Have Some Cake

The indoor seven-foot deep pool is glistening under the sunlight shining through the massive skylight that makes up most of the ceiling. Entering the empty, massive pool room are Kale Clague, Nolan Patrick, Carter Hart, Brett Howden, Jake Oettinger, and Kailer Yamamoto. They are dressed for a game of water polo with bathing caps and swimsuits, except for Kailer, who is wearing a wetsuit instead of a swimsuit.

“Alright!” Kale starts up, tossing the yellow and blue-coloured water polo ball he is holding up and down. “Ready to play some water polo?”

Nolan does not seem too pleased with the attire the sport requires as tugs at the laces of his bathing cap. “Do we really have to wear these things?!”

Kailer adjusts his bathing cap with calmness. “Yes, we do-- It's to block water from going into your ears.” He lowers his hands. “If you don't wear it, water can get into your ears and infect the--”

Nolan lets go of the laces and glares at him. “Okay, thanks, Bill Nye.”

Next to Nolan, Carter nudges his bare upper arm with a bright grin. “You look good in it, Pat.”

Nolan swings his eyes to look at Carter’s bathing cap. “It helps to know that you're wearing one too.”

Meanwhile, Brett gasps in excitement at the sight of Jake in his bathing cap. “Haha, Jake Dog, you look so adorable like a puppy in wearing a bonnet!” He rubs his cheeks like as if he is an actual dog.

Jake beams at him, thrilled that Brett is happy. “Yipee!!!”

The tall teenager tackles Brett into a massive, lovable hug. Yet he puts a bit too much force in his hug: Brett flies backward as he flies forward into the pool behind Brett.

BOOSH!!!

The other four whirl around to face the sloshing surface of the pool.

Brett immediately emerges from the surface with water dripping from his face and cap. “Dang it!” He smacks his hands in the water. “I wanted to do a cannonball!”

Jake pops up into view from behind him. “Cannonball?”

From up high on the ground, Carter waves his hands in the air. “I'll do one!”

He begins to rush toward the edge of the water. Yet his bare foot slams on a slick puddle from Brett and Jake’s messy dive, making it slip out from underneath him and having himself launch into the air above the pool’s surface.

SMACK!

Carter lands flat against the water in the form of a bellyflop.

Everyone grimaces at the fizzing water.

“So that’s why lifeguards are so passionate to stop you from running…,” Kale manages to squeak out.

Carter explodes through the surface with a massive gasp.

Brett turns around and stares at him with fascination. “That was the best bellyflop EVER!”

Jake, on the other hand, appears concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I'll be fine...!” Carter croaks out. He gradually positions himself to float on his back with his hand on his redden stomach. “Owww…”

Nolan rolls his eyes at practically everyone’s stupidity. “Goalies,” he scoffs. “This is how you dive.”

The forward struts to the edge of the pool before gently pushing himself off from the edge with his hands extended before his head. He slips below the surface without a single droplet of water escaping from the water.

The other five are in complete shock at how perfectly Nolan dived.

Kale grasps the ball by his bare chest in excitement. “I wanna dive with the springboard!” He swings his head from side-to-side in a frantic search for a springboard.

Kailer scowls at him. “No!”

Kale turns to look down at him. He gives him a frown.

“This is not a diving competition!” the small teenager continues scolding at him; he points to the pool. “Get in!”

Kale simply shoves Kailer into the pool.

SPLASH!

Kailer disappears into the waters in a series of small waves.

Then with his signature toothy grin, Kale tosses the ball into the water then hops off from the surface. He pulls his knees to his bare chest with his arms around his bare legs before breaking the surface of the pool.

SPLOSH!!!

Kale rises from the surface as the water fizzes around him and grabs his bobbing water polo ball.

“Okay, so do we have our teams yet?” Kale asks the others as he begins to tread water with them. “Who wants to be with me?”

“I’m with you, Claguer.” Nolan propels himself over to his friend.

Carter flails his arms excitedly in the air as if he is a student who knows the answer the teacher asked the class. “I’m with Pat! I’m with Pat!” He then uses his arms to swim toward the forward, throwing water in all directions. “I’m...with...Pat...!” He finally reaches him, halting himself by holding onto his sparsely-tattooed arm.

Nolan gives him an unamused look. “I think we all got the message. You can let go of me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Carter lets go of his arm.

Brett peers around at the remanding teenagers. “Well, I guess Jake Dog and Yamma Mamma are with me then!” He whirls around to face them. “We are Team--”

“--Ruff!” Jake barks.

Kailer shakes his head at the suggestion. “No.”

“I was gonna say…” Brett holds his pointer finger in the air. “Team AWESOMENESS!” He throws his hands in the air. “Because we are awesomeness!” He then turns to the opposing three with a smirk.

Kale then turns to his two teammates. “What should our team name be?”

“Flyers, since we're on that team.” Nolan nods to Carter.

Kale gives him a frown. “But I’m not in the Flyers.”

Carter narrows his eyes while scrutinizing him. “You are in the Kings…” His eyes light up. “King Flyers!” He turns to the other three. “Team King Flyers!!!”

Brett snorts in response.

Nolan shoots him a sly smile. “Let's see you do that when you lose.”

“Okay, everyone in position!” Kale shouts.

“How will we count down to the swim off?” Kailer asks him.

Brett gives a bewildered look the two. “The what?”

Kale turns to him. “It's the face-off for water polo. Um…” He stares at the dripping ball. “I guess I can do it.” He peers back up.

“That’ll work--” Nolan nods at him. “You’ve already done most of the talking here anyway.” He then swims off toward the left side of the pool.

Carter quickly follows after him.

Kale places the ball in the centre of the pool and begins to drift toward the left side as well. “Alright, to your ends! The first team to reach three points gets treated to lunch by the losing team!”

Brett shoots him a fierce look. “Oh, it’s SO on!” He roughly turns around and bolts off to the right end of the pool.

Kailer and Jake follow him as Kale joins Nolan and Carter on the left side.

At the end of the pool, yet a couple feet away from the edge, parallel to the floating goal, Kale shouts: “Okay! On my mark...get set...GO!!!”

With that, him and Nolan launch toward the centre of the pool as Brett and Kailer race toward the ball from the other end.

Nolan reaches the ball first and bats it over to Kale before Brett or Kailer could touch it.

With the ball in his hand, Kale advances into enemy territory and halts a couple feet away from the goal. He has his eyes on the small spaces of the net around Jake, yet Kailer, who is defending him, throws his hands in front of him as a near possibility to turn the ball over.

Kale holds his arm with the ball back to keep it away from Kailer’s reach while waiting for a window of a good space to open up. Yet Kailer is relentlessly defending and Jake knows how to keep his corners in check.

Kale decides to sling the ball to his left, where Nolan is treading water in front of Brett.

The ball plops next to Nolan in the water before being quickly scooped up by him and tossed above Brett’s shoulder straight at Jake.

Jake hops out of the water and snatches the ball from the air before slipping back into the shoulder-lengthed water with the ball against his chest.

Brett throws his hands in the air. “WOOO!!! LET'S GO, JAKE DOG!!!”

“Yes!” Jake flings the ball out to Brett.

Brett catches it one-handed and begins to swim toward the left side of the pool.

The other three follow him with Kailer parallel to him.

Brett halts behind the seven-meter line and throws the ball to Kailer. He then crosses the line and stops feet in front of it toward Carter’s left. He watches as Kailer struggles to find an open space with Kale skillfully defending him and Carter facing him from the goal.

Kailer then whirls to him and tosses the ball back at him.

Brett grabs the ball from the air and hurls it toward the open space in the corner of the goal with enough force to propel itself over Nolan’s outstretched arm.

The ball whizzes through the air, leaving droplets of water in its trail, as it flies over the net and arches down to the water on the other side.

Brett smacks water in anger. “DANG IT!!!”

“Thank goodness,” Nolan remarks.

Carter raises his hand in the air. “I'll get it!”

He slips under the water and a few moments later, reappears on the other side. He grabs the plopped ball and disappears under the water.

The goalie remerges back in his spot and hands the ball to Kale.

Kale faces the others with the soaked ball against his bare chest. “Alright, the game resumes!” He then tosses it to his teammate.

Nolan smoothly catches it and proceeds to bring the game back to Jake’s side. He halts on Jake’s right side, being defended by Kailer. With furrowed eyebrows, Nolan moves his arm with the ball above his head from side-to-side and back and forth as Kailer’s hands block his view of the net’s empty spaces.

“Ugh!” Frustrated, Nolan hurls the ball to the other side of the pool.

Kale catches the ball decides to throw it below in one motion: He tosses the ball under Brett’s bare arm, which is extended from his side.

The ball skips against the thick surface with the force of the throw and is propelled into the air, flying into the side of the goal.

“WOOO!!!” Kale throws his hands in the air.

“Yes!” Nolan pumps his arms in the air.

From his lonely side, Carter spins around. “Yay!!!”

On the other hand, Brett fumes, sinking half of his face into the water with his thick eyebrows lowered. Bubbles rise in front of him as he exhales.

Kale spots Brett’s sulking and as an attempt to cheer him up, he points out, “You guys can have the ball now!”

Brett pulls the rest of his face from the water to speak. “I hope we are!”

“Brett!” he hears Jake shouting from behind him.

Brett whirls around and receives the ball from the goalie. He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, refocusing his mind on the objective of the game. He then opens them, creating a determined look on his face.

“Let’s do this.”

Brett swims over to Carter’s side, where the other three are treading water in their positions. He is met by Nolan, who keeps himself in front of him to defend.

Brett waves the ball in the air as he bobbles from side-to-side, trying to get an angle at the net. Yet Nolan is covering his angles.

“Get! Out! Of the way!”

“Nope!” Nolan shoots his hands toward the ball. “Give me the ball!”

As a response, Brett tosses it before the defender can get his hands on it.

On its flight, the ball hits Nolan’s hand, causing it to lose its force and plop onto the surface behind Nolan.

Suddenly, Kailer emerges from the surface, sweeping up the ball into his hand, and thrusts it straight at the centre of the goal.

The ball flies past Carter’s left hand and hits the net.

Brett pumps his two arms in the air. “YES! YAMMER SLAMMER!!!”

Carter dips his head. “Awww…”

Kale swims up to him. “It's fine, Carts.”

Carter reluctantly pulls the ball from the water and tosses it to Kale.

“One to one!” Brett bellows as he drifts backward with two fingers in the air. “Two more points!”

Kale begins the trek to the other side of the pool. After crossing the half distance line, he throws the ball across the pool toward Nolan.

Yet before Nolan could grab it, Brett leaps across him and snatches the ball into his possession.

“Hey!” Nolan snaps at him.

“YAMS!” Brett hollers before hurling the ball back toward the middle of the pool.

At the middle of the pool, nearest to Kale is Kailer, who receives the ball in the open. He launches toward Carter’s net in a breakaway.

“No!” Kale spits out. He swims after him, although he is farther from Kailer than Kailer is to the net.

“Get it, Carts!” Nolan shouts at the goalie before joining in on the chase.

Facing Carter, Kailer pulls his arm up behind him and swings it at the top shelf.

Carter leaps into the air to save the ball with arms out and splashes into the water.

Yet the ball has not been released.

With the goalie down, Kailer throws his arm once again at the now empty net, releasing the ball from his hand.

The ball sails into the clear goal.

“YES! YES! YES!” Brett shouts, splashing the water with his arms.

Jake throws his hands in the air. “Yipee!!!”

Carter appears from the surface and spots the ball behind him. “Dang it, I bit too early!” He snatches the ball from the water and throws it out in frustration.

Kale catches it. “It’s okay, Carts, it’s not over yet.”

“Two to one,” Brett hollers from his side of the pool. “It seems like my wallet will be untouched...!”

“Keep talking, Brett,” Nolan snarks. He then whirls to Kale. “Give me the ball.”

Kale eyes him with subtle confusion. “Why?"

“Because your passing skills costed us the goal.” He snatches the ball from his hands. “I’ll pass it to you, now go.”

With a huff, Kale swims to the other side of the pool. Nolan follows with the ball in his hand. He halts his advancing on Jake’s right side, now having Brett defending him.

Brett pulls his arms over his head, creating a gap for the ball to fly through. Nolan takes this quick opportunity and lobs the ball past Brett.

The ball flies toward the net, which is being protected Jake, a bit too well by Jake because it smacks him in the face.

“OOF!” With the force, the goalie falls through the water on his back.

This catches Kailer’s attention, who turns around to spot the sunken goalie. “Oettinger?”

No longer being defended by Kailer, Kale zips around him and stretches his arm out toward the drifting ball, grabs it, and tosses it into the wide-open goal.

“YEAH!” He throws his hands in the air.

Brett gawks at him, offended. “That’s not fair, you hurt Jake Dog for that!”

Jake swings himself back from the surface with a big gasp. “I’m fine...!”

“It's still a goal, the goalie is fine,” Nolan tells Brett, nodding at Jake.

Kale tosses the ball to Brett; Brett catches it.

“And you have the ball, so--” He shrugs with a small smirk.

With a larger smirk, Brett stares at the ball. “That’s right.” He snaps his eyes back at the two. “Thank you for giving us our third point.” With that, Brett swims to the half distance.

Kailer follows him, parallel to him, and receives the ball from him. The two set themselves for their offensive position as Kale and Nolan catch up to defend them.

With Kale defending Kailer, Kailer is able to use his short stature to his advantage and hurl the ball under Kale’s arms over to Brett.

Brett catches the ball and in one motion, he flings it high toward the net.

Carter launches himself from the water with his hands above him in a desperate attempt to save the flying ball. Yet he is short and dives back into the water as the ball hits the post and ricochets back in the playing area.

Carter, being in the water and closest to the ball, swiftly snatches it from the surface and throws it to Kale.

After catching it, Kale whirls around and spots Nolan now swimming toward the half distance. He hurls the ball over to him.

The ball plops itself in front of Nolan’s path, letting him easily scoop it up into his grasp and endeavour through his breakaway

“Go, Pat!” Carter shouts at him. “Go long!”

Kailer and Brett chase after him with water flying in all direction. Yet it appears to be an extremely hopeless attempt to defend as Nolan crosses the seven meter before they cross the half distance.

Jake drifts out from his net, tapping into his goaltending skills regarding angles, to stop the breakaway. He lines himself up with Nolan as best as he could with the much different environment compared to playing on ice.

Nolan halts a few feet away from Jake and thrusts his arm at him.

Jake jolts at the movement in an attempt to save the ball, yet halts his full save when he realizes that the ball was not thrown.

Instead, Nolan passes it behind to Kale, who is catching up to him.

Kale scoops the ball from the water and propels himself upward as best as he could from the water as he aims the ball at the top corner of the goal.

And the ball does just that.

“YEAAAAAHHH!!!” Kale yells into the large room. “WOOO!!!” He swims to Nolan and clobbers him into a hug.

Nolan laughs with his signature large, dazzling smile, slinging his bare arm over his bare shoulder.

Carter hastily crosses the large pool to join in on the celebration. “Yay!!!” He wraps his bare arms around Kale and Nolan, pulling them into a much bigger hug.

Meanwhile, Brett frowns at their celebration from across the width of the pool.

Kailer drifts over to him. “I hope you brought your wallet.”

“Unfortunately, being the prepared captain I am, I did.”

Jake swims over to the two with watering eyes and a quivering frown. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a bad goalie.” He dips his head. “I'll leave and you don't have to put me on your team again…”

Brett softens his expression toward him. “No, no, Jake Dog.” He places hands on each of his bare shoulders. “You did great. It's us that could've done better.”

A bright smile pops up on Jake’s face. “Awwwww!” He pulls him into a tight hug.

The three swim over to join them.

“I am up for pizza, who's with me!” Carter blurts out, throwing his hand in the air.

“I am!” Kale pipes in, giving him a high five.

“I'll just have a salad, as usual,” Nolan remarks, already untying the strings of his bathing cap.

Kailer gazes at them with a small smile. “Good game, boys. You really did battle it out there.”

Kale shoots him a large smile. “Same to you! That was actually really fun!”

“Yeah!” Carter exclaims.

Jake lets out a bark: “Ruff!”

“I want a rematch,” Brett states with playful seriousness.

Nolan has his eyes on him as he pulls his bathing cap off, revealing his damp, matted hair. “Sounds good, another chance for us to win.”

Brett glares at him.

Nolan simply gives him a haughty look as he runs his fingers through his hair to fix it.

Kale then breaks the staredown: “But for now, let's go have pizza!” He then begins to swim toward the edge.

Brett drifts toward his direction. “My treat!” He tells the others. “Well, I kinda have to pay for it…”

Then as his voice trails off, he follows the others out of the pool.


The End!

Notes