Once I had gotten changed, I went to the sports field where the other students were already gathered. I saw Ray standing with Nixon which seems odd to me. At least they weren't talking or else that would have been even more surprising.I walked over to them and spotted Penelope sitting on a bench while Riley was no where in sight.
"There you are." Ray said, slightly uncomfortable,"Someone wants to talk to you."
"Do you have to refer to him as 'someone' when it is clear that you are talking about Nixon?" I asked and Ray frowned at me then I asked Nixon,"What do you want?"
"I wanted to thank you for helping me." he.said sheepishly and I smiled at him.
"No problem. It's in my nature to help the weak." I replied and Nixon's eyes flared up.
"I'm not weak." he hissed.
"The weak say that a lot." Ray said and Nixon looked like he was about to explode from fury.
Before any of us could say more, a student came over to us looking a little scared.
"It seems you guys don't have a fourth team member. Would you mind if I...."
"Yes. We mind." Nixon interjected rudely.
"But there's no one left. Everyone was too scared to join because of Dee." the boy said in admiration.
"Welcome to the team." Ray said to the slender boy as he hooked his arm around the his neck,"What are we doing I teams?"
"Relay....relay race." the boy answered.
"We don't need you. You'll make us lose." Nixon huffed with pride."
"Let's just go." I said and we slowly walked to where the other teams were.
Four teams played at a time, starting with the girls and then the boys. Penelope is not a good runner and neither is Riley. When it was our turn, we only had two teams left, ours and Flynn's team.
"I'll start." Ray said,"I'm a little worried about skinny over there. Flynn obviously won't play fair and skinny don't look like he can defend himself."
"Then he'll finish the race and the rest of us have to make sure the other team is eating out dust every time." Nixon said thoughtfully,"I'll be third."
"No. Be second." I said then quickly added,"For his sake."
"My name is Cain Charles so you don't have to call me skinny." the boy said.
I nodded and so did Nixon.
"I still wanna call you skinny." Ray said childishly and the boy frowned.
"Hurry up slay queens!" the sports teacher shouted angry.
We went to our posts and I was not surprised that Flynn followed me to be third runner.
"We meet again." he said stretching his hands out in front of me.
The people who were watching looked anxious and excited and I saw that there were other teachers that came to watch.
"I noticed that something is wrong with your back." he whispered and I snapped my eyes to his grinning face,"It would be a shame if you were hurt there."
He winked at me and I am very sure I was frowning at him. His grin widened and I heard the whistle blow and the crowd started cheering. We were both handed the baton but we stared at each other a few seconds longer before starting off. I by passed him just after the first four steps and as a compromise, he stuck his baton on my back but unfortunately for him, he hit the wrong spot. I sprinted away as fast as I could and handed the baton to Cain who surprisingly, is an exceptional runner. By the time a shocked Flynn got to his runner-up, Cain was already halfway to the finish line.
"We've already won Flynn." I said patting his back and he slapped my hand away.
"This isn't over, punk." he hissed and the cheers erupted from the crowd when Cain crossed the finish line.
Flynn walked away followed by his teammates and I saw Ray cheering for Cain while Nixon stood alone with his arms crossed and he was looking at me. I jogged over to them and also congratulated Cain.
"Who would have thought that skinny could run." Ray said slapping Cain's back and it made the boy sway.
"That's because he is practically paper and we all know paper is carried away by the wind." Nixon interjected rudely.
"It's not windy." I pointed out and Nixon frowned.
Ray and Cain laughed hysterically making Nixon even worse than he had been. He was about to leave when the headteacher came over to us.
"Afternoon." she greeted us.
"Afternoon." we responded.
"Lovely race there." she commented but got no response from anyone.
She sighed loudly and looked around at the students who had started dispersing because of her.
"Strange for you to come here. Is it because of him?" Nixon asked suggestively and she looked like someone who had been caught stealing.
"Well important people naturally get attention Bridger." she responded glaring at him.
"I'm his brother and yet you aren't giving me such attention." Ray said.
She was annoyed beyond annoyance as she locked eyes with him and it made me smile.
"We should get going now. We can speak later." I said and she nodded, making sure to glare at the two of them one last time before leaving.
We went where everyone else was standing and I saw Penelope again. She seemed a little sweaty even though I can say her performance earlier was pathetic. That attire made things worse for me and I ended up staring a few seconds longer. I turned away from her and caught Riley staring at me. She was too surprised to even look away from me so I smiled at her and she waved at me then turned away quickly. I looked in another direction and caught another girls staring at me; Susan. I smiled at her as well and she blushed.
I looked at her attire which was not different from the others and saw how skinny her thighs thighs were then out of curiosity, I looked up at her chest. They were a fair size... Her friends who were standing behind her started giggling as if they were congratulating their friend and I almost rolled my eyes at her. They probably thought I was admiring her.
In the end I decided it was for the best if I just looked at the teacher.
"Can I have two volunteers. A boy and a girl." he said and his eyes landed on me,"Come over Dee."
How does he even know my nickname? I walked to where he was standing and then he selected a girl at random and it so happened to be Penelope. She was a little shy as she walked and was nearly tripped over by another girl who I can remember was one of the girls who had a tight uniform on in the lunchroom.
"Okay. So I want you to carry her and run to that post over there." he said pointing at a lone post that just randomly stood in the open area.
I looked at Penelope and she looked confused.
"Arms or back?" she asked in a whisper.
"Arms." I answered smiling.
"Wouldn't it be easier to have her on your back?" the teacher asked.
"No. Arms." I replied and he nodded before calling two other people.
It was Nixon and Riley and by the looks of things, none of the two was happy about it. He carried her in his arms as well and we started running. I could here Nixon panting from where he was and even the girls were panting even though they weren't the one's running. When we reached the post we saw the teacher send two more pairs our way.
"Are you a human or what?" Nixon said breathlessly as he put Riley on the ground,"You ain't even gasping for air even though Pen is heavier than the half-breed."
"I'm not a half-breed you mutt!" Riley said angry.
"Of course you are. I wasn't even talking to you." Nixon replied as he pushed her away from him.
"Don't dare touch her like that again." I said putting Penelope down,"I hit your brother and I can do the same to you."
"Oh! Beating you will boost my status here, you know." he said then he looked at Riley,"You got a crush on half....Ahhh!"
Riley kicked him in the groin and made a poker face at him. He recovered quickly and fisted her hair to pull her closer to him. I couldn't watch anymore and grabbed his hand and twisted it then when he had released her I used my knee to deliver a blow in his abdomen. He fell to his knees holding his mid-section from the pain.
"What the hell man! I thought we were friends." he said looking up at me in pain,"It's like your knee it an steel rod."
"I was her friend first. And also....I just don't like people who disrespect others especially disrespecting women."
I heard something dropped from the side and when I turned I saw that one the the boys who had been sent over had dropped the girl who was in his arms. She was looking at me fearfully like she had not been dropped while the other pair stood a little further behind.
"He disrespected me so will you hit him?" asked the girl who had been dropped shyly.
I had no words for her and just smiled at her and looked past both pairs to see the teacher jogging over to us while a few students followed like they were journalists.