Zapped by an Apple | An Appledash College AU Fanfic | Human Characters

⓼ 『 The Accident 』

Rain shielded herself behind the thick bark of a Malus Tree, her fingers spread across its width. The flutter in her chest directed her every movement, from her earlier sprint along the viridescent field, to her now watchful, wide oculars darting along to AJ's every movement. 

     The spunky athlete felt the vibration of a sleazy thud as AJ's apple made contact with the wood. Three chunks of the crimson-skinned fruit lay in the grass-bed just four feet away. She heard the fiery cowgirl growl at her own misfire, causing the shorter lass to crack-up. 

     "Flop-throw!" Rain screamed from behind the coffee-coloured trunk before recoiling into her hunched shoulders as another apple flew just inches past her nose. 

    Here's the thing, AJ was incredibly serious about completing those chores of hers, but Rain had a tendency to get...distracted. One minute, the two girls were productively piling buckets with apples, and the next, they were sporting a deadly game of fruit-ninja. How could this have happened? Rain didn't know, but she was quite satisfied with her ability to lour the stubborn farm-girl into these kinds of things. All it took was a smug insult towards AJ's aim as she was tossing the pomes into their heaps for her to now be whipping overripe apples at her throat. 

     About seven missed-throws later, AJ finally huffed a crabbed sigh and said, "Whelp, yer lucky yer a coward, hidin' behind them tree's, 'cause it looks like I'm almost outta spoiled apples, and I ain't wastin' the good ones on ya..." She placed a firm hand over her left hip and leaned forward, cheekily dangling an apple by its stem between her fingers. 

     "Hey! I'm not a cowa-OUH!" the rotten ball of red-brown struck Rain's gut and fell at her feet. 

     "Got ya," AJ smirked, striding over casually and tipping her hat down in a pompous gesture. Once she reached the shorter lass, she flicked her between the brows. Rain's tetchy expression soon melted into laughter--to which the cowgirl returned seconds later in an equal felicity. 

     "Okay Dash, now it's really time to finish this up. 'Less I just come to another game of yers 'stead of tomorrow's," AJ suggested as she heaved one of the hefty buckets and rested it on her shoulder. "No! We'll get it done in time, won't we? There's still enough time, right?" Rain gritted her teeth as she attempted to mirror the smoothness of AJ's effortless motion, but was met with an unexpectedly cumbersome strain from the handle to the canister. She bent her knees lower and pulled harder, wishing she hadn't slacked off during Gym class when it came to those weekly squat-lifts. 

     AJ tried to suppress her grin, but in finding no success, turned away instead and began striding toward the big storage-shed so that Rain wouldn't see her amusement in the prideful athlete's battle with the bucket. 

     "Ya really want me to come that bad, huh?" AJ razzed.

    Rain was glad to see AJ facing away from her as she felt her cheeks flush with heat yet again. "N-no! I mean...only so I can show you once and for all just how much faster I am than you. You'll be shaking in your cow-boots tomorrow, trust me," she stepped in front of her own bucket and discreetly slid a few apples off the top to lighten its load. Only then did she manage to lift it off the sod and waddle after AJ with her fists curled around the handle between her legs. 

     "Mhm..." AJ mused as they approached the shed. "You mean just like ya showed me in that race we had the other day?" the cowgirl clearly referenced her smooth overtake and presumed 'victory' on Wednesday. 

     "What? No way! I so crossed the finish line before you..." Rain trailed off into the memory, her palms suddenly growing strangely sweaty, "before you...fell on me...." the resolution to her buffered sentence came out more reminiscent of a fretful Fae. AJ's eyes widened slightly, appearing stunned at Rain's mention of the event. The cicada's buzzing stole the would-be auditory stillness.