"I surrender," Benjamin said with his hands in the air. Ryan, Alexander, and Frank were in front of him, all holding a ball, not to mention the five people behind them. It was an 8v1; Benjamin had no chance of winning, so he surrendered. He walked closer to the centre with his hands in the air. "Hit me".
Ryan threw his ball with an underhand so as not to hurt Benjamin unnecessarily.
"OUT!"
Benjamin was eliminated. With that, the round was over, and William and David made it to the next round. At the same time, their friends Lucas and Benjamin were eliminated.
"David made the right call. If all of us went up against that, yeah, I don't know," Lucas started shaking his head, thinking about it.
"At least half of us got through; I wonder if Mally and Ray are still playing".
Malakai lay on his back, spread out like a starfish staring at the ceiling. He heard cheering all around him. Maria crouched down and blocked Malakai's line of vision with her face.
"You did it", she said, giving a big smile.
"Yeah, we made it", he replied, smiling back.
All his teammates came around him to congratulate and celebrate with him. Ray smiled, helped him up, and brought him into a hug.
"I don't know how you always do it", Ray said to him.
"I don't know either, " he said, still in the hug.
Malakai's plan to win was risky, and the plan depended on him. If he failed, they would've lost. Before he gave Maria and Nada a ball, he told them to stand in line with each other after they had thrown their ball. Stand in line with each other and a few feet away, but not too far. This formation gave Jason three options: Malakai in the middle, Maria on his right and Nada on his left. Malakai planned for them to stand still and see who he threw his ball at. Depending on who he threw his ball at, Malakai would dive in front of that person and attempt to catch the ball.
As you can see, the plan relied on Malakai. Could he catch the ball? Could he react in time? Can he dive fast enough? All these questions made the plan unreliable, but it was the only way to eliminate Jason. When Jason had the ball in his hands, he noticed their positioning but didn't pay enough attention; he didn't notice they were in line. Jason's thought process was that Malakai would protect Maria, so he threw his ball at Nada. Just before Jason threw his ball, Malakai took a step forward; he noticed the ball's trajectory, dove like a goalkeeper, and caught the ball before it could hit Nada. His plan worked.
Delilah and Tanisha clapped their hands as they watched their friends celebrate.
"I have to admit, he's pretty good", Tanisha admitted, not wanting to.
"He sure is something", Delilah replied. "Why don't you like him?" Delilah giggled, wanting to know her answer.
"I don't dislike him; I just don't like him being around Maria. I'm sure we could be good friends, but I don't like him being too close to Maria", Tanisha explained, looking at Malakai.
"He's not one of those guy", Delilah pointed out, as she knew Malakai better and thought Tanisha had the wrong impression about him.
"No, it's not that; I'm sure he's not the type of guy to use Maria for her looks. When I say I'm worried, I mean by his behaviour and how he acts. Cool, he can do what he can do, and that works for him, but I don't like the idea of him influencing Maria. Then Maria doing something he would do", Tanisha spoke her mind. "I feel like Maria needs someone more mature around her. She's a delicate person, and Malakai looks reckless and childish. I don't want her doing something Malakai would do and get into trouble because of it", Tanisha continued.
"Malakai doesn't start conversations with her, or does he?" Delilah questioned.
"No, he doesn't. But he does stuff that puts him in the limelight, and that makes Maria curious because she hasn't seen someone like him before. Also, the two being put together for challenges doesn't help", Tanisha answered.
Delilah gave a light smile. "I get you. Well, from what I know of Malakai, I don't think he cares about romance. So you don't have to worry about them going into a relationship", Delilah joked.
"I hope not; I'd have to watch her 24/7", Tanisha replied. Delilah started to laugh. "Why are you laughing? I'm being serious".
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", Delilah said, covering her mouth. Tanisha found the funny side as well, so she smiled, too.
Dillon and Jason were standing next to each other. Silence. Dillon had so much to say, but he couldn't say anything. How could he when he got hit in the face? Jason was also embarrassed; he got caught out. He was frustrated he didn't notice their positioning; he also got desperate towards the end, which worsened his throws. Jason found a newborn respect for Malakai. He didn't look towards him with anger but a little admiration. Was he really a 1-C student?
"THANK YOU!" The teacher got everyone's attention. "FIVE PAIRS HAVE GOT 70 POINTS AND ARE MOVING TO THE NEXT ROUND. THE NEXT ROUND WILL START RIGHT NOW".
The students needed more time to be ready. They had just finished celebrating and were already preparing for a break.
"Don't worry, this round is simple", the teacher reassured after seeing some stressed faces. "Can all of you gather here?" he gestured the students towards him. "This next round is simple. Three pairs will go through to the next round. The game is easy; I will give your pair a beanbag. You have one chance to throw it and get it closest to that line over there", he said, pointing at the line about 50 feet away. "If you go over the line, that is a disqualification, so don't overthrow it". The teacher gave each pair one bean bag. "One last thing: the pair to get it closest to the line gets a free pass to the final".
The students looked at each other.
"How does that work?" Justin questioned.
"Get past this round and find out", the teacher replied.
Malakai had the beanbag in his hands, "Nada, here", he tossed the beanbag to her. "You throw it".
"What do you mean?" Nada thought he was playing around like usual.
"You're throwing the beanbag", Malakai repeated.
"Why? If you throw it, we can get to the final. I'm not good at throwing," Nada, wide-eyed, tried to persuade him.
"Malakai, are you sure?" Ray intervened, wanting Malakai to reach the final.
"Yeah, well, I mean, I've got no choice", Malakai replied, looking at him.
"Why?" Ray looked at him, confused.
"My right arm hurts. I fucked it up when I landed on it", Malakai said, holding his right arm.
"How badly does it hurt? Do you need to get it checked?" Maria worriedly asked, stepping closer to him.
"Na, na. I'm calm; it'll probably stop hurting in a bit. But right now, I don't think I can throw", He replied, calming Maria down.
"But I want to reach the final. I don't think I can do it", Nada doubted herself; hearing Malakai saying he injured himself made her panic.
"Listen. I trust you", Malakai said. "For me, you were MVP in the last round. If I didn't trust you, I would've thrown the beanbag myself with my arm hurting, but I know you can do it." Malakai motivated Nada to prove he believed in her, and it worked. Hearing that uplifted Nada, not to what she was before, because she still doubted her ability. However, she believed in herself now.
"Who's going to go first?" The teacher said, walking towards them.
"Don't go", Malakai whispered to Nada, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Nada held back; she would've volunteered if Malakai hadn't stepped in.
"I'll go." Justin stepped up. He stood behind the line and looked forward; the line was about 50 feet away. He had to get it close but make sure it didn't go past it. Justin took a deep breath and threw the beanbag. He tossed with an overhand; the beanbag slid as it touched the floor. It didn't go past the line, so he was not disqualified, but the beanbag was about 6 feet away from the line. There was room for the others to fit in; he and his partner weren't safe, but they still had a chance. Malakai kept his hand on Nada's shoulder to hold her back from going forward, but it didn't matter as Monica moved first. She took her position and replicated Justin's throw; the only difference was she added more power. The beanbag travelled and travelled and landed past the line. They were disqualified. This meant that Malakai and Nada were through if Nada threw her beanbag past Justin's. Nada looked at Malakai.
"Alright, listen, forget about getting the free pass to the final. Just get it past that beanbag". Malakai told her.
"How should I throw it?" She nervously asked for some last piece of advice.
"Underhand. Don't do an overhand throw. It's too risky, but don't aim up when you underhand. Treat it like bowling, but add more power", Malakai advised her.
"Okay", Nada replied with her hands shaking, clearly nervous.
Malakai put his hand on her head. "Look, just do your best innit. If you don't do it, it's calm. I don't care. It is what it is. I don't really care about winning that much", Malakai said, smiling at her to cool her nerves.
"Those two look good together", Delilah said, watching the moment from the side.
"Is she his type?" Tanisha asked.
"I don't know, maybe".
Maria watched how Malakai interacted with Nada, which made her feel weird. She was jealous but didn't want to believe it. Being jealous was disgusting for her; she hated how she felt right now. She felt left out; she wanted to be the one who got that motivational speech, the one that got patted on the head, the one he could put all his trust into, but it wasn't meant to be. For now, at least.
Nada moved towards the line while Ray stood next to Malakai. "You could've thrown the beanbag yourself," Ray said, knowing his friend.
"I'm actually hurt", he said, holding his right arm, sounding a lot less convincing now. "But you're right. I could've, but I wanted to see her throw it. My arm does hurt, though", Malakai reiterated that he wasn't faking his injury.
"I knew one dive wouldn't stop you from throwing a beanbag", Ray quietly said to him. Malakai looked down and silently laughed to himself.
Nada was behind the line; she looked at the position of Justin's beanbag and visualised what she would do. She held the beanbag with her right hand and bent both her knees slightly. She swung her arm and let go. The beanbag was moving across the air, and it looked good. She followed Malakai's advice and slightly bowled it. The beanbag slid across the surface and stopped. It didn't go past the line, so they were not disqualified, but did it go past Justin's? Nada's eyes lit up. She turned around, went straight to Malakai, and hugged him. The beanbag was ahead of Justin's; whatever happened in the next two throws didn't matter because they were through to the final.
"I told you", Malakai said to her, hugging her with one hand. Nada was speechless; she was so happy. She couldn't put it into words.
"I'm so happy right now," she said with tears nearly in her eyes. People may look at it like it was just a beanbag throw, but it meant a lot for Nada.
"Bro, you're my student; you were obviously gonna do it", Malakai said jokingly with a smile. Nada couldn't help but laugh. While all that was happening, Adam threw his beanbag; Malakai didn't even notice Adam went for his attempt.
"Woahs" from the crowd showed that the throw was good; no throw so far had gotten that reaction, but this one did. The beanbag was so close to the line that the throw was almost perfect. It looked like they were going to the final with a free pass.
"Go on, Ray, see you in the next round", Malakai said to Ray, who was stepping up. Ray didn't reply; he felt nervous and didn't want to mess up. He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked ahead. He took a page off Nada's book and copied her technique but modified it slightly and aimed higher. Ray believed in his ability and didn't want to rely on the beanbag sliding across the floor. Ray let go, and the beanbag flew and landed; it didn't skid across the floor. Everything happened so quickly. The beanbag landed on top of Adam's and rolled over; the beanbag was slightly on the line. This throw got louder cheers than Adam's; that's how good it was. The teacher had to go closer to see where it landed. He reached the scene and announced,
"THIS TEAM WILL GO TO THE FINAL! THE BEANBAG IS ON THE LINE AND NOT OVER IT, SO THEY ARE NOT DISQUALIFIED!"
"YESSSS!!!" Tanisha cheered while hugging Delilah. Delilah embraced back, celebrating that victory with Tanisha like their duo was going to the final.
"This final is going to be good", Delilah said, breaking out of the hug and already determining the final would be Malakai and Nada vs Ray and Maria.
"Damn, I really thought we were going to go to the final", Kyle disappointingly said.
"It's fine; we can still make it to the final", Adam replied with the same straight face he always has.
"They got fortunate", Adam thought to himself. He looked towards Malakai. "Guess I'm going head to head against him. I hope luck doesn't help him. I want to face him fairly. 1v1." Adam monologued in his head.
Ray and Maria were all smiles and celebrated, giving each other a shy hug and a high five. Malakai also joined the celebrations, hugging Ray. Maria saw Malakai hug Ray; she thought it was standard for them as they were friends. Now, she saw Malakai approaching her, so she lifted her hand for a high-five. Instead, Maria got a hug. She was caught off guard, surprised this was happening, but she wasn't complaining at all. She was happier about the hug than qualifying for the final. Maria held Malakai tight as this was their first hug. After seeing Nada hug Malakai countless times, she finally got one and didn't feel like letting go. She didn't want to let go, but good things do have to come to an end. Maria felt Malakai pulling away so she let go to not look too weird. She looked up at Malakai and gave him a smile she had always seen on his face. A smile she felt like she wasn't capable of until now,
"See you in the final".
"Y-yeah," Malakai replied, surprised by the look on her face. Maria's smile was genuine, pure happiness. Not to say her other smiles were disingenuous, but it looked like a smile people only wore a few times in life at precious moments. Malakai didn't expect it—someone this beautiful was in front of him. Malakai smiled back,
"See you in the final".
Maria and Ray were in the final. Malakai and Nada vs Adam and Kyle in the next round to see who joins them.