Chapter 5

Owl POV: Diesel 

       Friday night came around and mostly everyone decided to leave the Owl house to do something, whether it be finding something to do off of the school grounds or just hanging somewhere outside of the Owl house so they wouldn't feel like they were stuck in here all the time.

       And me? I decided to stay in the Owl house anyway to work on an English paper that wasn't even due for another week. However, I liked getting a head start on all of my assignments and finishing them up as early as I could so I wouldn't have to worry about it in the future, or so I would have plenty of time to polish it up if I noticed any mistakes.

       I was sitting at one of the tables in the house, working on the assignment. The only other person in the room right now was Pearl, but she was getting ready to head out somewhere with her girlfriend.

       Right as she was about to leave, she looked at me. "You know, Friday and Saturday night is the only nights where we're allowed to leave the boarding school and head into town without special permission. You should really take advantage of the opportunity."

       "No thanks," I said. "I'm not a 'going out' type of person. I'd rather spend my time in here alone."

       "Oh, okay," Pearl said. "Well, if you ever need help with anything, just send me a text. I'll see you later."

       After Pearl left, I went back to working on the English paper. I was just glad I had the whole Owl house to myself because I definitely did a lot better working on my homework without too many commotion around me.

       I ended up getting a lot of work done in a short amount of time because of it. I was just about to take a break and relax for a bit when there was a knock on the door. Obviously it wasn't an Owl since we all had keys to the hangout, so I got up and walked over to see who was there.

       I opened the door, seeing Astrid standing there. "Hey," she said, giving me a smile. "Is Pearl here?"

       "Uh, no, she's not," I said.

       "Do you know where she is?" Astrid asked.

       "Not particularly," I said. "All I know is she's out somewhere with Ester. And not somewhere in the school. She went somewhere in the town. At least that's where I assume she is because she told me that Friday and Saturday nights are the only nights we can leave without special permission and how I should take the opportunity so it would make sense that she did take the opportunity and..." I stopped when I realized I was, yet again, rambling. I did it way too much and I wished I didn't, but I was never able to stop myself until it was too late.

       Astrid didn't seem to care about me going on and on, like the first time we met. "Oh, okay," Astrid said. "I was just coming by to see if she had a list for the dodge ball tournament. Wayne is really adamant getting the lists ready so he could see who everyone is up against."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "What dodge ball tournament?"

       "Pearl never told you about it yet?" Astrid asked and I shook my head. "Well, every year, there's always a dodge ball tournament between the four houses. It started out just for for fun years ago, but then it turned into a serious competition that always happens and the teachers even have a surprise for the winning house. Anyway, only six people from each house get to do it and Wayne is in charge of collecting the lists of names each house is choosing. He needs it by Monday at the latest but he's a huge pain and wants them as soon as possible."

       "I'll tell Pearl you stopped by to get the list when she gets back," I said. "Though I don't think she has a list because I didn't know about the competition. Then again, I wouldn't want to compete anyway. Me and sports don't mix at all. I always come in last place or I get injured. Or both. Usually both."

       "It's okay, sports aren't for everyone," Astrid said. "And as much as I love competitions, I do think the dodge ball one is stupid. Us Tigers win every year since we have a huge advantage over everyone."

       "I wouldn't say a huge advantage over everyone," I said. "Most people, but not everyone. Dodge ball can be quite easy for someone in the Owl house if they use the proper physics."

       Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Physics and sports don't get together."

       I shrugged. "Some may think they don't, others think they do. It's different for everyone."

       "Would you like to prove me wrong then?" Astrid said. "If dodge ball can be quite easy for someone in the Owl house, why don't you make sure you're on the Owl team?"

       "Because like I said, I either end up injured or in last or both. And dodge ball is a very dangerous sport for someone like me. I'm too fragile to try."

       "It sounds to me like you're scared," Astrid said, and I knew she was just trying to get me to enter the competition by letting my pride get in the way.

       Jokes on her because I had no pride and I really was scared to enter.

       "Uh, yeah, I am," I said. "I don't want any broken bones my first month of being at this school. I am going to be avoiding all physical activities that I can."

       "Alright, fine," Astrid said. "Don't enter. But don't be surprised when my house wins yet again, crushing you Owls in defeat."

       "Astrid," I said. "If there's one thing you must know about me, it's this. I'm not a competitive person. All this trash talk and reverse psychology you're doing isn't going to work. I am staying far away from the competition as possible. Kind of. I'll be watching but I won't be participating."

       "Well, it was worth a shot," Astrid said. "So, you'll tell Pearl I was here to get the lists?"

       "Yeah," I said. 

       "Alright, then I'll see you around," Astrid said before walking off.

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diesel my son ily so much. <3

so i wrote this on my laptop, something i haven't done for a while, AND I REMEMBERED EXACTLY WHY I HAVEN'T. stupid space by. at least once per sentence, it wouldn't work when i pressed it so words were getting jumbled together so i would go back to fix it and it would take at least two more attempts to get a space in there.

FUN TIMES.

i need a new keyboard. :/