--dex dizznee--

Playing a sport against Marella Redek was like playing a sport against ten angry tigers. Never mind, make that a hundred.

As Biana declared the second round of pool battleship in motion, Marella wasted no time squirting her water gun so hard into my forehead I was surprised it didn't leave a dent. "SQUARE UP, COWARDS!" she challenged, her drenched blonde hair a frizz of built-up fury/adrenaline/energy.

She swooped her leg out from under my knees, launching me off of the Fedex battleship and into the water. I frantically swam back towards my floatie, reaching out my arm so Fitz could pull me up. We decided on the rules before we started to play: if both teammates were off the float at the same time, the other team wins.

I grabbed ahold of Fitz's hand and heaved myself back onto the ship. I pulled the trigger on my water gun, blasting Linh into the water. To my dismay, she cushioned herself with a soft pillow of water and gently sat back on her ship.

"Hey, no hydrokinesis!" Fitz called out. "You promised!"

Linh smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, force of habit." She grabbed onto a water gun of her own and tried to blast Fitz's face, but her aim needed a little work. She landed a blow on Fitz's bubblegum pink hair, causing him to yelp from the ruining of the stylish swoop of his bangs.

"Okay, now I'm pissed," Fitz grumbled, blasting Linh back with the water gun. This time, Linh toppled into the water like the rest of us.

"OH NO, YOU DIDN'T!" Marella screamed, shooting Fitz right in the chest. He yelped, toppling over, and Marella launched me off my ship before I had time to even react.

"TEAM MARELLINH FOR THE WIN!" Marella screeched as Fitz and I helped each other to the shore, both coughing up a reasonable portion of chlorine. Fitz groaned, patting his doused bangs.

"That took me forever," he whined. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh please. You look great," I reassured him. Fitz blushed crimson around the ears, which I pretended to not notice. "Did you seriously try to fix your bangs knowing you would get in the pool right after?"

"Um, yes?" Fitz paused and shrugged to himself. "Yeah, point taken. Not one of my smartest days."

I chuckled. "You don't need intelligence to defeat Marella anyways. You need..." A wave of silence washed over me. "You need..."

"To be Marella?"

"Pretty much."

Biana, now holding a microphone that seemed to come out of thin air, whistled loud enough for everyone on the boat to hear. "Listen up everyone! Our scores are Fedex one, Marellinh one. We're gonna need a round to break the tie. We're starting in five minutes."

Fitz let out a sigh of relief. "I could use a pina colada." He looked at me and his eyes widened. "Non-alcoholic, of course. It's the first night of the boat after all."

I laughed. "I'll get the drinks." Within seconds, Lilian had conjured up a pina colada for Fitz and water with lemon for me.

Fitz smiled his thanks to me, his teal eyes sparkling in the sun in a way that made my heart skip. "Thanks. Cheers."

"Cheers, Wonderboy." The glass of the drinks clicked together and together we downed half our glasses. "Ready?" I turned to face him.

He blinked. "Sorry?"

"For the tie-breaking round."

"Oh! Right. Yes. Let's go." Fitz and I set our drinks down next to the pool and walked to Biana, Marella, Linh, and Sophie, all standing together at the edge of the pool.

"-as before, last round, then we'll do Sophie and me against Keefe and Tam," she explained. "Alright, we're all ready to go? Unless you guys want to talk strategy?" Biana faced Fitz and me, eyebrows raised in a way that made my face warm up with embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah, we'll do that," I managed to say. "We'll be back in thirty seconds or so." I dragged Fitz to the edge of the pool and gestured for him to lean down so I could whisper in his ear.

"Marella's the one we have to worry about. When Biana starts the game, we'll target her first. I'm pretty sure you have better aim, so you can shoot her with the water gun, and I'll try to distract her." Fitz nodded in understanding.

"We're ready!" I called back to Biana. Within seconds we were positioned on our ships, water guns in hand.

"Alright, go," Biana murmured, half paying attention to the game and half talking to my cousin. "Or whatever."

Faced with Marella's battle-ready glare, I panicked. "Hey, Marella! Look, a butterfly!"

Marella scoffed. "You really think I'm that dumb, Dizznee?" She blasted me in the face and it took all of my upper body strength to stay on top of the float.

I forced my eyes to widen in surprise. "Oh my god, Linh! Are you okay?" I exclaimed, supplying my face with just the right amount of worry. Marella's face snapped to her side, allowing me to drive her into the pool.'

"Take that!" Fitz hollered as Marella toppled into the water. Linh narrowed her eyes as the pool water faded into from a lively turquoise to a stormy blue-gray. The ripples of water bombarded the sides of our float, threatening to topple us over. Quick as a flash flood, Linh reached out her arm to help Marella up and used her other hand to use her water gun. Fitz and I were slammed into the water as Marella and Linh cheered like they just won the lottery.

"Winners are...Marella Redek and Linh Song!" Biana congratulated them as Fitz and I clung to the side of the pool. Marella stuck her middle finger at me and Fitz while side-hugging Linh as hard as humanly possible.

"Screw you guys," Fitz mumbled, but a smile was stretching across his face anyways. He was so adorable when he smiled, my brain had to interject. Shut up.

"Excuse me?" Fitz asked me. Oh crap, I said that out loud.

"Oh, sorry, just thinking," I quickly replied. "I'm just exhausted. Do you want to get some nachos with Marella and Linh?"

Fitz shrugged. "I get it, I'm hungry too. Let's go."

Marella jumped into the conversation. "Nachos? Hell yeah, I'll take some. Linh, want some nachos?"

"Sounds perfect!" Linh replied with an excited grin. "No jalapenos, please."

"Good game," I said to Marella, reaching out her shake her hand. Fitz and Linh had gone to the kitchen to get us our food.

"Good game," she agreed. "Also, what was the butterfly thing about? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry! I panicked." Marella scoffed, directing an exasperated smirk at me.

"Also, fuck you for using Linh against me. I did not consent to that," Marella retorted. I snickered.

"What can I say? I do what I have to do to win."

"Dizznee, you didn't even win."

"Yeah, but I tried! And you better let Linh have the first nacho for saving your ass because if she didn't, I would have succeeded." I folded my arms together.

"I always let Linh have the first nacho."

"Yeah, 'cause you're a lovesick sapphic," I coughed. Marella glared.

"What did you say to me, Dizznee? And by the way, you aren't much better."

"Oh, nothing. And FYI, I don't get distracted every time my crush speaks, soooo..."

"He kinda does," Sophie mumbled from behind Linh. I glare at her and she goes back to talking to Biana.

"I'm too hungry to deal with this," I sighed. Marella and Sophie try and fail to keep from laughing at me.

"Deal with what?" Fitz said, pretty much materializing behind me like a ghost. I jumped.

"Marella is making fun of us for losing against her," I said without missing a beat. Marella and Sophie were rolling on the floor, laughing like banshees.

"We got nachos!" Linh squealed. "Oh, and burgers. And milkshakes. Mel, I got yours with a little cinnamon dusting on the top."

"Awesome, thanks," Marella said. "I'll help you carry those."

Linh giggled. "I got it. I promise."

"Let me helppp!" Marella urged. Linh laughed, giving in and handing the burgers to Marella. Fitz, Sophie, Biana, and I were rolling our eyes so hard it was painful.

Fitz sighed, taking a burger from the tray Marella was carrying. He wrinkled his nose. "Ew, pickles? Seriously?"

Now it was Marella's turn to roll her eyes. "Ungrateful bastard," she muttered, setting the tray down on a long, sunny table.

"I'll eat 'em," I volunteered. Fitz looked at me like I just ate a chair.

"Dex, what the fuck?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"They're good!" Fitz threw a pickle slice at my face. It landed right on my eye, sliding off of my face and onto the floor.

"That was uncalled for," I grumbled. "Well, I can't eat it now."

"It's for your own good," Fitz told me. "Those things are the food of the devil."

"Isn't the food of the devil we-" Marella started to say until Fitz cut her off.

"As I was saying, those things are the FOOD OF THE DEVIL."

"I'll still eat it," I mumbled. 

Fitz sighed and handed me the pickle-topped burger. "I give up," he groaned. He picked up a mint green milkshake spotted with dark chocolate chips and sat down. "Let's just eat."

"Pickles aren't that bad," Marella said once everyone was seated. "If Dex doesn't finish them-"

"Yeah, I like them," Linh agreed. Fitz's head dunked into his milkshake.

"I call the first fry!" Marella declared, grabbing a fistful of fries from across the table as Fitz grumbled something about manners. Marella shoved the handful of fries down her throat while Fitz cringed.

"Linh gets the first nacho," I said, handing her the bowl and remembering what I said to Marella earlier. Linh smiled at me and picked up one nacho from the plate.

"See, that's how you take food. Marella, take notes," Fitz complained, but I was happy to see his charming smile back to being present on his face. Linh and I giggled at each other.

"Sorry if my eating habits are ladylike enough for you, Fitz," Marella retorted playfully.

"Tell that to me once I catch a cold from taking a bite of a fry that has your germs on it," Fitz snapped back.

"I don't have a cold!"

"You COULD!"

"I don't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I don't!" Marella sputtered. "Asshole," she whispered into her milkshake.

"Fitz, can you stop bullying Marella and be the new announcer for the games?" Biana interrupted, wearing a confident grin. "It's time for Sophie and I to kick some ass."