Fawkes

The Past Has Passed

After Gym class, and after Dick stopped grumbling about how slippery the pole was and how he suspected Artemis sabotaged him, the disgruntled boy and I made our way to Spanish. Ever since we had started getting along, Spanish had been an absolute blast. We sat right next to each other near the back of the class, and since we both seemed to already know most of the Spanish that was being taught, all we did was mess around until the bell rang.

"You up for another round of football?" I inquired as we masterfully wove our way around the rushing students, managing to not get jostled as we were both decently agile and small, "Or is two defeats in one day too much for your ego?"

He scoffed, a smirk I had come to know dearly immediately falling across his features, "Do you know me to ever back down from a challenge?"

"No," I said, "but I think you might want to start, considering you keep losing."

"Says the girl sporting a head of pink hair."

"Touché." I nodded at Mindy as she passed with Justin, the latter having his hand in a questionable position as she smiled slightly. I almost gagged, "I guess we both have some redemption to address. The only difference is you're too weak to meet the standards."

"Oh," he breathed quietly, grinning now, "we'll see about that, Winston."

***

"That was a fluke and you know it."

"Don't ignore me."

"Admit it, there was no way you planned that."

"I want a rematch."

"Stop walking away!"

The smirk never left my face as I marched away from Dick, out of the classroom as the last of the bell rang through the school. He continued to attempt to defend his pride, something I had brutally crushed in a game of flick football.

"It can't be a fluke when I beat you by a landslide," I called back at him as I took a right down a deserted hallway that I knew was a shortcut to my locker.

"Okay, hear me out—" his voice was cut off by someone bumping into him, and I chuckled lowly as I gained ground ahead.

Suddenly, my wrist was grabbed, and I was spun around to face Dick, who seemed slightly disheveled, a single strand of hair having escaped his gelled masterpiece. I eyed it suspiciously, unaware of the close proximity between my face and his until I realized that I could hardly see the strand of hair in question, just because I was too close to focus on it.

"Rematch." Was what came out of his mouth, speaking lowly and his voice slightly husky from shouting down the hall at me, "Next class. I want fair play, no kicking me under the table when I'm about to take my shot."

I narrowed my eyes at him, not backing down from the unannounced staring contest we seemed to be having. Electric blue eyes met electric green ones, and I could feel his hot breath on my nose. His hand was still closed around my wrist, and had it been anyone else I was sure I would've pulled away and maybe even punched them in the face. So why wasn't I doing that now?

I ended up blinking, distracted and confused by my thoughts as the proximity became too much and I took a step back, releasing a breath I wasn't aware was hitched in my throat.

"All right," I responded as he let go of my wrist and stepped back as well, "deal. Don't cry when you lose, Grayson."

He smirked at me, and I turned around and continued walking, except this time he didn't follow me, having gotten what he wanted. He just called after my retreating frame, his triumph evident in his voice despite the defeat he had just faced, "I wouldn't dream of it, Winston."