Dagger Squad

Chapter 6

"I bet you were a band nerd."

"Geek."

"Oh, so you were?!" He laughs.

"No, but I wanted to be."

"Well, why didn't you?"

"I chose football over it." He sighed, straightening up again.

"What? Football? You look like a tennis guy."

Hangman watched Rooster turn his head to him, scowling lips and eyes facing his way.

Jake snorted, his half-bluff slipping out. "I'm kidding." He titled his head, "Mostly."

"I did like other sports. Played them all briefly. But I stuck with football in highschool."

"I did a bit of track. Baseball and football also."

Hangman looked over his shoulder, watching Coyote look down to his chest to flatten out the wrinkles in his uniform.

He turned back around to Rooster, "Javy was a theater kid."

Coyote looked up when Rooster raised his brows. "Jake! I was not!"

Hangman laughed, dropping his head down, his shoulders shaking.

"Stop it! You know I wasn't!"

"You were too!" He looked up, smiling. "You told me you were in theater for two years!"

The room was quiet again without Hangman's laughter. Rooster was waiting for Coyote's response, and Hangman was grinning with raised brows.

"Yes. I was."

Hangman laughed again, Rooster only chuckled.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"No. There isn't." Coyote said, looking at Hangman.

There were beats of silence that passed by.

Then there was more laughter heard. Only this time, it was from the front of the classroom.

The three males looked up, and Hangman turned back to Rooster.

He gestured his head to his left, "Go on."

"No."

"Chicken."

"Shut up. Why don't you go do it? Doesn't that make you yellow?"

"I'm blond, not yellow."

"Ah, so you're admitting it's a dumb idea."

Coyote snorted, "Ha! He got you!" He nudged Hangman.

Hangman squared his shoulders, angling his face ahead to Rooster.

"You better go before he decides on another bad idea." Coyote told him.

Reluctantly, he nodded.

Quietly, Rooster walked over to the two females. He thought they would've noticed him, but they had no idea he was behind them.

"Something tells me he'd listen to Niall." Halo said with a snort.

"No, no, definitely just country music." Phoenix told her. "But maybe he'd make an acception for his music."

"Oh, yeah!" She snapped her fingers, chuckling with a nod. "I forgot he said he's from The Lone Star State."

"He's a cowboy, alright. I think I heard something about the other buddy being a polar bear, but I'm not sure."

"I could see it. Not the one bigger than Texas, though?"

"Oh no," Phoenix shook her head. "I don't think they'd be friends if he was from all the way over there." She chuckled, and Halo joined in too.