Ace Gamble, a genius with a mind that is hardwired for asking ‘what if?’ and ‘how about?’ he could answer any question after memorising the book, but when it came to assessments, homework or physical activity, Ace lacked the enthusiasm. Tryouts for sport ended up with him questioning the rules or getting himself flat on his back. He had a brilliant plan to prank the school sports teams. He had no trouble roping in Anette ‘Dove’ Valley, Dove was the prettiest girl in the school if only she cared about her looks; Dove was naturally blonde, had blue-green eyes and a flawless complexion, if she didn’t have it covered with ink smudges, had her hair sprayed different colours each week and her perfect body wasn’t hidden under baggy and tacky clothes. Dove had the rare ability to mimic anything after seeing it once. She could do a cheer routine after one afternoon of watching the game; she could play any instrument, sing any song and even plays any sport. Yet she would rather paint and draw in the art studio. She was called Freak by the popular girls, after showing off – literally showing off, she attended the school one day clean and proper and was considered beautiful. 

 

The two together got to work, they filled a bunch of yellow balloons with water and food colouring and loaded it into the ball launcher for the tennis practice, they used elastic to make the basketball nets that ever so smaller and stronger so the ball wouldn’t fall out. They even coated the pom-poms and the bats with clear slime or glue. That afternoon for practice, the tennis team needed an umbrella as the balloons flew across splattering them with water tinged with different colours. Making their white uniforms look liked those rainbow shirts tourists buy. The basketball training was stuffed as the ball got stuck after a three-pointed was nothing but net. As for the rest of the sports, screams from the girls as their hands were instantly slimy while some couldn’t let go of the pom-pom or the bat. It took an hour for the nurse, janitor and science teachers to clean up. 

 

The door to the hall opened and a voice called to them. 

“Come in.”

The two entered the hall and saw a man in a suit, standing at one end of the hall with a measuring tape under his foot while closer to them was a man in overalls. He was holding the tape against the wall. 

“25 metres, across.” the man said before leaving. 

Ace and Dove walked the length of the indoor basketball court toward the teacher. 

“You caused quite the mess yesterday.” He said before smiling “Detention until end of school, but I loved it.”