After that depressing spur of a moment, I did my best to distract myself with the activities available. It's not that I don't want to forget about my mom, but I still have a hard time dealing with her lost and mentioning her opens up those wounds again.
The school had arranged a variety of outdoor activities and friendly competitions for us to join. There was a sack race currently going on and they had set up an archery section.
There was also a scavenger hunt happening later with a big hefty prize. I'm surprised that they even had the budget to have that set up considering the fact that's almost unheard.
My friends and I are planning to join the longest line game later on. Currently, we're watching some of our school mates play bean bag toss.
"Ha! Take that, Percy!" Kyle, a classmate of ours, hollered out while also showing his middle fingers when he made the shot.
"Mr. Simmons, put those middle fingers down before I cut them off." Mrs. Rivera, who was facilitating the game, scolded them.
A few people snickered on the side.
"Hey, you." Dev appeared right beside me, placing his cap on my head. "Mr. Sun seems to be bothering you."
I scrunched my face, laughing. "Mr. Sun?"
I mean, it was very sunny and warm today.
"Ignore it," He said, chuckling. "It's a character from my baby sister's favorite story book. I've probably read it about a million times now because I have to read it at least three times before she falls asleep."
The bar is in hell. He's doing the bare minimum and I'm about to fall down on my knees. I need to get a grip on myself.
"Probably the most reading you've done out of school, huh?" I joked around, nudging our shoulders together.
"Shh, don't tell anybody that." He whispered, lowering his head down closer.
I froze for a moment.
Damn you, Devaun Dyer-Rubes for having such an effect on me.
We continued watching the game until it was over. Dev led us to their spot where we're going to get the volleyball for our game.
"My Momma packed me some sandwiches and I think you would like them." Dev said to me.
My brows shot up in interest. "Well, I wouldn't mind having a sandwich especially made by your mom. She's a really amazing cook, by the way."
"She's the best." He smiled proudly.
When we got to their spot, a few of his friends were already playing by the empty space nearby. They stopped playing when they saw us approaching.
I recognized a few of Dev's friends, but I don't really know them well other than by name.
"One of us has to sit this one down since there's an odd number of people." The guy said who I believed was Lucas. "Then we split into two groups."
Ivy volunteered to refree and the we decided to split the group by boys versus girls.
"This will be a breeze." Farrah commented, flipping her hair back.
Although Farrah doesn't play for the school's team, she still plays volleyball outside of school and works part time as an assistant of a youth volleyball league in the community.
"I might be a little rusty, but I think I'll handle it." I said.
I felt a little pressured to do well even though it was only a casual game. But I was playing against Dev, and I wanted to impress him a bit.
I'm pathetic, I know.
"Wait, before we start, how much does the winner get?" Ryan interfered.
"Each member of the winning team gets fifty dollars given by the losers." Jordan replied, grinning smugly.
"Fifty?!" Dev exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Isn't that a bit much? I feel like I'm being robbed knowing you guys played before competitively."
"Scared are you now, Dev?" I taunted, laughing. "You'll get over the loss soon enough."
He looked over at me surprised, his eyebrow shot up and smirked. "The kitten has claws. Alright then, let's see what you got."
I narrowed my eyes at him and did a I-am-watching-you gesture before taking my stance. Without missing a beat, Farrah served the ball underhand style and the game began.
° ° °
I smiled innocently as Dev panted heavily while reaching into his pocket and gave me fifty dollars.
"You lied to me when you said you didn't have talent," Dev said breathlessly. "Because what the fuck was that back there?"
I laughed and shrugged my shoulders, my cheeks flushing a little. "That was nothing, really."
"Seriously, you need to try out for next year for volleyball." He insisted, giving me a bottle of water.
I drank half the bottle before replying. "I don't know. We'll be Seniors next year and you know what that means."
"True, but you need to give it a try. You have all the potential."
Butterflies began swirling inside my stomach.
"I might think about it, but don't get your hopes up." I mentioned.
"Does it help if I come in dressed as the mascot for support?" Dev jested, fully smiling.
I rolled my eyes playfully, biting my lips to suppress mirroring his smile. The sight of him doing that would be very entertaining.
"Maybe." I sang. "Would you do a dance routine, too?"
His face scrunched in horror. "I have the body of a stick, I can't dance to save my life."
"Aww, I would have considered it." I said in fake disappointed tone.
"If you actually plan on join the volleyball team, then I will learn a dance routine just for you . . ." Dev trailed off. "Just that I'll perform it when no one is there."
"Boo! Where's the fun in that?" I cried.
"I already have enough embarrassing moments to last me a lifetime, I don't need more." He confessed. "So dancing in front of a group of people is not on my to-do list."
"No one would even know it's you because you'll be hidden under the suit." I pointed out.
"Letâs just agree to disagree."
I shook my head. "No, but we will discuss this conversation later. There's an ice cream truck that just pulled up and I want one."
Dev turned his head where I was looking. "Oh, I didn't notice that."
"Come on, it's on me." I grabbed his arm and we started walking. "I got a few extra bucks." I showed him the money bill he gave me.
He laughed. "But technically, it's on me since I gave you that."
"Agree to disagree?" I used his words against him.
"Fine, but I want the most expensive thing on the menu for payback."
"Now who is getting robbed right now?"
"Still me."
_____
(Not edited.)
A/N:
Sorry for the late update. My wifi has been the most absolute shit for no reason at all.