Clouds

Part 2-25 Part 1 Paint

Chapter 26

I expect the rest of the day to be fun and filled with surprises as we exit the cafeteria.  And I am right.

            “Alright,” Tony says.  “For the rest of the day we will play one more game, and then have a final lesson.”  He pauses, scanning the crowd, which we are, sitting on the bleachers.  “The game will be knockout eliminations.”

            “Well, how do we play that?” Henry shouts out.  He and Roy grin.

            “What do you think I’m about to say?” Tony snaps.  He rolls his eyes.  “As I was saying,” he says, glaring at the boys, “the knockout eliminations are simple.  The A group and B group will go head on head with one representative from each.  To start, the B group will fight each other, as will the A group.  The last remaining people will fight each other.  The winner will receive a prize.”

            He begins to read off of the standings.  We will fight the person with the closest ranking to us.  For example, number eight in the A group, Jake, will fight number seven in the A group, Kristen.  The pattern continues up to Dakota and me.  I regret having to fight Dakota.  Why wouldn’t Colby have gotten the higher score?  Then I could fight Claire, which would save a lot of thought.

            As expected, I have to fight Dakota.  I’ll most likely have to fight Colby in the next round, if not me, Dakota, and then whoever wins from Kristen, Jake, Henry, and Roy will have to fight the winner between us.  And, no doubt about it, the A group winner will have to fight Lucas.  The simple thought gives me a lot of strength, and I feel like I can rule the world.

            “But that’s unfair!” A B group boy shouts.  “It’s obvious that the A group will win.  Can’t we have more fair challenges?”

            Tony just rolls his eyes.

            “This is a weapons challenge,” he says.  “You’ll have to find another object in the room in ten seconds to fight with.  That should even it out a bit.”

            “Ten seconds?  That’s it?” I ask.

            “Nine now,” Tony says.  We all rush out of the bleachers and run to the edges of the room, where various objects are.  I grab the nearest object, a broom, and rush back, unaware of the time.  Tony stands there, looking at his watch.

            “Time!” He shouts.  Looking around, he realizes everyone is there, panting.  “Well, okay, then.  A group, go get all of the mats and set up ten different rings.”

            “Why us?” Dakota whines.

            “First of all,” Tony says, “I asked you.  Second of all, this will make it more fair for the B group,” he says sarcastically.  “Remember, B group, you can easily stop the A group’s reign if you try hard enough.”

            The eight of us jog over to a closet.  About fifty gym mats are there.  We each grab two at a time to haul out, and begin to arrange them in groups of four for the rings.  It makes sense to have twelve; everything will go by faster.

            “The winner will be the first to get paint on their shirts,” Tony says.  “That includes yourself, if you accidentally get paint on your body.  So be careful.  The paint will be bright pink, by the way.”  He looks at Lucas, winking.  Lucas rolls his eyes.

            “Alright,” Tony says after all of the gym mats are arranged into fighting rings.  “We’ll have all ten B group pairs go first.  The two lowest A group pairs will also go first.”

            I follow Dakota, Colby, and Claire back to the bleachers.  Since we don’t fight yet we can’t have our weapons painted.

            We watch as portions of dustpans, pillows, and even small blankets are dipped in the bright pink paint.

            I decide to watch Kristen and Jake start.

            Kristen has a blanket, while Jake has the end of a shovel.

            The shovel isn’t bad.  But Kristen’s blanket is good too; it won’t drip off as much as the paint will on the shovel, since it can’t be absorbed.  But Kristen can’t block as well as Jake can.  This should be interesting.

            One spot over, Roy and Henry both have cafeteria trays.   Most of the paint is already on the floor of the gym mats.

            Either of them could step on that easily.  This will prove to be no easy task.

            While watching the others fight, I forget to see what Dakota has.  He looks at me and smiled.  I nearly die of laughter when I see the shampoo bottle he is holding.  Colby has a small hand mirror, while Kristen is stuck with a bucket.

            They all have their advantages and disadvantages.  The bucket could be splashed and the shampoo can be squirted.  Oh, no, I’m in for some trouble.  There’s no way I can plan out this one.  It will all be unpredictable with the paint and all.  Plus, I’ve never really seen Dakota fight all that much.  He’s good at hiding his emotions.  I’ll have to use my reflexes to win.

            So that I am not tempted to watch Dakota I watch the fights.

            Kristen and Jake are going head-to-head.  Kristen’s blanket is sent flying like a whip towards Jake, who reflects all of the flying paint with his shovel while darting to the side.

            Kristen closes in, her clothes dripping in sweat. She grips her teeth and ducks as the shovel’s paint splatters over her head.  Jake jumps up, knowing she will try to knock him to his feet.

            Jake rears up after landing, starting to really get into the game.  He backs up and charges.  Kristen looks shocked, her eyes wide.  She dodges the arial attack, but her feet land in a pile of paint.  She sighs and takes a seat on the bleachers while Jake sits on the other side of the room, by another girl who must have won her match quickly as well.

            Meanwhile, Henry and Roy are not going as fast.  They are completely matched, perfect for fighting with each other, not against.  They must have been lifelong friends to fight this well.

            “You’re not going to win!” Henry shouts.  He narrows his eyes and his ginger hair sticks to his forehead, plastered in sweat.  His tray still has a bit of paint on it.

            Too tired to finish the rest of this, so sorry DX.  I don’t want the quality to be rushed so I’m going to relax the rest of the night.  I’ll finish this chapter in the morning then write another that evening! Thanks!