Sweat was beading and trailing down my temples, my breathing was heavy, and I was getting focused. The sound of a tennis ball bouncing echoed throughout the court. All eyes were on me.
I pointed my racquet in my opponent's direction and growled, "Are...you...READY!?" copying the opening lyrics to "Blind" by Korn.
"Yo, Jonathan Davis. Serve the damn ball." Shouted Ezra, one of my former teammates from swimming.
My classmates giggled.
Ezra was a hilarious punk and skater who was well-known for stretching his own earlobes with random objects. He moved up from ballpoint pens to Sharpies. Before that, they were deck nails.
I took a deep breath and tossed the ball in the air, floating so slowly in my sight. With a mighty swing, I struck the ball, and instantly, it became a green blur streaking across the court...
...And into the net.
"FAULT!" The coach called.
Fuck!
"SIT DOWN!" The whole class laughed and hollered.
I took my seat on the court floor with the rest of my teammates that have been beaten. All of us who lost the rally or faulted had to sit in the play area, now becoming targets and obstacles.
Ezra was now at the serve. He bounced his ball while scouting the area for his next target.
Once the ball entered the air, my team braced themselves and used their racquets as a shield.
POP!
Ezra served the ball successfully, and the rally began.
Tabby, the player on my team, was up against Ezra. The two maneuvered around all the floored players (who were naturally screaming in terror) while trying to volley the ball back and defend their downed teammates.
Ezra sliced at the ball, making it flow slowly with some backspin.
Tabby lunged and swiped, sending the ball towards Manny, one of their downed teammates.
POP!
"Ahh!" Manny screamed and chuckled as the ball ricocheted off the side of his body.
"BEAMED!" Coach shouted.
"SIT DOWN!" We all hollered at Ezra and laughed.
Ezra just smirked and plopped wildly.
What kind of madman game was this? Battle Tennis? Tennis dodgeball?
Whatever you call it, Coach is a genius!
I never had this much fun playing tennis until now.
----
After the little game was over, I had completed my dirty commission and was ready to hand it over to Manny. He was satisfied with the commission; however, he made a new request.
"Hey. Do you know that one vampire girl from Darkstalkers? The one with all the bat wings." He smirked.
"Umm...Morrigan?" I asked.
"Yeah." Manny nodded wildly. "I want something nice with her as long as she's got big chi-chis."
I sighed and shook my head. This dude must really like anime girls with big breasts, and that character was already plenty lewd as it is. I didn't want to do another one.
"15 bucks?" He chimmed.
$15 means I have $15 more than I did before. I raised my brows and thought about it.
"Make it 20 and you got yourself a deal."
He clapped and looked as happy as I did when I acquired the racquet. I twirled it around like a short sword.
We shook on the deal, and I grabbed my stuff to get to my next class. Why the hell did I agree to another dirty drawing?
----
With small welts now appearing on my body from where I've been hit with tennis balls, and suffering through math and chemistry, it was time to finally wind down and find out if Bear pulled it off.
On my way to the Island of Misfits, I noticed Betty wasn't there; however, Bear was. I ran up to him, feeling excited to hear some news. I wasn't sure what answer I wanted to hear; I just had to know.
"What's going on, bud?" I greeted Bear while trying to act casual.
Bear smiled and nodded as he was mid-bite into his burger. "I'm doing good."
He's in a good mood. This is a good sign it was him.
I sat beside him. My curiosity was rampant, and it was pounding in my heart. "So...um...just curious. Did you ask Betty out?"
Bear was caught by surprise, and he snorted and almost choked. "What?! No. Why would you think that?"
I was feeling ridiculous for asking. "I dunno. I was just wondering. I mean, the two of you have been hanging out a lot, and she was kinda smiley and giddy this morning." I mumbled.
He shook his head. "No, dude. She's cool, and you know I couldn't ask her out even if I wanted to."
Fuck. If Bear didn't ask her out, who did?
I looked around frantically to see if there were any signs of Betty, and then I spotted her coming through the door where the vending machines were. She wasn't alone. There was a tall and chubby guy with her. He had smoky-lensed glasses, short wavy hair, tan skin, and was wearing a Star Wars hoodie.
It was Seth.
In my first year, Seth was dating one of the girls who was in the school band with him and hung around with the misfits. All I remember about it was that he was heartbroken in the end. She dropped him, and not in a soft way. I never got the full story of what happened, but something about it always seemed off.
They decided to sit by the stairs of the west entrance in the courtyard, where they were chatting. Seth was really animated and excited, talking to her as if he were going 100 miles a minute. Betty listened politely and laughed a little sweetly at his attempts.
Bear looked over and spotted them in the distance. "Who's that with Betty?" He asked in a low tone.
"That's Seth." I sighed.
Once again, Bear looked defeated. "Are they dating?"
I didn't know how to respond to him without being too harsh. It was then apparent that Seth was the one who had asked Betty out.
"I think so, bud. I think so." I answered.
Bear just moved his focus back to his burger and took a very slow bite, sighing as he chewed. There was nothing I could really say to make this better. I was hoping it was Bear who made his move.
"Hey!"
I jolted up as I was startled by CC. She had snuck up behind me again. "I swear to God, I'm going to put a cat bell on you."
CC giggled. "Let's go get some Cheeto thingies."
I smiled and nodded. "Sounds good. "Want anything from the store?" I asked Bear.
He shook his head slowly. "I'm good. Thanks."
CC and I headed off the school grounds towards the alley that led straight to the back of the convenience store.
"What was up with Bear back there?" CC asked.
I didn't know how to answer without putting him in the spotlight. "He's upset. He... umm...likes Betty."
"Oh." CC looked a bit disappointed. "And he saw her with that other guy?"
"Yeah. Seth." I responded.
CC nodded. "Yeah, him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. I don't know. He seems off to me."
"He seems okay to me." I shrugged. "I know of him, but I don't know him personally. You know what I mean?"
"Mhmm." CC hummed.
I opened the door for CC as we entered the convenience store. There was always a familiar smell that these shops had, which was inviting.
CC made her way to the chip aisle to grab her bag of Cheetos; meanwhile, I was mesmerized by a new item at the check-out area.
*Zen Power Beads*
There were these elastic band bracelets with wooden beads on a display rack. The beads came in black, white, and brown, and they had Chinese characters all over them. There was something about them that I just had to have, so I grabbed a pair.
"C'mon, slow poke." CC teased as she headed outside.
I hurried to get my nacho cheese-covered flaming hot Cheetos to join CC on the patio table. We took a few bites of those hot and savory snacks before we broke the silence.
"When I heard Betty say someone asked her out, I was hoping it was Bear," I said disappointedly.
"No. It was kinda awkward. Seth just came over and asked her out while she was hanging out with me and Ryan." She said as she was working around the bag for a sound bite. "I told her not to, but Ryan said go for it." She shrugged and took a bite.
Ryan?
"Who's Ryan? I don't think I've met Ryan yet." I started digging around and mixing the cheese into the chips.
"Oh, he's a riot. Gay, loud, proud, overdramatic, and always looking for a laugh." She giggled. "That's Betty's buddy from choir. Those two are like Will and Grace."
"Sounds like a character," I muttered.
"Mhmm. He pretty much said Give the guy a shot. It might grow into something." She took another bite of her cheesy Cheetos. "Guess who's advice she went with?"
I sat there in silence with warm cheese stuck on my lip while chewing. After hearing the type of ex-boyfriend Betty had before this guy, there couldn't be anybody worse.
"I guess all we can do is hope for the best," I muttered.
"Yup. I still won't like it," CC smirked. "I'm gonna watch over that boy like a hawk. Any wrong move..."
She just sat there getting lost in her thoughts.
I just stared at her, stunned and afraid. There's that big sister energy again. My sister did it all the time, Lilly did it on our date, and now CC is doing it before my very eyes.
CC's jaw was set like stone. She wasn't joking.
If Seth slipped up even once, he'd have to answer to her.
And honestly? I felt a little bad for him already.
May God have mercy on his soul.