58 seconds into the game and Niall was already out. He kept running away from the dodgeballs when we were suppose to charge for them. It left us at a 5 vs. 6, and let's just say my team wasn't looking too good. Katy was the one to hit Niall out, Niall tried to call a foul but it was pretty obvious no rules were broken.
As I saw all my teammates in the back hurling in corners I knew I was the only hope, so I sprung into action. I looked to see Brendon aiming for Taylor, I ran towards Taylor as he threw the ball directly at her. Thankfully right before it hit her left leg I caught it, I quickly smiled at her reassuringly as I sprinted back towards the front, dodging a few balls in the process. I quickly retracted my arm and with all my force aimed it at Katy, I mostly targeted her because she got Niall out and she was the best opponent. It landed on her right shoulder, I could hear my team cheering, along with Niall yelling nasty remarks at her team. I smiled hearing his disses.
1 minute and 49 seconds into the game and only me, Louis and Shawn remained in the game. Red team still had 5 players, it was 3 vs. 5, having me be the only one to get anyone out. I had been mainly focusing on trying to save my teammates. Shawn wasn't bad at dodging but he couldn't throw for his life. Louis had been basically standing still, somehow dodging the balls by awkwardly stepping away every now and again. Me though, I had been catching the majority of the balls thrown at him and handing them to Shawn to throw because at the time I thought he knew how to. How I was so mistakenly wrong. I could hear our teams cheer die out as reality set in, our chances at winning were slim to zero. Mostly because red team had amazing players.
Though my hope wasn't completely lost. Even after Shawn was finally out, having one of the balls hit his stomach. It was just me and Louis. I knew we needed a plan if we were going to win so I called for a timeout. Which thankfully we got, red team protested and surprisingly so did most of the blue team. They were shouting for us to get over it and take our lost, though I could hear Niall shouting at me how proud he was and that I could do it.
That's exactly what I guess I needed to hear, even though I hated Denny's and almost everyone on my team, I wasn't doing it for them, I was doing it for Niall. So I was going to give it my all. I looked directly at Louis, he was looking at his feet avoiding any eye contact with me. I grew somewhat frustrated but tried to stay calm.
"I need you to collect balls for me Louis, and I need you to stay directly behind me. I will focus on everything else, just don't get tagged out." I stated rather calmly.
He didn't move or say a word, he only kept his head down. My irritation only grew so I quickly moved my hands up to his shoulders and shook him a little. His eyes immediately snapped up into mine, so I continued.
"I'll protect you, yea? Just stay behind and get balls if you can." I basically pleaded, knowing I couldn't freak out now. Though when I said it he seemed to be in a daze. His eyes seemed to scan my entire face, causing me to raise my left eyebrow. What the hell was this kid thinking?
After 2 more seconds he finally seemed to snap out of his trance, he started blushing rather profusely. I was too tired to question it, all I did was repeat my words. He finally agreed and nodded. I turned back to the coach and signal for the game to continue.
20 seconds back into the game and I had already managed to knock 3 more people out. Gaining cheers and hollers from my team. It was now 2 vs. 2, me and Louis against Tom and Jon. Louis did as told and stayed behind me, which I was relieved. He also managed to hand me a few balls.
As I was throwing a ball at Tom I noticed Louis scurry out from behind me to retrieve a ball. I quickly looked back over and noticed Jon eyeing Louis as he threw a ball towards him, with his aim it was sure to hit Louis on his lower thighs. In this moment I had two choices, save Louis and get out or forget Louis and stay in the game. I had already threw my ball at Tom, and without thinking my instincts kicked in.
