Chapter 8: The Mud Bowl
It's been raining for forty-eight hours straight.
Tradition says that the Mud Bowl HAS to be played in the rain.
And the thirty-eighth annual Mud Bowl is about to begin.
"It's time to rumble," Nate announces.
"Look how sloppy it is," Chad says, kicking up a little mud.
"That's sort of the point, Chad," Teddy replied, rolling his eyes.
"Guys! Come on! We got a game to start," Dee Dee calls out to the guys.
It was two teams against each other while both crowds from both schools cheered on:
The P.S 38 Bobcats (Nate, Francis, Teddy, Dee Dee, Chad, Ruby, and Randy) and the Jefferson Cavaliers (Nolan and... I have no idea who the rest of the team is, sorry).
"Wow. They're BIG," Ruby says nervously as the Bobcats take their positions.
"I know," Nate whispered, giving Ruby a quick peck on her cheek, which made her feel better.
"Let's go over defensive assignments. Dee Dee, you cover the girl with the headband. Teddy, take the kid with the buzz cut," Francis announced as he claps his hands.
Nate raises his hand up. "I'll take Nolan."
Francis hesitated for a bit, then says:
"Okay. We'll see how it goes."
That left Nate confused.
"What does that mean?" Nate thought to himself.
"You ready?" Randy called out to Nolan.
"Yeah! Ready to spank you for the 37TH YEAR IN A ROW!" Nolan calls back, laughing and knowing he will never lose.
"Well, go ahead and try!" Nate called back to Nolan, as Randy heaves the disk toward Jefferson's end zone.
Let the games begin!
Oh, if you never played Ultimate before, here's how the game goes:
The goal is to score points, right? You can do that by getting the disk into the other team's end zone.
But here's the catch:
You can't RUN with the disk. You can only score by throwing and catching...which Jefferson's REALLY good at.
"HA! Score!" Nolan laughed as he caught the disk.
Cavaliers 1, Bobcats 0.
*Quick break from the story as someone steps in*
"Um, Coop?" someone asks.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"...never mind," someone responds back.
"Were you planning to say something?" I ask.
"Um...sure. You're taking out sentences and action from the book, word for word," Someone says to me.
"Um..that's kinda the idea..." I replied quietly.
"Like an adaptation?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. Okay. Just try to alter the dialogue or action scenes when necessary, or if you have to, okay? You don't want to be smacked with a copyright infringement, do you?"
"Noooo..." I say in shock.
"..."
"...but, I'll think of something," I say after a few moments of silence passed.
"Okay," Someone says before leaving me with my work again.
"I got to be more careful..." I thought before continuing the story.
*Back to story*
"Don't worry, gang! We'll get them back!" Dee Dee says to the Bobcats.
But they didn't. Minutes later, it's 3-0 with the Cavaliers ahead.
"Nice try, muddy boy! Be sure to bring a ladder next time," Nolan chuckled to Nate.
"Time out!" Francis called to the referee.
The Bobcats huddle up.
"Let's change up a few things before we lose the 37th year to Jefferson," Francis announces.
He then turns to Randy and says:
"Randy, you're going to cover Nolan."
Randy nodded.
"Wait, WHAT? I'm covering Nolan!" Nate protested.
"And he's scored three times," Francis responded to Nate's protest.
Nate was upset by this, but suddenly he felt something wrapping its arms around Nate.
Or someONE.
It was Ruby.
"It's okay, Nate. He's too tall for you, that's all," Ruby spoke softly to Nate before giving him a soft kiss on his cheek, much to Nate's relief.
"Their whole TEAM is too tall," Teddy pointed out.
"Exactly, which is why YOU have to change the way you throw," Francis nods in agreement before pointing to Randy.
Randy was stunned by this.
"Wait, didn't you guys liked the way I throw?" Randy responded with an upset tone in his voice.
"We do, we do... but so does Jefferson! See how they keep out-jumping us?" Francis replied back.
All Randy could do was let out a sigh. Francis is right. Jefferson IS out-jumping P.S 38, by three points!
"That's because you're throwing it too high! Keep your passes low!" Francis continued but spoke quieter so Jefferson couldn't hear was the Bobcats were talking about.
The game continues with Randy guarding Nolan this time. And Randy was right:
Randy is big enough to break Nolan's scoring streak, and sooner or later, the Bobcats begin chipping away at Jefferson's lead because they are quick and crafty.
Just one tiny issue:
Randy keeps passing the disk to Ruby, but Jefferson manages to get it no time flat, for FOUR STRAIGHT TIMES.
Nate knew he had to do SOMETHING, but what?
Nate then signals to the ref.
"Time out," Nate calls out to the ref.
"Come on guys let's hud-" Francis started but Nate interrupted him by saying:
"It's between me and Randy."
Francis nodded.
Once Nate and Randy were alone, Nate spoke first:
"You're throwing the disk to Ruby a lot."
"And she's a good player. So?" Randy replied.
"But you are passing to her when she's not even OPEN," Nate explained.
"And?" Randy asks back.
"And Jefferson knows it's coming! They've intercepted you four time times already," Nate replied back.
After a few moments...
"Look, I get it. You like Ruby, and paying extra attention to her, because you want her to like you," Nate says quietly to Randy.
"And what do you know about it? You've never liked someone who didn't like you back," Randy replied.
"Uh, HELLO? I spent my life chasing after Jenny and trust me, I know how it feels. It STINKS!" Nate responded to Randy's reply.
Randy couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"Okay. I guess I'm better off without her, thinking that Ruby might like me like crazy and..." he mutters.
"No. Me trying to play defense against Nolan-THAT was crazy. But you can handle him, right? Thanks to you, we might win this thing! Now let's get out there and DO it!" Nate spoke to Randy with encouragement.
The game continues on.
Twice the Bobcats, get a point, twice the Cavaliers get a point.
It was now a tie, 19-19!
Who's gonna win?
The Bobcats, or the Cavaliers?
It was about 20 seconds left in the game as Jefferson gets the disk and toss it to Nolan...
But Nolan made the biggest mistake of his life, and you are probably wondering what was his biggest mistake was:
Nolan DROPPED the disk, much to Jefferson's shock.
Randy takes over the disk and turns to Nate.
"GO! RUN LIKE YOU NEVER MEANT TO!" Randy shouts.
Nate nodded and sprinted up the swampy field with Nolan on his tail.
*You can add any suspenseful song or climatic song if you desire*
Nate looked over his shoulder and saw Randy throw the disk through the heavy rain.
"Now's my chance! NOW'S MY CHANCE!" Nate thought as his heart pounded like crazy.
Nate knew Nolan is getting closer on his tail, so Nate ran as fast as he could, and as he got close to the disk where the flag was, Nate jumped so far and got the disk, while landing in the mud.
Nolan couldn't get Nate because he tripped first in the mud.
It was all silence for everyone. No one said a word to each other until a hand with a disk rose.
And that hand was from Nate Wright.
Then there were explosions of cheers and excitement from P.S 38.
Randy was the one who came first to embrace Nate in a tight hug. Then along came Francis, Teddy, Chad, Dee Dee (who's know for giving LOTS of hugs), and finally Ruby, who embraced Nate with a warmhearted hug and curled her legs around him (much to Nate's surprise), and gave him a great big kiss on his lips, much to Nate's delight.
P.S 38 did it. They destroyed Jefferson's 36th-year record of winning the Mud Bowl.
A few more days past, word got around that P.S 38 won against Jefferson in the Mud Bowl, and it was mentioned that the event will be mentioned in the newspapers.
Randy decided that he was better off without Ruby, who has gotten into a relationship with Nate, which has blossomed quickly.
So Nate, Ruby, Randy, and the rest of the gang were in the city park, ecstatic about winning the Mud Bowl the other day when a car honked.
It was Nate's dad.
"I'll be right back," Nate said before getting up to go see his dad.
Several minutes later, Nate came back and...well... even I can't describe the mood that Nate's in.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asks with concern.
Nate couldn't respond to Ruby's question.
"Wait...are you moving?" Randy asks in sudden shock on why Nate acted like a jerk in school the other day.
And the only answer Nate could give was:
"Yes."
*Oh NO! I left this chapter on a very sad note! Stayed tuned for what happens next in The California Plan.