fandomhigh | Paintball, 1st Period

Entry tags:

paintball

Paintball, 1st Period - Monday

Did the teachers look especially eager to get going this morning? Yep. Sorry, Arden. "Everyone was very good last week," Steve said, grinning.

"This time we'll be adding in some boobytraps," Tony said brightly. "I think they're pretty ingenious, personally."

Because he built them.

"So, let's get to it," Tony added eagerly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," Cal said, giving her a sheepish look. "I mean, if you see me about to get crushed by something, you can yell a heads up, and I'll do the same?"

That was just general decency, not anything extra that might be too much for her, he hoped.

Arden didn't know how not to worry about you, Cal.

"Of course," she said. She gave him another one of those almost-smiles. "I'm probably gonna get wrecked today, so kick some ass, okay? Second time with a gun or not, I believe in you."

Wait. That came out so stupid. Who let her talk?

It wasn't stupid at all, it was adorable and sweet, just like her.

"I believe in you too. Try to get at least one person before you get taken down," he said with a smirk. "Focus on the teachers, it'll hurt more."

On the one hand, smirks did not make the whole trying to get over your ridiculously cute face thing ny easier, Cal. On the other hand, this was the closest they'd gotten to sounding almost normal, and Arden couldn't begrudge him a smirk in the face of being able to pretend that Friday had never happened for one brief, shining moment.

"Just remember that even if I go down fast and hard--" phrasing, Finch, phrasing. She was just going to assume that Cal's mind didn't work that way so she could keep talking and not just keel over and die of embarrassment right now. "--I'm taking at least one teacher with me. That's worth dignity points if nothing else."

Edited 2024-05-20 17:51 (UTC)

It was really nice to have this joking moment with Arden so Cal could feel like their friendship was salvageable. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could fix things and everything would go back to normal.

"Sounds like you have an ideal plan for this week. I'm going to see if I've learned enough to take out either Skywalker." The answer would be no, but he had to try!

She'd promised they would, and had meant it. She just needed to get over this stupid crush so the next time weird things happened, he didn't get wrapped up in anything that made him uncomfortable or upset because of her.

"Just be careful," Arden said, her smile a little less anemic looking. "The Dean cheats. It's how he found me. So cheat back faster, okay?"

And, y'know, keep dreaming big.

"I would never cheat," Cal said, putting his hand to his heart. "But they didn't say anything about not using powers, so... we'll see how it goes." Taking a chance, he added, "Stay safe out there, okay?" before taking a step back to give her the space she wanted.

And that space hit her like a brick of air. Her smile shriveled and died, and her shoulders hunched. But it was for the best. It was her problem and she had to fix it and this was the only way she knew how.

"You too, Cal," she said softly. "Best of luck."

And with one more diffident nod, she turned and walked away.

Yep, he definitely felt like a jerk now for pushing too much. He went in the opposite direction and tried to get ready for class.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Paintball, 1st Period - Monday

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready

Re: Get Ready