They had dodgeball that day during the combined gym class with the class next door.
It was a game that Sandy had enjoyed in the past. That was because she was good at dodging balls. The concept of the game was simple - she simply had to move out of the way of incoming balls.
Sandy also understood the rules of dodgeball. Girls in each team threw balls at girls of the other team from their own half of the court. Anyone who was hit was out. If a thrown ball was caught, the thrower was eliminated and the catcher had her last eliminated team member reinstated into the game. Game went on until one team had all its players eliminated.
By some good fortune that day, Sandy was in the same team as Ariel. They had played a lot of dodgeball together in middle school, both on the same and on opposing teams. They had developed a tactic for use whenever they were on the same side. Sandy would be in front, attracting their opponents' attentions while Ariel picked them off from the back.
At that moment, Selina was alone on the opposing side. Sandy and Ariel had Sarah from class 9-A on their side so it was a three-on-one. It was not entirely Selina's fault she was backed into that corner since her other four members had been physically slow and/or a little on the heavy side of the scale.
Selina had been fairly prominent during gym. She ran faster than any other girl and had no trouble with the high jump and vaults. Her strength and stamina seemed limitless. Sandy wanted to beat her just once, just to take the mighty Selina down a notch.
The tall girl did not wear her glasses for gym. Without her glasses, Sandy thought Selina would have problems spotting an approaching ball.
(Prepare to be amazed, Sandy!)
As they had done in middle school, Sandy stood in front of Ariel, hiding her from their opponent's view. Then Sandy dodged aside to avoid Selina's thrown ball, at the same time allowing Ariel a clear shot. Ariel threw her ball at Selina, which was followed by one from Sarah a heartbeat later.
While stepping aside to avoid Ariel's ball, Selina neatly plucked Sarah's out of the air with one hand, eliminating the girl from 9-A. At the same time, she reached out and grabbed Ariel's ball as it passed her side.
Sandy stared in disbelief. Two of her teammates gone just like that! And the tables were turned with three on Selina's team versus her, who was last on her team.
Before any of her teammates could reenter the court, Selina spun a ball at Sandy's head, which the short-haired target easily ducked left to avoid. Then Sandy had to lean heavily to her right to avoid a second ball aimed at her waist.
At that same time, Selina bent to pick up a third ball. Without pausing to get up, the taller girl sent that ball straight at Sandy, straight for her right knee.
Sandy saw the third ball. She knew that she needed to move away. But she could not move her right leg! She was still committed to her dodge, with her weight on that leg, pinning it to the spot. The brown-haired girl could only watch helplessly as the orange ball kissed her knee, knocking her out of the game.
The teacher blew her whistle and awarded the win to Selina's team. She congratulated the tall girl. The other girls clapped. Selina's shorter and heavier teammates surrounded their champion and cheered for her. They were all excited at having won a dodgeball match, probably the first time any of them had ever been on the winning team.
The celebration was all loud and high-pitched. The teacher had earplugs prepared for such an occasion.
Sandy slumped down onto the gym floor next to Ariel, tired from her exertions.
"You did your best," Ariel tried to console her.
"Yeah," Sandy agreed. She took a deep breath. "I never knew that she was so good." There was no need to mention who 'she' referred to.
"With skills like that, no team can beat her!" Ariel added. "If it were any other team, we'd win."
"I guess we would."
Selina's skill was extraordinary. Surely there were not many people who could catch a ball single-handedly twice in succession and toss back three balls in that short space of time. It was not a common ability for a high-school freshman, was it?
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