk.
All the people turned to see him, and he felt way more confident than he expected. "Oh, this is just perfect." A familiar voice said. Guy searched for the source of the voice just to find Wanda, sitting in the stage with a group of people he couldn't identify.
"Hey! It's my soon-to-be girlfriend!" Guy said, walking towards her.
She growled. "What are you doing here, moron?"
"Well, mind you, I'm an amazing actor." Guy said, holding onto the stage so he wouldn't fall from the dizziness.
"Sure."
The people in the club were already expecting a fight, but a blonde man with round sunglasses and hippie clothing appeared in the middle of the stage and clapped loudly. All the kids, including Guy, turned to see him.
"Well, welcome to the club, everybody! You too, new kid." The man, probably the professor, looked at Guy.
"A pleasure, I'm Guy Hamdon." He said, sounding a bit oddish because of the dizziness.
"I'm Marko, a pleasure too." He had a very calming voice. "All right everybody, because we have a new member today, we will all present ourselves and keep the auditions immediately after for our next play."
Guy smile faded. "So, what play are we making again?"
Wanda changed her expression into a devilish smile. "Oh, you know, we are making the beauty and the beast."
"I see." Guy said, feeling lucky. He knew that he was not going to get any main character because he was late to the play.
The club members, including Guy and Wanda, made a circle and everybody started to introduce themselves. It was surprising to the hero that the club members were more sociable and energetic than he expected, with every person that got introduced, he felt less sick. In the end, he felt amazing and ready to act.
The circle disappeared and the professor walked towards Guy.
"Son, you are lucky, we did not choose all the main roles yet."
Guy faked a smile.
"But the problem is that the roles that are left are all feminine."
"Ah, that's no problem." Guy said, taking the scripts of Belle, Mrs. Pot, and that closet he hated so much when he was a kid.
The man nodded and pointed at the line of girls talking to themselves, acting. He walked to the line, reading the scripts.
"Wait, so you really are going to be in this audition?" Wanda laughed.
"What? You think a dude can't do a girl's role?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Please! Even if you wanted to, you are not as experimented as us."
"Experimented on what?"
"Acting, and being a woman."
Guy gripped the scripts tightly. "Oh?" He said, but Wanda ignored him and started to perform for herself. Guy sure liked Wanda, but he hated it when she pointed out how exclusive it was to be a woman, and that he would never understand it. And this time he was planning on showing her how much of a lady he could be.
Guy decided to be Belle at all costs. And for that, he memorized her scripts only. When Wanda (who was in front of Guy in the line) was about to get in stage, she looked at Guy deadly in the eyes and said: "Look how real woman act."
The hero started to feel how his whole face got red from anger. Wanda's performance was good, but it was too rough to be Belle and her smile was kind of villain like, at least for Guy. When the blonde got out of the stage with a smug smirk, Guy stretched and jumped in.
"So, who are you gonna audition for?" Asked the man.
"Belle."
Some members of the club giggled, and others whispered. The blonde man nodded.
Guy closed his eyes and opened them again, softly. The words came out of his mouth fluently. He moved from time to time, to give a bit more of realism to his words, to show the feelings of the character he was acting like. He decided to use SheZow's voice, but way warmer. And as he performed the last paragraphs, he stopped looking at nothing in specific and finished the sentence with a glare at Wanda. He had performed the song "Belle" in its reprise version.
There was a silence before the club started to clap. The professor smiled and clapped along.
"That was incredible. You just memorized it just now?"
"Yeah! It wasn't that difficult, anyway." Guy said, smiling at Wanda.
The professor gave an 'ok' gesture and Guy jumped off the stage.
"So, did I act properly?" He said, looking at Wanda, who gave him a crooked smile.
