"Oh, great." I muttered, dropping my backpack off on the bleachers. "Today's..."

"Snowball." Nala finished for me, grinning at the piles of mats stacked on each side of the gym, along with quite a few balls.

Okay, pause. Brief explanation time. Snowball is a game where each side builds a fort across the gym, and you chuck "snowballs"-also know as kickballs-at each other and pray you don't get hit while your aiming. I'm one of the people that just cowers behind the tower of mats, used as a snow fort, to avoid getting me brain knocked out through my ear.

But when that fort goes down I'm dead.

"That's not good." I muttered, rubbing my hip half heartedly. Nala glanced sideways at me. "You'll be fine, tiger." She said reassuringly.

I looked over at Isaac, who was laughing and goofing off with his friends. He was so cute when he laughed.

Nala caught me staring. She grinned. "Someone hoping they'll end up on Isaac's team?" She teased. I scrunched up my face. "Yeah but...not why you think." I muttered.

"You want to kiss him behind the fort."
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"No!"
"I can see it in your eyes."
"My eyes are going to be spelling out some colorful language if you don't shut up."
"Don't deny you heart, Cece."

I slapped Nala's head (gently of course) and walked toward the horde of students standing around our teacher, Ms. Lisa.

No, Lisa was not her last name. It was her first one.

She was just that kind of teacher.

Ms. Lisa grinned at us. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and her brown eyes scanned over us carefully. She was pale, skinny, and not married. That gave all the boys in our class a chance to crush on her.

I know. Disgusting. She was like...twenty-six. Almost thirty.

"I think I'll count off by twos for teams today." She told us cheerfully. "Stand in a line please."

Stop talking to us like we're kindergarteners, please. I thought crossly. That was the annoying thing about Ms. Lisa. She treated us like we were five and didn't bother to consider the fact that we could think for ourselves.

I watched her go down the line, counting us off and sending us to separate sides of the gym. Nala was a two.

I tried to ignore the fact that Isaac was a two as well.

"One...Two...One..."

I counted ahead of Ms. Lisa, my heart involuntarily throwing itself against my rib cage.

I was a two.

Ms. Lisa tapped me and sent me over with Nala and Isaac. When I got to our side, I saw Isaac stare at me with disapproval.

I narrowed my eyes, the happy little dance my heart had been doing a moment before turning into an angry thumping.

Nala patted my back. "Hey, who cares what he thinks? You're a good athlete you've just got some...problems." She said.

I laughed without humor. "That, my friend, is an understatement...but I don't think those 'problems' are going to get in my way today." I added determinedly.

"Cece..." Nala said slowly. I curled my hands into fists.

"Today, I think I'm going to show a couple people what I'm made of."