Skating on thin ice

Chapter four: dodgeball

Jossan

Me and Brooke grabbed our gym bags and headed towards the locker room.

As we walked, I couldn't help but scan the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain dark-haired hockey player.

Brooke: "Looking for someone?" Brooke teased, catching my wandering gaze.
Jossan: "Shut up. I'm just... observing."

Brooke laughed.

Brooke: "Right. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with a certain Mystery Hot Guy who happens to have his locker in this hallway?"

Before I could answer, we were interrupted by a familiar, unwelcome voice.

Jake: "Well, well, if it isn't the golf pros," Jake said, leaning against a nearby locker.
Jake: "How are those blisters healing up, Jossan?"

I turned to face him, crossing my arms over my chest.

Jossan: "Better than your ego after I shut you down on Saturday, I'm sure."
Jake: "Come on, don't be like that. I was just trying to help you out."

I raised an eyebrow.

Jossan: "Help me out? Please. The only thing you were trying to help was your sad attempt at flirting."
Jake: "Whatever," he mumbled, pushing off the locker and walking away.

Brooke high-fived me as we continued on our way.

Brooke: "Nice one. That should keep him off your back for at least... oh, I don't know, a day?"

I laughed as we entered the locker room.

Jossan: "A day? You're being generous. I give it until lunch before he's back to his usual douchebag self."

We changed quickly into our gym clothes.

As we made our way into the gym, I could feel eyes on

Coach Simmons, our gym teacher, was standing in the middle of the basketball court, whistle around his neck and clipboard in hand.

He looked up as we entered.

Coach Simmons: "Ah, Ms. Wood, Ms. Davis. So nice of you to join us. I don't suppose you'll be participating today?"

I flashed him my most charming smile.

Jossan: "Sorry, Coach. We've got to work on our cheer routine for the pep rally. You understand, right?"

Coach Simmons sighed, shaking his head.

Coach Simmons: "One of these days, you two are actually going to have to participate in my class."

Brooke grinned.

Brooke: "Maybe next semester, Coach. We've got a busy schedule this year."

Coach Simmons waved us off, turning back to the rest of the class.

Coach Simmons: "Alright, everyone! We're playing dodgeball today. Split into two teams!"

As the rest of the class divided up, Brooke and I made our way to the bleachers. We sat down, pulling out our notebooks where we'd been sketching ideas for the new cheer routine.

Jossan: "Okay, so I was thinking we could start with that pyramid formation we talked about," I said, flipping to a page filled with stick figure drawings.

Brooke nodded, leaning in to look.

Brooke: "Yeah, that could work. But what if we added a flip at the end? You know, to really wow the crowd?"

We were so into our planning that we barely noticed the chaos of the dodgeball game happening in front of us.

The sound of rubber balls smacking against the gym floor and the shouts of our classmates faded into background noise.