[ENG] Family Family

V - Laws of Physics Don't Apply, it's Dodgeball!

Today was a peaceful day, as at 2 in the morning I was blissfully sleeping while Layla was patrolling the area near the school as a security measure.
I walked through the door with my earphones in and sat down to chat with Jean while waiting to see my Physical Education teacher for the first time. I smiled and giggled whenever my deskmate said something funny, and I told her whatever was safe to tell. However, I felt like something was weighing on my conscience.
I now surely had the perfect psychological weapon to use against Randolph, the perfect occasion to make him pay for what he had done to me physically and to my reputation by spreading rumors which would turn out true. On the one hand, I could let the world know that the infamous school bully had such a relatively stupid power, but on the other, I had promised his father not to tell anyone. But it'd have been a promise of no use.

- Hey Jean, did you know that Randolph... is Mr. Klein's son? - I stopped at the middle of the sentence.

- Of course I did, silly... -
- Language! - Cubi's voice caught us off guard.
- Cubi?! Our physicist also teaches Physical Education?! -
- Of course he does, look at his physique! - Jean said.
He placed his phone and a fire drill checklist on the teacher's desk, but didn't sit down.
- Today we'll practice the best sport known to mankind... -
- Dodgeball? - I asked, my voice full of hope.
- ... against the eighth graders! -
I froze. There was no way I was gonna play dodgeball against Henry; that little shit would have targeted me even if I was in his own team.
- Why the eighth graders, if I may ask? -
- They have a P.E. lesson right now. -

The dodgeball court was just the middle school's indoor gym. We trained by running around its perimeter while we waited for the eighth graders to arrive.
- Hey, Randolph... -
- What do you want from me? -
- Did you know... that a human-sized insect couldn't survive? -
- Yeah, they don't breathe the way we do. Why do you ask? -
- What about a insect-sized human? -
In that monent, the gym door was slammed open and a troop of nineteen wild apes poured into the room.
- If I ever use the verb "I love" in a sentence, there's a 75% chance it's followed by "dodgeball". What about you, Henry? Are you ready to be turned to ashes? -
- Oh, about that... - Cubi said. - Dodgeball rules only allow traditional rubber or cloth balls, not fireballs. -
Apparently, the rumors spread by Randolph had also successfully reached the teachers. Henry giggled as I was at a loss of words.
- Cubi, did you really have to say that? -
- You never know... -
The high school team positioned themselves behind a very old line of tape on the floor, as old as the coronavirus pandemic, while the middle schoolers lined up on the opposite side.
I backed away as some of my classmates gradually moved at a safe distance from Randolph. - Why are you guys leaving him alone? Is he particularly angry today? -
- Indeed he is. What did you tell him earlier? -
- That he stinks - I lied.
Then, Cubi majestically threw the ball in the middle of the court and both sides prayed for it to reach them, too scared to reach for it themselves. Some players attempted a rapid tactical advance, but retreated as soon as their opponent took possession of the spherical weapon.
As the game progressed, most of my teammates found themselves lined up at the designated wall, eliminated. In the meantime, I was ducking and jumping and dodging enemy shots like no others could. I always considered that game as a matter of life or death, and I was doing a good job at surviving. But then, Cubi suddenly introduced a second dodgeball in the middle school's side of the court.
It was getting difficult to track every single one in every single moment, and in that moments I remembered Clyde's words: "time is made of instants where motions isn't possible". That was what I was thinking about when Henry locked his eyes on me and took advantage of that instant of inattention to strike me down; the ball hit my cheek, but before the game started we had discussed whether to add a rule that invalidated every hit to the head to make the game easier for the middle schoolers.
Unfortunately, the rule had not been accepted, so the game ended with the other team as the winning team.
- Seriously? We got beat so easily by a bunch of middle schoolers? -
- You're the only one taking this game seriously - Jean sighed.
I sat down next to the idle students as the other halves played another match.
A short boy with bobbed, byzantium-colored hair sat next to me on the lowest step of the gym stands. He unzipped his black hoodie and put it aside.
- They all want to sit at the wall they're supposed to loathe, don't they? -
I nodded. Even though his entire team had played extremely well, that boy had particularly stood out among all the others for his aim and the power of his throws. During the match, his hood was covering his head, but it was also covering part of his peripheral vision, which was extremely disadvantageous in a dodgeball match, but he remained undefeated nonetheless.
- You know, you're one of the best dodgeball players I've ever met. You're tough for a middle schooler - I complimented him.
- You're not bad either. I liked how you dodged. Even though you never tried to throw or catch the ball, you have good reflexes. You're Nicholas, right? -
- You heard Mr. Cubi's speech on fireballs, didn't you? - I asked, but then realized Cubi hadn't said my name.
- No. Everyone here knows that there are three gifted kids among the juniors... you, the dragon girl and the one that shouldn't be touched. -
- Oh, right, they exist... -
- And if that wasn't crazy enough, look whose is the only gifted teacher in the institute. Funny, isn't it? -
- Yeah... -
- I'm Chris, by the way. -
I turned around and looked at the court just in time to catch a glimpse of an incoming ball. Right as it was about to collide with me, I leaned to the left, moving out of its trajectory, and the projectile hit the back of Chris' head instead.
- Sorry, could have catched it. Where did this even come from? - I exclaimed, but then noticed the ball was floating above him and slowly going higher.
I quickly climbed the stands and tried to catch it with a jump, but it was too high up and I barely managed to push it towards the wall bars nearby. I then climbed on those wall bars to retrieve the flying object, which had almost reached the ceiling, and tried to send it back to the court, just to see it floating once again immediately after I let go of it.
- Why won't this dodgeball stop flying?! -
- It's meant to fall down after ninety-six seconds, enough time to reach an altitude of fourty-eight since it ascends at the rate of half a foot per second. -
- Chris, that's your ability? -
- A fall from that height has a fifty percent survival rate, so be careful, now that you know it. -
- So, let me get this straight: everything you touch is bound to fall to death? Can't you ever stop it? - I asked him, remembering how he had tossed his hoodie.
- I have to focus to make it stop, and that's why I wore the hoodie during the game and why it didn't fly away as soon as I took it off. And why I wear gloves like Eris. -
- Oh, you have gloves... -
I hadn't even noticed his gloves, since they were very thin and skin colored, unlike Eris' white woolen mittens; I hadn't felt them either, since I was wearing a pair of gauntlets myself. Three different people wore gloves to school for three different reasons: it was very common for an ability to be triggered by physical touch, although that wasn't the case for me.
- Makes sense... -
- Hey, Chris, give us that! It's a ball, not a balloon! - one of the active players shouted and laughed, so Chris snatched the ball from my hands and threw it towards the court, then looked back at me, noticing my nervous look.
- They all know about it? -
- You can't hide such a dangerous power, it's morally wrong! You should have let the teachers know immediately, and not let the first idiot who tries to beat you up find out. -
- How do you know that? -
- Don't panic, Nicholas. He already told the whole school, and there's nothing you can do about it. -
And he got on the second highest step of the stands to retrieve his hoodie, and that was when I noticed his left lower leg was a prosthetic.

- Now that the middle schoolers left, we still have 50 minutes of dodgeball left! - and having said that, Cubi decided to put the two high school teams together and divide them once again into two different groups, making
them fight one against the other in a third game.
- Now, take the game seriously, please... use your super dragon powers or something... -
- Nick, look who's in the other team. -
Randolph was gathering the balls to give them back to the teacher.
- You underestimate my dodgeball skills, Jean. I'll swat that fly. -
- Fly? -
In a matter of seconds, Randolph slowly turned around and glared at me in horror.
The game also started in that moment, and Cubi had the bright idea of introducing the ball in our opponents' side once again. I had never seen Randolph run as fast as he was doing then, not even the day he had escaped.
He picked it up, and immediately threw it in my direction with all of his might.
I didn't dodge it, but instead tried to catch it, but it bounced off my hands, so I dropped to the ground in an attempt to get hold of it in the moment it almost touched the floor.
Surprisingly, I failed, and all my teammates lost their best lead. I slowly marched towards the designated wall, while the players asked me to hurry up because I was interrupting the game.
I sat down cross-legged on the brown parquet flooring, frowning, waiting to re-enter the game after one of my teammates would catch a ball, but to no avail. That day I didn't return on the court.

The main hallway was full to the brim with students having fun during the ten minutes of the first recess.
I was alone in the restroom, sitting in one of the stalls while looking at my SCD. I always made sure to go there at least once every recess period; it was a peaceful, silent place and for many it was a mere place of passage. After two whole minutes, I decided to leave. I opened the door, and there was Randolph, who then dragged me out of the room and into the hallway. I tried clawing at his hands to make him loosen his monstrous grip, but they felt like hard metal.
He then slammed the restrooms' door shut behind us and the whole hallway turned towards me.