Rebel

Chapter Nineteen

"Oh good, you didn't start without me." I said when I arrived at the racing track where everyone was waiting for me.

"Yeah, well we didn't want to start without the obvious winner." Alexsandra said.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I had to go to the bathroom." Dario called, hopping on his board.

"Har har." I said, hopping onto my waiting board, "You wish. Olwyn, you gonna race or what?"

"What?" Olwyn asked, looking up from a holograph of hers.

"Are you gonna race with us?"

"No, I mean I choose what. Like, you asked if I was gonna race or what, and I chose what."

"Oh come on." Aiden wined, "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to." Olwyn said matter-of-factly, "Why don't you all just race without me like you usually do?"

"Because Olwyn," Dario said, "We wanna do a relay race this time, and we need you to make the teams even. We have an odd number of people right now."

"Will you join if you can be a team captain?" Alexsandra asked, giving her a toothy smile.

"I'm good." Olwyn said, looking back down at her holograph, "Just have someone sit out for the first round then switch."
"No." I said, "No one's gonna wanna sit out! C'mon Olwyn. We need someone to join!"

"I can join." A voice said from behind me. I whirled around to see a certain purple haired individual standing there with a hoverboard tucked under his arm. He looked like he was fighting the urge to smirk.

"Someone besides him." I said, turning back to Olwyn. She just shrugged lightly, a smile on her face, not looking up from the holograph.

"It's fine, Sage." Alexsandra said, "Harvey can race with us." I glared at her, but she just smiled at me. After a while I snapped and couldn't stand being mad at her.

"Fine!" I yelled exasperated, "Why not let the guy play? He's probably never stepped on a board in his life but who am I to judge?" Alexsandra smiled at me, and I found myself wishing I had something to throw at her.

"Alright." Dario said, floating to the ground next to the starting point, everyone following him. "Since we're the best, me and Sage are gonna be team captains. Standard picking rules apply."

"Sage, Dario." Aiden said, walking in front of us, "I'm thinking of a number between one and twenty-seven."

"Thirteen." I said. Whenever I have to do this I always do the number right in the middle. Better safe than sorry.

"Fourteen." Dario said, smirking slightly. Very typical of him to choose his lucky number. Especially when his lucky number is only one away from the number I picked.

"Dario wins." Aiden said, "The number was twenty-seven."

"Oh come on." I said, "What idiot makes their number the highest possible?"

"Him, obviously." Dario said grinning, "And now I get to choose first. I pick Aiden."

I grumbled at him but then realized the upside to him choosing Aiden. "Fine." I said, "Then I choose Alexsandra." Alexsandra smiled then hopped over to my side, her board following the pull of her bands.

"Then I choose Jace." Dario said.

I froze, realizing what that meant. "Wait, that means that--"
"I get to be on your team." Harvey said, walking over to stand next to Alexsandra and I. I muttered some really angry things under my breath and turned away from him. "Fine." I said, "But if we lose it's your fault."

"Deal." he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. "Olwyn, will you tell us when to start?"

"Sure whatever." Olwyn muttered, "You ready?"

"Almost." I said, grabbing two sticks from the ground and handing one to Dario. "This is the weird relay rod or whatever it's called."

"Great." he said, turning to his team, "Jace, you go first, Aiden you're next and I'll go last. We'll end strong."
"Well in that case," I said, turning toward my team, "I'll go first, Lex you'll go after that, and then... well you know. We'll start strong just to spite them." Alexsandra nodded and flew over to the other side of the race track where I'd be flying to. Aiden followed her.

"Alright Olwyn, we're ready."

"Go." Olwyn said in a bored voice, still staring at her holograph. Jace was surprised by her unceremonious start, but I was expecting it. Knowing Olwyn, I wouldn't have expected anything less. I zoomed toward Alexsandra who was jumping up and down on her board.

"Wooo yeah, go Sage!" I laughed at her enthusiasm, and swerved downward to avoid a low hanging tree branch.

"You suck! You can't do this!" I heard Aiden call, wrinkling his nose with amusement. That's one way to do it. Don't cheer for your teammate, just boo the other team. Noted for when it's Harvey's turn. I thought, smirking.

"Just a little bit more c'mon!" I zoomed forward and let go of the stick, hearing the hum of Alexsandra's hoverboard rushing towards Harvey. I landed on the ground, watching as Jace rushed forward and handed Aiden the stick. We were in the lead.

"C'mon Lex! You got this!" I cried, as Aiden zoomed after her. Aiden was pretty dang good, but I knew Alexsandra could beat him. It was Harvey that I worried about. I didn't create enough of a head start to afford an awful teammate.

Alexsandra laughed and looked over her shoulder, catching Aiden's eye. "Alex!" He called, "look where you're going if you wanna win!"

Smack!

Alexsandra forgot to duck under the low hanging branch and it smacked her in the back of her head instead. She would've tumbled to the ground, but her hoverbands reacted to the sudden motion and stuck to her board. She flailed her legs around as she slowed down, trying to pull herself back onto her board. Aiden laughed as he passed her, quickly speeding towards Dario.

"C'mon Lex! You have to get back on! I need you!"

By swinging it to the side, Alexsandra managed to get one leg onto the board and pulled herself up. She didn't drop the stick either, though I have no idea how. She sped forward and dropped the stick in Harvey's hands, but Dario was already zooming towards the finish line.