Chapter 3 - Dodgeball
New York - Upper East Side - Gymnasium Constance Billard School - Afternoon,
The afternoon of this day is for physical activities and sport.
First, the young women leave their beautiful clothes for to take their beautiful sportswear. Then, as everywhere, the lesson begins with some gymnastic movements to warm up the muscles and prevent future breakdowns.
The sky darkens and clouds accumulates over New York. But lesson continues normally. It continues by some circuits of the stadium at a small trot. Blair stays in the group by discussing with Isabel and Hazel by making some more or less caustic comments on some sport's clothes. She ends her running without being least world left breathless and without even a drop of sweat. Blair is very pleased with herself, she is really in great form. The others girls following their state of form have been out of breath more or less.
The professor goes on by making some movements to their students once again and what promised the black sky arrived. A very violent storm breaks out above New York and as certain backbiter could say it on the secondary school Constancy Billiards. It's a true cold shower and all rush in the gymnasium to avoid it.
As the rainfalls doesn't seem to want to stop. The professor brings the young women in the gymnasium for drying and for those who could be changed. Ten small minutes later, everybody become and discover that the rainfalls turned cloudy and that the field is completely soggy.
"Considering the weather, it's the end of outside activities for this afternoon, exclaims the physical education teacher, we're staying inside."
Seen Blair next to her, the professor says:
"Blair, I give you the keys of the reserve, you open it. Those who do not have gymnastics shoes or ballerinas. You accompany her, you take out the carpets of gymnastics, and you bring them in the big gymnasium. You return to install the carpet in the great room. I await you all."
As soon as it had the key of reserve in the hand, Blair goes to the door, introduces the key into the lock and turns it. It listens to a noise of broken and the top of the key remains in the hand with the other piece of the key is still in the lock of reservation which remains closed.
Very thoroughly embarrassed in front of her classmates, she runs too small strides towards the room where professor lined up gymnastic machines before the arrival of the carpets.
"Professor, the key of reserve broke in the lock and the reserve remains closed."
"That is what happened?" exclaims she.
"I put the key in the lock and I have begun turning the key and I heard a broken noise. The top of the key was in my hand and the bottom stayed in the lock. I give you the top of your key."
The teacher takes the rest of the key and examines it. Then she goes toward the reserve where the girls without ballerina and who others joined with their ballerinas or slippers in the foot wait. She examines the lock and gets up again by saying.
"Good, the reserve will remain closed until the arrival of a locksmith."
"Since we haven't carpets, we shall not make gymnastics this afternoon, continue she. In view of the rain and the waterlogged ground, I confirm that we shall not play sports outside. But he stays in the room, the balloons which they use for the Bullet to the prisoner. It's a long time since we make a good party" says she by smiling.
A lot of protests rise.
"Check fine, then that you don't want Bullet to the prisoner. It will be Dodgeball, its sports version besides with an American national confederation. It will come well one day when it will be Olympic sports".
"She continued by saying, 2 teams are needed. We have already them, it will be footwear against slippers. Blair will be captain of footwear and Serena for slippers. To balance, I send Penelope and Isabel, the friends of Blair with her".
"And now, everybody in position in the room".
The students break off into groups spread around the room following the teams.
"I would remind you quickly of all the rules of Dodgeball. The aim of the game is to make prisoners all the members of the opposing team. A player is made prisoner when the ball, sent by a player of the opposing team, touches it and falls again then on the soil. If the ball does not touch the ground, controlled by the player or one of his team-mates, he isn't prisoner. If the ball reaches out to several players and falls back to the ground, all players reached by the ball are taken as prisoners. And in this corner on the outside of the field, we will have an area of return of players for the eliminated players over the course of the game. These same players will repeat part of the game following a receipt of stolen from one of their team-mates".
"Of course, I'm the arbitrator for this match".
The professor goes at the center of the gymnasium and said:
"Serena and Blair please join me in the center. The coin will determine which team will begin."
"Face", said Blair.
"Pile", replied Serena.
"It's stack said the professor. Here is the ball, Serena and take back your teams and with the whistle blast, the game begins".
Blair and Serena went back towards their team. And when the whistle blast, Serena threw the ball which was recovered and restarted.
During several minutes, the game went on balanced. Every team losing some members and by recovering less. Blair was not purposeful by the ball at the beginning. But this could not last and she's the target of a shooting and retrieving on the fly the ball and revived as soon toward the girl who launched it just before.
The other camp restarts it immediately towards her and Blair does again the same thing once again. But the one who thrown it, really becomes wrong when the ball touches her body. It makes 2 prisoners and liberates 2 of his with its ball caught in flight.
And then for several minutes, the game continues without that Blair was referred or that the ball goes to the side of it and the advantage of shoes disappears with the shooting of Eileen which made 3 prisoners in a single blow.
As they go out, the ball arrives at the foot of Blair who takes it and pulls directly towards the other team aiming at Eileen who very in his joy turned the back to him. She takes very badly the ball and fell with a cry of pain. Game stop at the whistle of the 'arbitrator, the time that she so accompany by one of her classmates. Everyone looks to a bad air Blair who raises shoulders and raises hands to apologize. She tells herself that after game, it will be necessary that she comes to apologize somehow. Eileen sat down and they saw the nice beginning of blue in the back.
"As it should be must take you to the infirmary or you prefer having a rest as a prisoner," asks the professor.
"I sit me and I have a rest, I shall soon see," says Eileen.
Turning to Blair, "Blair, this is a game, we are not in an official competition of Dodgeball. Therefore if Eileen needs help at the end of the lesson, you will be in charge of her".
"It went on: The bullet is in slippers, you can send the ball between you or on your opponents to the whistle blast".
When the teacher blows the whistle, Blair is the target of the shooting and her festival begins. Catching the ball, she returns it immediately towards the sender who couldn't intercept it. All shooting of ball intercepted by Blair who made one or 2 prisoners in return. In some minutes, Blair who has once again caught the ball realizes that they remain no more than 2 girls of the team opposite.
Taking advantage of the pause, the teacher rings bells (dispute) to Blair:
"Blair, I you recall that the Dodgeball is a team game which doesn't play all alone. You have all your team behind you with some young girl boring so much that they clean the nails until you end the party all alone".
Blair turns around and sees some team-mate seeming definitely occupied by their hands or hiding them in the back of an innocent air. She sends the ball to Penelope who got the ball in another girl. The party lasts some minutes before Blair recovers the ball once again and earns the party by making prisoner the last member of the slipper.
"Win of footwear. 5 minutes of pause. They change aside and the party will resume between the same teams", says the teacher.
During the pause, Blair tells at Eileen to take her news, to see if her shooting had not hurt and shown him introduce without making it really of excuses for her shooting that she didn't consider so strong as this. But she threw the ball and Eileen accepted her badly and especially she had pulled when she had the turned back. It had the rule as her, but it was not made. And the manner of making something counted for Blair a lot. They are queen for nothing.
The teacher blows the whistle and she shoots:
"Everybody takes back their places. Eileen, are you ready to take back game?"
"Let's go", answers Eileen.
It's the beginning of the festival of Blair that announced already in the previous party. She's ahead of her team, recovering a good party of balloons thrown by slippers, even the one that wasn't thrown on her and returning them towards slippers never missing her target and being practically never caught.
The team of slippers was decimated at very speedy and the rare prisoners of footwear recovered immediately.
Very quickly to Shoes, they had Blair forward, 4 of whom Penelope which is clever at catching balls then the rest of the team in the back counters the wall waiting that match takes place and being threatened from time to time by the balls of slippers and sometimes catching them, seldom let us say.
In less than five minutes, the party of Dodgeball ends with an enormous win of Footwear, their team in the big suit and all slippers in prison and unfortunately with a number of overalls exaggerating with the precision of the shooting of Blair.
For the party, the future comments on Gossip Girl concerning this party of Dodgeball pointing out especially amazing Blair's energy. Some people says that she had been as a cranky dark fire or a brown dancer picking up and returning all her balls. Her speed and her precision of shooting are so far pointed out, attracted many comments on her changes of physical capacities.
At the end of the match, the professor says:
"The party of Dodgeball was being supposed to do last much more for a long time. Thanks to Blair, the 2 parties lasted barely 20 minutes including pause between the two parties".
Hearing the thunder shower on the roof of gymnasium, she follows:
"In view of the pouring rain, useless to go back outside however the time it remains. Therefore to balance the party between slippers and footwear, I must make the single thing. I name Blair as arbitrate assistant. Otherwise, seen her state of form, it would be very able of earning only the party of Dodgeball against the rest of the class. A pause of 10 minutes before the last party which I hope, will last longer".
We hear great sighs of relief on the side of the slippers which is chaffing their places painful due to the balloon of Blair and we see some grimaces of discontent on the side of the shoes.
Blair approaches the professor to protest on the fact that she doesn't play anymore because Dodgeball seems very amusing today. Before she was able to pronounce a word, the professor says :
- Blair, if we were in an official competition, you would have the right to an anti-doping control. And I think that it would be positive. So let me ask you what you took? Because sees your performance today, it must be solid.
She sees the amazed air of Blair who says:
"But I take nothing strictly except some food supplementary benefits to learn better. But I take nothing to dope me. I estimate to be at best in my form. And I say to you that I make no sports in of high level and I am part of no team of sports of the secondary school except that of tennis where I am the only reservist what invites me very well. Besides, I do not search sports grant for the university."
"You weren't unable to make what you made today when in the last lesson of physical education. And you know it perfectly. Then how is it that you can it today? And I see that you are not sweating in spite of all efforts which you have just unfolded. With my experience, what you have just made, I think that you could make it another very long instant. Then explain me how can you make today what would have been impossible, one week ago?"
After a small moment of cogitation, she says :
"Following the principle of Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is most often good. It's the dopingfor me. I have neither means especially the right to check. As you assert not being him, it would mean that you are him without knowing your full liking. And therefore it would resemble an intoxication. Had you other signs of it?"
Perplexed, Blair answers : "I don't stop to break some different little things."
"As the key in the reserve's lock, for instance, says smiling the teacher."
"I'm not there for nothing with the key answers strongly Blair."
"But you affirm to break all says the teacher with a larger smile."
She continues much more serious :
"Your family can you to examine in a full way from this evening by a doctor and I recommend you to make it. This idea of "poison" must be eliminated at the earliest. Do not hesitate to ask to make you for exotic substances examine because a surplus of force today could hide a serious disease tomorrow."
She continues with a broad smile: "There is also another much more harebrained hypothesis as we are in New York, fatherland of the superheroes is that you develop superpowers which would be: super strength, super sniper because you do not miss your target and as you seemed quick soon, I top up super speed. To your opinion, what is the most likely hypothesis?"
$$$$ "Narcotic or poison is from a distance the most probable," says Blair while thinking of its strange dream of its small yesterday siesta with the indigenous woman."
"It went on by saying: I phone to my mother to get an appointment for this evening to know what I have."
"To finish, our small conservation, I say to you that for this party, you are referee helper. Therefore you take the ball and you delay it to your dear friend Serena who look forward to it so that slippers earn a party finally. Then, you earn the zone of the prisoners and you manage them. You will be the watch leader of the prisoners as referee helper."
Everyone regains its place and the party resumes much more balanced. It lasts a long time and at the end of the end of the lesson, the party isn't ended. The match is nonetheless for the slippers because they have a player furthermore on the ground.
During this time, Blair manages the zone of the prisoners while criticizing in herself errors of game and arbitration because nothing avoided him.
At the final whistle, with all her classmates, Blair goes down to the locker rooms and showers.