"Come on!" Bella eagerly grabbed on to Tezz's hand, pulling him into the shallow end. She splashed around for a minute, while Tezz awkwardly stood in the water. Bella giggled.
"You're no fun! Let's play a game!" She exclaimed, and a few kids hanging around agreed with various exclamations and shout-outs.
"This, ah, game, of which you speak….what is it called?" Tezz asked, somewhat nervous.
"Marco Polo!" She cried with glee.
"Marco…Polo?" Tezz asked, and Stanford full-on burst out laughing at the look on his face.
"Yeah! You're "it", so you close your eyes and-"
"It?" Tezz asked, cutting Bella off. She nodded. "What is "it"?" He asked in confusion.
"You know!" She said. "IT!"
"It?"
"Mhm."
"It."
"Yeah! You're…." Bella tagged him, then splashed away. "IT!"
"But what is-"
"Just close your eyes and say Marco, and then we go Polo! And you hafta tag us!" One of the less patient kids exclaimed.
"Uhm…" Tezz nervously glanced at Bella. "All-all right." He squinted his eyes shut and tentatively called out "Marco?"
"POLO!" The response was instant and came from every direction. Tezz stumbled around blindly, but there was no strategy to this game. He simply had to get what some of his teammates called "lucky," which finally happened after he tripped on the pool liner and fell on a younger boy.
"Aw, no fair!" The kid cried, but took on the position of being "it." Tezz snuck out of the pool while the kids were distracted, but Bella followed him.
"Where're ya going?" She asked sweetly.
"Uhm, I need to rest." Tezz explained.
"Okay!" She said, happily sitting down next to him. Tezz sighed, and after a moment of silence she began to speak again.
"This morning I lost a tooth. See?" She grinned widely, pointing at the gaping hole where her incisor should have been.
"Uhm, yes. I do see." Tezz replied.
"The tooth fairy gave me a whole dollar!" She exclaimed.
"Wow." Tezz nodded absentmindedly.
"My brother Jeff-er-ee says that the tooth fairy isn't real, but I don't believe him." She pouted. "You think the tooth fairy is real, right?"
Tezz winced. He couldn't ruin the little girl's dream, but it was scientific fact that magical creatures did not exist. He bit his lip.
"Of course I do!"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The next day, Vert and Agura had the pool, and Vert wasn't sure that they could make through the hour if she would be wearing her swimsuit. Thankfully, she arrived with shorts and a tank top, but he could see the bikini straps underneath.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She smirked, giving him a naughty glare.
"I don't need a picture when I can have the 3-D experience." Vert replied smoothly, and she gasped, laughing at his bravery.
"I'm watching you." She false-threatened.
"I'm watching you too." He grinned cockily, purposefully looking down.
"VERT!"
Finally, the sun had gotten too hot, and Agura decided to join Vert's splashing with the kids in the shallow end. He had been teasing and begging all day long, so she figured she might as well get it over with.
"Wow! You're hot!" One of the younger boys exclaimed suddenly, wide-eyed, and Agura smiled at him.
"Thanks, Paul." A few other boys nodded in agreement, and Agura gave Vert a smug grin.
"Sorry, you guys, but I believe this lovely lady is taken." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Well, aren't you smooth today?" Agura replied with equal charm, slipping out from under him and moving to sit on the side of the pool.
"I try." Vert got up and made to sit down next to her, but she playfully stood up and pushed him in the deep end.
"AH!" Vert spluttered, but couldn't hide the grin on his face. "You know I'll get you for that, right?"
"Oh yeah?" She asked as he got out of the pool.
"Oh, I never joke about…revenge!" Vert grabbed her from behind, strong arms encircling her waist. He easily lifted her up, bridal-style, and walked over to the edge of the pool.
"Don't you dare!" She shrieked, laughing as he swung her back and forth above the water.
"I don't know, I think I have to…." He said, and dumped her in the pool. At the last second, Agura reached out and grabbed his ankle, yanking him in with her.
"You naughty little…." Vert's sentence was cut short as Agura's eyes widened.
"What were you going to SAY?" She exclaimed in surprise.
"Aw, nothing…" He laughed as she splashed some water on him, the kids crowding around and picking sides.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Agh! I'M STUCK!" Spinner cried, trying in vain to stand up from one of the chairs in the art room. The fifth graders started laughing, and even Zoom snickered.
"Dude! They got you…" Zoom laughed, slapping high-fives with the fifth graders, who had glued Spinner to his chair.
"Well, how am I supposed to walk around like this?" Spinner cried.
"You're not!" One of the pranksters said. "That's why it's funny!"
"What? Zoom!" Spinner pleaded.
"Sorry, dude, you're on your own." Zoom barely held in the smile. "Come on, kids!"
All the fifth graders caught on and started leaving.
"Wait, Zoom!" Spinner exclaimed.
"Zoom? ZOOM!"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"COWABUNGA!" AJ yelled, running off the diving board and splashing into the pool.
"Nine point five!" A kid named Danny announced.
"Yes! Yes Lord! OWNED, SHERMAN! OH-WNED!" AJ shouted, happily tackling the Cortez.
"You beat me a tenth of a point! Rematch!" Sherman demanded.
"I'm judging!" Another third grader stepped forward to determine the maximum cannonball splash.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Alright, everybody gather up!" Dan announced on the last day of camp. "Today, instead of just practice, we'll be having a camp tournament of all the sports you've learned this past week! Each grade has been divided up into two teams, so have fun!" He handed out papers to the team, then left to assemble his first graders.
"Alright, kids, looks like we've got soccer first!" Agura announced after splitting up the second graders into two groups. "This is my team, and Vert'll coach you guys. Warm up for a few minutes and then we'll start."
The kids ran onto the soccer field, and Vert approached Agura.
"We're so going to kick your butts." He said jokingly.
"Ah, silly, naïve Vert. My kids'll put the whuppin' on you so hard your grandkids are gonna feel it!" She joked back.
"You mean ours?" He replied slyly, slipping away before she could blush.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Come on, kids! Yeah! Pass it to him! No, not Timmy, Xavier! Come on, Joey, you got it! Ohhh….FOUL! I CALL FOUL!" AJ yelled.
"That wasn't a foul!" Sherman replied.
"Oh, so elbowing someone in the chest isn't a foul?"
"No, it's a defensive move!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Fine! COME ON, KIDS, LET'S KICK THEIR BUTTS IN HALF!"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Alright, uhm…go team!" Stanford "rallied his troops" before sending them off onto the floor hockey court.
"Okay, children, you've been working hard all week. LET'S WIN!" Tezz announced, more into it than he would admit.
"YEAH!" They all cheered, running out. Bella, on Tezz's team, got the puck first.
"Okay, Bella, now take it to the goa-!" Tezz was cut off as she swiped the puck right at his…LOWER STOMACH. Tezz whimpered.
"Oh no!" Bella exclaimed, dropping her stick and clapping both hands over her eyes. She ran over to Tezz. "Are you okay, mister Tezz?"
Tezz barely managed a nod.
"Should I kiss it?" She asked innocently. Stanford burst out laughing at the image.
"Uh…no. I am fine." Tezz slowly stood, area still throbbing. Bella shrugged, returning to the game, and Stanford came over; arm draped around Tezz.
"Dude, you just got hit in the balls. By a FOURTH-GRADER."
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Okay, kids, we got this." Spinner told his team on the volleyball court. "Just….uhm, Payton?"
Payton rolled her eyes. "Pass it to Jenny, who will set it up to a hitter. The hitter, which should be me because I'm obviously the best, will hit it over the net. Boom, we get points and we win. Everyone clear?" All the kids nodded whether they understood or not; Payton was NOT the kind of girl they wanted to argue with.
"Great. Glitter on three! One-two-thr-"
"Woah woah WOAH. We are not being team glitter." Spinner huffed, and the male half of the team nodded.
"Got any better ideas, coach?" Payton sneered.
"Pffft! OF course I do!" Spinner said, internally panicking. "HEY ZOOM! WHAT'S YOUR TEAM NAME?" He shouted over.
"THE NINJAS!" Zoom replied, and his team gave a "HI-YAH!" Spinner rolled his eyes.
"Okay, we're going to be the Super-Special-Awesome-Butt-Kicking-Ninjas!" He announced, and the kids laughed, nodding.
"Super-Special-Awesome-Butt-Kicking-Ninjas on three!" Spinner shouted. "One, two, three-"
"SUPER-SPECIAL-AWESOME-BUTT-KICKING-NINJAS!"
Zoom's jaw dropped and he gave Spinner a glare.
"Ninjas?" He turned to his team, determination in his eyes. "Let's send 'em crying to their mommas!"
"YEAH!"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"Bye kids!" Sherman and AJ waved their third graders off.
"GO SHARKS!" One kid on Sherman's team yelled, and all of AJ's kids responded.
"GO POLAR BEARS!"
"Bye mister Tezz!" Bella said, wrapping her arms around his legs, the highest point they could come up to on the tall Russian.
"Ah, farewell, Bella." He stated awkwardly.
"Mommy, this is the guy who saved me, remember?" Bella eagerly pointed Tezz out to the woman standing next to her.
"Of course, sweetie." The mother said. "Thank you." She whispered earnestly to Tezz.
"Do not mention it." He replied, crouching down to Bella's level. "Goodbye, Bella. Be careful in the pool, okay?"
"Okay!" She giggled and hugged him once more before running off.
"Hmph. Bye to you, too." Stanford grumbled.
"Bye Vert!" TJ ran up and tightly hugged his new "friend."
"OOF!" Vert gasped as the wind was nearly knocked out of him. "Ah, bye, TJ!"
"Good luck with Agura!" TJ whispered in his ear. Vert chuckled.
"Okay, kid."
"No, really! I'll help you!" TJ said, and before Vert could stop him he had turned towards the female.
"HEY, AGURA, VERT HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!"
"No! TJ!" Vert groaned as the majority of parents and campers gathered and chuckled at him and TJ.
"I know, TJ!" Agura called smugly, then turned back to the second-grader she was talking with. After a minute, the girl came over to Vert and TJ.
"Hi TJ." She said shyly. TJ's mouth dropped open and he stood, speechless. Vert realized what was really going on and nudged his "friend."
"Oh! Uh, hi, Ashley." He muttered.
"Hi." She said. "Uhm, you were really good at…soccer, today."
"You think?" TJ brightened. "Uhm, thanks….You're really pretty!" He blurted out, then covered his mouth. "Uh, I mean-"
"Thanks." Ashley smiled and the two walked off together, talking and laughing. Vert watched them, almost envious. Why couldn't it still be that easy? Agura came up from behind him.
"Isn't that adorable?" She sighed, leaning on him.
"No way! You set them up?" Vert exclaimed, and she grinned.
"Of course I did."
"But how'd you know…"
"Remember when TJ was talking to me earlier?" Agura asked
"Yeah." Vert replied, curious.
"He asked me to help him get Ashley to like him." She replied. "Isn't that just adorable?"
"Sure." Vert shrugged, the action lost on him. Agura rolled her eyes.
"You have no sense of romance whatsoever!" She complained, poking his chest.
"If I had no sense of romance, would you be my girlfriend?" He hinted.
"If you think I'll be your girlfriend after a proposal like that, then your sense of romance most certainly needs adjusting." Agura grinned. "Luckily," She began, tracing a finger down his chest.
"I can help you with that."
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"So, fun week?" Vert summarized once at Zeke's for dinner.
"I've had worse." Spinner shrugged.
"WHERE?" Stanford was outraged. "Vert, next time you call on us or a favor, I'm moving."
"Speaking of which, you owe us. Big time." Zoom said, and everyone nodded.
"Come on, guys!" Vert complained.
"I'm thinking…Zeke's for the next…month?" Spinner suggested.
"AND everyone's chores!" Stanford added.
"Guys…" Vert groaned, head-desking. After a few seconds of shuffling, he looked up to find them running out the door.
"Guys!"