Rack 'Em Up (Part 2)

JP with Jaxx

He walked over to where the sticks were and looked over them. Blossom needed a shorter stick and chalked one up for her then handed it to her.

Carter: This one should work for you.

He picked out a stick for himself and chalked his own stick up. He then grabbed the plastic triangle and the solid and striped balls and put them in the triangle on the table. Rolling the triangle back and forth a few times until the balls were set right then he carefully removed the triangle putting it back under the table in the little slot it went into. He walked to where Blossom was.

Carter: You get to break. The trick is to hit the front ball but more to the side then right in the center of the ball. Don't worry if you don't get any in. I'm going to show you how to hold the pool stick.

He proceeded to show her the correct way to hold the stick and then said, "Ok, let me see you hold the stick."

Blossom was a bit nervous, as she was next to Carter, who was teaching her the proper way to use the pool stick. Her hands were shaking a bit as she was nervous being this close to Carter and playing pool despite her lack of skill. Then she took a deep breath and struck the cue ball. Now granted she was not that strong but for the first time she was able to hit some of the balls in the triangle formation. One of them even rolled to a corner pocket resulting in her winning a solid ball category. Blossom was very shocked to be this successful at pool and did a double tale looking at Carter and the pocket the ball fell in.

Blossom: Did I just get a ball in?

Carter noticed she seemed nervous but he just went about showing her how to hold the stick. He figured that ignoring her nervousness might be the best way to get over it. She hit the cue ball and Carter watched as some of the balls broke away. His eyes caught the ball rolling into the pocket.

Carter: Yes, you did. That was really good. So, now you are solid and I'm stripes. You have to get the solid balls in without getting the cue ball in. Oh, don't hit the eight ball in, that comes later. And being you got a ball in you get to go again. You go until you miss a shot.

He glanced around the table, calculating in his head the different shots that she had.

He pointed to a spot on the table.

Carter: Stand here.

Once she was where he had pointed. He walked down to the end of the table and pointed to a spot on the top part of the solid colored number four ball.

Carter: You are going to want to try to hit here. So, that's where you want to hit on the cue ball. Right here. Just hold the stick how I showed you and hit it with just a little more force than you broke with.

Blossom was excited by her success and a bit giddy. Then Carter tried to show her how to hit the next solid ball onto a pocket. Unlike before she was a bit more excited so her focus was a bit off now. So despite her success before, she accidently hit the cue ball too hard on the bottom, and it popped over the solid ball she was trying to knock in and then it spun backwards and hit her solid ball from the opposite side. Blossom was completely dumbfounded on how she even pulled that move off as she muttered to Carter.

Blossom: Did I do that?

Carter was completely surprised by what happened when Blossom hit the ball.

Carter: Yes, you did. Next time just a little up more with the stick.

He looked around, finding his first shot. It didn't take as much concentration for him to take his own shot as it did to teach her. So, he figured it would be a good time to talk with her.

Carter: So, where are you from?

Blossom watched as Carter took his turn. She was impressed that he seemed calm and focused on his shot. Then he asked her a question she had heard a lot.

Blossom: Ummm..... Dot, Montana, but I bet you never heard of it.

He heard her answer as he easily hit a striped ball into one of the corner pockets.

Carter: Small town, huh? I'm from Broomfield, Colorado. It's about 20 minutes away from Denver. So, what's Dot like?

Blossom looked up as she recalled the features of her hometown.

Blossom: Well it's mostly ranch land and the town is small. We only have one elementary school, one middle school, one high school and one theater. Most of us hang out at the Dairy Queen but it's kinda boring compared to schools like this.

He lined up a shot and hit another striped ball in.

Carter: Sounds, kind of nice, in a way. I hear Montana is pretty. Hey, did you get to do things like ride horses or camp? You know outdoors stuff?

Blossom nodded to answer Carter. She liked talking about her home but felt it was boring compared to the city life.

Blossom: Yes we do that all the time. Camping, horseback riding, riding four wheelers, cow tipping, swimming in the pond or lake, and campfires....... we do all that back home. Is that different from your home?

Carter thought for a moment on how to explain where he lived. He hit his third ball but the shot was just a little hard and went right over the hole without going in.

Carter: Somewhat. I think everyone in Colorado is into doing outdoors stuff. My family goes camping for two weeks every summer; there is a nice lake there where we go swimming. I grew up horseback riding, hiking, fishing though I've never been cow tipping or four wheeling. There's really not much farm country but the town, where I'm from, isn't huge. Colorado is more known for the resort and national park areas, I suppose. I go snowboarding and skiing a lot. I also would play ice hockey with some of my friends on the lake behind my house.

The one thing the area Carter was from did have was money. Aspen was the area known for the number of famous and wealthy people who had vacation homes there but his area had the wealthy people who lived there.

Carter: It's your shot.

He once again found a shot for her and pointed on the solid ball to show where she should hit it. He then pointed to where she should hit the cue ball.

Carter: Hit the ball here. Just line up the shot with your eye before taking it.

Blossom then did as Carter suggested. By this time she had calmed down a bit and was able to focus on hitting the cue ball. After a few practice strokes she struck the cue ball and it struck another solid ball which went into the side pocket. She once again got excited as she scored another ball. Then she looked at Carter with beaming innocent eyes.

Blossom: I did it! I did it! Did you see that?

Carter smiled. He found Blossom to be adorable. She was truly innocent. It made her charming.

Carter: Yes. I saw. That was really good. Now, let's see if you can find your next shot on your own. Look for a solid ball that's in a straight line to one of the pockets.

He picked up the chalk and handed it to her.

Carter: Here, chalk the end of your stick. You want to chalk after a few turns at the least. It'll add friction to the end of the stick.

Blossom: Oh thanks.

Blossom looked at the chalk for a moment till it made sense why they put it on the stick. For the longest time she didn't do it since it didn't make sense and no one bothered to explain it to her. So that explained why a lot of her shots in the past were all over the place. She took his advice and applied the chalk as Carter instructed her to and smiled as she was excited by her last shot. However this time she tried to remain focused and aimed her stick at the cue ball before she struck it and knocked the next ball in. Once again she got excited by her success as she bounced up and down with a beaming smile.

Blossom: Eeeeekkkk! I did it! This is so amazing!

How was it that some guy hadn't snatched Blossom up yet Carter wasn't understanding but from what he knew she was single. He was happy that she was so excited about making the shots.

Carter: Just keep it up. Chalk up. Find a shot, line it up and shoot. If you need help lining up a shot let me know.

Blossom was bouncing with glee as she replied to Carter.

Blossom: Okay.

She lined up her shot and did her best to focus then struck the ball but this time it caught the corner and bounced off, leaving it an inch from the pocket.

Blossom: Oh so close. Your turn, Carter.

Carter nodded and started to take his shot as he hit the cue ball; he asked.

Carter: So, have you done anything interesting here? I mean besides the beach party.

He knew she was new but she still could have done something she found interesting.

Blossom pondered for a bit then she replied.

Blossom: Well I made some friends, learned some cheers, won two guys in the auction and I just got back from a birthday party so it has been exciting for me.

Carter hit his ball in then looked over the table looking for another shot. His shots were all at weird angles.

Carter: That's good.

He walked around to the other side of the table, bent down and seemed to be picturing a shot in his head. He got up and walked over to the cue ball and did the same thing. He took his stick placing it at an angle across the table then moved it off the table.

Carter: Sometimes you won't have a shot that is lined up clearly. In that case you need to use the cushions which are the sides of the table. You need to figure out where on the cushion you need to hit the cue ball off of so it hits the ball you want to hit into the pocket.

He made sure, one more time he was lined up, got into position, ran the stick back and forth a few times and hit the cue ball. The cue ball bounced off the bumper, rolled at a slight angle and hit one of the striped balls making it roll into one of the corner pockets.

Carter: It takes some practice but isn't as hard to learn as some people think.

He took his second shot but got distracted by the sudden music he heard making him miss the shot. He looked up and some guy had apparently forgotten to turn down his sound. The guy quickly fixed the problem, silencing the music, then apologized. Carter then turned to Blossom.

Carter: You're turn. You've been doing really well so just keep it up.

Blossom smiled at the compliment as she blushed a little.

Blossom: Okay thanks.

She then looked at the table to guess which ball to hit next. So one by one she checked each option and pursed her lips in annoyance. She was still unsure of her best choice. Then she saw a shot involving a triangle position and it sparked a memory from math class. So she double checked it before lining up her shot. Then she focused on the cue ball and took her shot. As the balls collided with each other she perked up quickly as another solid went into the pocket. Blossom then did a little Snoopy dance in her excitement. Then she pointed at the pocket and spoke to Carter

Blossom: I did it like you said! I actually hit it in!

Carter couldn't help but smile at her. She had such a great quality that he couldn't ignore it even if he had tried. Of course, he had no idea about the whole Conner stuff going on. Even if he had it wouldn't have probably changed the way he was finding her.

Carter: Good job. You might be a natural at this. Try to do it again.

They continued their game of billiards as Carter instructed Blossom on how to hit the ball. Sadly she lost the first round, but won the second round and were now on to the third round.

Blossom: Wow this is fun Carter. Do you play this game a lot here or just back home?

Carter: Both really. I try to play here when I have time. At home, we have a pool table in our game room. My Dad taught me and my brother. My sisters are pretty young but they are starting to learn. I'd play more but between practice, training and school I just don't have a ton of free time.

It's not that he regretted sports being such a big part of his life but it made having a normal teen life hard at times. Of course, coming to Sakura had helped.

Blossom: Oh you seem very busy. Is it okay to teach me pool?

Blossom was feeling guilty now for taking Carter’s time. She held her stick nervously as she waited for an answer.

Carter: Sorry, I didn't mean I have no free time. Besides, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't have the time.

He gave her a gentle and friendly smile. He hadn't meant that he didn't have any time. Actually. he didn't think she'd take it that way.

Carter: I didn't mean that the way it came out. I do have more free time now that I'm here.

He decided to change the subject.

Carter: So, besides cheerleading, what else do you like doing? You know, any hobbies or anything like that?

Blossom: Oh my bad. I misunderstood you.

Blossom pondered for a moment as she thought about her hobbies. Other than cheerleading nothing else came to mind. It was then that she realized she put a lot of time into cheerleading back home and missed out on other opportunities. She was a bit conflicted by this since her efforts did get her into a fancy school.

Blossom: I just realized I only do cheerleading. But now that I am here I've learned a lot about other things like surfing, sand castles, fancy food, computers, and concerts. I know I am kind of boring since I am new to the big city but I think it’s a lot of fun here.

Carter nodded. He did understand being more along the lines of single minded with interests.

Carter: Well, all those things are fun. And you're not boring; you just need time to experience more things. Even just taking some time to experience the smaller things. Like some of the restaurants or coffee shops in the area. We're lucky here. This city is big enough to have different things but not a whole lot of the same thing just repeated. Even the coffee shops are more local, mostly, so they are unique.

For a brief moment he wanted to ask her to go out to coffee with him but then he remembered how difficult that could be, at the moment. Carter made a note to himself to ask her later. Once Melissa was away from Doug. Once that happened; he'd be as well. Then things would be different.

Blossom nodded at Carter as he did make sense in what he said. Before she came to this school she didn’t know much about fancy stuff, but now she got to do more fun things she could not do back home.

Blossom: That makes a lot of sense. Thanks to Ashley and her friends I got to see and do a lot of new and fun things. But I do want to thank you for teaching me the right way to play pool.

Carter was glad that Blossom was adjusting to school here; it had taken him some time as well..

Carter: You're welcome. But it's no problem. I'm glad you have gotten a chance to do somethings. The school year is still pretty new; I'm sure you'll get to do a lot more.

It was nearing the end of the third game and Carter was noticing people starting to leave, as it got closer to curfew.

Carter: I think we can finish this game but its getting close to curfew.

Blossom: Thank you.

Blossom then noticed the students leaving and looked at the clock on the wall. She was somewhat shocked by how long she had been playing with Carter. This didn't leave them much time to get back to their dorms.

Blossom: Oh my. You are right. Where did the time go? Well thank you Carter for teaching me to play pool.

Carter cleared the pool table as they finished up.

Carter: Anytime. If you want to play again sometime, just let me know. It's been fun.

With the game now over he took her stick and hung it back on the rack.

Carter: I'll see you later. Have a good night.

Carter headed to his dorm room.

Blossom smiled a bit as she bid Carter goodbye. She then headed back to her dorm in time to see Ashley was there. The two then began to talk about what they went through after they seperated.