Opposites Always Attract

Chapter 16

"Alright is everyone ready?" shouted Mr Maddison, clapping his hands together and smiling at the students who were gathered around the swimming pool.

Everyone was in their swimming attire, stood around the pool waiting for instructions. Today was going to be a podium battle in the water, everyone drawn out of a hat and put into pairs where they would fight with giant q-tips to try and knock the other in to the water. The winners of each battle would go through to the next round, where names would be drawn again and another fight would take place until there was just two left and eventually, a winner.

To say Sophie and Sam were excited was an understatement. They'd been looking forward to this activity from day one and were both adamant they'd not only make the final, but they'd win.

"Right then folks, a few rules for today!" started Mr Maddison, the chattering of the crowd slowly dying down as everyone listened to what their head of year had to say. "Firstly, you're not trying to hurt each other here. You're merely trying to knock the other off the podium so I want everyone to play nice. If you start getting too errm …violent, I'll blow the whistle and the game will be restarted. Secondly, be careful! Try not to hit anyone in the head or the face, we don't want any injuries. If you get seriously hurt, you can shout for a time out and the game will be brought to an end. If anyone does commit a foul shot, they will be disqualified and the fouled player will go through to the next round by default. Finally, this is meant to be a fun activity so as much as you may all want to win, it'll be enjoyable just watching others play, and it's the taking part that counts."

Sophie snorted and grinned at her friends, "Taking part my arse."

"You're far too competitive Soph." chuckled Katy, nudging the brunette playfully in the arm.

"Okay then everyone, we're going to start drawing names now!" shouted Mr Maddison, dipping his hand in to the bowl of paper slips, "First match … Kerry Spencer and …Jane Caygill."

A few people cheered and clapped as both girls headed towards Mr Maddison, the older man encouraging them to shake hands as if it were a formal event before they both picked up their oversized q-tips and headed towards the platform.

"Who's your money on?" asked Katy, looking back at Sophie and Sam.

Sophie laughed, "Easily Kerry, one because she's one of the popular girls and Jane's probably afraid to hit her … and two, Kerry is like twice her size."

"Jane is a bit of a weed isn't she." chuckled Sam, watching as Mr Maddison blew his whistle and both girls began their battle.

It was over in a matter of seconds, Kerry swinging her stick across quickly into Jane's side knocking her clean off the platform.

Sophie couldn't help but grin at the self-satisfied expression on Kerry's face and the arrogance of the girl as she jumped up, doing a back flip off her podium in to the water earning her a round of applause and cheering from the crowd, including Sophie and her friends.

For the next twenty minutes a few more fights went on, including Katy and one of the boys which resulted in Katy being knocked down regardless of the fact she put up an extremely good fight. Sam won her fight against one of the smaller guys in the college and she couldn't have been more pleased with herself, flashing Sophie a quick grin at the fact she was doing well before heading back to the side of the pool. Sian had also won her game against a girl called Lauren who quite frankly, didn't stand a chance as the blonde wiped her out in approximately three seconds.

"Alright then, next match!" shouted Mr Maddison, pulling a name out of the bowl as the excitement of the last game died down, "Sophie Webster and …."