Cheek to Cheek

Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for reading! Comment, read my other works, and such! Vote if you like it.

Co-ed P.E. might just start looking out as one of the worst decisions in my life right about now. Today was Volleyball day. After getting changed into my P.E. uniforms, I followed my friend Maria out to the gym.

“...and then he just smacked my butt again. I’m like are you serious right now?” I explained her the full story as we waited for the rest of the class. She shook her head.

“Jake’s just a big bully. Don’t let him get to you, Kat. He picks the naive ones as prey,” she said. I glanced towards the door to see the boy’s locker room doors open.

“Yeah, he is, he’s such a- hey!” I realized she had called me naive. “I am not!” I argued. Maria gave me a questioning look.

“Well... when it comes to guys, you aren’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed...” she said. The rest of the class, both guys and girls, entered the gym. I blushed, crimson red.

“What do you mean?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t bring up my past relationships.

“Honey, you’ve been single since eighth grade,” she stated.

“Hey, I had a boyfriend sophomore year!” I defended myself, recalling Jimmy. He had been a scrawny sophomore at the time with the waviest hair in the school. He was cute, charming, but a player, and sadly, it was not meant to last.

“That lasted two days. It doesn’t count,” she retorted. My gym teacher blew the whistle.

“Alright! Volleyball time! Guys on girls! Let’s move!” he roared. The girls groaned in unison at the unfairness while the guys hooted and cheered, some probably taking a dirty reference at the teacher’s words. I followed Maria to a nearby, still a little upset.

“I’m not single,” I stated, “I’m relationship-challenged. There’s a difference.” Maria gave me one of those ‘you-know-I’m-right’ looks, her eyebrows cocked, lips pursed, and hands on the hips. She didn’t need to rub it in.

After a few rounds of volleyball, our teams was losing terribly 12-1. At least Jake wasn’t around to be staring at my ass. Maria remained quiet as we tried to keep our stance, but with no avail. We were getting creamed.

“Man, you guys play like a bunch of girls,” a guy from the other side commented.

“That’s because we are!” someone from my side replied. A couple of the guys snickered. We had to show them we weren’t just girls. We were a team.

As the next serve came into the air, I crouched. The server spiked the ball at us. I leaped up with all the force I had in my legs and swung my arm back. Releasing it forward, I felt my hand come in contact with the ball. The ball flew back to the other side and hit the floor before any of the guys could get to it. The girls erupted in cheers.

Our victory was cut short by the coach. We turned to face him. To my dismay, I found Jake standing next to him, observing the teams.

“What court is missing a player?” the coach asked. Everyone was silent. Please no, I thought. If no one was missing a player, he would assign him a random team.

“Well then! Guess you’ll be going... over there! Rotate him in!” he said, pointing to the guys we were competing against. Of course. God hates me.

As he approached our court, his eyes were locked on mine. His mouth grew into a wide grin.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, winking at me again.

“Shut up. Don’t talk to me,” I said. He shrugged, still smiling.

“Suit yourself, doll face.” He didn’t even bother to rotate himself in as we played. Jake merely stared at the ball as it was bounced back and forth between sides. Even though we were catching up, 21-11, there was no point. We didn’t stand a chance. The coach came over to our court.

“Okay, James, Mike, and George, over here on the girls’ side! Maria, Megan, Crystal! Other side, now!” he ordered. Confused about what was going on, I looked around. He had mixed the teams up. Well, at least it’d a little fairer now. But Jake was now on my team, and I didn’t know how this was going to work.

Again, Jake sat out and watched from afar. The guys didn’t bother to try as hard anymore.  After a few rounds of rotation, it was finally my turn to serve. I was about to throw the ball into the air and spike it when I heard a whisper behind me.

“Serve it underhand. It’ll go farther. Aim for John, he’s not paying attention,” Jake said. I shouldn’t be listening to him. However, I brought the ball down and served it underhand like he told me to, aiming for John in the corner. He responded too late, and we got the point.

I smiled to myself. However, John was alert now, and I couldn’t do it again.

“Serve it underhand again, and make sure it’s light, just over the net. They won’t see it coming,” Jake whispered again. Again, I listened. One of the guys was able to get it, but not over the net. Another point.

“Okay, serve it overhand. Spike it as hard as you can,” he told me. They weren’t able to get it. The girls on the team cheered. I smiled to myself.

“Now serve it underhand. Aim for John again, it seems he’s given up,” he instructed. Willingly, I followed his orders. John caught the ball with both hands and uncaringly threw it back at us. My turn to serve was up. Proud of myself, I strove left, passing Jake who had finally decided to get into the game.

“Thanks,” I muttered to him quietly.

“No problem. Nice job, babe,” he complimented me and gave me a soft congratulatory pat on my rear end. My upper lip lifted in disgust.

Jake served a few times, gaining us a few more points. I switched places with another girl to get closer to the net as I was effective with close calls. However, because of the switch, I was up to serve again in no time. This time, though, Jake was not behind me. He was in front of me diagonally, curiously watching me as to what I would do.

“Don’t mess up,” he said, smirking. I fumed. I prepared myself to serve it underhand, but as I did so, my wrist accidentally came in contact with the ball. It swerved to the left and hit Jake on his lower back.

“Whoa!” he shouted, looking back at me, “you aiming down there?” A couple of the guys laughed at the joke.

“What?” I retorted, “You want me to aim at you?” He grinned happily and straightened out his back, putting one his hand close to his butt.

“Go for it. Whatever makes you happy,” he said, winking and turning back around. I crouched back into position, angling my body. I threw the ball into the air. Leaping upwards, I spiked it. Right at Jake’s head.

A look of pure surprise overcame his face as he turned towards me. Now the girls were laughing loudly and cheering. The ball bounced back towards me. I hoisted it up and placed it on my hip, giving Jake an uncanny smile and a wave of my fingers.

“Well, babe,” he said, rubbing his head, “I hope you know this means war.”