The Trouble With Three

A/N: This chapter is a little funnier then the others:)

Chapter 2 – Dodgeball Doesn’t Solve Everything

“We’re playing dodgeball today, guys.”

Half the gym class erupted into cheers, while the other half erupted into groans. Kevin was part of the former group. Gym was probably the one class of the day that Kevin truly enjoyed. He was a natural athlete and sitting on his ass all day learning about differentials and Shakespeare was not his idea of a good time.

“Nice of you ladies to join us,” Mr. Larkin announced sarcastically toward the direction of the locker rooms in his loud, booming football coach’s voice.

Kevin turned, prepared to see the influx of dainty girls who usually just watched the guys play. They were there, of course. But in addition to those girls, Kevin saw Eden Halliwell – a girl who wasn’t dainty in the least and a girl whom Kevin didn’t particularly like – walking next to the hot, blonde he had first seen in his consumer ed class. Sudden fear dawned on Kevin. Were these two friends now?

He continued to stare as Carly walked towards Coach Larkin to explain her status as the new student. Larkin instantly understood and placed her alphabetically toward the front of the second squad. Kevin was the head of the fourth squad, and he couldn’t suppress his disappointment. He wondered what her last name was.

As she took a seat, Kevin couldn’t help but admire the fold of her tall, tan, and toned legs. She looked great in the school’s gym uniforms – gray t-shirts with ‘Davenport’ written in white acrylic and navy blue drawstring shorts. He continued to ogle her, when he noticed that Aaron was also staring in the new girl’s direction.

Shit. So, Kevin had a competitor, did he? It didn’t matter. Most girls fell for Kevin immediately because he was the type of guy who made good first impressions on others. Kevin knew that Aaron was the type of guy who grew on others over time. Basically, Aaron had nothing on his former friend.

Coach Larkin quickly took attendance. When he finished, he looked right at Kevin.

“Maguire, you’re Team One’s captain.”

Kevin nodded and stood up. He heard the collective swoons of the dainty girls and felt his ego boost even more.

“Holt,” Coach Larkin continued, “you’re Team Two’s captain.”

Kevin snickered as Aaron reluctantly got to his feet. As he glanced over to the new girl, he saw a scowl cross her beautiful features. Kevin was confused. What did he say?

“Pick, Maguire,” Larkin instructed.

“Baer,” Kevin announced immediately, pointing to his favorite wide receiver, Tyler Baer. Tyler got up and walked over to Kevin’s side. Kevin was grinning. He was going to kick Holt’s ass in front of the hot, new girl.

“Carly,” Aaron announced immediately afterwards.

Kevin froze. The new girl appeared surprised before shyly rising to her feet and walking towards Aaron. She appeared nervous but was still smiling anyway. He couldn’t believe it. How could he have not known that the beautiful girl with the blonde hair and the…shit…violet eyes was his Carly?

****

Carly was shocked. Firstly, she couldn’t believe that Aaron had had the balls to pick her first. Carly was a girl, and after years and years of not having played dodgeball, she was certain her skills had grown a little stale. Secondly, she had been surprised that Aaron had remembered her. She supposed she shouldn’t have been too intrigued by that little matter. Aaron was always so introspective; he paid attention to little details, and he had always possessed an amazing memory.

As Carly approached Aaron, she noticed that he had a subtle grin on his face. Aaron had very little variation in his facial expressions, so she took it as a blessing.

“Hey,” she said shyly.

“Hey, stranger,” he said in a voice much deeper than Carly remembered.

She smiled again in response. Carly hadn’t been the only one who had physically changed in those six years. Kevin had obviously grown into a young man, but Aaron looked completely different. He was about the same height as Kevin, but slightly leaner. Carly figured it was because Aaron didn’t play sports as much as Kevin. Still, Aaron was an imposing figure. His short, black hair was slightly grown out now, curling at the ends. His blue eyes sparkled with warmth. He wasn’t as tanned as Kevin, but Aaron could still pass for a tall, dark, and handsome surfer in California. No question, Aaron was a man now too.

Then, Carly instinctively turned her gaze to Kevin. He looked pissed as he stared at Aaron and her, standing next to each other. Carly felt bad that she had scowled at Kevin earlier, but she didn’t like the fact that he had been snickering at Aaron. It sort of broke her heart even if it hadn’t seemed to bother Aaron much.

“Graham,” Kevin spat out after a long pause. A shorter, stockier guy made his way to Kevin’s side.

Carly got an idea, but she wanted to run it past Aaron first. She whispered into Aaron’s ear, and he grinned. “Eden,” he called out.
Eden was in mid-yawn when she heard her name being called out. Her dark brown eyes widened in surprise. “Me?” she mouthed. Carly nodded. Eden awkwardly rose to her feet and joined the duo.

By the time the two teams had been established, it was clear to see that Kevin’s team was going to whoop Aaron’s team in the ass. Kevin had basically recruited Davenport’s entire football team, while Aaron had mostly gotten stuck with the non-athletic students. Carly didn’t care. She just wanted to have fun. And being in the presence of her two former best friends, along with her new friend, she fully intended to fulfill that wish.

****

At first, Aaron hadn’t wanted to recruit all the non-athletic kids in class. But unlike Kevin, Aaron didn’t hold those less athletically inclined in contempt. It was just a freakin’ game of dodgeball, for crying out loud.

He did enjoy Kevin’s look of confusion/anger/anguish when he had first called on Carly to join his team. Kevin must not have recognized Carly right away. That had ultimately worked in Aaron’s favor, hadn’t it?

Aaron had been convinced that Davenport’s gym uniforms had been designed to uglify the most attractive girls, but on Carly…the outfit was pure heaven. Her skinny arms stuck out of the gray t-shirt, which molded to her attractive breasts. Her long, toned legs made the shorts seem shorter than Aaron remembered.

“Let’s go!” Coach Larkin bellowed, emptying out a bag full of dodge balls.

The gaggle of girls instantly erupted into a frenzy. The shrieked with excitement and scrambled toward the nearest ball they could find. Aaron rolled his eyes. He leaned down to grab a ball and scanned the gym.

Kevin was eyeing him with particular disdain at that moment. Aaron didn’t really give a crap, but he knew that he’d have to keep his eye on his former best friend. Kevin had a tendency to be extremely competitive when it came to sports.

Aaron was oblivious to the shower of balls that shot across toward his side of the gym but somehow managed to escape all the balls that were sent his way. One by one, the girls on his team screamed in shock as they were pelted by dodge balls from Kevin’s side of the gym. His teammates high-fived, but Kevin hadn’t even launched one ball.

That’s when realization dawned on Aaron. Kevin wanted to pelt Aaron and only Aaron. Aaron caught the glint in Kevin’s eye as the latter took aim. As the school’s starting quarterback, Kevin would have no problem sending the dodge ball exactly where he wanted it to go – right at Aaron.

Kevin sent the ball whizzing by. Aaron moved out of the way just in the nick of time. He saw Kevin’s jaw tighten. Aaron took aim himself before sending the ball hurling towards Kevin. Kevin evaded the throw but not before revealing his shock at Aaron’s accuracy. Aaron felt a smug satisfaction in knowing that he could play this game too.

Immediately, Kevin dove toward another ball and scooped it up. He flung it toward Aaron with amazing force, but Aaron managed to dodge it successfully. Aaron stole a quick glance to his right and noticed that only about one-third of his teammates remained, including Carly. God, that girl was amazing.

Not wanting to grow too distracted, Aaron picked up another ball and sent it flying right toward Kevin. It didn’t hit him. Fortunately, another one of Kevin’s teammates had gotten in the way, so Aaron had managed to effectively shrink down Kevin’s seemingly unstoppable team.

Aaron noticed Kevin’s growing disgust. He witnessed the latter lobbing a cheap throw in Eden Halliwell’s direction. It hit her square in the butt, and Eden was fuming with indignation!

“Asshole!” she yelled at Kevin.

“Watch the language, Halliwell!” Coach Larkin boomed across the gym.

Eden angrily stomped toward the sides, where most of her teammates already sat discussing beauty tips and advice on sex.

“Watch out!”

Aaron turned to the sound of Carly’s voice in time to have a dodge ball just miss his face. He scowled in the direction of the thrown ball and noticed that Tyler had sent the ball whizzing in his direction. Aaron scooped a ball up off the ground and hurled it at Tyler, who had his back turned for a second. It hit him right in the arm. Tyler looked up in shock. Aaron just arched his eyebrow and sent a silent message Tyler’s way. The latter stalked off angrily to the side of the gym.

The game was still going about fifteen minutes in. About four people still remained on Kevin’s team, including the team captain, himself. There were three people on Aaron’s team, including Aaron, himself, Carly, and Samantha Graves, who seemed to really know her dodgeball.

Samantha managed to club two of Kevin’s teammates in the chest. They stomped off of the playing field, looking pissed off. Samantha beamed at Carly and Aaron.

God bless her.

Now, it was only Kevin and Eric Graham who remained on the first team. The odds were distinctly in Aaron’s favor, and he couldn’t suppress the grin that popped up on his face when he realized it.

Both Carly and Samantha grabbed a dodge ball and aimed for Kevin. He moved out of the way from both of their throws and scooped a ball up. He aimed for Samantha.

It hit her, right on her left thigh. Samantha gasped in shock. Aaron felt so bad for her. She looked so proud to have lasted this long in the first place. As she trudged dejectedly off the field, Aaron turned back to Kevin.

He expected Kevin to look smug, but he didn’t. In fact, Kevin looked more pissed than before. Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron detected movement. He instinctively moved out of the way when a ball had been sent flying toward his face from the direction of Eric Graham.

Aaron grabbed the nearest ball and sent it flying back in the same direction. It hit Graham smack dab in his chest, and he stumbled back slightly. He didn’t look too happy. Nevertheless, he walked off the field, leaving his team captain to fend all by himself.

Aaron looked over and noticed that Carly already clutched a ball in her arm. Unlike Kevin, however, she wasn’t scowling. She didn’t have a war face on or anything. In fact, Carly had a bright smile on her face.

And that’s that when Aaron realized that this was just a fun little game for Carly Brooks. She was probably imagining that the gang was in the third grade again, just playing outdoors for fun. She was just enjoying life with friends. It warmed his heart.

Until he noticed Carly’s face suddenly darkening. “Aaron!” She began frantically running toward him. Aaron turned his head forward, and the next few seconds seemed to travel in slow motion. As he sensed Carly approaching closer and closer, he finally noticed the ball that Kevin had sent whipping in his direction. It seemed to be headed straight for his chest, traveling at a velocity only accessible in outer space. Aaron wasn’t prepared to fend off the attack because he had been ogling his sexy teammate rather than keeping his eye on the “enemy.”

He braced himself for the hit when he felt Carly intercepting the impact of the throw. Aaron was completely thrown off guard. All he saw was Carly’s look of shock as the ball clocked her in the head. She let out a whimper upon the contact, and Aaron could hear the collective gasps from their classmates.

Carly fell unconscious into his arms, and Aaron protectively wrapped his arms around her. Once he had her fully supported, he went to his knees and placed her gently on the gym floor. Coach Larkin was immediately running toward them. He turned an urgent eye toward Kevin, who was currently frozen in place.

“Get the nurse!” he ordered.

Coach Larkin urged Aaron out of the way. All Aaron could do was hope desperately that Carly was all right.

By now, the entire class had formed a circle around Carly. The girls were whispering, while the guys remained silent. Aaron located Eden and noticed that her face had paled.

“Carly?” Coach Larkin called out. “Can you hear me?”

Aaron thought it might have been his imagination, but he noticed a twitch in Carly’s features.

“Carly?” Aaron began. “Wake up for me, please.”

Some of Aaron’s classmates turned to stare at him. He didn’t give a shit. He wanted his Carly to be up and about.

As if she could read his mind, Carly’s lashes fluttered. Her eyes finally opened. She was squinting with disorientation. A groan of pain emerged from the back of her throat, and her long fingers flew to massage her temple, where the ball had hit her.

“Are you all right, Carly?” Coach Larkin asked.

Carly’s eyes flew to her teacher’s. Then, she appeared to be scanning the room for familiar faces. Her large, violet eyes finally fell on Aaron. After a few seconds, a large smile appeared on her face.

“That was intense,” she announced.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the entire class erupted into laughter. Aaron thanked God that Carly was all right and, more importantly, that she was back in his life to begin with.

****

A/N: Okay, I know that even though Kevin’s the one who threw the ball that Coach Larkin would still be held accountable should Carly’s family want to sue. Let’s just pretend that they live in a very forgiving world when dodgeball comes into play because I don’t want to deal with all that legal stuff :)