It's Not So Bad (open tag)

[Gage Foster]

Gage had always been an optimist. Ever since he was a baby, his mother never had any troubles with him except for the occasional three am wake up calls he usually made. But overall, he was a happy kid. He grew up exceptionally normal and even after his father's passing, he never saw his life as glass half empty.

This affable personality of his was probably what made him volunteer at the animal shelter in the first place. That and his love for animals. There was no work too big or too small for Gage and a lot of the animals at the shelter were already so used to him. The people who volunteered there most of them though Gage was too good to be true but they never questioned the boy's decency.

So going to school that morning, Gage had high hopes that it would be a good day. How good, he wasn't going to measure but he was going to make sure his day passed off as decent. He made his way to the gym first hand the moment he passed the school entrance. He already felt lucky when he found that the hall was empty. His trainers squeaked on the polished floor as he made his way to the bleachers to dump off his sports bag. He took off his shirt and threw it over his bag before going to the metal rack that held basketballs. He chose a strong one that bounced high and started his work out.

He worked up a little sweat as he played by himself, working between the two hoops. He started enjoying the rhythm his body had adopted as he imagined the whole gymnasium filled with people who came over to watch him play. He grinned as his words echoed off the walls.

Gage was so into his 'game' that he didn't even notice the person entering the gym.

[johson]

Ashton often used the time in the morning to do some kind of work out, the key to his game was keeping fit and that meant gym work outs, it also meant that he could keep his father of his back with regard to his coaching the team, and the teams levels of fitness, it was one less reason to argue with his father.

He stepped into the basketball court, he didnt know why he came here this day, it seemed as good as any place for him to come. He saw another boy was already on the court, he made the short walk across the court tossing his duffel bag on to the bleachers and rolling his t-shirt sleves up to his shoulders. The boy seemed to have ssome talent with a ball, it looked like he might have his ass handed to him on this day.

"You mind if I join you?" Ashton asked as he walked towards the boy. "I had hoped to get some shots in before class, I didn't realise any one other than I came into the gym this early. Usually its for me to pummel something hard, to get rid of the frustration of home. But I can settle for shooting some hoops today." Ashton said with a grin.

"I'm Ashton by the way." he said though as a team captain he expected that most of the people in the school knew who he was to some degree.

[Gage Foster]

Gage had been so absorbed in his own game that even when the newcomer announced his arrival, it took him quite some time to register the voice as he got in a few hoops. When he dribbled past the boy, the ball slipped out of his hand when he saw who it was. "Ashton!"

He hadn't been on the team for so long but Ashton Johnson's reputation preceded him and Gage knew the team captain. If there had to be a word he could use to describe how he felt about the captain, it was that he worshipped the ground the senior walked on. And he wasn't even afraid to show it. There was a reason why Ashton was the team captain. He was strong, he was an excellent player and he was dedicated. Gage had always been a huge fan and has since tried to become as good as his captain.

"Of course I know you." Gage laughed nervously before grabbing the senior's hand in a handshake. He realised he was pumping the guy's hand too much so he sheepishly took it away and laughed again, doubly nervously. "Of course you can join. I was just fooling around, you know? I mean I always do this at my neighbourhood court but I figured why not do it in school? it will be much easier to get to class immediately since it's already IN school, you know what I mean?" his sheepish chuckle was followed by a mental slap on the face. Was he TRYING to get beat up?

[johson]

Ashton shook his hand out, "You trying to break into the team by hurting or killing the captain?" Ashton asked him with a smile. "My dad would either hug you for it or kill you for it, what with being the team coach, I'm not to sure what he would do." Ashton said to him with a chuckle. "Good handshake you got there." he said he knew he was ribbing the younger boy but he couldn't help it to some degree.

"I do all my work outs here, it saves me having to deal with the coach at home trying to hammer me for not doing enough of this or that. Annoys the hell out of him that here he can't get away with half the stuff he would try at home, lets just say that although I love what I do, having your father being the coach of your team as its own drawbacks." Ashton said to him with a smile. "Pummelling something in the gym or shooting hoops, or runnning a mile or two on the mill allows me to round out all that frustration. Think Dan from one tree hill on steroids and you have my father in a nut shell." Ashton said as he threw the ball into the hoop.

[Hannah Bell]

If there was one thing Hannah absolutely could not stand, it was being dirty. Had she been paying attention, she might have noticed either the puddle in the road, or the car zooming down the street. As it was she was listening to her iPod and neither thing caught her eye. The result was a large tidal wave of muddy brown water that splashed all over one of her favorite white skirts. She was much less concerned with the pair of flip-flops, as she had many similar pairs at home. Some might say she had too many pairs of shoes, but Hannah would call those people crazy.

She was too close to the school to turn back without being late, but luckily she kept a spare set of clothes in her gym locker, in case she wanted something different after cheer practice. She entered the school near the gym, since the entrance to the locker room was through there. Hoping no one was in the large expanse, she peeked through a window on the door. To her dismay, she saw two boys on the other end playing basketball. She would be appalled to be caught this dirty, but it seemed as if her only hope was to sneak through the gym.

She opened the door as quietly as she could, hoping neither boy heard, and darted towards the door to the locker room. She kept one eye one the boys, whose back were to her, and the other on her destination. In her haste, however, she forgot one very important fact: gyms echo pretty badly, and the heavy door behind her slammed shut. A cacophony of echoes reverberated through the room. Hannah froze, a part of her truly hoping the boys wouldn't notice. Sometimes they were a bit dim, right?

[Gage Foster]

Gage blushed at the senior's jibe and punched him playfully on the shoulders. "Naw man, why would I kill or hurt you? You're our only chance of winning state championship." He said before frowning slightly at how Ashton talked about his father, their coach. He knew the coach rode hard on all of them. He didn't know it was double that at home. He figured it was tough having to see someone every time of every day. It got pretty lame and...well as Ashton had obviously spelled out...

The reference to the fictional Dan Scott was lost on Gage as he didn't do much teenage soap watching. But he didn't let it show as he laughed convincingly. He looked as the ball soared through the air and landed neatly through the hoop. His eyes caught movement at the back entrance of the gym and a familiar blond made his head snap down from the hoop to the girl.

Hannah?

He suddenly felt very self-conscious about not wearing a t-shirt with beads of perspiration glistening on his body. It probably wasn't a pretty sight to see a sweaty teenager like Gage being shirtless. Was that why she was standing there so rigid and frozen?

Gage's eyes followed down her body and to the brown stained skirt. He knew for a fact that the original color of that skirt was most definitely not brown. "Um...hi Hannah. What are you doing here?"

[johson]

Ashton looked over at the girl not remotely bothered by the girls appearance or the state that either of them were in, though he probably smelt a lot better than Gage did, considering the fact that he hadn't been at it very long where as Gage looked like he had worked up quite a sweat before he had arrived on the scene.

"Hi." Ashton said to the girl, Ashton's eyes twinkled as he saw that the guy had something going on for the girl, he would file it away for use somewhere down the line, some hazing of newer players probably wouldn't go a miss.

Okay so that wasn't really him, but he thought that one of the other players would do that job for him, especially if said boy couldn't hide it better. He wondered if the girl was going to talk any time soon as he spun the basketball in his hand, waiting to see whether this was over and she would say something or whether the girl would leave them to it.

The girl would go under hot, but as a senior and someone that was months from graduation he wouldn't be going there with any one unless they were special. It just wasn't worth it, not this close to graduation anyway.

[Hannah Bell]

Oh. My. God. Gage Foster and Ashton Johnson. It just had to be the captain of the basketball team and the boy she so perfectly flirted with the day before. What absolutely horrible luck, and there was no clean escape at this point. Making a break for the locker room crossed her mind, but there was no way that wouldn't be horribly awkward. She had to face the music!

“Hi boys!” she cheerfully chirped, hoping a nice smile and a good attitude would keep their attention away from her ruined skirt. Her arm crossed in front of her, a wave from the elbow. She slid her pink backpack from her shoulder and let it hang in front of her, covering the mess as best as she possibly could. “I see y'all are keepin' up the practice! Go Sphinxes!” She raised one hand in a fist, giving her best one-handed cheer.

“Now if you boys will excuse me, I must away to the ladies room to powder my nose.” She held the smile as she turned towards the exit that led to the girl's locker room, turning back one last time to wave over her shoulder to the boys, though her eyes were on Gage the entire time.

Hannah nearly the door, smiling to herself. That didn't go half as bad as she expected!

[Gage Foster]

Not knowing what to do, Gage suddenly felt so much better about his partial nudity. And all he could do was stare at Hannah as she gave a huge albeit awkward smile and wave. Wow, even in these kinds of situations, she just goes on smiling. Gage couldn't help but chuckle when she started to cheer for her own team. "We're the Silver Gryphons but okay." Gage grinned amusedly.

When Hannah turned away from them, Gage's eyes widened when he found that he could see through the back of her white skirt. Clear as day, pink and yellow My Little Pony underwear. "Um...Hannah...uh..." Gage managed to choke out as he pointed to her skirt before turning to Ashton to see him staring. "Stop staring at her, Ashton!" Gage shouted before clapping his hands over the Silver senior's eyes.

"Hannah, you skirt's kind of...see through." The younger boy said with an accidental bark of laughter. He closed his mouth with one hand while keeping the other closed over Ashton's eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." He said behind his closed mouth. If that did not blow off Gage's opportunity to see Hannah again, he did not know what would. The girl was probably plotting his social death already. Here was a poor girl drenched from the waist down and all he could think about was laughing at her see through skirt?

In an instant, he was running to the bleachers to his bag. He rummaged through until he found the small towel he always bought to school and went to Hannah. Careful to look anywhere else but her rear, Gage handed Hannah the towel. "Um...you can return it anytime you want."

[Hannah Bell]

Hannah heard Gage call her name and a tiny smile crept onto her lips. She had that boy right where she wanted him! She looked back quickly right as Gage threw his hands over Ashton's eyes. Gage's attention was one thing, but if the captain of the Silver basketball team was finding an interest in her, well, that could only mean good things for her popularity with the Silver students! She did thing Gage was cuter, but maybe she could get Ashton to ask her out, go on a few dates with him. Then everyone in the combined schools would know who she was!

But with Gage's next revelation, she was worried that everyone knowing who she was might now be less attractive a thought than before. Now she was the girl who flashed her undies at two of Silver's basketball players! She was mortified. Maybe if she had been wearing something sexy, but her little kiddie My Little Pony underwear? Oh God! Gage was laughing at her, too. Gosh dang that car that came up and splashed her!

All she could do was stand against the wall, bookbag covering her front and the wall hiding her underwear. In her head she asked God for a miracle. Though it wasn't a miracle, Gage managed to save her with a towel. She quickly dropped the bag and wrapped the towel around her waist.

“Oh my gosh, you are my hero!” she exclaimed, tying up the towel to make sure it was secure around her waist. She quickly moved forward and planted a light kiss on Gage's cheek. “I am forever in your debt,” her Southern voice cooed. He was a sweet boy, and she would look forward to the date that he needed to ask her on!