"Evan, you're out!"

With arms raised to the heavens (gym ceiling) and having fallen to her knees, Evan's dramatic dodgeball death was cut short by the no-nonsense Mr. Whinston, and she shuffled begrudgingly off the court to join the rest of the class. Now, it was down to just the three of them.

Dellie and Calvin, facing down the people's champion of dodgeball- Nico himself.

"C'mon Nickie!" "Get him in his perfect face so we can scrap him for parts!" "Go Nico go!"

Came the cheers from the blue team's sidelines (and Lawrence, who was wearing red but just wanted to see Calvin lose).

While "You got this Calvin!" "Nothing can touch you, buddy!" "Catch it, Cal!" came from the red bench.

Dellie had already been ruled out.

It was fair, she supposed, given that any ball she threw Nico's way went so wide that he couldn't run into its path if he tried, but still. 

The boy's eyes were hyper focused on each other, a war of wills where the weapons were chewed up foam and the battleground was outlined in white paint. The gym rumbled with the battle-cries of their fallen brethren, and they dodged and balled like their very lives were depending on it. At one point, Nico slid on his knees matrix style to avoid Cal's throw. Everyone who watched swore they saw it in slow motion- it should have made ESPN top ten plays of the month.

Dellie could tell Calvin was enjoying himself- Nico posed a welcome challenge. She couldn't tell what Nickie was thinking, but his eyes flickered over to her every once in a while, stealing his focus for only a moment.

They were both really good (she would never admit it to Calvin out loud) and both evidently wanted to win- which begged the question. How was Dellie still in? 

She was decent at jumping out of the way and scurrying across the gym floor, but not good enough to have outlasted Evan and even Matthew Pratch. Something wasn't right.

To test her theory, Dellie stopped running. Nico spared a glance in her direction to lob a ball her way before turning and launching another at her brother. She watched as her ball sailed delicately over her head, then heard the hard slap of her brother's hitting the gym wall where he'd been standing only a moment earlier. Dellie's jaw clenched as she looked over to where Nico was jumping over her brother's return throw.

He was going easy on her.

It made her skin prickle in embarrassment, hands held stiffly out by her side, self-esteem shriveling in her chest. Which made great kindling for the spark of righteous anger that followed quickly after. Nicolas didn't consider her a worthy opponent, did he? Thought only her brother was?

She looked around as she just stood there like a pylon. There wasn't a single person that spared her a glance. 

Even Joni, who'd cheered her on after being the first eliminated (she took too long trying to decide which multi-coloured ball she wanted at the centerline and was pelted without mercy) was now watching the showdown between the boys with openmouthed rapture. No one considered she might measure up to her brother's wonderboy talents. Nickie wouldn't even let her try.

Dellie might as well be out. Maybe if her pride wasn't so chained to who she was, she'd toss it aside and simply step off the court to watch the real game.

Instead, Dellie picked up the purple ball at her feet.

There was a lot coiled in her muscles as she took a few steps closer to the centerline, as she wound up. There were the cheers in her ears, not a single one for her (never a single one for her), there was the reminder that she'd been the last pick on her team (teacher's pets were made for fumbling the ball, not throwing it), and deeper than that was the cheering of her Dad at every sporting event Cal won (he's never looked that proud of her), and years of Calvin's friend's eyes passing right over her like she was invisible when they were forced to hang out with her (and now it was happening all over again, just when she thought she'd found people who finally saw her). 

Dellie planted her feet, let out a harsh breath, and let it fly with a roll of her shoulder and a snap of her wrist.

It made contact with a smack that echoed through the gym, instantly silencing the bystanders. Nico stumbled with the force of it, falling to the ground as he clutched his face. Everyone froze.

"Headshot!" Lawry called. "Fifty points!"

"Nico!"

Dellie scrambled over, guilt and worry tearing her stomach in two as she knelt in front of him. Oh she messed up- she messed up big time. Like when she'd tripped into Perez and his project had shattered into a million pieces on the ground, or like the time she'd told Calvin that heaven was made up because there was only sky above them, and when they died they were just worm food (they had been five. Calvin cried for a long time). 

"I'm so so so sorry! Are you okay?!" She grabbed his wrists and gently pulled them back so she could take a look.

"You've got a helluva throw, Dellie."

He blinked the tears out of his eyes to look up at her, voice extra nasally. He did his best to grin up at her and pretend he wasn't also wincing from the effort. Why was he smiling at her like that when it was hurting him?? Wasn't he mad?

"Nickie, your, uh..." Dellie turned her head to see Dickie close behind, eyes wide with concern as he gestured vaguely to his nose area. Not yet well versed in Dickie speak, she turned back to Nico in confusion only to gape- his nose was bleeding.

"Ohmygoddidibreakyournose??"

Renewed panic had Dellie grabbing the sides of his face, pulling him closer and tilting his head side to side so she could get a better look. She didn't know a whole lot about broken noses, but she was pretty sure there'd be a bump somewhere. After a thorough analysis, her eyes flickered up from the bridge of his nose for a moment and met his own- heavy-lidded and dazed, but staring right at her. She'd pulled their faces pretty close together, now that she thought about it. Dellie paused uncertainly. 

"You're awesome." He said quietly.

Dellie looked at him aghast.

"I gave him a concussion!"

Two hands came down on her shoulders, pulling her up and away.

"He's fine Dels, just give him some space." There was Calvin, holding her steady and tamping down the frantic energy that poured from her with a gentle pat on her back. She didn't pull away, even though he was really sweaty and gross. Joni was peeking out from the space under his shoulder, and her eyes went wide as she saw the blood dripping out of Nickie's nose.

"Is this part of the game? Does this mean Dellie won?"