School Spirit (Part Four)

When dawn broke on day two, it was clear that the staff were not messing around anymore. The fun and games were over, comparatively speaking to day one.

My butt was kicked out of my room by an ornery Mister Logan at the crack of dawn. That almost led to an awesome moment of Saberwolf pouncing on the guy for busting into my room uninvited, threatening me like a drill sergeant. The fight that followed would have absolutely destroyed my room if those two had started fighting, but I think it would have been worth it to see, even if I had been killed in the crossfire.

I wondered how I didn't hear him coming with as loud as he was when he got to me. I hadn't been asleep. Maybe the insomnia was starting to get to me?

Me and every other competing student in the boy's dorm were herded into the locker room, area, told to dress in our uniforms, and then go and meet up with our teams to decide who was splitting off to compete in what team competition.

Three events, two teammates each. Because my team had four instead of the normal six, we could use people twice if we needed to… which we did.

All of the guys left the locker room and headed back topside in one mass of disgruntled, cranky humanity… or mutantanity.

…I don't know what the mutant equivalent of that word is. Let it go, already.

"Well that was a pain in the ass," I said, adjusting the skin-tight light and dark blue Paladins uniform I was in. The cup I wore was pinching my thighs because I had to rush into my gear, "What was all of that for again? Competitions don't start until 10."

I had planned to wake up at 7 and convene with the crew at 8 to go over what we were going to do. We didn't need four hours to do that. The most complicated thing we had to talk about was who was pulling double-duty and on what event.

"I hit my head on the ceiling when he busted into my room," Eddie said, touching at the fresh knot on the crown of his noggin, "Am I bleeding?"

"I don't know. You're a ginger, man. It's all red up there to me."

"You suck."

"You suck."

In the middle of the group, Santo took a deep breath and patted his rocky chest, clad in the Hellions' red, "Ahh, I love the smell of spandex and Right Guard in the morning," He said, doing his best Lt. Colonel Kilgore impression, "Smells like… victory."

I actually laughed at that. As a man whose father operated a movie theater for a living, I could appreciate the Apocalypse Now reference. It showed what he knew though. I wore Old Spice, "You know... one day, Field Day's gonna end."

Eddie completely missed what I was going for, "What are you talking about? It'll end tomorrow," He'd probably never seen the movie. I simply looked his way and swiped my hand far over his head, "What? What'd I miss?"

Ever helpful, Saberwolf chimed in from where he was walking next to us, "The mutant Rockslide made a reference to Apocalypse Now, an American motion picture released in the year 1979. I believe Bellamy was merely showing his understanding and appreciation by finishing the remainder of the quote."

"Why is that wolf-bot thing with you?" Santo asked, looking over the heads of several students to get a glimpse of Saberwolf, "I know for sure they're not gonna let you use him in any events."

"Because he's our mascot," I said. And because Mister Logan woke him up. Had that not happened, he would have been hanging out on his own for a second day, "Just look at him. Doesn't it seem like he's ready to cheer us on to victory?"

"I will be doing no such thing," Saberwolf said immediately, "I merely wish to observe. I have no desire to take part in these games."

"Who cares? Let them use it if they want to," Julian interjected smugly, "They need all the help they can get. They're hanging on to third place by their fingernails."

Okay, if he was going to be that guy today, this early to boot, I was going to get annoying. And I knew what would get his goat; reminding him that he wasn't number one.

"Yeah, I guess you would know, Fourth Place, since you're Fourth Place and all, Fourth Place," I could see him getting angrier at being reminded that the Hellions weren't sitting at the top of the heap just yet, "I'll be sure to take your expert, fourth place advice."

"I was led to believe his name was Julian Keller," Saberwolf inquired.

I let out a laugh and looked down at the big, metal wolf. He was just making it easier to keep this whole thing going, "It was, but since he wants to run his mouth at six-thirty in the goddamn morning, today it's 'Fourth Place', and for the rest of Field Day, it'll stay whatever rank his team is as long as it's lower than ours."

"Keep talking, Marcher," Julian seethed, amongst the company of his male squad members, "You had one good day. It was the best you all had. Instead of building to your peak, I say you all blew your wads yesterday."

Brian took a few steps away from Julian at his vulgar remark, "Dude, gross."

It was all just talk, but there was something to be taken from them. Day one had been big for us. It would have been easy to fall into a second day slump.

Time to make some magic happen.