Devil's Boarding school

Chp.16 It's Like American Football.. With a Twist.

I thought about our wings, conveniently un-shirt-rippingly-etheral when we needed, and solid if we could afford it. These beings were different? okay, I could live with that.  

"Fair-enough" I gulped again,

We all took our positions, and awaited the whistle of the coach.  

When it sounded, there was a loud uproar, as Jensen morphed and ripped himself off as he became a massive grizzly bear opposite his twin Donovan who did the same, the two bears rushed each other, while Hunter and Quincy became giant black and white wolves--Hunter bigger than Quincy--who charged a boy who'd just become a Lion.. he did have sandy hair after all, I thought. Now, it didn't register for a few seconds but.. all the shifted animals where wearing the black shorts i'd seen on the guys earlier. I supressed a giggle but before I could think any more, Ecanus Hiked the ball back to me. Oh damn.

I backed up a little, then did the only thing I could think of, I ran!

Suddenly the Lion was running up behind me, man he was fast! I spied Ecanus flying up a little ways behind him--motioning for the ball with a slight urgency--just as the guy behind me missed clawing my face by a few centimeters. Then he was gaining more speed and growling at me playfully.

I couldn't stand guys who toyed with me just because I was a girl. So I smiled sweetly then kicked him in the jaw just as he came up to my side. I heard him growl with anger and start to flex his claws and jump at me. I was ready though, and I flapped my wings forcefully, to fly right over his head, and over to his left where I touched back down and found myself maybe a few feet from the score line.  

Little did I know, a huge white barn owl would swoop silently just above me. he snatched the ball from my grasp and started to fly backwards.  

"HEY!!" I shouted after him, starting to pull my wings up in preparation to fly after him. but Ecanus beat him to it, slamming into his side with a loud thud. the two went down with their wings up and braced for impact. I saw them hit the ground, making a cloud of dust, from which Ecanus rose up and threw the ball back at me. I fumbled to catch it then ran for dear life.  

I reached the score line--and scored--just as a horse galloped right up to my heels and stopped just in time to kick dust up into my face. when it all cleared, I saw a younger version of Jensen and Donovan, though slightly paler with lighter and longer hair that was naturally spiked. he had a worried look in his eyes, "Did I hit you?"  

I looked at him with a little surprise, his voice had sounded just like silk. "U-uh no.. thanks for stopping." I stuttered  

he smiled sweetly then held out his hand to help me up, I accepted it and he led me back to the starting point.  

"Ecanus?"  

"Yeah Ava?"  

"Do I have to do that again?"  

"A few more times." he smiled  

I sighed and dusted myself a little more, but I gave up at the sight of all the dirt which had just caked itself to me and my clothes. I sighed, then pulled up my hair with a hairband that I had had on my wrist.

The match ended at 5/4, with us the champions. I'd been tackled by the great Donovan himself--once I had scored 3 times and proven myself a worthy opponent--and had to retract my wings in a hurry to slide under him. It had still been a fair match, not counting the brutal tackles that I'm sure I heard break bones, and the few times I'd been sketchy as to whether Cyruss's--the owl shifter's--claws counted as hands or not.  

At least by now I knew all the team's names; Cyruss was the large barn-owl shifter, Jensen and Donovan were the Grizzly twins, Travis was their younger brother and a light sand-colored horse shifter, Hunter and Quincy were the Wolf shifters--I had been tempted to call them werewolves--both of them large black and white wolves, Royce was the Lion shifter leaving Kai as the white tiger shifter who was apparently the silent-samurai stereotype.  

"Well color me impressed." said Donovan--the twin with a scar over his left eye--jogging over to me and Ecanus while we drank from a water cooler that was mysteriously merged into a large oak tree by the edge of the field.  

"Didnt think you'd be able to hold your own out there, especially against me with that maneuver you pulled little-one." he smiled at me and ruffled hy hair while he caught his breath. He took a small paper cup from the dispenser and took a swig of water himself.  

His twin came over towards us aswell, "Hey, Coach says we're done for the day. But the guys agree it'd be great if you guys stayed for another game, Hey Ecanus, c'mon? the usual?" he said, punching him lightly in the arm  

"You come and play often?" I asked Ecanus,  

"Well yeah," he said a little shyly, "Usually come to even up the teams 5 to 5."  

"Might as well be 5 to 10 when he comes over." chuckled Donovan  

"He's that bad?"  

"No!" Jensen laughed, "he's that good."  

"Why d'you assume the worst?!" protested Ecanus,

I just smiled up at him.  

"You guys do anything besides play?" I asked the twins,  

"Oh yeah." said Donovan  

"In fact, we're going to see a movie in town this sunday." said Jensen  

"There's a theatre here?" I asked, completely surprised and excited at the same time,

"Yeah!" said Donovan, "The old guy who runs the place can get his hands on any movie, we just look through wats new and point out what looks good."  

"Ofcourse, he also caters to the townspeople, so there are usually some classics on too." finished Jensen,

"That sounds amazing! Can I come with you guys sometime?" I beamed up at them, then after a thought, "I'll bring Ecanus!"  

"He never seems to want to come.." Donovan mused, "Could you really force him to come? We'd definitely bring you then." he smirked,

Ecanus looked a little pale, "I prefer books."  

"Aw please Ecanus!" I begged,  

"Maybe.." he said, before something occured to him, "But only if you bring Cas, and believe me thats a task unto itself! But it would still be fun to wa--"  

My face dropped, and I fell silent, reminded of my predicament.  

"Ava?" he said, sounding worried, "Nevermind, I'll come anyways."  he tried to erase his last comment by saying,

"Yeah.. okay.." I said, losing my enthusiasm,

"Ava.." Ecanus called after me, as I started to walk away, seeming to regret his words.  

"Whats the poet gotta do with her?" asked Jensen, still just within earshot,  

"Something happened.. I'm not sure what.." I walked out of earshot.