may shatter on impact (tronnor)

28. Gym & Anger

flashback btw

Foam balls whips across the gym room, the air sizzling with freshman boys who needed to calm the fuck down about gym class. Getting murdered by a classmate with a foam dodgeball was not on my list of things to do today. Standing in the back left corner of the gym hoping that no one would notice me, however, was on that list. Getting noticed was not, but I was, of course, seen anyways.

"Mellet! Start participating or you don't get credit for the day! Got it?"

I nod furiously, rolling my eyes at the blue haired boy who groans next to me, and together we take a few steps closer to the center of the classroom.

A red balls slams against the wall behind me, rolling towards my feet, the side smashed in and slowly fixing itself. The magic of gym class sports balls - they somehow could survive every kid who touched them, even the one who was picking holes in one across the room from me.

I lean down and pick it up -

There's a dull pain at the side of my head, the world caving in around me and then building itself back up against as I blink tears from my eyes and focus my blurry vision. Tyler is laughing at me, but quickly stops when he sees my hand pressed to the side of my head.

"Mr. Gymb!" he calls out. "That's an illegal play - "

Mr. Gymb blows on the fluorescent whistle, the sound shrieking through the room until everyone stops. "Baker!" he yells, striding towards the terrified boy. "No headshots!"

"It - "

"No excuses, young man!"

"But - "

"Detention after school today!" he screams. The whole class widens their eyes, taking a subtle step away from the scene as if trying to distance themselves from suspicion of helping or encouraging the strictly forbidden headshots. He blows the whistle again, yelling at Julian to sit the class out.

The game resumes, this time with Julian glaring a smoldering fire into my back.