Chapter 2~

         We decided to spice it up a bit. My team sent me over to the guys’ team—to boost my energy and not be shy—and got one of the guys on their team. The guys were all muscular and attractive with all of them having thick, black hair and dark, mysterious eyes. I was the only girl on the guys’ team, and John Cartel was the only guy on the girls’ team. I was in the middle on my team.

          I was loving gym because of the guys and because we had music!

          Then, I saw Beth and Matt enter through the entrance. Chris Combs set the volleyball up in the air.

          “Your spike!” he told me.

          I jumped in the air as the ball came back down and spiked it with my palm. I realized a second later that Beth and Matt were walking behind the opposite team. The ball soared over the net and straight to Beth, hitting her in the head with a loud smack!

          I gasped and it was really quiet in the gym, except for the music. Brandon turned it off and rushed over to Beth. I followed him.

          “Oh, my God!” I exclaimed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there! I wasn’t paying attention.”

          “I’m sure you weren’t,” Beth snapped, rubbing her head.

          “Coach, Bridget’s telling the truth,” Chris said. “I told her to spike the ball, because the set was for her. We didn’t see Beth walk back there. If we did, we would’ve bumped it.”

          “We don’t pay attention to our surroundings, Coach,” Sheryl Davis added. “You taught us that when we were on the volleyball team, remember? So, Bridget didn’t know.”

          “Oh, just defend her!” Beth shouted. “You’re my cheerleaders; you’re supposed to defend me!”

          Laura stepped up in front. “Excuse me? I believe these are my cheerleaders, including you. We only defend someone if they didn’t do it on purpose. And Bridget did it by accident.”

          “Okay, let’s get back to the game,” Brandon ordered.

          “You’re not going to do anything?” Beth asked.

          “No matter how much I hate it, they’re right,” he said. “Get back to your game!”

          We cheered as we went back to our game. We were joined by Matt and Beth. Matt was on my team and Beth was on the other team, to her disappointment.

          “Come on, Bridget, let’s get this game started!” Kyle Hayden said. “Your serve!”

          I was serving from the back right hand corner of the court. I threw the ball up in the air and spiked it over the net with a fast-pace soar. Beth returned it with an earsplitting bump that echoed off the walls of the gym. It came straight to me. I set it up in the air and I saw Matt do a jump shot and smacked the ball over the net. The ball bounced in a vacant space inside the blue line and it was in.

          “Good job, Matt!” I complimented. “Double high fives!” We smacked our hands simultaneously with each other, laughing. Beth was over the net seething in anger.

          “I think I’m going to sit out,” Beth said.

          “What’s the matter? Afraid of a little competition?” I asked. “Come on, Beth. We’re just getting started.”

          She glared at me. “Well, then, let’s go.”

          We turned up the volume full on the stereo.

          It was 29-29. We were tied and only had 5 minutes until we had to go back to locker rooms to get changed back, and ten minutes until class was over. This game was getting intense by the minute. We were all sweaty and our muscles were aching, screaming protests at every move. But we weren’t giving up, not until we win. What started out as a harmless game has turned into a competitive dispute between two enemies.

          I had to tie my hair up. It was getting in the way, pasting to my forehead and cheeks.

          “Wrap it up!” Brandon called, as he got up from his table. He had been watching us from the starting. “One minute!”

          Sam Malden set up the ball too high.

          “I can’t get it without a boost!” I shouted.

          The closest person to me was Matt. He put his arms at my hips and lifted me up. My heart jolted at his touch. I spiked the ball over the net. We all held our breath as we saw Laura dove for the ball. The ball zipped passed her awaiting hands and hit in-bounds.

          My team cheered. We’d won!

          Beth was boiling with anger as she marched over to Laura. “You missed the ball!” she shouted. “How hard is it to hit a damn ball!”

           Laura glared at her. “Beth, shut up! I don’t give a crap. You don’t talk to me that way!”

          “I can talk to you anyway I want,” Beth returned, evenly.

          “No, you can’t,” I stepped in. “Beth Forbes wants to always be the center of attention, running her idiotic mouth. Well, I got news for you. You are in for a big competition. Watch out, Beth. I stole the spotlight from you once and I can do it again.”

          “How dare you t—” she started.

          “Shut your trap!” I snapped. “I don’t care how you would like to be talked to. But I won’t put up with your nasty comments any longer. Be prepared, Beth.”

          “All right, break it up,” Brandon interceded. “Beth, Laura, and Bridget, come by my classroom after you’ve changed.” He looked serious and whatever he had to say was very serious.

          We all headed to the locker room. Thank goodness for showers. I took a shower and then got dressed. My hair was damp and I ran a brush through it. As it slowly dried, it got curly.

          Laura, Beth, and I walked to Brandon’s classroom in silence. I could feel the fury radiating off each girl; mine mixed in between. I can’t believe Beth. She only acts like this when she’s about to be replaced, but somehow it never happens.

          “You wanted to see us?” I asked, when we walked into the room.

          “Can you please hurry? Some of us have cheerleading practice to show up to,” Beth said.

          “You should’ve thought of that before creating a mess in the gym,” Brandon said.

          “Well, I had to defend myself and Bridget was just defending me, which is considered a nice deed,” Laura said. “Okay, Mr. Holden, talk to us tomorrow after class.”

          “Okay, but I would like Bridget to stay,” he said.

          “Good luck,” Laura said, as she and Beth left.

          Now, Brandon and I were alone. He could yell at me all he wanted.

          “I am very disappointed in you, Bridget,” Brandon began.

          “Oh, now we’re on to a first-name basis?” I asked, curiously.

          “Don’t get smart with me, I’m still your cousin and older than you,” he warned.

          “I thought you were my teacher and nothing more,” I recalled. “Listen, Mr. Holden, are you my teacher or are you my cousin? You know what? Don’t answer that. I got to go.” I turned and started to walk away.

          “Bridget,” he sighed. “Stop, wait! I know I’ve hurt you. I can’t give you special treatment because you’re my cousin.”

          “Brandon—Mr. Holden, I could care less about being your cousin,” I said, bitterly, and left.

Reviews

[John Morris]

Yes! This has a lot more pizaaz to it - the grammar is a worse in this but a good clean up should sort it out. I am looking forward to reading the third chapter.

[MadasonBlue]

Woo, conflict.
Matt sounds... interesting.
I don't know if I like him yet or not.
The fact that he's a retard enough to talk to Beth is bad, but he did help Bridget spike the ball...
Hm.
Good chapter.