27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Winnie

I don't think this is a good idea!

"Whoa!" Jackel squeals as he hurries to dodge me.

"I'm sorry!" I pull the controller of the ship, trying to hold myself steady.

Telke shouts from the ground. "Lift your foot off the gas!"

I do that and I'm finally slowing. Geez, this is harder than I expected, and...

"Watch out, your left!" Jackel shouts as I spin around to my left.

The floatball is flying to my face. I move the bat, but it is too long to hit the ball off its path as it is running straight on.

I lean forward to dodge the floatball and it flies an inch above my head, almost scorching my hair.

This time, Telke's voice comes from the earbud. "Look, you're supposed to smack the ball, not dodge."

"I know, but it would have hit me in the face."

"You can move the ship so it will be at the right spot for you to hit with the bat."

I roll my eyes, even though he can't see me from the distance. He is standing on the field all the way down there, watching all of us. "Easy for you to say."

I've never done something like this before. I strapped the bat onto my wrist, which is my saving grace before I dropped it.

I know how to drive a spaceship, but driving this ship while watching the float ball, and also hitting the ball where I want it to go, proves to be a lot more challenging than I expected.

Jackel and another male hurry to chase after the floatball. Their ships hit each other, but Jackel manages to snag the ball. He sends it flying closer to the goal.

These floatball ships are designed to bump against each other, but I still can't find the appeal.

"Winnie! Chase the ball and send it into the goal!" Telke shouts again, seemingly a bit too excited about it, even more than me, who is in the game.

I step on the gas and lift my bat, the floatball is a few seconds away when a player from another team shows up to smack the ball away from their side.

"Speed up and bump him out of the way!" Telke's voice comes again.

I roll my eyes at him. I know the ship makes it fair for smaller beings like me to be competitive, but...

I close my eyes as the ship bumps, swinging my bat at where the floatball should be at.

"Hey! You aren't supposed to be smacking me!" The male teacher grunts as he ducks.

My bat hits something and before I know it, there's a beep at the goal.

Telke blows the whistle. "Ayo! It's a goal!"

I guess... I scored something.

The other teacher, who I probably almost smacked on the head laughs. "Maybe this is the move for the game."

My cheeks grow hot, and I take the bat close to me again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I'm just bad at controlling all these things at once."

"It's okay. I'm trying my best too."

I drive my ship back to my side before the next round. It's not tired in the sense that I'll have to run around, but my hands are tired, and so is my brain.

Telke says, "Everyone, do you need a break? We'll continue for a bit more later and call it a day."

Someone should define what's ‘a bit more' in Telke's head.

But all of us land our ships and get out of them, regardless. It is getting dark, so I guess we won't be staying here for long.

Telke grins as I go to him, where the bench with our bags and water bottles sits. He lifts one of his hands to me with his palm out. "You are actually pretty good at it!"

I give him a high five. "Thank you. Though I lucked out for sure. I almost slapped others with the bat."

He chuckles. "I know, but that's even more impressive. Imagine smacking a floatball with your eyes closed, that's some planet-level skill."

I roll my eyes and sip on my water. I'd smack his arm if there weren't others around. He loves to mess with me.

He rests his hands on his waist with a big smile. It almost feels like we're back to before things get awkward between us. He is always the happy one.

It doesn't take long before he checks his watch and gets everyone back on the floatball ship.

I strap the bat on my hand again. Even though I'd love to see Telke happy, I'm not sure whether this floatball thing is a good idea.

But Telke seems to be having so much fun...

Oh... He hops onto the last ship with a bat in his hand. I guess he is going to have even more fun.

"Hiya! Let's go!" He blows the whistle and almost blows out my eardrums.

I start the ship with the bat as the game system drops the floatball to the center of the field from above.

Focus and... to smack—

Before I even get close, Telke's already there, he swings his bat and the floatball goes flying to the goal.

The other team sends a goalie to smack the floatball away, which... is flying my way.

Or more accurately, flying to another player of their team.

She drives her ship over there to catch the floatball while I stomp on the peddle, lifting the bat to my best effort. It is a long bat for me, which... gets heavy.

Telke's voice comes from the earbud again. "Hold with both hands until you're ready to hit. Like baseball bat, something like that."

I take a breath. "Then I can't control the ship. I don't have four hands."

"Just go straight and bounce against the wall."

"Fuck no!"

The wall of the field is a force-field that's transparent and will bounce things that hit it back like an actual wall. Even though I know the ship is designed to slam on things, I'm going to treasure my life a bit more than that.

I hold the bat with both hands, regardless. Just because I strapped the bat doesn't mean it is lightweight.

I control the ship with my elbow. At least I'm going mostly straight, so that doesn't require a lot of control.

Getting close, I reach my bat to the floatball, but the other female teacher is quicker. Or technically, has a longer tentacle arm.

She smacks the ball, but I poke it right after the floatball leaves her bat. The ball weakly flies to where I poke it.

I hurry to grab the handle to steer the ship, but another of my team is quicker and takes charge soon enough.

"Go, team!" Telke's cheer is powerful as always. He may be the most excited one in the field.

He is a distance away from the floatball, though, leaving plenty of room for the others to play. Maybe he knows he'd be too competitive and aggressive for everyone to learn the game.

I chase the ball and try to control everything, but this floatball thing... I need more hands. Telke makes it look a lot easier than it actually is.

He chases the ball at times, but looks like he is taking his time and controlling himself. There are flames in his eyes that burn from afar. He is a wild ball of energy. The way he looks at the floatball even when he isn't chasing it...

I shiver when his gaze sets me on fire even when he isn't even looking at me. The intensity in him pulses in the air and echoes its way to me.

When he pinned me to the wall that day, was his gaze as intense?

I shake my head. What am I even thinking? I should be—

"Winnie!"

I blink to focus on the game, but...

"Oof!" I barely lift the bat quick enough before the floatball hits me in the face. It bounces off and spares my poor face. It must hurt to get splatted like that. Apparently, I didn't learn after I almost got smacked earlier.

A few staff fight to stifle their laughs while my cheeks grow even hotter.

Telke shrugs. "Maybe it's getting dark now. Before the floatball can actually hit someone, let's call it a day. We've gone through the rules and the basics anyway. I suggest that the teams can practice on their own. If you guys need help, just let me know. I hope everyone will enjoy floatball as much as possible."

His two upper arms are in the air, and so is the bat, so... his passion for this sport is showing and that's strangely attractive.

Even though I should focus on keeping our distance, he has a way of pulling me in with his charm.

And... Ossa, the mean orange cat, likes Telke too...