'Good Morning CB South! You have approximately three minutes to get to your first block class before the bell rings, make it a good one South!'�

I would hear that booming voice blare over the speaker system every morning, this one being no exception. It was 7:22 in the morning and as usual I am sprinting through the marbled halls of the 83 million dollar high school, passing by the unnecessarily large and numerous flat screen televisions that adorned the walls of the hallways, boasting uplifting messages and school events. The school had just opened just about 2 weeks earlier, in the middle of my senior year at Central Bucks East; the opening of this godly school was delayed due to negligence of the construction company hired by the school district, which was made even more evident when I realized that there wasn't a single clock in the entire school.

Classes were split from C.B East and C.B West to fill the newest addition to the Central Bucks family, but it was not greeted with enthusiasm especially from my graduating class, who would be split from friends and peers that they've known for years with only one semester remaining before graduation. The bell rang only seconds before I stepped foot into my calculus class, I knew immediately that this wasn't going to be good.

'Costello! You know the late policy! Three strikes and you're out.'� Oh, that clichéd saying, I hated it so much and was so tired of hearing it from my senior citizen math teacher. Mr. Marmor had been in the teaching business for over 34 years; at that point you can pretty much do whatever you please. He never dressed the part of a traditional teacher, he always wore baggy jeans and a tee-shirt, or the occasional football jacket with the esteemed title 'coach'� embroidered on the side pocket, but his upfront attitude really was what scared the students straight.

'But Mr. Marmor, I couldn't help it'�there are ..uh.. no clocks in this schoo-'� I was barely able to get a sentence in before he jumped up from his chair pointed to the door and strongly said 'Costello, get your butt down to attendance and get back here with a pass, and while you're at it you might as well go to guidance and get the hell out of my class!'�

Furious and a little confused, I grasped the door handle, swung it open and left for attendance. I didn't know what to think, I've never had a teacher tell me straight up to 'get the hell out of his class'� either way I wasn't about to go back there anytime soon. I slowly walked down the hallway dragging my bag along my side and headed towards my locker. From the time when I arrived at school to the time I was kicked out of first block, I didn't have the time to stop at my locker or even think straight for that matter.

I crouched down beside my locker and attempted to open the confusing dial. Unlike the lockers I had been used to at East, these lockers gave a distinct disadvantage to the taller population at South, or maybe it was just me. After putting away my math book, jacket, and bag, I decided to make my way toward the cafeteria and join the study hall instead of returning to Mr. Marmor's class with out a pass.

'Get kicked out of first block again?'� My friend Vanessa sat in study hall with her books spread across the circular table. She was always there first block.

'You know it.'� I slammed my books against the table and took a seat next to her. The only good thing about getting kicked out of first block was that now I could spend 90 minutes carefree with some friends.

'Yeah well you better watch it, Nagel is on duty today.'� Mr. Nagel was the hard ass security guard who would roam around the halls in between classes. It was like he almost got pleasure out of sending kids to detention. Nobody messed with him. A few weeks back I was walking to lunch from 3rd block when I saw some kid dashing past me, only a few seconds later Nagel came hauling ass after him, screaming out, 'Stop that kid!'� He was an old guy, but man, could he run.

'I'll take my chances.'�
'You dig your own grave Costello.'�

For a lack of better things to do, I pulled out my notebook and a pen, determined to etch out a decent plan of escape from 3rd block. I couldn't sit through French, not when it was my turn to present on French culture. I was more prepared to make an escape than I was to present, and for some reason I think my teacher knew this. After all she did have my seat changed to the front of the room.

'Oh Jesus, look who it is.'� I looked up from my books and noticed Vanessa motioning to a group of kids who had just walked into the cafeteria.

'Oh shit, its Kevin and Phil.'�

Kevin and Phil were our sworn enemies. We barley talked to each other, but no one in their right mind would deny the unspoken hatred between us. We were all in the same gym class together and every day they would walk around as though they owned that gym, and good god, we couldn't stand them.

'Look at them. They think they're so great. We'll see how great they are in gym next block.'� I looked back at my books then back to the clock, then back to Kevin and Phil who were sneering in our direction.

'Bastards'� I muffled under my breath.

'Speaking of next block, the bell's about to ring, so we better get going.'� I looked over at Vanessa who was already packing up her books. I stacked up my books, stuck my proposed escape plan in my back pocket, and started to walk out toward the gymnasium.

'Ladies and Gentlemen today we are going to play a little game I like to call Badminton.'� Mrs. Emery stood at the front of the gym in her baggy track pants and white collared shirt, holding her whistle, the gym teacher's best friend, in her left hand.
'Instead of a tournament, we are going to pair up in groups of twos and play doubles for the rest of the class. Girls against girls, boys against boys.'� The gym was set up like a bad tennis court. There were nets at every available place and bins of rackets at every corner. We paired up as usual and stood to the side as Mrs. Emery hand selected our competitors. We were the very last ones to be paired up.

' Allison and Kara you will be competing against Laura and Ashley. Pete and John you will be competing against Tom and Keith.'� I stood at the back of the line, tapping my feet and mocking Emery after every sentence. After all she was the only teacher who had the guts to give me detention on the first day of class.

'And finally, since we have an odd number'�Maureen and Vanessa you will be competing against...'� I looked up at her, somehow I knew what she was about to do ''�.Kevin and Phil.'�

I could have dropped to my knees at the very moment. Not only was I about to spend 90 minutes of my life playing Badminton, but I was playing it against my sworn enemies.

'Wait, Mrs. Emery, are we going to switch partners at anytime during the class?'� Vanessa was the type who would protest anything. I knew she would do her best to get us out of this mess.

'No, because then we'd be doing a tournament, it's much easier this way.'� Emery was one stubborn old goat.

'You can't seriously be considering..'� Vanessa was really trying her best, but there was no way Emery would be swayed. We had to face our destiny.

I gave in and walked over to the bucket of rackets and pulled out the best one I could find. If I was going to play against Kevin and Phil, I was going to PLAY against Kevin and Phil. I was the Badminton queen, undefeated since birth, after all I did have the height advantage. I walked over to the court where Kevin and Phil were both standing behind the net.

'Alright girls, ready to lose?'� Phil was the cockiest of them all. You could just see it in his eyes, he loved to be the best, even if he wasn't.

'Bring it on asshole.'� I belted out. I had the birdie, as I perfected my stance I could see Phil pacing around the court laughing it up with Kevin. If I was going to start this thing, I was going to start it right. I lifted up my racket, threw the bird in the air and pelted Phil right in the back of the head.

'What the hell?!'� Oh he was pissed. 'Nice waste of a serve, it's our ball now.'�

'I wouldn't call that a waste.'�

He grabbed the bird off of the floor and held it in his hand, if I hadn't known any better, I could have sworn that he was suffocating that thing. He had a look in his eye of vengeance, he was about to pull out a serve with my name written all over it. He threw the bird in the air and with all of his might thrust the racket toward it. There was no going back, the game was on. It was the endless struggle between good and bad, the tension in the room had built up so much that world war three could have broken out at any minute.

Kevin and Phil had taken cheap shots, retaliating with hits that barely made it over the net, but were enough to score points. We figured out their strategy and lashed back with our own. To this day I've never played Badminton so hard in my life. At the end of the class we were all sweating and left to catch our breath. Mrs. Emery made her rounds with clipboard in hand asking who had won.

'WE did.'� Vanessa promptly replied.
'Like hell you did!'� I could hear Kevin yelling across the net.
'Kevin, we kicked your ass and you know it!'�
'You couldn't have won even if we were blind folded!'� Phil shouted back. So this was their game, the match wasn't over yet.
' Well, then what was the scores?'� Emery asked.
'Well, uh. It was'�uh'�..10 to 1.'� Phil responded.
'You liar! It was more like 8 to 9, we won.'� I was making up numbers, out of all this confrontation, none of us had kept score.

'Alright, alright! Calm down, if none of you can remember the score, we'll just say that the ladies won this one.'�

I jumped in the air. Sweet victory was finally mine, even if it came down to Mrs. Emery's choice.
'This isn't over.'� I could hear Phil cursing about the match as he walked off the court, he knew he was defeated, and I was the victor.

'Alright! Next class we will be graduating to doubles tennis.'� Emery started to shout out to the class as we all began walking to the locker rooms, and that's when she said those two words that I dreaded the most. 'Same partners!'�

After this whole struggle, Phil was right. It wasn't over.

Want to comment on this Short Stories? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Short Stories and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...