The balls shot out again, and the students ran toward them. Jon grabbed the ball with his hands, and headed back. This was certainly fun...at least more fun than gym normally was. Except when he got back, he noticed he was getting a disapproving look from not just the bulldog, but his new partner Abby. What had he done wrong this time?
He tried to think about it, but every time he started to try to figure this out, he got interrupted. There was a bark from the new coach, and they ran the same drill again. Except this time, it was done in groups...human and dog partners. Jon was part of the second group, so he watched closely to see what the other kids would do.
The tennis balls shot out, and the teams ran after them. The kids who were waiting cheered them on this time, even the kids from his language class were making barks of encouragement. When the humans got to their balls, they bent down, and grabbed them with their mouths. Jon froze. This was definitely getting too weird...
But suddenly it was his turn, and he ran toward the ball, and afraid of getting more attention, he forced himself to pick it up in his mouth and run back and was rewarded with an approving look from Abby and the coach.
The class spent the rest of the period playing fetch. Over time, the dogs had fewer and fewer turns, and stood there, waiting for the humans to retrieve the balls. Every time Jon returned with the ball, Abby gave him another approving look and he barely had time to respond before another ball shot out and he had to retrieve it.
