Volume 3: Meristem
Issue 7: Game Point
Florian Reyes Honeywell
By Roach
Mrs. Patel clapped her hands together. “Alright, you know the drill. Team captains, step up.” As usual, the gym teacher wore her purple tracksuit. She had a short stature, russet brown skin, and a smile with unmatched enthusiasm. Her small frame took some by surprise, as it did not reveal how much energy and willpower one body could contain. But now that I was halfway through my sophomore year, I had learned not to be fooled by this.
I looked around. She had brought down the partition wall, dividing the gym into two playing fields. Half of the class were assigned to each side. Our team consisted of myself, Camilo, Jay, Max, Lucy, and a new student. I vaguely knew Jay through Camilo, while Lucy was in my chemistry class. The new student showed up to a couple of my classes earlier in the day, where she introduced herself as Hannah Min. It seemed like unfortunate timing for a transfer, considering Mr. Howells’ death. If anything, I imagined that students would try to transfer away from Chapel High rather than the other way around.
From the other side of the court, Amber walked up to the volleyball net. She was on the same team as her two friends; Jazmine and Raegan. They also had two Albatrosses and Camilo’s friend—Gabriel—on the team.
Although our teams didn’t have assigned captains, Camilo didn’t hesitate to step into the role. It caught me a bit off guard when he started walking toward the net, as he generally seemed more comfortable in the background. A part of me wondered if he was trying to one-up Amber—or, Spindle, rather. But, before he made it across the court, he was intercepted. Max stepped up to the frontline, which was somehow more surprising than Camilo doing it. Amber grinned from the other side of the net.
In unison, the two self-appointed captains chanted: “Rock, paper, scissors…”
Amber formed scissors with her hand.
Max made a fist. Rock.
“Max’s team starts! Get into position, folks,” Mrs. Patel announced.
I saw Amber’s lips moving, but over the teacher’s shouting, I missed the words. Max adjusted his glasses, but his expression remained stone cold.
I positioned myself at the center of the back of the court. Camilo stood next to me, in the setter’s position. The new girl was on my other side. Max remained in place, right in front of me. The last time I saw him—at the Science Fair—he had looked defeated when Amber spoke to him. Now, with his back turned to me, I couldn’t really read him. Yet, something about him seemed different. He stood straighter, and appeared attentive to the court. Meanwhile, Lucy and Jay made up the remaining frontline.
Amber faced off Max from her side of the court, flanked by her two friends—Jazmine and Raegan. The two overly muscular football players made up their backline. And, lastly, there was Gabriel. Although he had an athletic build, I couldn’t help but think that the drama student seemed the most out of place on the team.
From the sidelines, the gym teacher tossed a volleyball to Camilo. “Okay, let’s go!” She blew into the whistle which hung around her neck.
Camilo threw the ball into the air, then swung his arm. His fist made contact, and the ball arched over the net. While it wasn’t the most explosive serve, he hit with precision over force. There was a subtle elegance to it. I prepared myself as the opposing team scrambled toward the ball.
“Mine!” Jazmine shouted. She caught it with the underside of her forearms.
“Good job, Jaz!” the tallest football player exclaimed. As the ball went up, he tapped it with his fingertips. Amber hit it next, sending it over the net. The three players exchanged the ball seamlessly, Amber and Jazmine showing off their experience in the sport.
I stared at the ball floating toward me. After assessing its trajectory, I took two quick steps backwards. I bent my knees in preparation to receive it.
To my surprise, Max leaped up. In spite of his short stature, he jumped with a rabbit’s momentum as he reached upward. The flat of his palm smacked the volleyball, sending it back over the net. It landed in the middle of the court, where it bounced a couple of times before settling at Amber’s feet. I didn’t think the ball itself would have been too difficult to catch—at least not once I considered the number of athletes on the other team. No, it wasn’t that amazing of an attack. But it had caught them off guard.
Max caught them off guard.
The teacher blew the whistle. I looked at Max; he beamed. It was a sort of goofy-looking smile—in contrast to Amber’s smile, which always seemed to have something hidden underneath. But she wasn’t smiling now. She crossed her arms over her chest, her lips forming a thin line. I couldn’t remember him pulling off moves like that before… Had he practiced, or did I just underestimate him? Whatever it was, this could be a game changer.
Gabriel tossed the ball to Camilo. The teacher blew the whistle.
Camilo served again. I eyed the other team, watching as Jazmine caught the ball and sent it straight back to us. It went to Lucy, before flying up high. I had an opening, but—as I watched Amber and Raegan whisper among themselves—I hesitated. Instead, Camilo passed it to Max. Yet again, he tapped the ball, sending it back over the net.
“Nice one!” Camilo yelled.
This time, the other team was ready. Amber jumped, light as a feather. She smashed the ball with her palm. It hurtled back over the net.
The ball whizzed past me, barely touching my hair as I side-stepped it. I had reacted too slowly to catch it, but quick enough to dodge. A thud sounded behind me. I turned. The ball barely hit within the red line, but that didn’t matter. Barely still meant a point.
“One to one,” Mrs. Patel declared, whistling again. Hannah passed the ball back to the other team, and we rotated our positions.
The game continued, with the volleyball flying back and forth. At times when I thought that the ball was most definitely lost, Max pulled off some unexpected maneuvers—going as far as throwing himself to the floor to save it. He reacted much quicker than I could remember him doing in the past. And the new girl wasn’t doing a bad job either. There was an unexpected synergy to the team, with Camilo, Lucy, and Jay on the defense, and Hannah and Max on the offense. At the very least, it was enough to keep up with the opposing team. Every now and then, I stepped in to pass the ball to someone else. But, for the most part, I kept a low profile. Since the Science Fair, I couldn’t help but think that the less Amber noticed me, the better.
By the time we had made a full rotation, the score was almost even—a 10 to 9, with us in the lead. The teacher announced, “I’m going to check on the other teams, keep at it! Amber, can you keep score?”
“Yes, coach!” Amber replied, her voice annoyingly sweet.
The teacher responded with a thumbs up before disappearing behind the other side of the partition wall. We were back to our starting positions, with Camilo serving again. He sent the ball over the net.
We went back and forth a handful of points. As one of the Albatrosses spiked the ball over the net, Max threw himself to the floor. The ball made contact with his fist. It flew up in a vertical line. I sprinted forward, when Jay intercepted me. They received it with their wrists, sending it back over the net. I retreated to my corner in the back.
Gabriel caught the ball, and it flew toward Raegan. “Amber!” she shouted. On her cue, Amber backed up. Raegan proceeded to center the ball. It ascended. Amber lunged forward. She leaped, and—within a split second—slammed her palm into the ball. It crossed the net, homing in on Max.
Then, with a horrible crunching sound, it blasted into his face. Max—who had been standing in front of me—fell to the floor with a yelp. Amber landed with the ease of a cat. The ball bounced a couple of times, then stopped at my feet. My insides twisted.
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The entire court went quiet. After a moment of terrifying silence, Max managed to sit up, his movements unsteady. The lenses of his glasses had shattered. Blood ran from his nose.
Amber looked down at him. “Get lost, freak,” she hissed. His lips trembled, and he visibly shrunk back.
Her gaze brushed over him, toward me. “Well, Florian?” She rested her hands at her hips.
A restless buzz rippled throughout my body.
“Are you just going to stand there?” she prompted.
“What?” I said, dumbfounded.
She nodded toward the ball at my feet. “That’s mine.”
The swarm bristled within me. I held my tongue as I strode past the volleyball. I halted by Max. “Hey, are you okay?” I said.
“I’m fine.” His voice was barely audible. At the same time, Lucy rushed over. Hannah also approached, but kept a short distance from the scene.
“Umh, I’ll get Mrs. Patel,” Camilo said from behind us. Jay tagged along, and the two of them headed to the other side of the gym.
“Let’s get you up, okay?” Lucy said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“I’m fine,” Max hissed. He shrugged her hand off. Both of us backed away as he stacked his feet back under himself.
Moments later, Jay and Camilo arrived with Mrs. Patel. She half-jogged over to us, eyes widening. “What’s going on here? Wow Max, are you alright?”
I exchanged looks with Hannah and Lucy, as if we all hoped someone else would explain the situation. But instead, Max took the word: “It’s fine. I can keep playing.”
“Sure, and I’m the real Asteria. Let’s get you to the nurse,” Mrs. Patel said.
Amber walked under the net, then joined the slowly growing circle around Max. Jazmine and Raegan followed suit. “Oh my God, are you okay?” Amber said, feigned concern oozing from her voice. “You’re supposed to catch the ball with your hands, not your face! That looked so terribly painful.”
Max looked down. “Yes, just… It’s fine. I’m fine,” he insisted, but with less fight left in his voice. As he talked, blood ran from his nostrils and over his lips. He sniffled, but it didn’t seem like he registered the dripping blood.
The gym teacher continued, “Even if you are, it’s protocol. You’ll come with me. The rest of you can keep playing while we’re gone, alright?”
Mrs. Patel retrieved a paper towel from the wardrobe. As Max pressed the paper to his nose, she guided him out of the gym. Amber and her minions brought the ball to the other side of the court. Me, Camilo, Jay, Lucy, and Hannah were the only ones left in the circle.
“What now?” Jay said.
“I suppose we play and try our best to not get murdered,” Camilo said.
Lucy replied, “Are we going to ignore what just happened?”
Hannah spoke next. “The teacher did,” she said dryly.
There was a pause. Amber’s show of concern was obviously fake to anyone but the teacher, who seemed too blindsided by favoritism for her volleyball team. Even the newcomer saw through her. But, if anything, this type of power play was by Amber’s design. “Welcome to Chapel High,” I muttered.
“Hey, what’s the holdup?” one of the Albatrosses shouted from across the field. We all looked at each other with varying degrees of bewilderment before breaking up the circle. One player down, we redistributed ourselves. I took the left back corner, with Camilo on the right. Hannah, Lucy, and Jay made up the front.
On the other side of the net, Amber tossed the volleyball high into the air. Then she dashed forward, jumping before smashing the ball mid-air. It hurtled toward us with deadly velocity. No, it hurtled toward me.
I advanced forward. Pressing my arms together, I caught the ball with the underside of my forearms. A searing sensation unfolded from the point of contact. But it wasn’t really from the ball. Rather, the sensation came from the bees underneath my skin. They hissed throughout the honeycombed tunnels of my arms. Their agitated murmurs reverberated from my wrists to my shoulders.
The ball took off toward the ceiling. “I got it,” Camilo announced. Once it descended into his reach, he gave the ball a light tap with his fingertips. It moved to the frontline, where Jay slapped it over the net.
The ball went back and forth between the players on the other team, until Jazmine spiked it to our side of the court. Hannah tapped it, before Lucy failed to catch it. The ball hit the floor.
Amber’s subsequent serves continued to score the other team more points. I intercepted some of them. Each time I hit the ball, I felt the swarm’s agitation prickle through my arms. Their pheromones crackled in the air around me. Somehow, it fueled me; I saw the ball’s trajectory more clearly, and consequently, responded faster to it. But it wasn’t enough to stop Amber. Finally, her seventh serve landed outside the bounds of the game. Leaving the score at 14 to 19, Jazmine and Raegan cheered for Amber. She was visibly out of breath.
Although the other team remained in the lead, we were able to take back some points with Jay and Hannah serving. After handing the ball over to the other team, Mrs. Patel returned. Max wasn’t with her. The gym teacher continued to watch our game rather than the other side of the class. Maybe she wanted to make sure nothing else took place. Maybe Max had told her what really happened. But if that was the case, she didn’t show any sign of it as she continued to keep the score. On the contrary, she cheered enthusiastically for whoever scored: “Excellent form, Raegan! And Lucy, nice serve, but remember to keep your knees bent.”
It became Gabriel’s turn to serve. As the ball crossed the net, I caught it with the underside of my fist. It propelled toward Hannah, who sent it back to the other team.
Jazmine bounded forward, slamming her hand into the ball. But, as it hurtled toward us, its path was intercepted by the net—which just barely caught it. It changed course, going straight toward the ceiling. Amber and her minions spread out strategically along their side of the net. On our side, Camilo, Jay, and Lucy—who had been closest to the net—now prepared themselves to catch it. I centered myself behind them, as backup.
The ball hit the top of the net again. For a heartbeat, it balanced there, before leaning toward our side. But then, just as quickly, it tipped the other way. It was subtle, as if a light breeze had changed its direction. It fell to their side of the court. The trio of girls reached for it, but floundered—it hit the floor.
As I watched the scene unfold from the back line, something about it didn’t sit right with me. Something about the way the ball had moved over the net. It had been brief, barely a second, but the way it turned the other way… I gave Camilo a look, furrowing my brows. Had he used his powers? He smiled back at me, seemingly unconcerned. No, of course he wouldn’t do that with Amber in the same room. Whether it was robot eyes or something else, we had learned the hard way that she could see right through his illusions. Maybe I had just been looking at it from a weird angle. I shook off my uncertainty.
We kept playing, the scores remaining fairly close. When it was my turn to serve, Mrs. Patel shouted: “Game point! That’s 22 to 24.” In other words, we were three points away from victory. But if we lost as much as one point, the other team would win. No. Not the other team. Amber would win. I couldn’t afford to fail.
Raegan tossed the ball to me. The piercing sound of Mrs. Patel’s whistle was followed by a strange silence. From the other side of the partition wall, I could still hear shoes squeaking against the floor and the thuds of a ball being passed around. But somehow, it seemed to all be happening far away. Our half of the gym was as still as a photograph. Every single player stared at me, in anticipation of my serve.
When it came to receiving, Jazmine seemed to be worse than the other players. Not that she was bad at it, but her strengths were more so in serving and brute force. Maybe it wasn’t much of a weak spot, but it was better than nothing. So I locked in on her corner of the court, trying to shut everyone else out.
However, when I couldn’t ignore the stares directed at me, I turned my attention to the hive instead. The bees whirled throughout me, my anticipation as much theirs as mine. Albeit uncomfortable, there was something grounding about their presence. When I focused on their activities throughout me, the sheer numbers could be overwhelming. But, at the same time, my awareness of my body and movements heightened.
I took a few steps backwards and tossed the ball up in the air. Then, in rhythm to the swarm’s hum, I bounded forward. Ahead of the red line, I jumped up. Mimicking Amber’s previous moves, I raised my hand. Although I hadn’t pulled off a jump serve before, the action now flowed through me. Normally, the bees would cling to the walls of my organs and flesh—but, for a moment, I felt their movements sync up with my own. I slammed my palm into the ball.
The ball rocketed over the net, just behind Jazmine. Like I had hoped, she reacted a split second too slowly, the ball whizzing past her. The swarm surged through me with excitement. But the feeling quickly dissipated. Just before the ball was about to hit the floor, a hand reached under it. It was Amber’s. Running from the other side of the court, she had thrown herself down to the floor. The ball hit her fist, then went up, just enough for Jazmine to send it forward. It flew over the net.
Camilo and Lucy sprinted after it. But it was too late. The volleyball plunged to the floor. It bounced a few times, each thud softer than the last. And just like that, it was over. With the exception of Gabriel—who stood awkwardly to the side, looking at his shoes—the other team erupted into a series of cheers and high fives.
Mrs. Patel blew the whistle. “Whew, what a stellar warmup game!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. Warmup was one way to put it, as it had left our team sweating and out of breath. “Now, you know how to be good sports. Show me your school spirit!”
Each team lined up on the opposite side of the net. Hannah was the last to join, just behind me—presumably since it was her first gym class, and she wouldn’t be familiar with the teacher’s expectations. Once the two lines formed, the teams walked in opposite directions of one another. As we walked past each other, we reached our arms under the net, exchanging high fives with the players on the other side.
“Good game,” Amber said as she high-fived me. My insides churned. She smiled slyly.
I trailed after Camilo. He headed to the rock-climbing wall, where his water bottle stood. Traces of sweat were visible through his black shirt. When I glanced back, I saw Raegan and Jazmine gathering around Amber. Amber held her phone up in a selfie position. The trio then squeezed into the frame. I let my gaze wander across the gym, until my focus settled on the narrow windows. They were so high up that it was near impossible to see through them without climbing the ribbed walls, but it was enough to filter a sliver of sunlight into the gym. So I looked to the light, sensing the swarm’s restlessness within me.
Class couldn’t end soon enough.