October 24th, Wednesday, Greendale Apartments 7:01 pm "What the hell," Felicity swore as she shut her cell phone off. That had been the seventh failed attempt to get hold of her girlfriend, and now she was starting to worry. She knew Amy worked from five to ten every weekday, and that she always took her phone with her just in case, but surely she would've had sufficient time during her break to at least check her messages. Felicity left two, one prior to the team meeting and one after, and hoped that everything was okay. Well, perhaps today was just one of those days when Amy was feeling a little scatterbrained. It happened to everyone: Felicity remembered several times where she accidentally locked herself outside her car (once while the engine was still running), and had to call her father or a locksmith service. She could only hope that was the case. "Did you get her yet?" Kasumi asked. She came out of the bathroom wearing boxer shorts and an oversized tee shirt, her long hair tied up with a towel swirling around it. Valencia soon followed, in a bathrobe (and scant else). "No. I'm going to try one more time before calling it quits." "Maybe she forgot her phone," Kasumi suggested. "Mmn, I hope so. Amy's usually so prompt whenever we call her." "You mean whenever you call her," she smirked. Felicity rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't worry about it," Valencia said. "Amy's tougher than she looks; she'll be okay. I really appreciate you letting me stay here, Felicity. I still feel like I'm imposing, though." "Well, it's not like you two can stay at your place all the time. It gets a little boring. I've had Amy over here a few times, so it's not like you're setting any precedent." "Yeah, but did you two rock the casbah or anything?" "No," she grumbled bluntly. "We just hung out." "It's true," Kasumi attested. "But really, Val- rock the casbah? Isn't that a little before our time?" "What, don't people use that term anymore? What other polite euphemisms can we use instead?" "Just say 'have sex'," Felicity said. "I know what you mean. It doesn't bother me anyway." "Really? Hmm, you learn something new every day. Anyway, I really appreciate it. It is actually kind of fun to be sleeping in a different bed." "Mi casa es su casa," Kasumi purred as she nibbled Valencia's ear. Felicity made herself scarce as the two lovebirds played and squealed, journeying to the kitchen for some privacy and a snack. Not long after settling in, she heard a rude banging at the door, and jumped in surprise. Who on earth could be hammering like that? Some immature redneck or a practical joker? Perhaps a pervert who had seen three women entering, or an elderly prude overhearing Kasumi and Valencia's antics? Felicity didn't know her neighbors very well; it could be anybody. The banging continued as she got up, irate, marching to the door. "Okay, okay, I'm coming! Jeez, what kind of idiot would be- " She froze as she peered through the peephole. It was her father. "Uh, hi," she said stiffly, opening the door at once. Samuel Velur had never been a particularly pleasant man, even at his best, but now he was downright infuriated- hence the banging. "Have you been hearing what is on the news, young lady?" he demanded. Uh-oh, here it came. Felicity only had seconds to brace herself for the storm. "Do you know what people are saying about that school of yours- and that team- and about you?" "Yes I do, father," she replied softly. "Then there's no need for me to explain. I want you to pack all your bags by tomorrow morning and come with me. We're leaving this place before any more damage is done." Felicity froze for a moment. A few months ago, she would've obeyed him to the letter. She nearly slipped back into her old habits as she took a step back. But her feet were stuck, and her eyes hardened as she stared at her father, still a little conflicted and uncertain, as she stood up to him for the first time in her entire life. "No." Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don't care, I'm still free You can't take the sky from me Take me out to the black Tell them I ain't comin' back Burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from me There's no place I can be Since I found serenity But you can't take the sky from me... "Fallen Angels, Part Two" "What did you say?" Samuel Velur demanded sharply. Felicity was a little scared, but she couldn't back down anymore. She had sworn to herself she wouldn't live by his expectations anymore, and now was the time to prove her word. "Father, I don't know why you think I can run away from my problems, but I'm not going to. I understand you're concerned, but I think I'm old enough to handle whatever comes my way. If you would like to help me- " "Don't take that tone with me, young miss," he snorted, resorting to the title he used when he was most upset with his daughter (which was quite often). "I am not requesting your input; I am telling you to do as you're told. This school and these surroundings have corrupted you long enough, and now you see the consequences! Start packing immediately, young miss, or I'll do it for you." "Father, I'm not going," she repeated, not much stronger than before. "I like my life here! I have a great job, I've made lots of friends, and we're having a great season! I don't want to throw all that away just because of a little problem!" "Are you even listening to yourself?!" he barked. "Friends? A job? And do you call this bribery chaos a little problem? How dare you talk that way to me!" "But it's the truth! Please, father, I want to stay." "You don't know what you want. I'm the only person who knows what's best for you." "No, you don't know anything about me!" she screamed. Both father and daughter jerked back at that last outburst, surprised at the suddenness (and the volume). "Don't you raise your voice at me, young miss," Samuel whispered, still reeling from the shock. "What on earth has gotten into you? You never used to be like this before." "That's because I'm not going to live up to your ridiculous perfectionist expectations of me anymore. You had me slaving away at this sport without leaving time for anything else except my studies! I never made any friends or got to do anything fun!" "Because those things are hollow distractions!" he roared. "Those things are a part of my life now! MY LIFE, father! You can't have a life if you only concentrate on one silly insignificant thing!" "INSIGNIFICANT!" She never thought he would slap her; usually his glare was enough to restrain Felicity's rebellious spark. Shock once more overcame the two, and Kasumi and Valencia came rushing, disturbed by the shouting and the grueling snap of a hand striking their friend. "What the hell is going on out here? Holy shit, your face is all red! Are you okay?" "You should be ashamed of yourself!" Valencia said, glaring at Felicity's father. "I don't know what's going on, but what gives you the right to hit her like that?" "Ah...I'm her father," he stuttered, still amazed at what he had done. "I...didn't mean to. It's her fault. She provoked me into it! She's being disobedient! But who may I ask are you two? Her friends?" "I'm her roommate," Kasumi mumbled- "and her friend." "And you?" he said to Valencia. "Uh, I guess we're sort of friends. I'm her teammate, too." "And my girlfriend," Kasumi added. "WHAT!?" he screeched. He focused all his fury upon his daughter again. "You never told me you were shacking with...a couple of...of dykes! That does it! Forget about packing, just come with me!" He grabbed her arm, ferociously strong like a claw, but Felicity wriggled away, staring back with determined fury on her face. "I told you I'm staying! Look, father, if soccer's all you're concerned about, and it looks like it is, then you don't have to worry. I'm still going to play, and I'm going to play my best, but it's going to be for my sake now. I don't care if I win or lose; I just want to play, because that's what I enjoy doing. And I'm still going to stay here and keep my job and my friends no matter what you think! And I don't CARE if Kasumi and Valencia are gay, because you know what?! SO AM I! There, I said it! I'M A LESBIAN, DAD!!!" "Whoa!" Kasumi balked. "Yikes!" Valencia paled. Samuel Velur staggered backwards, clutching his chest as he bumped into the wall. Felicity didn't waste a second: she took off down the hall to the stairway, with naught but her sleeping-clothes on. "Whoa, wait, where are you going?" Valencia called. "I can't stay here tonight! I'm going somewhere where my father won't find me! And once I'm there, I'm going to get in touch with my mother! GOOD-BYE!!" "Don't you do it!!" Samuel roared, lurching after her. "Don't you dare! You get right back here, young miss! RIGHT NOW!!" "That's it, I'm calling the police," Kasumi stated. She marched inside and plucked her cell phone from its place, pressing 9-1-1. Samuel almost followed her in, but Valencia held him back. "You're not welcome here! This is Kasumi's apartment, and she doesn't want you inside." "Get out of the way, you filthy dyke whore!" He shoved her sharply, but Valencia wasn't about to go down that easily. Even as she fell, she grabbed hold of his legs and locked them in one of the few wrestling moves she knew (apparently being forced to go to that one Luchador tournament with her father and Felix paid off). Just to be safe, Kasumi ran to her room, locking and barring herself in. She only came out once the call went through, but had to save Valencia. Samuel Velur was stronger than he looked; she had to elbow him a few times to pry him loose. "They're on their way!" she stated. "If I were you, I'd come up with a damn good reason for all this violence- and I don't think they're gonna take any 'parental rights' crap. Your daughter is nineteen, after all." Samuel stood up, rubbing his bruises, smiling confidently. The fight had gone out of him, but not the pride. "You think you can scare me that easily? You stupid dyke slut. This isn't the first time some ignorant fool called the authorities on me. The police aren't as noble and selfless, or as intelligent, as you might want them to be. They're as fallible and gullible as you are. I didn't go through years of law school for nothing." "Oh, whatever! I just hope you're wearing old clothes when the shit hits the fan," she replied. "Now get outta here before I kick you out myself. And trust me, pal, I go right for the balls." "I have no further business here anyway," he huffed, straightening his collar and tie. Kasumi and Valencia took a deep sigh of relief once he left, and prayed that Felicity would have enough time to find better sanctuary. In the meantime, Valencia smiled wearily at her lover. "Right for the balls? Ha! That's what she said!" "Grow up. Come on, we'd better tell Leena about this." - Elisa Berkeley, idols: Steven King, Chaka Khan, Grainne Ni Mhaille; left midfielder/reserve- Dr. Sierra Maethers, who happened to be both Maria's mother and Freya's personal physician, didn't like the way things looked. Not one bit. Earlier she had gotten a call from one of Freya's instructors, specifically Ursula Connors, the Networking teacher, regarding Miss Hohenheim's sudden collapse. She was not breathing when Connors found her, and was also cold, and unconscious. Luckily, she knew CPR, and she had remained calm as her students called the ambulance. Thanks to such a fast response, Freya arrived with plenty of time for Sierra to stabilize her, and now she was resting in relative comfort. Dr. Maethers had seen similar incidents before, and while they all horrified her and brought no end to grey hairs on her head, they were at least temporary. But they also foreshadowed a much more dire scenario, one that was inching closer with each passing day. Freya needed treatment soon, or else there would be no turning back. The operation would be terribly risky in her condition, and she certainly wasn't getting any better. Dr. Maethers didn't want to wait until it was "five minutes to midnight", but even if she began the procedure at once, the odds of Freya surviving were bleak. Therefore, she didn't like the way things looked. Less concerning, though no less important, was the status of another patient who was admitted not long ago. A waitress from a local Chili's had fainted in full view of fifty customers, and was diagnosed with trauma, exhaustion, mental stress, and some bruises from the fall. She was a healthy-looking woman of Asian origin, possibly Chinese (Sierra had a hard time telling the difference just by looking at her name), and the ID in her pockets indicated she was Nguyen, Amy, of Ocean Apartments, and she was a student at Carnegie. Sierra theorized that she must've heard about the recent scandal on the news, and fainted from shock. In any case, she needed less care than Freya, though Sierra told her interns to keep a close eye on her. Shiki and Maria arrived like clockwork not long after Sierra ran through her diagnosis. Whenever she could get away with it, she always tried to allow them into Freya's room, even if hospital rules forbade it. After all, they were as much her family as Ezekiel, Alita, Gauss, and Ida. She knew about their sexual relationship with Freya, but normally turned a blind eye, stating it really wasn't any business of hers (although it did seem odd that her daughter should be Freya's lover, while she had been in love with Freya's father as long as she could remember). Freya was regrettably asleep when her companions arrived, and according to Sierra's grim report, she wouldn't be waking for some time. "We're at a critical stage in her degeneration," she replied, as calmly as she could. "Freya is fast approaching that point of no return. Right now, of course, she's still passably healthy, provided she doesn't exert herself. She can still walk and enjoy most of her daily activities. Soon, however- I don't know when- she'll be forced to use a wheelchair twenty-four-seven, and later, if nothing is done, she'll have to stay at the hospital...indefinitely. It wouldn't be much longer before she dies." "So do you think you might be starting the operation soon?" Shiki wondered fearfully. Sierra sighed despondently. "Ideally, yes. The later we wait, the less chance she'll have of recovery. But I've told you both before that this operation is very experimental, and not only is it not guaranteed to work, but even if we do succeed, there may be some...permanent repercussions." "Like...what?" "Well, for starters," she began thickly, "some of her internal organs might be damaged. A transplant after an operation of this magnitude would simply be out of the question. Furthermore, her movement will probably be hindered: she may still need that wheelchair for the rest of her life. Even if none of that happens, the medication she'd be put on might counteract everything she's taking right now, and everything up to this point, so that it would in fact do more harm than good. On the bright side, the sooner we start, the better odds she'll have. Right now I'm guessing she has something like a fifty percent chance of recovery, but I'm probably being too optimistic." Maria and Shiki were understandably quiet. They both knew this day was going to come, and they had tried to deny, ignore, and put it off for as long as possible. Now it was staring at them right in the face, like a subway train barreling right for them, and they were powerless to move out of the way. They wanted to say something to bring everyone's spirits back up, but nothing came to mind. This was as bad as it got for them. "Anyway, that's the story. If you ladies want, I could treat you to some dinner. I know you might not be hungry after hearing all this, but if none of us eat, then we'll shrivel away, and we won't be ready for whatever happens. My shift ends soon anyway; there's nothing more I can do today." "I suppose it's the only thing we can do," Maria said soberly. "That and pray, of course." "Pray?" Shiki retorted bitterly. "To what? To a god that would allow this to happen?" "This wasn't an act of God," Sierra insisted quietly. "I think prayer would suffice very nicely in this situation. In the meantime, where would you like to eat? Anywhere but Chili's." "Why do you say that?" Maria said. Shiki stopped them all and pointed to a small plaque next to a patient's room. "Because one of her patients works there. Look. Doesn't that name sound familiar?" Maria peered at it: Nguyen, Amy. "Oh yeah! She's that girl who Freya was sweet on awhile back. I think she's on the team." "I remember," Shiki snorted. Maria smirked. "You sound jealous, Araya-chan! Jeez, will you get over it? That was like, weeks ago!" "What was?" her mother asked. "I'll tell you when we're eating." - Fausta Nazario, idols: Leonardo da Vinci, Theodore Roosevelt, Franz Beckenbauer; sweeper- At first Felicity wanted to visit the Lily Club. After all, it was "a sanctuary for women", and generally a nice place to while away the hours. But that was an impulsive thought: she knew she couldn't live there, and considering how angry she had made her father, she would need a place to stay for several days, at the very least. Besides, it would be too easy for him to find out where she worked. She needed somewhere more secretive. She mentally ran through the handful of places where her teammates lived, trying to figure out which would best suit her needs. Not only would it have to be private, but the resident would also have to be willing to put up with her. Before long she had her answer, thanks in part to Leena's advice: Nadia. She lived in the dorms, but the only people that could go beyond the lobby were residents and guests. You needed a keycard for the upper floors, and each floor had a specific keycard which its residents used (for example, a Level 12 card for the twelfth floor, Level 9 for the ninth floor, etc.); you couldn't even go into the hallway without them. Obviously, in the event of a fire or other emergency, all the locks were released and everyone could come and go as they pleased, but otherwise, Felicity would be quite secure there. Even if her father did go the extra mile and look up the names of the players- and she had no doubt that he would go that far, all for the sake of his worthless pride and impossible demands- he would never be able to approach them without Nadia's express permission. Even if things did go bad, Felicity had other teammates living in the dorms as well: Fausta, Fleur, Rain, Lauren, and Terra. It was really the best place for her to be. She settled into the visitor's parking lot and discreetly approached the lobby desk. Visitors needed permission from residents to go any further; not even family members were exempt. Complaints had risen, of course, but they had been smoothed over with that old adage, "you can never be too careful". Before this rule had been implemented, one of the students had been badly beaten by a member of their family who had gotten through, and now they were taking every precaution necessary. Felicity at least had the foresight to call Nadia before arriving; she sounded hoarse and feeble, but grateful for the company. An employee escorted her; he was an energetic, slightly ditzy man not much older than her. "Let's see...floor three, room thirty-six. Are you one of Miss Khovansky's friends?" "Uh, yes, do you know her?" "I sure do! We've got employees looking after every floor of these dorms, and I'm the one responsible for number three, so it only makes sense that I'd know her. We actually hang out a lot; I even go to see her at work sometimes." "Oh, are you Floyd? She's mentioned you a few times. I've seen you with her at the Club." "Then you must be Felicity!" he exclaimed happily. He turned and offered his hand; they shook. "It's great to finally put a face to the name...or is it a name to the face? Well, whichever it is, nice to meet you! Say, is it true you're on the college soccer team as well?" "Yeah," she smiled, before turning sullen and adding, "but not right now. Because of the ban and all." "Oh, yeah, that. Man, that sucks! We finally get a decent sports team around here and some a-hole bureaucrat with nothing better to do clips your wings! I wish I could see that rat's face in person, so I could give him a piece of my mind!" Felicity laughed- she needed a good chuckle after seeing her father earlier. "You'd be very popular with the team. We're all of the same opinion- well, most of us, anyway. So you think we're innocent?" "Of course I do! I've watched St. Thekla's for years; I actually dated someone on the team awhile back. There's no way they'd take a bribe! It just doesn't make sense! They've got such a strong reputation to uphold, so why ruin that by being in the middle of all this mess?! It just doesn't add up." "I know," she sighed. "But apparently there's strong evidence to the contrary." "Ppssh, evidence!" he spat. "What does that mean? I say someone set you up. It was probably some poor sport from another team you guys beat who wanted revenge. Urgh, people like that get on my nerves." Felicity smiled sweetly at him: she was glad there were people on the outside supporting them. It made her feel less alone in the world. They finally reached Nadia's floor and room a few minutes later, but before Floyd let her in, he had one small request. "It's kind of dorky, but this is a rare opportunity. I'd like your autograph, if I could." "My autograph?" She tittered and blushed. Nobody had ever asked Felicity for her signature before- not in this context, anyway. "Uh, I guess so. It's kind of a weird request. I mean, it's not like I'm famous or anything." "I know. But I'm a big fan. I already have Miss Wilson's autograph, too, as well as Nadia's and a few others. You two are the only girls from Carnegie I know." "I could introduce you to everyone if you'd like," she offered, as he gave her a notebook filled with names. Sure enough, Nadia's and Shannon Wilson's names were there, as well as people from Anolis and Lovelace. "I really appreciate that," he grinned. Felicity smiled at him, leaned up, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And I appreciate you believing in us. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that now. I'll see you on the way down, okay?" She winked and stepped inside; Floyd touched his reddened face, smiling dreamily, walking on clouds as he headed back to the first floor. For all the gloom Felicity thought she heard over the phone, Nadia seemed just as cheerful and full of life as always. And even though she knew her teammate and coworker was coming over, she still insisted it was a wonderful surprise. "We don't have many chance to have seeing away from work and gamez, nyet? Is perhaps my fun opportunity to get to know real kitty Felicia." "You're getting better at pronouncing my name," Felicity smiled. "Anyway, I'm really grateful to you for this. I hope I'm not imposing." "No, no, you can stay for as long as you have wanting! Pleaze, think of this as...ah, home two?" "Thank you," she replied softly, her face glowing. Felicity didn't know whether to be in a good mood because of Nadia and Floyd, or horror-stricken after the debacle with her father. The ambivalence got to her and she fell into the nearest chair, letting out a rather loud and relieved sigh. Nadia joined her, smiling sweetly, an inquisitive look in her eyes. "You have been havink bad day? Or is just usual crap from the...uh, bribing liez?" "Both," she grunted. "My father caught wind of the whole thing and came barging into my apartment. We had a big argument and he ended up slapping me. He never struck me before; it came as quite a shock." Nadia gasped. "Nyet! Your papa is really so angry? What could make him do that?! Should he not say 'you are not doing this' and love you?" "Yes, he should, but you don't know my father. It's thanks to years of his emotional abuse that I was such an ass to you when we first met. Nadia, I really can't apologize enough for the way I acted back then. You've been nothing but great to me, and...ah, I guess I'm just rambling now. Sorry." "No, you can be ramblink. I don't care. I think will be better for you to say it." "I don't wanna unload my problems on you. Just me coming here is trouble enough." "No, no trouble!" she grinned, bouncing a little in her chair. "I like havink you here. No fun at all by myself. I get so very bored. Not enough friends come to visit." "You said the same thing to me when you were sick, remember?" They both smiled at the memory. It had been an unlikely way for them to bond. "Well, you don't have to worry about being lonely. I came here because I thought it would be a safe place to hide out until my dad cools off- if that ever happens. So, um...I'll need to crash here for a few days." "Yippee!!" Nadia squealed and literally tackled Felicity with a hug, almost knocking the chair over. Felicity coughed loudly and tried to hug back, blushing terribly as she embraced Nadia's soft, warm, womanly body. This had been the closest they had ever been, and Felicity felt bad that it had taken them this long just to get here. Nadia pulled away with a cute, apologetic smile, and Felicity reached out to brush her beautiful honeyed hair away. "You're crazy, you know that?" "Is that a problem?" "No," she giggled. What a wonderful friend she was. Felicity was glad she had chosen to stay with Nadia. They definitely needed to spend some time together, just the two of them. "Actually, about that: Leena was worried about you during the meeting. She asked if I could check up on you- since, you know, we work together and all." "Oh, you saw that? Was not my very best day, but I am feeling happy with my Felicia kitten here. Makes day seem so much better." Felicity blushed again, so deeply that she could feel it burning. "You're embarrassing me," she grumbled playfully. Nadia beamed at her sweetly, finally giving her more space as she got up and wandered to the kitchen, presumably to make a snack for them. "Uh, are you sure you're okay? I mean, if you don't want to unload your problems on me, I can understand. But...you know I'm your friend, right? I mean, we are friends, aren't we? I know I was a jerk to you before, but- " "No, you have always been such great friend of mine, even during early jerk days. I liked you even when you had angry kitty issues!" Felicity laughed, but that also made her feel a little bad. Nadia was simply too good to her. "Thanks. I don't deserve it." "Hmm. Family can always said to me...uhh, no, wait, I had word wrong. They were always tell me, 'nobody deserve love more or less than anyone'. Uhh, is harder to translate exactly. Do you know what I am talking about?" "Yeah. I'm really envious. I mean, you already know enough about my father, and... Did I ever tell you that I never really knew my mother? I mean, I got letters from her sometimes, but I haven't seen her since I was a kid. Later I found out that my father was deliberately keeping her away from me- I don't know why." Nadia gasped again and covered her mouth, murmuring something in Russia that Felicity could only assume was sympathetic in nature. "How can that have possible? I grew up with love for papa and mama, and Nana Svetlana, and so many great people who were always there for me, so full of love. I could never think of any other way. I am so sorry for what you have been through." "Thanks, but it's not your fault. And it's not like I really have it that bad off. I mean, my father may have been a tyrant, but at least he wasn't an unemployed drunk, and he didn't beat me or...sell me into prostitution or...rape me or whatever." Nadia shook her head, looking pale and horrified. It was the same feeling the Buddha had when he emerged from his life of luxury into the slums, where he experienced death, age, and poverty for the first time. She even cried. She spoke again in Russian, and approached Felicity, drawing her into an embrace. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, shivering a little. "I have confess. My life was not all sun and happy smiles, either. I am havink problems even today. Seeing my sweet kitty come here made all that go away, and I could feel nothing but glad." Felicity didn't know it just yet, but Nadia's emotional barriers were beginning to crack, and the pain she had felt earlier was resurfacing. She loved Felicity and trusted her, but she was also a secretive person: she wasn't ready to explain just how similar their lives were- not in any language Felicity understood. And so, Nadia bared her soul, but she bared it in her native language, and let her eyes and her grip fill in for the rest. Felicity only picked up a few words- papa, mama, Nana, yes, no- but she knew that whatever Nadia was saying was monumental, and so she did the best thing any friend could do, and listened. She sat there and held Nadia as the young woman spilt everything that had been weighing her down: all the things she couldn't say to anyone else, not even Elisa. It took awhile, because Nadia had a lot of emotional baggage, but once it was over, she looked much healthier. She even smiled. "Thanks for listening. I need that." "Sure, anytime." She smiled again and wiped more hair from Nadia's face, sighing, "Now if only we could get this under control." "You could always help me in shower," she grinned shakily. Felicity snorted. "I'll think about it. Right now I think it'd be better if we went to bed. It's almost eleven." "Hmm, yes, we have both had big day. Many things done. We sleep in same room?" "Uh, sure, that sounds great." "Sleep together?" she squealed. Felicity grimaced and let go of her. "Uh, only if we both keep our pajamas on." "Yaaay! We have pillow fight too?" "Sure," she grinned. They had no trouble falling asleep once they were underneath the covers: they stared smiling at each other and finally snuggled together, holding hands. - Felicity Velur, idols: David Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Dr. Gregory House; forward- Alice just wanted to be alone. Carnegie was full of students, faculty, and now, investigators and reporters drawn in from this scandal disaster. That was a problem. Everywhere she turned, she was bothered by someone, whether they simply leered at her or walked up and assaulted her with questions. By now she had learned that the public saw her as Prime Suspect number two in this dilemma, right next to poor Felicity. Alice had never been a person who liked attention or the public- her height, fragile mental condition, and sociopathy were bad enough on their own. Now it was all salt on the wounds; her every refuge had been taken from her. Even Rain seemed more distant than usual...probably because, as a former student of the Chairman, she had nothing to worry about. Damn her. In her wanderings she found herself before the soccer field, now settling into some disuse. The grass was still being trimmed, watered, and kept, but it was otherwise abandoned. No surprises there: after Fitzgerald's announcement, there didn't seem a point. But there was a light of hope yet, though Alice could scarcely believe it. Jennifer was running around dribbling a store-bought ball, wearing an old grass-stained shirt, sweat pants, and sneakers. She was shooting the ball into the two nets and performing the same exercises that Leena had drilled into them so many times before. Alice stood watching her, smiling faintly, until she was noticed. Jennifer ran up, stinking of fresh-cut grass, dirty and very, very beautiful. "Hey! What do you think? Have I gotten better?" "Y...yeah," Alice admitted awkwardly. "I mean...you're practicing out here by yourself?" "I don't see anyone else around," she gestured. "You wanna join me? You're not exactly dressed for it, but that shouldn't matter." "Um...I...I'd love to," she stuttered, amazed that someone was being so friendly to her. "But I thought we weren't supposed to be here." "The Chairman said that we're suspended from games, I know. But he didn't say anything about suspending us from practice, or having meetings. He also didn't say we couldn't gather together with...oh, say, the men, and practice with them. If he gives us any grief, we'll head right to the park and practice there." "That's...really clever," she admitted warmly. "And I also think it's very brave." "Meh, nothing brave about it. I just didn't want to give in, that's all. I want to be prepared for our debut performance, whenever that may be. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sure we'll overcome this trial of ours, and emerge better than when we came in. ...Okay, that sounded better in my head, but you know what I mean. So are you going to join me or what? It's pretty hard doing this just by myself." "Uh...yes," she said, taking a sprint.
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