Chapter 8

CHAPTER8

He’d missed this, Sebastian thought as he walked into the large gym and took in everything from the basketball hoops to the freshly waxed floor before shifting his focus to the small teenage girl currently trying to take a nap on the bleachers.

“Why does Braxton look like he’s imagining wringing her neck?” Cole asked conversationally, drawing his attention to find Braxton sitting at the top of the bleachers, where he was glaring down at the little pain in the ass.

“She brings out the best in people,” Sebastian said, watching as Braxton’s eyes narrowed dangerously on Mikey.

“That’s what I’ve heard,” Cole murmured absently as he threw him a curious look. “So, when are you asking Mikey to the dance?”

“What dance?” Sebastian asked as his gaze shifted back to the teenage girl settling in more comfortably on the bench.

“The one that you’ll come up with some lame ass excuse not to ask Mikey to, which happens to be taking place next Saturday to welcome everyone back,” Cole drawled with a knowing look.

“I think I’ve got enough to worry about right now,” Sebastian said, shrugging it off before adding, “Besides, Mikey wouldn’t be interested in going to a dance.”

“You sure about that?” Cole asked as they watched Coach Copeland walk into the gym.

“Positive,” Sebastian murmured absently as he watched Mikey reluctantly get up with a sigh, knowing without question that the last thing that Mikey would be interested in was going to a school dance. A baseball game? The movies? The arcade? Yes, but Mikey wasn’t into anything that required her to dress up and he’d never seen her show any interest in dancing before.

“Today, we’re going to play one of my favorite games,” Coach Copeland said, pausing as he gestured to the red rubber balls lined up along the black line cutting across the large gymnasium before adding, “Dodgeball,” with a satisfied sigh.

“What’s Dodgeball?” came the question that had Sebastian biting back a smile.

God, he’d missed this.

“The game that’s going to help me determine your athletic abilities so that I can see what I have to work with,” Coach Copeland said, nodding as he gestured to both ends of the gym. “Each team will start off against the wall, and when I give the signal, you will run as fast as you can to the line, grab a ball, and throw it at someone on the opposite team. If you get hit, you’re out and will have to wait on the sidelines until the next round begins. If you throw the ball and someone catches it, you’re out. We’re going to start off with the girls versus the boys. Any questions?”

“So, we’re playing against the boys?” a girl with the name “Peterson” printed on her shirt asked, shooting a nervous glance at the boys, who were smiling hugely at the news.

Nodding, Coach Copeland went to answer when Mikey held up her hand. “What happens if we throw the ball too hard?” Mikey asked with a calculating expression that had Sebastian going still as he glanced at Cole and Braxton to find them swallowing hard as they watched her.

“Nothing?” Coach Copeland said, frowning in confusion.

“So, I won’t get in trouble?” Mikey asked with a focus that actually terrified him.

“That’s correct, Campbell,” Coach Copeland said as Sebastian glanced back to find Mikey staring at the balls, her hands twitching with the need to grab one of them and-

“I just want to make sure that I heard you correctly. I’m allowed to throw those balls,” Mikey said, pausing to point at the rubber balls lined up across the gym, “at the boys as hard as I can, and I won’t get in trouble?”

“That’s correct,” Coach Copeland said with a firm nod.

“And you’re not going to call my parents if I do?” Mikey asked, narrowing her eyes on Coach Copeland as she waited for an answer, looking for any sign that he was toying with her emotions.

“No, why would I do that?” Coach Copeland asked, frowning in confusion.

Blinking innocently, Mikey mumbled, “No reason.”

“What happens if you don’t play?” Sebastian asked, mentally calculating the odds of surviving a game of dodgeball with Mikey and quickly deciding that it wasn’t a risk that he was willing to take.

“You do pushups in the corner until the game’s over or you get a zerofor the day,” Coach Copeland said, chuckling as he gestured for them to go play.

Biting back a sigh, Sebastian moved to join the boys on the court when Mikey said, “This is going to be the best day ever,” with a predatory gleam in her eye that had him nodding and quickly turning around and heading for that corner.

“We’ll do pushups,” Cole and Braxton said in unison, earning snickers from the rest of the boys as they quickly joined Sebastian in the corner.

“This isn’t going to end well,” Cole said as they got down on the floor and began doing pushups just as the whistle blew.

“No, it’s not,” Sebastian said as he risked a glance up only to wish that he hadn’t when he saw Mikey grab the first ball and-

Thwack!

“Ow!”

Thwack!

“Oh, god!”

Thwack!

“Wait! Oh, God, please don’t-Ow!”

-quickly focused back on the freshly waxed gymnasium floor and tried to think of something other than the screams for mercy, but God, was it difficult when they started begging for their mothers.

Thwack!

“My face!”

Thwack!

“Oh, God, I can’t feel my legs!”

Thwack!

“I don’t want to play anymore!”

Thwack!

“Somebody save me!”

Thwack!

“Please, God, no! I’m already out!”

Thwack!

“Stop throwing the balls back! They’re giving them to her!” someone shouted, only to end on a pained grunt that had Sebastian wincing in sympathy.

Thwack!

When Coach Copeland began frantically blowing his whistle seconds later, Sebastian wasn’t really all that surprised. He wasn’t even surprised when the coach gave up trying to get Mikey’s attention with the whistle and began shouting.

“Stop!” Coach Copeland screamed a bit hysterically as Sebastian looked up and found most of the teenage boys curled up on the floor in the fetal position, a few of them openly crying, several of them still trying to fight back tears while others were trying to drag themselves off the floor and away from Mikey, who was standing on the other side of the gym, absently tossing a ball in the air and smiling hugely while the rest of the girls stood behind her, looking just as pleased.

“God, I love dodgeball,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh as Coach Copeland stood there, staring at her, his mouth working soundlessly as he glanced from her to the teenage boys openly sobbing now and…

“I-I blew the whistle,” Coach Copeland said in a daze, shaking his head slowly as though he couldn’t quite figure out what went wrong.

“Oh, sorry about that. I really couldn’t hear it over,” and this is where Mikey paused to gesture absently towards the boys crying, “Well, you know.”

“But…I blew my whistle,” Coach Copeland mumbled, frowning in confusion.

“Can we play again?” Mikey asked, looking really freaking excited while the coach took in the terrified expressions on the boys’ faces and-

“I think we’ve played enough for today.”