Chapter Six:

Team Paragon

Friday came and we finished our classes for the week. As I was leaving Mr. Nelson's History class, Vi caught up with me.

"Hey, Kayce!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Guess what?"

I manoeuvred us out of the way of our classmates. "What?"

"Jay asked if I wanted to grab something to eat with him!" she exclaimed excitedly, on the verge of squealing.

"What, like a date?"

"Kinda. I mean, he didn't outright ask it, but I feel like my chances have just gone up by about a million percent!"

I frowned. "You're sure? I mean, he could just be playing you."

"And why, exactly, would you say that?" she asked pointedly.

"First-off, we don't know 'im that well. It could just be a prank that second-years do on first-years."

Vi frowned. "Look, I wanna go! If that makes me an idiot for it, then that's okay! I'm not gonna give up this chance just because of a hunch!"

I shrugged. "Whatever. I am happy for you, though."

Vi grinned slyly. "And I you, Miss Grey."

"And what the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, please. I was wondering where you were on Monday when you and Nicholas left the classroom. I saw that tree. You were totally flirting."

My face instantly went red. "T-That was flirting?"

"What, you didn't know?"

"Vi, the only interactions I usually have with the opposite sex are for gaming purposes!"

She blinked. "Oh, right. Forgot about that. You're completely untrained in the ways of the female."

"Thanks for that."

"Absolutely no problem."

I grinned at Vi. "C'mon; we should meet up with Trish and see if she wants to hang out or something."

"Okay. I don't go out with Jay until tomorrow, anyway."

Vi and I decided to talk about what our teachers had in store for us when we had entered the living room. I saw Victoria Stafford talking with Hunter on the couch. I wondered briefly why she was in the dorm, but then I remembered that she lived there with us. In fact, she was Trish's roommate.

"Just think about it, okay?" she finished as we walked in. "It'll be a great opportunity."

Hunter grinned. "Maybe if you can persuade me with something better than words…?"

I shook my head and ignored whatever they were talking about. Instead, Vi and I climbed the stairs of the girls' dorm and dropped our stuff off, and then looked around for Trish. She hadn't been avoiding us; it was just that we never really saw her around. She had different classes than us, anyway.

"Hey! Trish!" I called when I knocked on the door to her room. "Are you in?"

No answer. I frowned immediately and went to Vi's room. What the hell could Trish be doing at a time like this…?

"She's not there," I told Vi when it looked like she was going to ask. "She's out… again."

"Should I look for 'er?"

I shook my head. "Nah. There's no point." I held up my cell. "She'll probably text, anyway."

Vi nodded. "She'd better. Or else I'm tying 'er up with an electric fence."

"Subtle."

"Hey, it's better than the wires running under the ground that power the gigantic shield above us."

"You have a point."

Vi shrugged. "You know, tomorrow, when I'm out with Jay, maybe you could try out for the basketball team?"

That was my soft spot. I loved basketball. It was my best and most favourite sport, and I didn't even need powers to be good at it.

"Wait a sec, we have a basketball team?"

Vi lazily held her arm up, curling her hand into a fist. "Team Paragon, bro." She grinned and let her arm fall. "What'd you expect? Flying contests? Who can pick up the heaviest semi?"

"Well, kinda."

"Meh, I don't blame ya."

Basketball actually sounded great. If tryouts were the next day, I'd need to practice.

Vi caught me looking at her. "Hell no. We are not playing basketball together! No, no, no!"

A few minutes later, Vi and I were outside on the tarmac shooting a few hoops in our gym wear. Just a normal grey T-shirt and black shorts. It looked like a few other people had gotten the same idea, so we ended up sharing the nets. Vi was really good at blocking, which was one of the reasons I liked to play with her, but she couldn't really shoot very well. I was trying to help her out, but she wasn't one for listening.

"You're the one trying out!" Vi snapped at one point. "Just hurry up and shoot!"

I overheard the rules from a few of the other kids. It was supposed to be normal basketball, and that meant no powers. It didn't really matter to me; unless the other team was practically shitting their pants, I wouldn't get to use mine at all.

I dribbled the ball past Vi and then spun to the left after faking to the right. That left the hoop open. I leapt up and rolled the ball off of my fingers as soon as I reached the rim. It slid nicely in and gave me two more points.

"That's it!" Vi finally exclaimed. "I give up! I'm too tired to do anything now!"

She sat on the tarmac and groaned, rubbing her aching muscles. I handed her my water bottle, which she chugged mercilessly.

"Thanks for the workout," I said half-jokingly. "Maybe I'll make it on the team."

"You'd better. Or I'll kill you myself," Vi grumbled. "I don't want all my hard work to go to waste."

"Nice to know you care." She handed me the bottle and I downed the last of its contents. "If I make it, will you come watch my games?"

"Duh. I can't wait to see the Hero's or the Sojourn's faces when the Red Devil of team Paragon kicks their asses!"

I laughed. "What the hell? You remember that?"

"You're gonna carry-over your nickname from elementary and New Marias High School, right?"

I shrugged. "That's up to the people watching. I don't wanna get full of myself."

"Well, I hold up my sign in the crowd. The one with the pitchfork, remember?"

I facepalmed. "You still have that?"

Vi gave me a thumbs-up and we went back into the dorm. After we'd both showered, we decided to hit the sack and get ready for Saturday. So far, the first week hadn't been that bad at all.

When I woke up, Cy was sprawled across her bed, mouth open. I chuckled quietly. Just wait until the boys knew how we females really slept. I crawled out of bed and changed quickly into some clothes and an old red-brown windbreaker that'd once been my mom's when she was around my age. After I slipped my sneakers on, I quietly went down to the living room to see what time would be the try-outs.

I found Mina down there, sitting on the couch and scribbling on a clipboard-sized whiteboard. Upon closer inspection, I saw it had markings like a basketball court.

Mina saw me and smiled. "Hey there, first-year. What's crackin'?"

"Just came down to see when the try-outs would be for basketball," I said casually. "From what you've got in your hand, I think you might know."

She grinned. "Right you are. I just can't seem to figure something out…"

I went behind her and leaned on the couch. She was working on a new play. "What if you put someone there?"

She looked where I was pointing and smiled again. "Not bad, first-year. That just might work." She quickly scribbled on the spot and swiftly drew an entire play. "Done! You like basketball then?"

"Love it."

Mina took a picture of the board with her phone. "Try-outs're today at noon. All ages, but this is only for the girls. No boys allowed on the team, but they'll definitely be watching. Also, don't invite anyone from opposing teams. The last time someone did, we had to change all of our plays."

I nodded. "No prob. I'll see you there, I guess."

Mina nodded and wiped the whiteboard, starting on a new play. I went to the kitchen adjacent to the living room and started to cut up some fruit.

I didn't even notice when Nicholas came in. "Morning," he greeted tiredly.

I jumped about ten feet in the air. After getting my absolutely insane panic-attack under control, I replied, "M-Morning!"

Nicholas grinned and grabbed a box of cereal in the cupboard above me. "I saw you and Violet playing basketball last night. Thinking about joining up?"

I nodded. "I used to play it all the time back in New Marias. What about you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I've been more of a football fan, but I'll watch basketball when my season's out." Nicholas finished pouring his cereal and smiled. "Ever seen Canadians play football? I've compared it to our NFL, but their CFL seems a bit harder. Only three downs, instead of our four, and their fields are larger. Takes a lot of skill."

"I've flipped through the channels, to be honest…"

Nicholas shrugged. "Go, Riders go!"

I decided that those guys were his favourite team.

After finishing breakfast, I checked the time. I had only half an hour before try-outs started, so I said, "Good-bye" to Nicholas and hurried to the gym, where they were supposed to take place. Nicholas had said something, but I didn't catch it and I didn't stop because I didn't wanna be late.

By the time I'd changed, I was one of the last to arrive. Mina was there, but I remembered her saying something about soccer instead of basketball. She wasn't changed-out, and she still had that whiteboard, so I figured that she was the team manager… for now, at least. Next year, she'd be graduated and we'd need to find a new one.

The team captain was another third-year named Ellie Donovan. I'd heard a few of the girls mention her in the change room, and so I figured she was a good captain. My mom had used a saying to describe people who had her kind of personality: tough, but fair.

Ellie looked us over and shook her head. "Damn. We barely even have an entire team here…"

Mina grinned. "Looks can be deceiving, Ellie."

"No powers. There'd better not be any duplicates of people…" She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay then. Well, you guys should know right now that not all of you here will make the team. Some of you will, but most of you will end up getting cut. The people from last year who haven't graduated have a certified spot on this team, and so we only really need a few more people." Ellie started pacing. I felt like I was in the army, minus all the shouting. "But those people had better be damn good and come through for the team. I'm not gonna be happy about any more losses to the Sojourns! So, we'll call you up one-by-one and see what you got. Anyone who doesn't make it up to snuff will be cut immediately. Afterwards, those of you still remaining will go one-on-one with me. We'll see how long you last." She stopped in front of us. "And no powers! This entire season of basketball is clean. If you use powers, you'll be cut! I don't care how good you are! Got it?"

Geezus! That was definitely the "Tough" part of my mom's saying. I wonder when the "Fair" part's coming in…?

An hour of try-outs went by before I was called up. Lots of people were good, but they were over-exerting themselves. I knew that, since I was probably going one-on-one with the captain later, I shouldn't work myself too much, and definitely not show her the extent of what I could do.

A few easy hoops later, Mina and Ellie went to talk in a corner while we hopefuls chilled on the bleachers. Most of them were second-years who had wanted to join in their first-year, but found it impossible because of their studies. Schoolwork wasn't that bad for me; I didn't mind it, as long as it kept me interested.

Mina wrote something down on a clipboard and started to call out names. She asked those people to stand in front of the bleachers. I got worried for a second, wondering if I'd made it to the second round, when Ellie stood in front of those girls.

"Sorry, but you're just not what we're lookin' for," she said. "Have a nice day, and try again next year."

The girls, some angry, some upset, marched out of the gym and into the change rooms.

"Congrats," Ellie said to us on the bleachers. "Now, we'll see just what you're made of. I'm expecting no less than your best this round."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Of course I felt bad about the girls who hadn't made it, but I really wanted to be on the team!

I was the second person to go up against Ellie. She was tough, had excellent stamina, and could predict the movements of someone trying to get past her. A lot like Vi, when I really examined her moves. I wish I'd had more time to watch her, but I had to go up.

"Good luck, first-year," Mina muttered as I walked past her.

I gulped.

Ellie passed me a ball. "Let's see you get past me, first-year."

Oh, just you wait…

I dropped the ball out of my hands and started dribbling. Ellie was in the standard position for a blocker; hands outstretched, legs apart for a better centre of gravity, eyes focused and staring holes in me like I was Swiss cheese…

I faked right. She saw it coming, so I backed-off. Then I faked left. She was quick on her feet to stop me. I wanted to make my moves look predictable to get her off her guard. It was easy to be judged when you were just turning sixteen.

I decided to fake right, but as soon as she got in my way I faked left without missing a beat. She hurdled herself to my left and I spun around her easily to my right and laid-up the ball from her left. Me, one. Ellie, zip.

The captain grinned and tossed me the ball again. "Nice. But I was just going easy."

"Sure, cap."

I moved to the right. I guess she suspected another move like the last one, so she moved quickly on the balls of her feet. I twirled, almost slamming into her, but at the last minute I passed the ball around my back and tossed it up over both of our heads, into the hoop about five metres away.

Ellie spun the ball in her hands and passed it to me for the last time. "Your best. I wanna see it."

I dribbled the ball in my left hand. I decided not to use tricks this time; just get through and make the points. Ellie was fast this time—she'd been holding back before! I bounced the ball underneath our legs. She spun and reached out to grab it, but I'd already gotten around her and snatched it away. Quicker than I'd ever seen, Ellie was in front of me again. I leapt as high as I could and rolled the ball off of my fingertips, right into the hoop.

I landed just in front of Ellie. I'd almost hit 'er in the face with my knees, but instead of reprimanding me for it, she just smiled.

"Yeah," she said after a time. "You'll do, first-year."