Skylar's Wish • Rooster

Chapter 7: Beach Day

The next afternoon, Maverick walks into the old airplane hangar with Hondo by his side. "Good afternoon, Aviators," Maverick says with his signature smile. He walks up to the podium to tell us what we are endearing today. We all take a seat after Maverick raises his hand as a form of at ease. "Today we are doing something a little different. It has come to my attention that you guys can't act as a team. And in order for this mission to succeed in the safest and most effective way possible, you need to be a team. With that being said, go change and meet Hondo and I at the beach," Maverick says. I watch push himself away from the podium and walk out the door with Hondo in tow.

"Well, this will be fun," Hangman says. He stands up from his chair and walks out of the hanger with Coyote right in his tail. I roll my eyes and turn to Phoenix, "You want a ride?"
"Sure." We stand up and walk over to my old blue truck. I open the driver's side door, "Meet y'all there." I climb into my truck and start the engine and drive to Phoenix and I's dorm house.

When we arrived, I turned to Phoenix in the passenger seat, "Five minutes." She nods. We hop out of the truck and run into the house to our room for a quick change. I grab a black swimsuit and a pair of blue athletic shorts to put over my swimsuit. Take my hair out of the low bun and replace it with a high ponytail. I grab a bag and put a towel, water, and snacks. I walk out of my room with my bag over my shoulder.

Walking past the dining room table, I reach to grab my Aviators. I put them on as I walk out of the front door, I go to walk over to my truck, but a volleyball catches my eye. I lean down to grab the volleyball, just in case, and continue my way over to my truck. I look down at my watch, one minute left. Climbing into my truck and pushing my horn. I see Phoenix running out the front door, closing it behind her. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She climbs in, and we head towards the beach, blasting some Taylor Swift.

I pull next to a familiar jeep and turn the ignition off. I take my sandals off and leave them with my bag before climbing out. My eyes immediately look at the clear blue ocean. "Damn Skylar. Is the ocean more important that you won't even look at me?" A male voice asks. I turn towards the voice, who happens to be shirtless and man he looks good. It's a good thing that I have my Aviators on because Rooster would have definitely seen me checking out his tone chest and abs. Trying to move my gaze away from Rooster's tan and tone chest, I raise my eyebrows, knowing that he already knows why I was looking at the ocean. He laughs, the laugh that can anyone laugh along with him. "Geez Sky. Did you think I would forget?" I shake my head, "You better not have, Rooster." I walk toward him and Payback, who are throwing a football back and forth. "Never Darling." Rooster smiles before throwing the football that he just caught, back to Payback.

I walk away from a shirtless Rooster over to Maverick. "Where did this idea come from, Mav?" I ask. He smiles and turns to face me, "Your old man." I smile, knowing that it's something he would do. He believes that teamwork is the most important thing to learn - that and respect for your teammates. I remember a time when my brother and I got into a fight, and he made us wear a large shirt that fit both of us inside. He called it the 'Get along shirt'. We had to wear it around the house all day or until we stop fighting - depending on his mood. It happened a few times when we were young and ever since then my brother and I have been the best of friends. "Yeah, sounds like something he would do." He whistles for everyone's attention then waves them over. He bends down and grabs one neon colored football and signals for Payback to throw him the other one. "Welcome to dogfight football. You guys will be split up into two teams; shirts and skins. The goal is to play offense and defense at the same time." Everyone gets excited about Maverick's idea.

Once everyone calms down, Maverick tells us the teams. "Alright team's shirt is Rooster, Bob, Hangman, Coyote, and Fritz. Team skins is Payback, Skylar, Phoenix, Fanboy and me." I feel a presence behind me, but before I could turn around a voice is whispering in my ear, "You're going down, Darling." I turn and look Rooster in the eyes, "In your dreams, Pretty Boy." With a smile on my face, I turn and walk towards my team. Meeting up with Phoenix, we do our little handshake while laughing, "You up for this, Phoenix?" I ask her. She smiles, "Just a walk in the park, Kazansky."
"Let's kick some ass!" I walk over to the right side of the line, I see a certain person making his way over to that side as well. I bend down while pushing my Aviators up my nose. I see Rooster pointing at me, mouthing 'you're going down,' I point back right back at him.