"2 teams, now. You guys on the left. You guys on the right!"

When we finished our warm-up, our gym coach said that we were playing dodgeball. Unfortunately, all the boys were on the opposite team. I, on the other hand, had Kaitlyn.  All she does is stay at the back and make sure her ponytail doesn't lose its shape.

"Don't try to die okay Kaitlyn?" I say crossing my arms.

"Oh please. I know what I'm doing. It's dodgeball." Kaitlyn scoffed.

"Awn princess, I feel bad for you. Don't worry, we'll take it easy on you." Nathan cooed.

"Try me, Nathan. I sure can beat all of your asses." I huffed.

"Cute. You're trying to be feisty. But do you really think you can beat... the 4 of us?" smirked Tyler.

"Watch me." I bite back.

"Alright, how about if u win, we'll take you to my father's winery on the day of the charity ball. If we win... you have to accompany us to the charity ball this week." Alex said in a serious voice that he always used when doing business.

His father's winery had always been off-limits to me since I was young. It was one of the Kings' businesses. No matter how close we were, he would never take me there even if I begged him. I really wanted to dig up some King family secrets.  Alex offering this up took me by surprise. 

In exchange, he is going to force me to one of those boring charity events his parents threw every year. I hated, no, I loathed those things. I would rather stay home and watch Netflix. 

However, I didn't know when he would offer it up again. It was a take it or leave it situation.

"Okay deal," I say and walked back to my team.

"Okay, guys hustle. Go back to your team. Starting in 3...2....1!" Coach yelled and blew the whistle. All hell broke from there.

________________________________

"Not bad Talia. I must say I'm impressed." Nathan says.

"Well, it doesn't matter. What can we do with a tie?" I asked while I sipped water from my bottle.

"Well, it's not all that bad. What do you say we combine the prizes?" Tyler says with a glint in his eyes.

"What? How?" I asked confused.

They all looked at each other smirking and finally, Alex spoke out, "I'll take you to my dad's winery but also, it would be at the night of the charity ball."

"Ugh...okay well, I guess it's fair. Deal." I say while shrugging.

I shook his hand while the others watched. I wanted to smack that grin off of his face so bad. 

________________________________

We were sweating and working our asses off. I took every ball I can get my hands on and aimed for the other side. The boys were doing the same too.

Sooner or later, we both lost quite a lot of people on our team but surprisingly, Kaitlyn was still there. I'm pretty sure she either hide behind me or stayed at the side.

But I didn't care about that. I was only getting one shot at seeing the King's infamous winery for the first time.

They never let anyone in because of the wines that cost more than a country's net worth. They also have wines that dated back to the Middle Ages or even longer, who knows. His water had said I was "too young for those types of strong alcohol".

I made it my mission at some point in my life to see the winery because it's magnificent, I heard. But also because no one ever tells me I can't do it.

Time passes by as more and more people got out. The boys and I were still in. It was really intense and they were putting a lot of effort into it.

The sound I dreaded most finally came.

FWEET!

"Alright guys. Good game! It's a tie. Now you're dismissed for next class." Coach yelled out and took his whistle and walked off.

No! There goes my chance at seeing the winery.

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As I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom, I heard my phone go off with a notification. I checked to see it was an invite for the charity ball from Alex.

THIS YEAR'S CHARITY BALL

KING'S ESTATE

6 pm, Saturday

I was excited for this year's charity ball. Usually, I find excuses to not go and hang with the boys but this year was different.

I had a prize to claim.