This ain't a diary, this is a - mirror?

Chapter 35: A lucky strike, or skill? ... Just kidding, I don't have skill.

Samantha sighed and put her paw on the end of her 'boundaries'. Elena was practically shivering with excitement next to her. "I love dodgeball," she whispered to Samantha. "And I'm planning to win... and to get Riley out!"

"Go!" Ms Howen barked, leaping from paw to paw with excitement. Elena shot ahead to try grab a ball, alongside several other eager dogs. Samantha hung behind, not really wanting to dive head first into the action.

Elena bounded back to where Samantha was standing with a ball in her jaws. Her paw hit the line - and the ball began to glow a vibrant blue. Samantha's eyes widened with surprise - and she only snapped out of it when Elena let out a muffled bark and threw herself in front of Samantha.

Samantha flinched and looked away for a brief second. She looked back when she realised she couldn't feel anything striking her hide.

Elena had deflected the ball with her own and was glaring over at the other side. "Mff-tch out!" She said through the ball, before leaning back and hurling the ball over to the other side. "Watch out, Sam," she repeated. "You don't want to get out of the game!"

"Uh, okay - and thanks for the save," Samantha replied. She picked up the ball that Elena had deflected and threw it at the crowd of students on the other side. It bounced uselessly on the ground as everyone on the other team scattered.

"Oh well, good try," Elena congratulated her, before jumping up and catching a ball between her jaws.

"You, team one, dark fur - out!" Ms Howen called over to a dog on the other side. Samantha watched as Alexander exited the dodgeball 'battlegrounds', looking disappointed, and almost felt bad for him - until she heard a sharp bark and everyone around her scattered.

Samantha threw herself to the ground by instinct and felt a ball whistle over her ears. "Close one!" Elena called directly after hurling her own ball.

Samantha could only nod, already breathless. One of her own teammates bounded over to snatch up the ball that had nearly hit her and Samantha decided to shift over to where Elena was standing to avoid being the center of attention.

There was a sharp bark and a flash of purple. "You're out!" Ms Howen called over to a student just to Samantha's left. Samantha didn't take the time to check who it was and hurried over to pick up the ball that had hit the poor student.

She carried it over to Elena and dropped it by her paws. "You're better at this than I am," Samantha said, her eyes fixated on the other side and watching for any incoming balls.

"Thanks - but hey, you should at least try! You might be really good at it," Elena replied, but she picked up the ball anyways and took another throw.

"Out! Out!" Ms Howen leaped from one side the another, ushering various students out. Only then Samantha realised how empty both sides were becoming.

Elena was busy hurling balls ferociously. Samantha skittered back and forth, not attempting to catch any balls in fear of getting out... though, to be fair, getting out didn't seem too bad.

Samantha noticed a lone ball to her left and looked around to see if anyone was going to pick it up. Elena was busy on the right avoiding and throwing balls, Kiara was currently in the center and dodging balls expertly, and... Abbey was hanging around the left, occasionally glancing at her nails and not really checking on the game.

Samantha scowled and bounded over to pick up the ball. Abbey looked up at Samantha approached and let out a quiet bark of laughter. "Oh, look who it is. Samantha Rowell, no powers and Rank 3."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Well, even if I didn't have powers - which I do, mind you - I'm being more helpful to the game than you are." She picked up the ball before Abbey could retort and took aim at a lone student skittering around behind the others.

She took a step forward to throw and felt something catch onto her paw. At the exact same time, something caught against her paw and she felt herself topple forward, the ball shooting out aimlessly from her jaws as she fell. Her eyes widened with horror as she fell, almost in slow motion, towards the ground.

Hit.

A single word rang through her ears. The screams and shouts of students seemed to be drowned out by the single word - and her snout made contact with the ground.

"Samantha! That was... awesome!" Elena bounced over and hauled Samantha to her paws. Everything seemed to be moving normally again. "But... are you okay?"

"Samantha, was it?" Ms Howen bounded over. "Are you hurt? Can you keep on playing?"

Samantha tested the muscles in her snout by unintentionally making a strange expression. She stuck out her tongue and furrowed her brow, then shook herself off. "I'm... fine." She said through a slightly sore snout. "My face's a bit sore, but I'll live."

Ms Howen smiled. "Well, that's excellent! And you made such a nice throw, too - it was almost as if the skies were with you."

"A... nice throw?" Samantha echoed, finally turning towards the other side. Riley was storming off the 'battleground' with a faint purple shimmer on her wrists.

Elena bounced from paw to paw in excitement. "You got her out before I did - and that was a lucky shot, too, because I was actually getting tired from facing off with her. Any throw she made would probably be my last!" Elena laughed with delight and flashed Riley a subtle glare.

"R... really?" Samantha echoed. Elena nodded vigorously. "Yep! And me and Kiara got out the last few almost right after you hit Riley. I don't know how it happened, but we won!"

Ms Howen glanced over at the other side and nodded. "Good job, team two - you've won round one! Good job to everybody on every team! And... Samantha, you sure you can go on?"

"Uh... yeah." Samantha nodded as she held back a wince. "Just a small bruise or something, but I... I want to continue playing."

"That's the spirit!" Ms Howen patted her on the shoulder and bounced off to address the class. "Alright, round two - now, if you're hit, you won't be directly out! You'll stand on the benches behind the opponent's team, and you can catch any balls that your teammates throw you to get back in the game. You can either bring your ball back or..." A grin spread across Ms Howen's snout. "Throw them at the unsuspecting backs of the other team before running back! You can't do that once you've stepped off the bench, though... and at the end, we'll count up how many players on each side, since we have equal numbers! First... could some of you help me out with moving the benches?"

Elena padded up to Samantha as a few students hurried off to grab a few benches. Elena gave Samantha a friendly nudge and grinned. "Well, you definitely got a shot in - but I'm getting Riley out next, alright?!"

"Uh... sure." Samantha nodded. "That was kinda unintentional, though..."

Elena had already bounced off before Samantha had finished her sentence. Samantha couldn't help but smile as she watched Elena bound away - then her smile vanished as she caught the eye of a certain girl.

Abbey was glowering at Samantha from a corner, clearly annoyed with how her plan backfired on her. By instinct, Samantha gave her a mocking 'thumbs up' - and hurried off to join Elena in pulling a bench over to her side.