Chapter Two
"Sorry..." A.J. mumbled, embarrassed, to Kai who sat across the table from her. He sighed. "Should've done my homework?" She grinned sheepishly, unable to hide the blush that fully showed across her pale cheeks now.
Kai looked quickly behind him. Lancer had his back turned to them, speaking to another pair of students. He leaned across the table and grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling her to him. "Okay, listen, I want you to repeat the end of Romeo's soliloquy as Lancer passes by. Make it look like you're doing something productive."
A.J. blinked at him. "Solili-what?"
"This!" Kai shoved the script into her face. "Hurry, he's coming."
"See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" A.J. practically shouted as the heavy-set teacher passed. Lancer raised an eyebrow and paused at their table.
"Wonderful, Miss Courman. You memorized Romeo's soliloquy. I'm impressed." He narrowed his eyes, his tone completely opposite of his words.
A.J. grinned nervously at him. "Ehhh... yup."
"Then you also answered the questions on your homework page, correct?" He asked, smirking slightly. "Tell me, what did you put for number three?"
Kai looked away, cursing under his breath. Count on Lancer to call their bluff....
"Um... well..." A.J. stuttered. "Obviously... by the... erm... type of language R-Romeo's using..." she looked to Kai for back-up, but he just simply shook his head, indicating that she should just give up.
Lancer's smirk spread and he opened his mouth to say something when the bell rang, releasing the students to their final class. A.J. jumped up immediately. "Well, that was real fun, Mr. Lancer, but I have to-" She started heading for the door, but Lancer grabbed her by the backpack and held her there.
"Just a moment, Miss Courman." He said flatly. He looked at Kai, who was waiting to see what would happen. "This does not involve you, Mr. Atokata, so you may leave for your next class." He glared at the student. Kai glared back but stomped out of the classroom anyway.
Oh great... the only person that makes me look half-way decent in this class just walked out the door.... A.J. cringed and turned around to look at Mr. Lancer, who stared at her angrily. "Um... yes?"
"Miss Courman, are you aware of the grade you are receiving in my class?" He asked, closing his eyes to try to keep himself calm.
A.J. bit her lip. "Not really.... No." She admitted.
"Borderline failure, Miss Courman," Lancer replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And that's not including your disruptive behavior in class, of which I could count as no class participation, thus sending you spiraling into an educational decay."
She blanched at him. "Ehhh... what?"
Lancer's jaw tightened with irritation. "I'm being kind by giving you enough participation points to keep you at a D-, Miss Courman." He crossed his arms. "However, depending on the next few tests, that could be for naught." She still looked confused. "If you do not pass this class," he continued in a louder tone, being careful to enunciate every word slowly, "you will not be graduating this year with Mr. Atokata."
A.J.'s eyes widened. "W-what?"
"I'm afraid there is nothing more I can do, Ashley." Lancer spoke softer now, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You will have to start getting extremely good grades on your schoolwork or else I must fail you."
Her shocked expression didn't change as she stood there. The second bell rang and she jerked from surprise.
"I'm sorry, Miss Courman." Lancer turned away, striding back to his desk as A.J. walked briskly out of the classroom. Thank goodness Gym was next- the only class she could do decently in. She needed to let out some frustration. A.J. cursed under her breath and stomped down the hall toward the field outside. Today, they were playing flag football....
~~~~
"Kai, I'm open!" Izzy cried, waving her arms wildly. The boy looked quickly at her as he weaved around the opposite team, missing Xander's hand by just centimeters. He made a straight, bee-line throw to the girl. Izzy yelped at the speed and fumbled with the ball before finally catching it with both hands.
"Run, Izzy!" Kai shouted, watching as Dash Baxter and Kwan both came after her.
Izzy shrieked and took off down the field, looking behind her once to see that both boys were gaining on her, and fast. "A.J.!" She hollered.
The wolfa's eyes flashed. She stood up from her crouched position across the width of the field, being guarded by Colin, who didn't look too confident that he could keep her there. She adjusted the flags on her belt and in one, swift motion, had maneuvered around Colin to catch up with Izzy.
"Xander! She's going for it!" Colin cried. The green-haired boy spun in the wolfa's direction. He grinned widely and chased after her.
Izzy threw the ball. A.J. leapt into the air. She snatched it before Xander's fingers made contact, and landed gracefully on the ground.
"Yes!" Izzy cried before tripping and tumbling out-of-bounds.
"Get her!" Dash Baxter cried, turning slightly to come after A.J.
She backed up, keeping the ball tucked securely under her arm.
"A.J.!" Kai shouted, a few yards away.
She looked at him quickly before judging how far away from the goal she was.
She could do it.
A.J. took off down the field, allowing herself to run just a tad bit faster than normal, easily losing Kwan behind her. She grinned. Another score for the Frea- wait... where was Dash?
A.J. looked behind her. He wasn't there.
"Ha!" Dash laughed, almost maniacally, as he stationed himself in front of her, reaching out to grab her flag.
A.J.'s lips pulled back and her eyes flashed. He wasn't going to win. She wouldn't let him. She would just spin to snap the flag away from him and then-
"And what do you think that will accomplish?" She gasped. "You think your added strength will help you?"
The sudden, loud memory in her ears distracted her and she crashed into Dash, sending both of them sprawling across the ground, the ball rolling into the end zone.
There were a mixture of cheers and gasps before Mrs. Tetslaff's shrill whistle cut them all off.
"Courman!" She shouted, stomping over to them. "What the hell was that?"
"Yeah!" Dash hollered, pushing A.J. off of him roughly. "It's flag football, Loser!"
A.J. bit back the growl as she sat up, dusting her sleeves off. "You're just annoyed that a girl took you down." She sneered.
"That's it!" Dash took a step at her, but Mrs. Tetslaff grabbed him, pulling him back.
"Bleachers, Baxter." She barked. He glared at A.J. before yanking his arm free of the bulky teacher, stomping away and grumbling to himself. The red-haired woman glared intimidatingly at A.J. "Do you want detention?" She practically growled.
A.J. stood up, wincing slightly and rubbing her arm. "I didn't mean to." She snapped. "I got... distracted." She made a face as she thought about it.
"Distracted!" Mrs. Tetslaff exclaimed. "Distracted when you were making the winning point for your team?!"
"The... winning..." A.J. looked behind her, at the goal. "Really?"
"It totally left her hand!" Kwan exclaimed. "That doesn't count!"
"Shut up." Kai snapped at him. "She was still holding it before she touched the ground."
"Yeah." Izzy backed him up.
"Whateva!" Xander was now at a stand-off with Kai once again. "I saw 'er wit me own two eyes!"
"So did I." Kai growled back.
"Break it up!" Tetslaff roared, her booming voice vibrating the goal posts like a tuning fork. "Everyone, hit the showers."
The students all unbuckled their belts and threw them down as they raced away from the field, thankful to be out of P.E. Only Izzy, Kai, Colin, Xander, and A.J. remained.
"That was a nice save," Izzy commented brightly.
"You sure are chipper," Colin observed, eyeing the electrokinetic. "You usually don't like gym."
"The ground's damp today." Izzy tossed back. "No static electricity. Plus- everyone decided against metal cleats."
Xander chuckled at her, joining the group. "So, where's Erik at now?"
"He's got Shop." Izzy replied. "And... if I know Erik, he'll have come out with another injury... or injured person."
Kai paid no attention to their discussion as he took a step closer to A.J., who was still staring at the football lying just beyond the end zone chalk line. "You okay?" He asked quietly.
She blinked a few times and then looked down, realizing she had yet to take off her flags. As she unbuckled the belt, she replied, "Yeah, why?"
"Because you plowed into Baxter. And you don't do that in public, no matter how angry you are." He raised an eyebrow.
She felt the blush return and she couldn't help but grin. "His face was priceless."
"You said you got distracted," Kai continued, not allowing her to dodge the subject this time. "By what?"
"Certainly not his looks." A.J. deadpanned.
"Back to the jokes?"
"Not really."
"Then why the smirky grin?" Kai couldn't help but smile softly back. He caught a stray hair blowing in the wind and tucked it behind her ear.
"'Cause I know you like it," A.J. teased, bumping him with her hip. He blushed immediately.
"Hey, Lovebirds!" Tetslaff shouted. "Showers."
A.J. pouted and followed Kai across the field.
"And not together," Tetslaff sneered as they passed her, watching as both of them blushed furiously and their eyes widened. She chuckled.
~~~
"A.J. seemed happier." Colin noted as he dried his hair with his towel. "Maybe beating up Baxter put her in a better mood."
"I heard that!" Dash shouted from the adjacent hallway. Colin grinned.
"Hm." Kai threw his shirt on, not bothering to give the boy any more of an answer. Colin just shrugged.
"Hey, Xander, can I borrow..."
Kai didn't hear the rest of Colin's sentence as he stared into his locker, thinking. Why the sudden change in her mood? He wondered as he sat back on the bench, pulling on his socks. She had gone from depressed this morning to sarcastic this afternoon. He finished tying his shoes and grabbed his jacket, looping his arms through the sleeves as he walked out of the dressing room. A.J. was hiding something. He knew it. Now that he thought about it, she never had given him an answer about what had distracted her. He narrowed his eyes, rounding the corner of the hallway outside. What was she keeping from him?
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