Switched Up

9-I: What team are you!

That Thursday night after basketball and track practice, Oliver walked over to Sam's desk while she was in the middle of homework.

"Hey, Sam. Do you mind tutoring me a little bit? Only if you have the time," asked Oliver.

"Yeah, of course!"

Oliver rolled his chair over to her desk and sat beside her while he arranged his papers.

"Lemme guess. Chem?" asked Sam.

"You know it," laughed Oliver.

Sam pushed her worksheets and textbooks aside to make room for Oliver's work. While they snacked on some popcorn, they engrossed themselves in Oliver's worksheet questions. Before they knew it, an hour had passed and Jack finally entered the room.

"Yo," greeted Oliver.

"Hey guys. God damn, I'm fricken starving right now. I can't wait to go eat after my shower. Wait, is that popcorn?" said Jack, charging over to Sam's desk.

"I don't know how you do it man," said Sam while handing him the bag.

"Seriously. Going to Council meetings AND making up practice after. How're you not dead?" said Oliver.

"I dunno. I think my rage towards Amanda keeps me going," said Jack between chomps on popcorn.

Sam and Oliver chuckled at his comment.

"Did something happen between you two today?" asked Sam.

"Nah, not today. We're just going over simple paperwork and organizing stuff for the Sports Fest next month," answered Jack handing the bag back to Sam.

"What's the Sports Fest?" asked Sam.

Jack and Oliver both shot her a look that said, "Are you joking?"

"Whoa, wait. You don't know what the Sports Fest is?"

"No, what is it?"

"Sam, how did you pick this school without knowing about it?" asked Oliver with a small, snooty chuckle.

"Hey! I came to this school with my only focus being basketball. I never really... paid attention to any of the other things that went on in the school... Wow that's kinda sad."

"Well, the Sports Fest is this event they hold every three years. The school gets split up into two teams who compete in a bunch of individual and group events. And after the Council adds up all the points, they announce the winners," informed Jack.

"It's gonna be so great! We have the lotto for teams tomorrow too!" added Oliver

"What?! Tomorrow?! Holy crap, this shit snuck up on me. It sounds like so much fun though. How did I not know about this!" beamed Sam.

"I have no idea dude. They've been making announcements about it all this week. There are even a few posters starting to go up around school," said Oliver.

"Wow seriously? What's wrong with me?"

"You have a basketball for a brain. That's why," joked Oliver.

Sam glared at Oliver and started kicking him in the leg.

"Yeah, you guys will be picking out your teams tomorrow and the events you want in first period. It's been a bitch organizing the lotto cards evenly for each class," said Jack while grabbing clean clothes.

"Aye, all the Council's hard work will pay off," said Oliver.

"It better. This next month is gonna be rough since we have to organize the student's event choices."

"It'll be worth it though. Everyone knows how hard you guys work. It's gonna make everything twice as fun! Plus I hope we end up on the same team!" said Sam.

"Thanks Sam. And me too."

"Same here!" cheered Oliver.

* * *

The next day came and it was time for the lottery pick. They were also given a piece of paper with the individual events listed. They were asked to fill it out and turn it in at the end of class.

After everyone had finished picking their team colors, the class was seated.

"Opal, what team are you?" whispered Sam.

"I'm on the Blue Team. You?"

"Noooo!" shouted Sam.

"Sam, I didn't know you hated Catcher in the Rye so much," said Mr. Bennett in a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry, sorry! It wasn't about that," apologized Sam, blushing a little bit from embarrassment as her classmates laughed.

Once their snickers calmed down, Sam whispered back to Opal, "I'm on the Red Team."

"Ah man. Well, at least we'll still be able to hang out during the events."

"For sure!"

Sam grabbed her eraser and tossed it at Ricky's back. After it hit, he looked over his shoulder at Opal. She pointed behind her and Ricky then made eye contact with Sam. She held up her red label. He then held up his label and frowned. Once Sam processed that his was blue, she let her head fall back in disappointment.

Sam then turned her attention to Jack. She stared at him for a little bit until he finally glanced in her direction. She held up her label and waited for him to do the same. When he did, she saw that the label was blue. She made a heartbroken face and smashed her face into her notebook, causing Jack to chuckle.

Once break came, Sam darted over to Oliver's classroom before he could head out to his next class.

"Oliver! What team are you!" shouted Sam at the doorway.

"Red!"

Sam leaped into the classroom over to Oliver and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Thank God! Jack, Opal AND Ricky betrayed us! They're all on the Blue Team," said Sam pretending to cry.

Oliver and a few of the students lingering in the classroom laughed as she drooped over him.

"Hi Sam," said a sweet, high pitched voice.

Sam twisted her head to see Honey standing behind Oliver.

"Oh, hey Honey. What team are you on?"

"I'm on Red too! I can't wait to be on a team with you guys!" she said with a smile.

"Me either! It'll be fun," said Sam.

Honey giggled and looked around a little bit embarrassed. Oops, thought Sam. She glanced over at Oliver and saw him glaring at her. A small puff of laughter escaped her mouth as she nudged him in the shoulder.

"Grow some balls," she mouthed.

Oliver turned around with a, "Hmph," and stomped out of the classroom. Sam laughed as Honey chased after him, pleading to slow down.

Even though their group was going to be split up, Sam knew it would be a time during their school life that they would remember forever.

To be continued...

Author Note: Hello precious readers!!! This chapter seems a little random but it's foreshadowing the Sports Fest that will happen in a few more chapters. I'm super excited to start writing about that event because sooooo much stuff happens! It'll be great! So stay tuned if you're enjoying the story! Good content is comin' your way!

\(^_^)/

- Layna