Spy School High School (Highschool AU) [ONGOING]

03. PE do be rough tho

Ben recognized the layout of the gym. Cones were separating the gym into two halves. And in between the cones, were dodgeballs.

They were playing dodgeball.

Mike walked up behind Ben.

"Dodgeball on this first day?" Mike asked.

"Apparently so," Ben replied. They both sat down on their assigned numbers. Once everyone arrived, their teacher, Coach Hedge, walked into the gym.

"My name is Coach Hedge, I will be your PE teacher this year. Now let's take roll," Coach Hedge said.

"Benjamin Ripley?" Here.

"Mike Brezinski?" Here.

"Jayden Hill?" Here.

"Erica Hale?" Ben's head whipper around that. Sitting in the back corner, was Erica Hale.

"Joshua Hallal?" Here.

Coach Hedge finished calling roll. Then he shouted, "Today we will be playing dodgeball. For team captains... Ripley and Hallal, get up here!"

Ben and Joshua stood up and walked to the front of the class.

"Ripley, heads or tails?" Coach Hedge asked. Ben said tails. The coach flipped the coin. Then he caught it and showed it to the class. It was heads.

"Hallal. Do you want first pick or side pick?" Coach Hedge asked.

"The first pick," Joshua replied. Coach Hedge waved his hand forward as if to signal to go.

"Mike," Joshua picked first. Although Mike was Ben's best friend, Joshua had no problem with him. He probably also didn't want Mike and Ben to be on the same team.

Next, it was Ben's turn. "Jayden," Ben picked. The 5 foot 7-inch 9th grade walked over to Ben. Jayden had red eyes, like rubies, and brown-haired. He lined up behind Ben. Next, Joshua chose one of his friends. Ben was going to do the same thing too, but then he remembered the judo flip from this morning, and how strong it was.

"Erica," Ben said. Everybody looked conceded. Jayden tapped Ben on his shoulder.

"You sure?" Jayden asked. Ben nodded.

"Trust me," Ben assured. Erica still didn't move, until Coach Hedge glared at her. Then she sighed and walked up behind Ben. Then they continued picking people until the class was divided into 2 teams. The 2 teams walked to opposite sides of the gym. When Coach Hedge blew his whistle and picked up his magazine, the teams ran at each other. As Ben ran, he spotted Erica still leaning against the wall.

Well, she won't be much help.

As the fastest runners on the teams reached the middle, the air was suddenly filled with dodgeballs. Lots of people were hit and had to walk to the sidelines. Ben barely dodged a dodgeball thrown by Mike and threw one at a person who was distracted. It hit them in their shoulder and dropped to the ground before they could catch it. They walked to the sidelines. The game continued.

At one point, Mike hit someone on Ben's team. Mike was distracted, so Ben took the opportunity to throw a perfectly aimed dodgeball at Mike. Mike realized too late what was happening, and got hit.

The game started to wrap up towards the end of the period. Joshua was the only remaining person on his team, while Erica, Ben, and Jayden were still in on Ben's team. Ben and Jayden were taking turns throwing dodgeballs at Joshua, while Erica was still leaning against the wall. Ben had just thrown his dodgeball when suddenly, Jayden and Ben threw theirs at the same time. The dodgeballs were coming at Joshua from both sides, so he had no chance to dodge it. One of the dodgeballs hit him in the arm, and he was out. Ben and Jayden high-fived, and walked back to the wall. Ben heard a sound behind him, and looked around, to see a dodgeball headed for his face. He tried to dodge it, but it hit his nose, sending it crashing into the wall. When Ben recovered, he discovered his nose was bleeding. When Ben looked around to see who had thrown it, he saw Joshua, smirking.

Joshua threw it!

Meanwhile, Coach Hedge continued to read his magazine.

Then something happened. One second Joshua was smirking, the next he was on the ground clutching his head, a dodgeball rolling away from him. When Ben looked to see who had thrown it, his eyes traveled to Erica. She was still leaning against the wall, but her hand had moved, and it looked like she had thrown something.

The dodgeball, Ben realized.

At the moment, Coach Hedge looked up and whistled. He walked over to Ben and inspected him.

"Nose bleed," he said, getting up.

"It's okay people, accidents happen," Coach Hedge said. Ben wanted to tell him it wasn't an accident, but he didn't think it was a good idea to contradict a teacher.

"Um...Hill! Take Ripley to the nurse," Coach Hedge announced.

"I can take..." Mike offered, but Coach Hedge shook his head.

Jayden extended a hand, and Ben took it. He hauled himself up and walked in the direction of the locker room. Jayden and Ben grabbed their stuff, then headed to the nurse's office. As soon as they stepped inside, the final bell rang, indicating the end of the day.

"Thanks, Jayden," Ben said once they arrived.

"I can stay..." Jayden offered, but Ben shook his head. They fist-bumped, and Jayden left. The nurse called Ben in. She told him it was only a mild injury, and it would stop bleeding any minute now.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, it stopped bleeding. Ben put ice on it for a few minutes, then thanked the nurse and left. Ben had just made it out the door when he heard a voice.

"You good?"

Ben turned around and saw Mike.

"You're still here?" Ben asked. Mike nodded.

"We're walking home together," Mike reminded.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry..." Ben began but was cut off by Mike waving his hand.

"No problem. Now let's go," Mike said. Ben nodded. They were just crossing the hallway, when Ben spotted Erica in the hallway, reading.

"Um, Mike..." Ben started.

"Oh yeah, good luck with Erica," Mike said, walking the opposite direction.

"How did you..." Ben started again.

"I'm your best friend," Mike shouted back and walked away. Ben sighed and walked up to Erica.

"Hey, Erica..." Ben started, but Erica just sighed, put her book away, and started to walk away.

"Um...I just wanted to thank you," Ben said, walking with Erica. Then for the second time today, he tapped her shoulder. A lot of things in the next 10 seconds happened for the second time today. For the second time today, Erica judo flipped Ben, and for the second time today, Ben crashed into the lockers.

"3 things," Erica started, "One. Don't talk to me. Two. Don't touch me. Three. I only did that to make the game fair. Not for you." Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Ben there. At that moment Mike walked back. He extended a hand and pulled Ben up.

"You know, you might want to wear a helmet the next time you approach Erica," Mike joked. Ben rolled his eyes but smiled at the thought. Ben and Mike walked out of the school front doors. Zoe was waiting there.

"You took your time," Zoe said. Ben smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about that," Ben said.

"No problem," Zoe said.

Zoe, Ben, and Mike walked in the direction of their homes. First was Zoe's. They said goodbye, then continued walking. Next was Mike's. Ben said goodbye. Last was Ben's. He entered through the front door, greeted his mom, and headed towards his room. He looked over all of his syllabuses, read, and listened to music. He had dinner, then came back to his room. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. He listened to his music, and let it drive him to sleep. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

- Cookie