Pause

by CJ Adler

  “Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Oog?”

  I follow his gaze, only to see Oog and Slobber running wildly across the football field. Boss Man, Jam (still covered in spiders), and Gland are trying to catch them.

  I gulp nervously. “Uh-oh.”

  Here we go.

  Chapter 51

  Play the Game

  “This can't be good,” Max states as he stuffs a bagel in his mouth, his eyes glued to the field. “So not bored anymore.”

  Susie reaches for some food to eat.

  Immediately, Max swats her hand away, pointing an accusing finger in her face, “Tut-tut. Mine!” he insists childishly as he covers all the food with his arms, moving it out of Susie's reach.

  Troy whacks the bagel right out of Max's mouth before offering it to Susie.

  “Here we go, Susie.”

  “It's Lucy,” Susie corrects, looking warily the half-eaten bagel. “And, uh, no thanks,” she declines ever so politely.

  Troy shrugs before eating it himself.

  I, on the other hand, am forced to watch the scene unravel before me. Oog tackles one of the football players. Gland tries to pull him off but to no avail. Oog is freakishly strong.

  “It seems that there's an obstruction on the field. Did someone lose acaveman?” The commentator's voice comes through the speakers.

  The football player removes his helmet, trying to get Oog off of him, only for Laiken's face to come into view. I slouch in my seat, trying to hide. If Laiken's knows that I'm behind this, he will slaughter me, especially seeing as Oog is now savagely trying to bite his arm off.

  I lean over Jay's sleeping form and cover Susie's eyes. “Don't want you seeing your brother being bullied by a hobo. Gonna scar,” I tell her in warning.

  “What the hell!?” Laiken shouts as he stands up and flails his arm around, trying to get Oog to release his arm. Unfortunately for him, Oog keeps his teeth sunk in.

  “I can't watch,” I say loudly, now covering my own eyes.

  Benley swats my hands away from my face. “No way are you missing this.” Slobber is running in circles around the entire field, distracting thecheerleaders from their flips and pyramids, etc. Boss Man is running afterhim, panting heavily as he tries to catch the fuzzball. Just when Boss Man comes close, Slobber purposely speeds up and dodges him.

  What is Oog teaching my puppy?!

  “I can see that things are starting to get interesting, so, I'm going to do the honors and go buy us all some more food seeing as Max ate everything like the pig he is,” Troy states as he gets up and leaves, taking Max's money with him.

  It's then that I notice that Simo is missing. As if things aren't bad enough as is. I'm just so glad that Jay is sleeping through all of this or else he'd have my head on a silver platter, no doubt.

  “I'm thoroughly enjoying myself,” Benley chuckles.

  I bet he is.

  I slap him across his chest, running my other hand through my loose curls, anxious. “I'm so dead,” I murmur softly.

  “I can only hope,” Grey mutters from his seat, eavesdropping on our conversation.

  “My life has never been more entertaining since meeting you,” Benley admits with an amused grin.

  “My life has never been more...pointless since meeting you,” Grey objects, feeling the opposite. “I feel like I have no purpose anymore. I solely blame you for that.”

  I ignore the two of them, my mind elsewhere, as my gaze strays back to the chaos at hand. I should really get down there.

  The football players are now all chasing after Oog who has the football in his mouth . Gland defends Oog , his best bud , by tackling some of the football players, not at all helping the situation. Slobber keeps running circles around all of them . Greg , not far behind , is on Slobber 's tail in the hopes of catching the little guy.

  Jam strolls past the cheerleading squad in the hopes of helping somehow. However, he only adds to the chaos. The tarantulas crawl off of him before making their way to the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders, as expected, freak out. All of them let out high-pitched, deafening screeches of fear upon seeing the hairy monsters. The pyramid falls apart, quickly dismantling under the pressure of a gazillion spiders.

  Bells, atop the pyramid, is dropped and comes flying down, hitting the ground hard on impact.

  I gasp, concerned.

  “My baby!” Max shouts out in worry, quickly jumping to his feet.

  “Ouch. That's gotta hurt,” Susie remarks and places a hand over her mouth, shocked.

  “That's what she gets,” Nancy cackles rudely. She's perfect for Grey. “Oooh! It looks like head cheerleader, Bella Bensten of Burnsville High, just took a mega drop,” the other commentator speaks up, currently narrating the events happening around us.

  People seem to be more invested in the drama than in the game.

  “Sit down!” people start yelling at Max, unable to see past his ginormous head.

  I'd rather vanish into thin air and not see how this all turns out. This is exactly why I never get involved in school events.

  Max ignores the peoples' demands and starts leaping over the chairs like a gorilla, even making ape noises for effect, as he heads straight for the field.

  King Kong is on the loose!

  He ends up toppling over yet keeps on climbing over the hoard of people, determined to get to Bells.

  “Watch it!” someone yells at Max just as the emergency crew rushes out onto the field.

  “I said, I'm fine!” Bells huffs as she tries to stand up, wobbling on her feet, only to collapse face-first into the grass. “Why is the world spinning so fast?” she asks herself, completely out of it, before throwing up on the emergency crew.

  “I'm going to be sick,” Grey says, cringing in disgust. He tears his eyes off of the field, now feeling queasy himself. He has a weak stomach.

  Well, there goes our head cheerleader and possibly Bell's rep seeing as she just vomited in front of the entire school.

  The emergency crew places Bells on a gurney, preparing to take her off of the field. Max hurries. He steps on a bald man's head before jumping over onto the field, his last stretch done.

  The only problem is that the large bald man follows after him and he doesn't look all too pleased that his head has just been used as a stepping stone. pulp.

  “You're dead!” the bald man yells after Max before pummeling him to a pulp.

  “I'm sorry!” Max screeches in terror just as a fist slams into him.

  Susie seems to find this all too hilarious. She bursts out into another fit of laughter.

  This would probably explain why Max is now in a gurney too, right beside

  Bells, as the two are transported away. How romantic! Couple goals!

  Pop!

  Benley suddenly bursts out laughing. I turn my head to see where the sound came from. It's then that I see that Oog has popped the football with his sharp teeth. The football is now completely flat and hanging from his mouth.

  The football players all begin cursing. Fortunately, Laiken runs to the locker rooms before coming back out with a spare football. The only problem is that it doesn't stay in his hands for very long.

  Gland, now really into the game of football, snatches the spare right out of Laiken's hands all too enthusiastically. “My daddy always used to say that I'd never make a good football player. Tonight, I prove Papa wrong!” he shouts and begins running away from Laiken before making a touchdown right in the center of the field.

  Obviously, he doesn't know the rules of the game.

  Gland breaks out into a victory dance as if he's just made the winning touchdown of the game.

  “For flip sake!” I hear Laiken roar from the fields—that's how loud he's shouting. “Give the damn ball back, you doofus! Your papa was right about you.” I cover Susie's ears this time 'round as a result of her brother's language.

  “Back off, White Boy!” Gland threatens Laiken in warning.

  “You wouldn't know how to play
football if it hit you in your face!” Laiken shouts in fury, having lost his temper.

  “I wonder if you would know!” Gland shouts before drop-kicking the ball into Laiken's face.

  Laiken immediately falls down, out for the count.

  Susie throws her head back, laughing from her stomach, enjoying the show. She's loving this and I love her for loving this.

  “Ouch! I felt that one. What about you, Luke?” one of the commentators asks his fellow commentator.

  “Oh, yeah, Jason, definitely. The famous linebacker, Laiken Edwards, just got K.O.'ed by some guy on crack,” Luke replies back in a serious tone of voice.

  One of the other football players chases after Gland who is now doing 'the worm' across the field with the spare football in his hand. “Give the ball back, bro!” He yells at Gland, unimpressed.

  Gland does the very opposite and throws the football, rather powerfully, into the crowds instead.

  Thud!

  There's suddenly a loud thump from somewhere beside me. Benley falls into a fit of hysterical chuckles yet again. It's then that I notice Blubber no longer on his seat but, rather, lying face-down on the floor. I grin when I see the football that Gland had thrown lying just above his forehead.

  “Oooh!” I wince for Blubs. “That's gonna leave a mark, buddy,” I say before laughing along with Benley. I can't help it. Funny is funny.

  I was really hoping that the game would have at least started before things went haywire, wishful thinking, I suppose.

  “Mother fudge! My fat head hurts! Why me?!” Blubber whines from somewhere on the floor. “Can someone please help me up? Everything is fuzzy and blurry.”

  “Shut up, Blubber! I'm trying to focus,” I shush him, not bothered.

  “But—” Blubber attempts to speak again before Benley cuts him off.

  “Quiet, dude! At least, you get to keep the game's football. Now shut up.

  Trying to watch the game here. Don't be so inconsiderate,” Benely complains in spite of the game having not started yet.

  Troy, unfortunately, returns from his stop at the food corner. I was really hoping that he'd get lost again and sit with random people like last time.

  “Hello there, Gorgeous,” Troy winks at some random old lady passing by. The old lady gasps, scowling at him as she quickly buttons up her blouse.

  I shake my head, having nothing to say on the matter.

  Troy glances Benley's way, seeking his approval—everyone knows that Benley is a king when it comes to scoring girls, even Troy. “She wants me,” he states knowingly, overconfident. “Just playing hard to get.”

  Benley, like me, shakes his head in disgust. Even Mr. BoyBand wouldn't dare go that far.

  Troy seems to think that he's a heartthrob and that getting a simple flirtatious gesture from him, such as a wink, is a gift from heaven above. In my opinion, it's more like hell.

  Troy, like an idiot, stands in my way, deliberately blocking my view of the events playing out. People begin to complain but he's oblivious to it all. He's zoned out as he watches the game (what's left of it anyhow) from right in front of me like a child standing in front of the TV.

  “Sit down, you Looney Tune!” I command, trying to shove him out of my way. “You're making the audience mad.”

  “Screw the audience, I am the audience!” Troy remarks in arrogance as he finally turns to face me.

  “Troy!” I whine, the space around us very limited. I'm starting to feel claustrophobic. “Move! I can't see anything. You're so fat.” I try push against him to get him to move but to no avail.

  “How dare you?!” he says, taking offense. He lifts up his shirt, revealing his defined six-pack and flashes it right in my face. “I'll show you fat,” he mumbles to himself in much pride as he purposely blocks my view with his abs.

  People begin looking our way as comments are thrown and assumptions are made.

  “Oh my gosh!” I exclaim, exasperated, as I cover my eyes, embarrassed by his actions. “I've seen better, Troy. Now go sit down already.”

  “Who is this 'better' you speak of ?” he questions in horror, finally dropping his shirt, much to my relief.

  I gesture to the sleeping Jay beside me. Troy, now jealous, makes a move to secretly lift Jay's shirt in order to compare their bodies.

  “Troy!” I hiss at him and swat his creeping hand away from Jay.

  “Aww, c'mon! I just want to peek,” he defends himself, adamant, not realizing how weird he's being.

  “Troy!” I shout loudly at him this time 'round. “You're dropping all the food on me!” I complain. His hands that were full with food are now almost empty.

  “Fine, fine.” He reluctantly takes his seat.

  My gaze finds the field again. Oog and Slobber are still on the rampage.

  “Oh, boy! Oh, Troy! This is going to be good,” Troy comments with a cackle when Jam gets slapped through the face by one of the cheerleaders for releasing the tarantulas on them. A smirk plays on the idiot's face as he stuffs his face with popcorn, purposely chewing loudly to set me and everyone else, but mostly me, off.

  Finding enjoyment in the situation, Grey leans back in his seat, getting cozy. He props his feet up on the empty chair in front of him and crosses his arms behind his head as if ready to watch a movie.

  The referee, security guards, and coaches try to break up the fights on the field. They're trying to do some damage control but it doesn't take a genius to see that they're failing. Oog's squad has the upper hand here.

  “Games at your school always go down like this?” Nancy asks aloud to no one in particular.

  Troy, with a mouth full of popcorn, answers her first. “Oh, totes, guuurl! Things get craycray 'round here, Diddle Squat.” he snaps his fingers in her face with much sass.

  “You don't even go to this school,” I remind Troy Story. “You're not even in school anymore.”

  “Did you just call me 'Diddle Squat'?” Nancy asks him, confused.

  “I'd like to just inform you all that this is the exact reason why I hate all of you and denounce all of your existences,” Grey mutters, gesturing back to the field, the field that is now being paraded by our school's obese duck mascot.

  “Is it just me, Jason, or does that duck look fatter than usual?” Luke asks aloud.

  “That's it! I'm going down there!” I stand up with determination.

  Benley snorts at my words. “Good luck with that.”

  “And you're coming with me!” I command as I pull him up from his seat.

  “What?!” Benley coughs, spitting out his soda all over Blubber. “Me?!”

  “Yes!” I confirm, tugging him by his arm. “You!”

  “But why? Why me?” he asks, struggling against me like a two-year-old.

  He's also as weak as a two-year-old. “I don't wanna!”

  “Because you're my best bet here,” I tell him, honest. “Blubber is still on the floor. Jay's sleeping. Susie is too young. I don't know where Simo is. Max and Bells are probably in the school infirmary. Grey and Nancy scare me.”

  “Why not Troy?” he queries, still fighting me as I slowly drag him along with me.

  “Because he's an idiot,” is my reply.

  Instead of being offended, Troy merely grins with all his pearly whites and nods in agreement. “It's true. I am.”

  “Told you,” I tell Ben, Troy having backed up my words. I ignore Ben's further protests and tap Grey, the most responsible one of us all, on the shoulder.

  “Watch Susie.”

  “Whatever,” is his dull reply.

  On the way to the field, I somehow manage to lose Benley among all the crowds of people. “Benley!” I call for him over my shoulder, trying to find him. “Ben Ben!” I shout. “Ley Ley!” I call again. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, BoyBand!”

  I round a dark corner when I'm suddenly pulled aside by someone. My eyes adjust to the darkness as a football uniform comes into view. I swallow nervously before I begin rambling, “Laiken, I swe
ar, it was all an accident—”

  The person removes the helmet only to reveal toffee-brown eyes and a killer smile—Mason Montry.

  My expression drops at the sight of him. I cross my arms over my chest defensively. “What do you want?!” I snap at him, still infuriated with him after all that stuff he said about Jay.

  I'm tired of people always judging Jay when he is inherently good at heart. He's made his fair share of mistakes but he's not the terrible person people make him out to be.

  Mason, all sweaty from chasing Oog's squad around, has his dark brown hair sticking to his forehead in a messy, attractive way as he sighs aloud. “Look, Aqueela, I'm sorry about what I said,” he apologizes, not making any reference to the chaos currently happening on the field.

  Even through the darkness, I can see the genuine sincerity in his warm, brown eyes. “It's not me you should be apologizing to,” I clarify, lowering my arms before walking away.

  I sigh to myself, biting on my lower lip in uncertainty, as I continue to search for Benley. It's really not difficult finding him. He's in the middle of the cheerleading squad, as to be expected, with all the cheerleaders fawning over him like lovesick puppies.

  I make my way over to them, only to see Bell hopping about on crutches. She's currently slamming one of her crutches against Benley's chest in aggravation.

  “Stop distracting my girls, you stupid flirt!”

  “It's a crutch, not a damn hockey stick.” Benley laughs mockingly at her, unfazed.

  His reaction, or lack thereof, is enough to rile Bell up further. She jumps onto his back, making it clear that she's milking this 'injury' of hers, and starts pulling at his hair wildly.

  “Hey, ouch!” Benley yelps, trying to shake Bells off. In response, Bells bites down onto his shoulder. He jumps, squirming in pain, before turning to Max in desperation. “Control your girlfriend!”

  Max, who happens to be in a temporary, remote-operated wheelchair, shrugs before joining in on the fun. He uses his remote to ram the wheels of his wheelchair over Benley's foot repeatedly, even taking the liberty to reverse back over Benley's shoes.

  “You guys suck!” Benley shouts atop his lungs, clearly in agony.