Bella laid awake that night thinking about her conversation with Coach Kate. The look on her face when she'd said she didn't have a mate had seemed so odd. She wondered if something that happened to Kate's mate. The way that she'd answered Bella's question had just seemed like there was more to say or like she wanted to say something else and just couldn't bring herself to do so.
Bella rolled over and grabbed her phone when it lit up her room and squinted at the bright screen before lowering her brightness to a more human level.
JP: Are you still up?
Bella: Yeah, what's up?
JP: A bunch of us are about to play a campus wide game of capture the flag. Come on!
Bella laughed and rolled out of bed. She threw a shirt on and just left her PJ shorts on her body. She grabbed a pair of shoes and tugged them on, pocketed her phone, and stepped out of her room. JP was waiting for her and was dressed similarly and had a massive smile on her face.
"We're team red," She said and held out a red bandana. Bella watched her tie her own bandana around her head and followed suit, "Our flag is apparently hidden on the top floor of the library and we need to find the blue flag before they find ours," Bella nodded and followed JP out of the dorm, downstairs, and out into campus. "We also have CC, Lil' K, Nike, Hollywood and Wiki on our team."
"So it's seven against six?" Bella asked as she watched a few girls in blue bandanas run past them in the dark.
"No, it's even. CK loves capture the flag," JP replied. Bella was sure she did. She could hear the other team talking about where their flag was hidden, and she could definitely defend her own team's flag.
"Ah," Was all Bella said in response. "I'm going to head that way," Bella pointed towards the school bookstore.
"Lit, I'll head that way," She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the opposite direction and the two of them split up.
Bella was careful to stay in the shadows and behind objects while she made her way across campus. She knew, of course, that if Kate was out on the course, it wouldn't do her any good. However, if the other girls were passing her, they wouldn't know she was there.
She stopped in front of the bookstore and looked around for any signs of the flag or of movement. She was about to turn around when there was a gust of wind and she heard a distinct flapping. She turned back and trained her eyes in the direction that the noise had come from. There it was.
She jogged over to the flag, looking for whoever was undoubtedly guarding the flag. She didn't see anyone though. She looked around and reached out before someone was jumping down from the tree beside her.
"Shit!" She exclaimed as she turned around, "You scared the shit out of me," She had finally fully turned around and saw that it was CK, "Of course," Bella said with a laugh, "Does your team ever lose?"
"Reigning champs, La-La. And that's not about to change now," Kate replied with a smirk.
"I'd have to disagree with you, CK," She replied in the same tone that Kate had used. She reached back for the flag and her fingers came into contact with the cool fabric.
"I will tackle you, Bella," Kate said playfully and Bella laughed in response. She knew that she didn't actually stand a chance at winning this if Kate didn't want her to. "Of course, no one else has ever gotten this close to our hiding spot. At least not this fast," She said with a shrug, "But there's no way you're winning," She continued and threw Bella a wide smile.
Bella knew that the only way she would be able to win is if there was another human around to see her run away with the flag. Kate wouldn't be able to get away with moving at super speed with someone else around.
Bella squinted and looked out into the darkness. She finally saw someone run by and couldn't make out who it was until they looked down at their phone and it lit up their face, "JP!" She called and the girl looked up. Bella snatched the flag while Kate was distracted and looking towards the other girl. She knew she had to move as fast as possible and ran for JP.
"Oh, you little sneak," Kate laughed out from behind her and Bella just cackled as she ran.
"La-La found it, guys!" JP yelled across campus and Bella could hear the other girls running towards them then. She glanced back at Kate who was running at 'normal' speed behind Bella. The blonde sent her a smirk and a shrug of defeat just as Bella made it to her team.
The next thing she knew, she was being lifted onto their shoulders and paraded around for finding the flag. "We've never won before!" Wiki exclaimed and Bella laughed from above them while they chanted "Red Team" over and over again
They finally sat her to her feet and all of them started walking at the same time, "What now?" Bella asked. It was Kate who answered her.
"Losing team jumps in the pool fully dressed. Shoes and all," Kate replied and Bella bit her lip to keep from smiling too widely, "They've had to jump in the pool fully clothed so many times," Kate laughed out as they went through the gate and into the indoor pool area of the campus gym.
The red team stood on one side of the pool and the blue team lined up on the other side. One by one, they each jumped in after saluting the red team and saying, "All hail team red!" As soon as one hit the water, the next saluted, repeated the phrase, and jumped in. CK was the last one and Bella was almost positive that the woman had winked at her before she jumped in.
Hollywood removed her shoes and ran and jumped into the pool. The rest of the red team followed suit and soon enough the thirteen of them and their coach were in the pool. After a while, half of them were in the pool and half of them were on the side of the pool.
Bella had hoisted herself up onto the side of the pool next to JP and was currently watching CC, Hollywood, Wiki, Lil' K, Nike, and Reeces who were all involved in a three-way chicken fight. Bella laughed when Lil' K hit the water and came back up sputtering only to turn around and chase someone else off through the pool.
CK suddenly hoisted herself up onto the side of the pool beside Bella. The brunette glanced over and quickly glanced away. She felt her cheeks heat up and her heart speed up slightly. The sight of Kate with her wet clothing clinging to her had affected her funnily. None of the other girls were distracting her or affecting her, but yet here she was, attracted to her coach.
They laughed as Wiki hit the water and Hollywood and her partner Reeces were hailed champions of the chicken fight. Kate tensed suddenly and Bella looked over, "There's a security guard coming," She whispered into Bella's ear as she stood.
"Shit," Bella whispered and stood and tugged JP up with her, she pointed by way of explanation and JP could see the flashlight coming from down the hall. They got the other girls' attentions and quickly and quietly, they all fled the scene.
Bella turned around being that she was the last one out and saw that one of the girls had left her bandana on the ground. The issue was, a name was embroidered on it. She grimaced and darted back to grab it.
"Bella!" Kate hissed and the girl just grabbed the bandana and held it up as she ran back. Kate looked towards the door, glanced at Bella, sped to her, and suddenly Bella was on her back. She tucked her face, having been accustomed to being carried from years ago, and held on tight as Kate ran with her and left the building just in time.
Campus looked dead now. The girls had all ran back to their respective dorms quickly and Bella couldn't hear or see anyone still out. Kate carried her across campus and finally deposited her when she was in front of her dorm building.
"Thanks," The girl mumbled and Kate nodded.
"I could have grabbed it, you know," Kate pointed out with a smirk.
"Yeah, and probably a lot quicker than I did, but I wasn't thinking," Bella admitted with a shrug.
"It's not a huge deal. I probably could've talked our way out of that one, but they definitely told us to stop breaking into the gym to use the pool at night," Kate said with a laugh, "Better safe than sorry. Whose bandana is it anyway?"
Bella finally looked at the piece of fabric in her hand and laughed. 'Lil' K' was written across it and Kate rolled her eyes.
"She's definitely running an extra lap at practice on Monday."
