Lonely Hearts & Broken Parts (LBSC #1.2) | Complete

Chapter 4

"Suck it, red team!" screamed a muscular, red-faced woman as she lobbed a foam ball at my head. I ducked and rolled on the trampoline, crashing into one of my teammate's ankles. She tumbled on top of me.

When I'd signed up for trampoline dodgeball, I didn't realize that only ten minutes of bouncing around would require as much physical exertion as running a 5k. I also didn't realize that people took it so seriously. I thought it was going to be some light-hearted fun, maybe a little good-natured ribbing, but my fellow players were on the warpath.

"I'm so sorry," I gasped as I tried to scramble from beneath her.

"It happens," she said. The girl pushed herself up onto her knees and ran a hand over her pale blue ponytail. My friend Felix also had blue hair, though his shade was quite a bit brighter. I wonder if fashionably dyed hair attracted other people with fashionably dyed hair.

"Yeaghhh!" I yelled, as a foam ball caught me on the left thigh.

"Yer out!" shouted the referee. He jerked a thumb to the entrance of the dodgeball court.

"Thank God," I muttered under my breath and carefully crossed the trampolines. I was grateful to put my feet on solid ground even though it still felt like I was bouncing.

I took a seat on the ground and wiped my face with the neck of my shirt.

"It's a workout, huh?"

I looked at the girl who had spoken to me and nodded. She was cute with dirty blonde hair pulled into two French braids on either side of her head. Her brown eyes twinkled at me.

"The first time I played, I was sore for three days," she said. "I'm Shayla. What's your name?"

"Malcolm."

She extended a hand. "Nice to meet you, Malcolm. Is this your first time at a YOLO outing?"

"Is it that obvious?" I asked. "I mean, I know I'm not a primo athlete and my social skills could use a little work, but..."

Shayla's laugh was full-bodied, as if I'd said the funniest thing she'd heard in her life. I was pleased to be the one who'd caused that laughter.

"What do you, Malcolm?" she asked.

"Nothing too interesting. I work in IT. Desktop support and all that." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be self-deprecating. It's an important job to ask people if they've shut down their computer and turned it on again five hundred times a day."

"More like one hundred," I said with a smile. "What do you do? It sounds like you might be in IT too since you're well-versed in the responsibilities of the job."

"No way," Shayla said. "I'm way too ADD to sit behind a computer for eight hours a day. I'm a first-grade teacher."

I thought of little Chloe. "That sounds...fun."

Shayla laughed again. "It's not for everyone. You need a lot of patience. And a bottle of wine waiting for you at home."

Before I could engage Shayla further, the ref blew his whistle. "Everybody back in!"

"Guess we're up," Shayla said. She stood up.

I scrambled up after her, trying to slow the beating of my heart. "Uh, Shayla?"