Van Terra

Chapter Sixty-One ~ A Full Ride Scholarship To Clown College

Another ball narrowly missed Jaymes.

"I think that kid's targeting you on purpose," Jax muttered.

"Oh, definitely," Jaymes replied.

"Why?"

"I was picked over him for an athletic scholarship." Jaymes picked up the ball and tossed it back, only for a different one to hit his shoulder. He winced. "A lot of people are mad, actually. But mostly Mak."

"Sorry about that." Jax ducked to avoid another ball. "Also, I don't get the point of this. Is it supposed to help us with volleyball?"

"No, Coach Lerch just makes us play dodgeball when we don't have a game, instead of coming up with something useful."

Jax lowered his voice. "I can do more than just heal people, you know."

"Really?" Jaymes raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead and take a water break, everyone," Lerch called from his chair.

Jax and Jaymes slipped into line at the fountain behind Mak, a muscular, lime green-skinned student who towered over everyone else. Jax took a moment to focus on the various bruises and scrapes he'd healed over the past couple of days. When Mak walked away from the fountain, he didn't bother going around Jax, instead pushing past him.

As Jax stepped forward, Mak turned around, a sizable bruise running up the size of his face. "Hey!"

"What?" Jax asked.

Lerch looked up from his tablet. "What's going on?"

"He did this to me." Mak pointed at the bruise.

Jax lifted his hands. "How could I possibly have done that?"

Lerch was already staring back at his screen. "This is a no bullying zone."

"Implying that there are bullying zones?" Jax asked, confused.

"There is a bullying zone, and it's called your face," Mak said. "You better hope I don't find you outside of class." He stormed off.

"You okay?" Jaymes asked. "I don't think he'd actually fight you, but—"

"Oh, I'd be fine if he attacked me," Jax assured him.

"You sure? He's a lot bigger than you."

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Elaborating on the fact that Jax had years of combat training from Jasper would just raise more questions.

"If you say so. Where are you eating lunch?" Jaymes asked.

"Uh..." Jax and the others usually ate in Jasper's classroom, but eating with Jaymes might give him a chance to nab one of his devices. "I don't know yet."

"I'm headed to the cafeteria, if you want to join me."

Jax nodded. "Sounds great."