Playing dodgeball

“Dodgeball, huh?” John couldn’t say he was too happy to hear that. A couple of jogs around the school track, half-assing his way through barely-supervised games of badminton, that was more his speed.

“Mm-hm. And you know what I thought we could do? To make things a little more interesting?”

“…”

“I thought we could make a little wager.” Despite himself, John’s curiosity was piqued. Try as he might, he was already hooked.

“…What kind?”

Jenna’s smile got wider, if that was even possible. “Well, we can pretty reasonably make sure that the two of us are on different teams. The games should go fast enough that we have time for at least 3 rounds. Whoever’s team loses that round….”

“….Has to take something off?” John finished.

“Exactly! We’ll leave the socks and shoes, for fairness’s sake, so with shirt, shorts, and underwear on each of us, that’s three ‘strikes’ a piece.” Jenna extended a hand towards John. “Do we have a deal?”

Both John and Jenna knew that, at this point, she didn’t even have to ask. John took her hand and shook it. “Deal.”

“Perfect!” The two of them joined the rest of the class just as the coach was coming out of her office to conduct warmups and explain the day’s plans. The class was divided into two teams (John could swear that some of the other kids were already leering at him eagerly), and sure enough, Jenna was on the opposite team. The Coach blew her whistle, the game started, and….