Death by Dodge Ball (Open)

[Kingston Carmichael]

Kingston turned the lock on his locker. His locker popped open. He unbuttoned his shirt. He put his shirt in the locker and took out a plain white t-shirt. He slipped the t-shirt over his head. He took off his slacks and put on grey sweatpants. He placed his shoes in his locker. Kingston tied his sneakers on his feet. He closed his locker. Kingston left the smelly locker room.

He followed some other male students to the gym. The class was slowly gathering together as students finished getting changed. Kingston stood with his peers waiting for the rest of the class and for the teacher to start class. Kingston knew that he wasn’t going to like whatever they were going to do. The technopath wasn’t athletic in anyway.

Once everyone had gathered the teacher announced that they were going to a quick warm up and then play dodge ball. To put it simply, Kingston was going to die. The class did their warms ups. The teacher divided the class into two teams. The teacher lined the red rubber ball in-between the two team in a line. At the sound of the whistle it became the battle began.

Of course there were rules, like you had to hit a person from the waist down. No head or face shots. But that did stop the occasional head or face shot. Sometimes the teacher would call the student out other time some students could get away with it.

Kingston stood in the back. He had the rest of his team to protect him. He was an easy target because he just stood there doing nothing. He wasn’t trying to get a ball. He wasn’t trying to avoid the flying red rubber balls of death. Sometimes it was the best plan, just stand still. Other times it didn’t work. So far it was working for him.

[Alexei Strauss]

Alexei was exited about gym class. It was one of his favorite classes right next to Art and it always was something to look forward to. At least, he got to do something he enjoyed rather than trying to figure out something complicated like he did in his other classes.

Today was going to be fun, it seemed, since they were playing dodge ball. Alexei had grinned at that announcement. He always liked games and dodge ball was something he had experience in. As the game started, he tried his best to hit whoever was in the other team and to dodge any balls that came his way. It wasn't that hard of a thing.

He tried to keep track of his own teammates too. It was this activity that got him looking at a member of their team who just stood in the back. So far it was working for him but Alexei saw that as more people got eliminated, the members of the other team have predictably taken notice of the other's still form.

Alexei dodged some balls and ran towards the other boy. "Hey!" he greeted with a grin. "Are you planning on playing for real or are you just going to play as a sitting duck the whole game? Dude, you're quite the easy target here!"

[Kingston Carmichael]

Kingston watched the other students play. Balls were flying and so far all was missing Kingston. Unfortunately, the same was not said for his team. One by one students were getting out. Kingston’s protection was thinning out. And then it would be all attacks after the one standing still, aka Kingston.

A student ran up to Kingston with a grin on his face. He most certainly was enjoying the game like the rest of the class. To answer the student’s Kingston didn’t really have a plan. He never put any efforts in gym class.

A red rubber ball of death whizzed past Kingston. The ball never touched Kingston but it still was a little too close for comfort. Now the team had thinned out, of course Kingston was going to be the target. He nodded his head. It was probably time to change tactics.

[Alexei Strauss]

A ball went by a little too close to where they were and Alexei glared at the ball that had just missed them. The other boy didn't seem to have any initial plan but Alexei was guessing that the nod he gave him was the other boy's way of saying that he was going to play.

"Okay," Alexei said with a grin as he pulled the boy down to avoid another ball that would have hit them both. "I can help you. It's not that hard. All we have to do is avoid the balls and throw some back. Try not to attract attention but don't be an immobile target either. Lastly, the one thing you must never forget to do is..."

Alexei paused just enough time to throw a ball at an opponent and get one of them out of the game. "Have fun!" He exclaimed with a laugh.

[Kingston Carmichael]

Moving was the better idea now. For whatever reason the balls were getting thrown a lot harder and faster. The rule of throwing balls waist or lower went out the window. It was a free for all. Kingston was pulled down by the other boy as another ball went flying past. Kingston came up with a new plan. Stick with this kid.

He picked up a ball that rolled by. Instead of throwing the ball at someone on the other team, Kingston handed the ball to the kid. Kingston wasn’t positive what the kid’s name was. He was pretty sure the kid’s name started with an “A.”