Separate Ways

Chapter 3

I get out to the gym with Amelia. My eyes scan the room for Brendan, and I see Tatum has her grubby paws all over him. Ugh, doesn't this girl know when to stop?

"Amelia, when did you become so friendly with Tater Tot anyway?"

"Um, we're Science partners with Sidney." Ugh, Sidney is another bane of my existence. It was just Sidney and Tatum stinking up Williamsburg Middle School until Amelia was sucked into their little game. Weird, though I haven't seen much of Sidney since Tatum and Amelia started hanging out.

"Oh, interesting" I walk over to Brendan, but Ryan stands in my way

"Hey, so um, I know we haven't really talked, but I was wondering-"

I look up to Ryan, shocked like dude, READ THE ROOM

"Aren't you dating Amelia... that's pretty sus."

"Well, actually-" I walk around him to Brendan and Tatum.

Just then, Coach comes in and tells us we're gonna play dodgeball. Perfect. After everything that's been happening, I'm glad I can throw a ball at someone's face, in a friendly way, of course.

As fate would have it, Brendan and I are on the same team, and Amelia, Tate, and Ryan are on the opposite team. This couldn't be more perfect.

Their team throws the first ball, and it's caught by one of ours. Brendan and I make a pact to help each other out. And we manage to get most of everyone from their team out.

I see Tatum is still in, but not for long. I rear my hand back as I run and throw the ball as hard as I could at her, and it ends up hitting her face. Oops.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE" I turned to Coach. "Sorry, Coach, I didn't mean it; my hand slipped," I pleaded. He's thinking, "Okay, Miss Sawyer, you can get back in" she lets out a squeal and grabs the ball I just hit her with and chucks it my way. I narrowly avoid it as it grazes my arm, but no one could have detected it hit me. I'm still in.

"Hey!" Tatum shouts, "You are OUT."

I grab a ball nearest to me. "I'm not, but you are," and softball throw it straight at her stomach. Yes! With her out, all that's left is John, Amelia, and Ryan. Brendan gets John out, and I throw it at Amelia. She's my best friend, but there are no best friends in dodgeball. She catches it, and I'm about to go out, but she drops it at the last second.

Brendan and I high-five each other. Then I hear an "OOF!" and realize Ryan hit Brendan. Hard. Ryan had an evil grin on his face. I grabbed the ball Brendan had turned and threw it at Ryan so fast he wasn't even expecting it. He jumped at the last second, but it was too late. It made a loud sound as it hit his left calf mid-jump. He let out a huge groan, more audible than Brendan's, and we won! Brendan gave me a huge hug as our team cheered.

Yeah, that was good. I hit Tatum twice, got Ryan back for hitting Brendan, and won. I felt good; the balance was now restored, and I felt better.

The bell rings. I rush to the locker room to get my stuff and go home. As I'm exiting the locker room, I see a flyer for volleyball try-outs starting tomorrow. When I get in the car,

Dad asks, "Did you have a good day today?"

"Oh yeah, today was great. I won in a dodgeball game; my old softball skills came in handy" we laughed. "Hey, speaking of softball, can I try out for volleyball tomorrow?" He thinks about it for a minute. "Well, yeah, but we need to get you new gear," I beamed. "Yay, okay, can we go now?"

"Sure!" We drive to the nearest Academy, and as I'm in the ankle brace section, I remembered something

"Hey, Dad? Can I go to the basketball game after try-outs tomorrow?"

"Where's it at?"

"Candlewood at 7."

"Yeah, I don't see why not" Awesome. I get to see Brendan play and try out for volleyball, tomorrow is going to be busy. OMG, I'm trying out for volleyball tomorrow, what made me decide this? Oh wow, I didn't think this through. No, stop, we are fine. I'm going to kill that tryout tomorrow.

As we get home, I pack my bags for tomorrow then eat. As I shower, I begin to think about the next day while washing my anxieties away. I can't wait to see Brendan tomorrow.