Feelings

3: Falls

I spot Alex and Zoe as soon as I step in the gym. Actually, only Zoe. Alex is once again with some sporty guys. Zoe waves to me.

"Jae! Alex ran off again."

As if I didn't notice. "Yeah. You think he'll start hanging out with them more?''

"Probably. They're both sporty so they all get along well. Maybe soon he'll completely forget about us."

That would mean it'd be just me and Zoe. "Us against the world."

Zoe smiles. ''Yeah."

After a warm-up run, Mr. Macleod splits us up into 2 groups for Capture the Flag. Unfortunately, I don't end up with Zoe or Alex which worries me. Alex has natural speed and strength while Zoe is very competitive. If she's really into something, she can access some kind of inner strength that instantly makes her faster and stronger than a lot of people. She even beat Alex at an arm-wrestling game.

Mr. Macleod blows his whistle and the game is on. Both groups eye each other waiting for the other one to make the first move. Someone on the other side runs cross the line and everyone on my team runs to tag them. They're all so focused on that one person that no one notices Zoe coming in far from the action. Only I seem to notice her. No way can I keep up with her. She slowly steps towards our five beanbags and I dash after her. Zoe breaks out into a dash as well, quickly nearing our beanbags. I reach out and almost tag her. Almost.

"Nice try." Zoe remarks, relishing my failure to tag her.

I catch my breath before answering. "Yeah. Not like I tried that time."

She narrows her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Ooh, is that a challenge?" She picks up a beanbag, getting ready to run. I prepare to run after her again.

I focus completely on Zoe to move the instant she moves as well. But then thoughts slip into my head. Did Zoe really mean what she said back in the hallways? I'd totally go for it but... Am I ready for that? I mean, isn't it a bit early to be together? I don't know.

Zoe does a fake, bringing me back to the present. I'll just think about it later or something. I'm on my tiptoes now, ready to spring. She finally bolts and I quickly pursue her. The middle line rapidly gets closer and closer. Desperate to tag Zoe, I leap forwards and manage to touch her back right before she crosses the line. We immediately slow down, panting.

"Nice one," she compliments.

"Easy!" I jokingly say.

Zoe scoffs as I walk her over to the jail area. As soon as I put her in some guy comes up to me. "Hey, that girl you tagged, she's a genius."

"What, that plan?" I ask.

He nods. "Yeah. And we wanna use that against her own team," he explains. "See, that guy over there is gonna be a distraction. Once there's ton of kids going after him, we go as a big group and rush into their zone. I saw you tag her and I wanna bring you with us."

Not a lot of people ask me to be a part of whatever they're doing, so I agree, "Cool."

"Sweet." He brings be over to a group of 4 other boys. "Ray!" he shouts, "Now!"

The kid named Ray crosses the line and as expected, a ton of people go after him. We all run as a group straight towards the zone. Only 2 kids spot us but there's still 4 of us including Ray who managed to outmaneuver everyone going after him. 5 people, 4 beanbags. We can do this in one go if we're all good enough. 5 beanbags now as Zoe throws one in.

Zoe? Someone must've gotten her out of the jail.

"I'm after you Jae!" she announces out loud. That's not good. She's so intent on tagging me that the other boys can freely walk back with their beanbags. They easily dodge anyone who tries to tag them. Zoe and Alex seem to be the only really good ones on their team. Luckily Alex is too busy talking to notice me with the last bag in hand. I get this bag across the line, we win.