Against the Odds

Chapter 6

Noah

The gym was electric. All week I'd been looking forward to this night. The game, the spotlight, the applause—it was all mine, or so I had been telling myself. All week long, I was bragging to everyone about what a solid performance it was going to be, and I could feel everyone getting pumped. The first half of the game pretty much went according to everyone's thinking. I took a liberty to bask in the glow, noticing how everyone at that moment looked with envy, most especially Ellie. She'd been a thorn in my side lately, and I was looking forward to rubbing this victory in her stupid face.

Then, a loud splash, a blinding color—something hit the court. I slipped on something slick and caught myself in time, not to mention saved myself from looking stupid. The cheering from the crowd turned into gasps and laughter, and my eyes went to the mess on the court.

A second later, I came to my senses and realized what had just happened. Paint everywhere: in the court, on benches, worst of all, all over me. I was on red alert in my head. Was this some type of fucking prank?

The whistle blew, and everything just stopped. The players and coaches came over to see what was happening as the staff sprinted with rags to clean up the mess. I stood there in shock, doused in paint. A proud uniform that once told of my victory now stood in some kind of grotesque joke. My face turned red at the humiliation as I turned to see an entire gym full of people laughing, pointing, and taking pictures of me.

The staff tried to tidy up the court, but the mess was such that ages were going to be needed to put things in order. I could make out Ellie and Mia in the crowd; their faces barely visible but unmistakable in their smugness. This fucking bitch turned my night into a farce, and I had absolutely no idea how she did it.

I glanced over at the scoreboard, which seemed to mock me by then. I knew the game was going to be called off, and all that paint did was get me in heap loads of trouble. I would have to explain everything to my coach and the principal. And even after the paint came off, the ridicule would track me home.

I just stood there, dripping paint, playing that scene in my mind over and over again. It wasn't just an old regular embarrassing moment; it was a calculated strike against me. Ellie was sure to stamp it into memories, and, well, she succeeded. The look of satisfaction swimming in her gaze when our eyes met. The drive home was like a punishment itself. I looked like a walking paint spill: colors on my face and uniform blurred together. After all, humiliation was complete with each passing-by car staring at me with those judgmental eyes. At the height of my anger, I gripped my steering wheel tightly to keep myself at bay.

I came pounding up the path and into the house, slamming the door behind me. My mom, concerned and perplexed, looked up from the kitchen table. "Noah, what's wrong?"

I barely turned to her. "Nothing, Mom. Some stupid prank at the game is all."

Her eyes grew wide as she took in my appearance. "That is way more than just some stupid prank, Noah. Are you okay?"

I gave her a look that spelled out the fact that I wasn't in the mood to talk. "I'm fine. I'll clean up." I trudged up the stairs and slammed the bathroom door behind me.

I stared in the bathroom mirror where now-dried, cracked paint colored my skin. Anger boiled inside of me, like a storm in my head. Ellie just humiliated me. It wasn't the paint that made me angry; it was the fact that she had made me a laughingstock in front of the whole school. And that very thing, which I had been anticipating, that moment of shining, had been stolen and turned into a kind of circus act.

Everything that I had done played in my mind as I worked. Just how she had done it, how she'd been smirking in the background. Now, it became crystal clear that this was not going to turn into a question of rivalry; it was going to be personal. And she made things personal with me.

I'd gotten most of the paint off and sat down at the edge of the tub to try and calm down. My phone buzzed on the counter. It was one of my teammates who was checking in to see if I was all right. That was just way too much for me to even try answering right then.

This was something I had to work out how to handle. Ellie came out strong, with the promise of more trouble ahead, for sure not going down without a fight. I had to make my move now—a calculated, exact move. I needed to get my control back at least for my own self, show her I wasn't one to be pushed around.

But more than anything else, I needed to make sure she knew full well what it meant to cross me. Ellie thought she'd won tonight, but I was determined she understand there would be a cost to pay for this little stunt.

The next morning it was a Saturday ,so I met up with my best friend, Jared, at our spot—a quiet bench in a park near the school. He had seen me through some really tough times, and he knew more than anybody why I wanted to get back at Ellie. I gave him details on how I would turn the tables on her. Jared looked serious, his face a mix of concern and excitement.

"Man, this is intense," Jared said and shook his head. "But I get it. She really crossed the line."
"I know," I said, still trying to keep my tight-sounding voice from frustration. "I can't just let her think she got away with it. I've got to make sure she knows exactly what happens when she messes with me."
Jared leaned back, his eyes narrowing on the details. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

I reiterated once more how I was really going to make Ellie's life hard without doing harmful things to her—only some humiliating tactics. That wasn't real hurt; it's just making a statement. We finalized the details of how to execute it and agreed on doing it without getting caught.

As we finished up, Jared's phone buzzed. He stared at the screen, frowning. "Hey, you might want to know—Ellie's at the library right now. Apparently, she's studying for some big exam. Looks like she's all alone."

The timing was a little too perfect to pass on. My adrenaline surged once more. "Thanks for letting me know," I said, getting up. "I'm going to go have a word with her.

Jared met my gaze with a concerned look. "Just be careful. Don't let this get out of hand."

I nodded, the determination set in my eyes. "I've got it under control."

I walked to the library; my heart was racing. Ellie sat at a desk, buried in her books when I drew closer. She seemed engrossed in what she was doing but looked like she was waiting for something. I went in, taking a deep breath to stiffen myself for the confrontation I was about to instigate.

"Ellie," I cut across the quiet of the library with my voice.

Her gaze jerked up, surprise flickering across her face. "Noah? What are you doing here?"
I didn't bother with chit-chat. "We need to talk."
Ellie narrowed her gaze and closed her textbook in a slow, careful movement. "About what?"
I took a step forward, my voice low and edged with steel. "About what happened at the game last night. You think you could just pull a stunt like that and get off scot-free?"

Ellie's expression hardened. "Oh, now you're going to confront me? I didn't think you had it in you."
I felt my anger rise but fought to keep it in check. "You thought humiliating me was funny? You went way over the line."

Ellie folded her arms and regarded me defiantly. "And what are you going to do about it? More empty threats?

Before I could reply to this, a voice behind us cut in. "What's going on here?"

It was one of the monitors in the library. I turned around to face him before throwing out a plausible excuse. "Just having a discussion," I said, trying to keep my tone calm.

The monitor smiled, seemingly satisfied, and walked away. The tension between Ellie and me, however, only increased. I turned back to her; my frustration boiled over. "You think you're so fucking clever, don't you? Well, this is not the end, Ellie.

Ellie stood up, her eyes flashing. "You want to fight me? Grow up, seriously?
I took a step another towards her, my voice low. "Don't push me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"You know, Noah? Maybe you need to take a look at yourself. You're so caught up in getting even that it's slowly consuming you."

These words went off like a bomb with me, but my anger increased all the more. "I will not let you get away with it. Not now, not ever."