Poppy pov
Gym class
Hearing those words made me shudder.
Gym class was always a class kids remember. Either they wished they had more of it or they wished they did not have to do it. Maybe they were bigger and couldn't do everything the other kids did, or they were scared of getting hurt, or they just wanted to play games with their friends. But I knew one thing for sure - I would much rather be anywhere but here.
But here I was with my shorts and shirts, waiting to see what calamity would befall us all.
"Alright everybody gather up", said a man who was obviously the coach. He was an African American and was wearing sports jackets and sweatpants and had a whistle hanging from a rope on his neck.
"For those of you who do not know me, my name is Louise Bell and I am the coach here." The gym teacher said in a very loud and manly voice
He continued. "Today, we will be playing dodge ball." A lot of students started groaning loudly but coach bell ignored them. "We are thirty six in this class, so share yourselves into groups of two. Alright then, let's do this!" He said with a smile.
Great. Of all the games in the world, it just had to be this.
All the other kids were already pairing up and I was left alone. I was not sure if any of the kids even wanted me to be on their team. I looked around and I saw Poppy Williams across the room, talking to Lucy and another girl with red curly hair. I was not sure if it was better to be on the same team as her or to be against her, especially after our little altercation that morning. Heck, she might had already met the teacher and switched partners.
"Hey, you are new right?" I heard someone at my back say.
"Yeah." I replied after I had turned around. "My name is Colin. Colin Parker."
"Nice to meet you Colin. My name is Daniel Brown, but you can call me Dan," he said. "Do you want to be on our team? We have one more spot." He handed me a dodge ball.
"Is Poppy Williams going to be on this team?" I asked him.
He wiggled his eyebrows. "Already having a crush I see. On the first day of school no less."
I scoffed. "More like an enemy. Let's just say we have met a couple of times and the only she would like to do with me is to kill me."
"That's better. She has a boyfriend, Liam Westfield and he is kind of a hotshot in school. Plus, he is a senior on the football team. If only you knew how many girls would kill to be in her shoes right now."
"She has a boyfriend? With that personality? He must be a really weird guy."
Dan laughed and then I realized I must have thought that out loud. "She is not so very bad. You just got on her bad side. What did you do to get on her bad side?"
I groaned. "Don't even make me remember."
He grinned. "I am definitely interested now."
I sighed. "To cut the long story short, my dog made her fall in a muddy puddle, ruining her clothes and on the same day I managed to ruin another outfit of hers with the pie she brought to our house while she was trying to be neighborly."
Dan busted out laughing. "Yeah, if I were her, I would stay far away from you too."
"Well it is a little too late for that." I said.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
Just as I was about to explain coach bell blew his whistle, signaling us to come to the center of the gym.
"Well then, welcome to gym class. Let's play some dodge ball." He grinned.
###
"Lucy don't do this." I begged but she held the ball back ready to fling it right at me. Poppy was radiating joy, with the most evil grin I had ever seen.
"If you do this, we are so not friends anymore." I scolded, but playfully.
"Like we ever were." She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, chucking the ball with brutal force in my direction. I had nowhere to run, so I let the ball hit me on my chest, which caused a short wince to come out of my lips.
"He's out!" Coach Bell yelled. I groaned in annoyance and began walking to the wall where everyone that was out was standing by. Lucy was busy high fiving Poppy, who was doing a victory dance, even though she was out too. I guessed she really loved seeing me fail. Lucy smiled at me and blew me a kiss. I smiled back at her and acted like I caught the kiss just so I could make Poppy mad and true to my guess, Poppy made a face of disgust and pretended to throw up.
I guessed this town wouldn't be so bad after all.
As the game continued on, I was beginning to grow tired from standing up. So I slid down the wall, sitting cross legged on the gym floor.
"Hey." I jumped at the sudden voice, turning my attention to the direction it was coming from and I saw that it was Dan.
"Sorry I startled you." He apologized as he sat down next to me
"Nah, it's okay. I'm just jumpy," I explained. He nodded and smiled at me, letting me know that he was listening.
"This game sucks." He laughed picking at the end of his gym shirt that he was wearing, which I just noticed had some Marvel characters.
"Are you a Marvel fan too?" I found myself asking.
His eyes widened in excitement. "Yeah, I mean look obviously." He pointed to his t-shirt. "It is kind of hard finding a fellow Marvel enthusiast here. Everybody just loves DC." He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, the horror," I said in mock surprise. "Who is your favorite character?"
"The Wolverine," he said. "He has a code of morality that he follows. He is gruff, blunt, pessimistic, and a completely pragmatic killing machine because he has seen literally centuries of man's greed and evil. However, he loves even after watching countless lovers die and fights even when he knows the battle is lost. He trusts even after he has been betrayed. He mentors even when he knows what the world awaits. He is so bad ass. What I would give to be him." Dan sighed wistfully. Immediately he cheeks turn pink and rubs a hand over his head and laughed embarrassingly. "Sorry man. I get carried away sometimes."
"It's okay man. I get carried away sometimes too," I said and we both laugh.
"What about you?" He asked.
"Hmm, it is hard to say but if I must, I'll have to go with Daredevil. I love the idea of a lawyer finishing what the law can't. He is the perfect cover being a blind guy as no one will suspect him being a blind guy by night and any bruises are shrugged off as blind clumsiness when he is actually one of the most agile heroes. Like you said, he is badass too."
Dan looks as if he wants to say something and he finally does. "This is totally random but do you want to come hang at my house after school. We could play video games or read comic books or something. If you don't have anything doing after school. It is totally fine if you don't want to come," he rambled on.
Okay I knew I said was done with relationships but, like dad said, what is life without taking risks? Plus it's not like Poppy wants me as her partner, so there was no need for me to work with her later in the day. So I found myself saying, "Sure."
"Okay new game." Coach Bell announced. I look at Dan and we both groan loudly at the same time.
"I swear I am going to ban this sport when I become president." He said as we made our way towards the center of the gym floor.
"Looking forward to it," I replied.
I noticed Lucy few meters away from me, giving me the evil eye, but I was quicker than her. I picked up a ball and threw it at her, instantly getting her out. I laughed at her and she fake pouted as she made her way to the wall. I looked at Dan and ushered at him to come over my way.
"Did you see that?" I exclaimed.
"Be careful now. You don't want to ruin the face of our current beauty queen. Otherwise, you are gonna have a bunch of jocks coming at your throat." He laughed and lifted his hand to fist bump me. I connected our fists and picked up another ball throwing it at another opponent.
"Wanna be partners?" he asked me, throwing the ball he already had in his hand at someone to get them out.
"I thought we already were," I teased. He laughed and I took the chance to grab another ball and threw it at Poppy, which made Dan and I win.
"Ha, ha. In your face!" I laughed and she frowned at me and stuck her tongue out.
"Not for long!" She yelled back.
"Class is over.