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Staring down into her solo cup, Vi watched the flat beer tremble to the beat of the music. How long she’d been posted up against the wall not drinking her beer was anyone’s guess. This party was a last minute decision that she’d been dragged into by Sevika, when she didn’t want to get dressed-let alone leave the dorm, and Sevika wasn’t even here yet. Vi swore softly under her breath and scanned the crowded room again as she took a tiny sip. Hadn’t anyone at this stupid party thought of serving beer that was cold? She scowled and focused on her primary irritation: the lacrosse game from yesterday. Last night’s game marked the third game in a row that she personally had not scored a single goal. Shot after shot after shot pinged off the top cross bar, the side posts, the goalie’s chest pad. Her scoring average had to be nearly cut in half at this point in the season. And with the College University regional championships coming up in two weeks, this was not the time to find yourself as the team’s leading scorer unable to score. Vi downed the beer bitterly. She should just go. Fuck Sevika, she could walk herself home. She’d walked here and been fine anyways. How could she have wasted a perfectly good outfit and not even seen anyone worth talking to.
“Dude! There you are. Quit being emo over there in the corner and join the rest of us!” Sevika turned her cap backwards, a sure indicator of how much she’d had to drink so far.
“Fuck you! I’m not being emo. I was waiting for your stupid ass to show up.” Vi did feel some relief that Sevika hadn’t stood her up. Sevika somehow managed to look bigger and stronger than most of the frat boys in this basement. They parted for her as she made her way from the stairs to the corner. She bent down a little and tipped Vi’s cup with her pointer finger.
“Do you hate yourself?”
“What? No, I-”
Sevika took the cup, poured it out, and tossed the cup. A pledge scrambled over and collected it before it spent two seconds on the floor. “Then come upstairs, get a real drink and not some of this flat piss, and quit being anti-social.” Then she stared at Vi with an unamused expression. Vi stubbornly waited against the wall and crossed her arms. She blew some hair out of her face.
“I’m pissed about the game.” She admitted. Sevika sighed. Clearly this would take more prodding than she had anticipated when she’d hatched her original plan. Vi noticed how Sevika’s eyeliner was particularly sharp tonight. Her own eyeliner was about two days old. But at least she’d scrubbed off the black war paint from her cheekbones before coming.
“The game yesterday? The game that we won and secured our spot to go to Regionals with?” Sevika spoke the last part in ‘statement’ tone, not ‘question’ tone.
Vi pursed her lips. “You know what I mean. I can’t…I can’t score. Somethin’s wrong with me,” she let real vulnerability into her voice. Or rather, she couldn’t keep it out.
With a sagely nod of the head, Sevika agreed. “Yeah, there is something wrong with you.”
“Hey!”
“But! But…” she grabbed Vi’s shoulders suddenly, locking her attention and her body in place, “as a 6th year red shirt senior who has truly, and I mean truly seen some shit, I know just how to fix this,” her triumphant, crazy smile that Vi usually only saw underneath her goalie helmet, shone like a weapon on Sevika’s face.
Vi’s head flopped back and she rolled her eyes. “Dammit dude, can’t you just find me a bottle of Burnett’s and call it a night?”
She laughed a full on, head back, laugh. “Don’t be stupid. Just trust me. Have I ever let you down?”
“...no…” Vi grumbled.
“Exactly. What kind of captain would I be if I didn’t take care of my players? Now follow me, you dork. And put some of this on.” She produced a bottle of cologne from her back pocket. Vi gave it a reluctant spritz on her collar and her armpits and for good measure, the crotch of her pants. Sevika gave her a once-over and approved before grabbing the back of her neck and steering her through the globs of sweaty party-goers and up the stairs.
Upstairs the party was in full swing with even better music. Plus someone had brought a Bob punching dummy and placed a Santa hat on it. Vi automatically started the course for that, just to throw a couple hits in and blow off steam. Coach Vander specifically forbade anyone on the team from playing any other kind of contact sport during the season and Vi yearned to get a couple sparring sessions in. Sevika’s firm hand guided her away and towards a different section of the house.
“If not that, then where are we…?” Vi trailed off as she set eyes on what had to be the prettiest girl she had ever seen. They stopped short in front of the all legs, gorgeous, dark blue haired girl talking to Mel Medarda. Mel was also on their lacrosse team and was the leading draw taker in the nation currently.
“Mel! Please introduce our lovely Violet here to Caitlyn. Caitlyn, you look stunning tonight.” Sevika released her grip on Vi and gave her a not so gentle push towards the girls. Vi was immediately thankful that she had showered and selected a clean pair of jeans to wear.
“Vi!” Mel’s warmth and smile put Vi at ease. Vi, whose heart was pounding. Sevika nudged a cold bottle of whatever into Vi’s hand while she embraced Mel. “I’m so glad you made it out! Sevika was saying she invited you but I wasn’t sure you’d show. I know you’ve been rather down lately.” She smiled sympathetically. Vi took a generous pull off the bottle and nodded. “This is Caitlyn Kirammen from the marksmanship team. She just transferred in. We went to the same prep school back in the day. Its been ages since we’ve seen each other!” She beamed at Caitlyn.
The blue haired girl extended a polite hand and Vi took it immediately. “Lovely to meet you,” the girl said. Her voice was raised to be heard over the music but her mild accent carried through. All Vi could do was nod stupidly. “Me too. I mean, you too!” Vi shouted back. Her cheeks burned.
“Violet here is our leading scorer this year. She’s really something special.”
“I’ve seen her on the banners in the weight room. You are quite the imposing athlete,” Caitlyn said.
Vi ran her hand through her hair, “aw, it’s nothing. I just do what needs to be done for the team, you know.”
Cailtyn tutted, “nonsense. You have quite a lot to be proud of.” Sevika, who apparently had been standing there watching this exchange, took Mel’s hand and pulled her in close. They fit together off the field as perfectly as they did on the field.
“I’m taking this lovely lady down where the music sounds like shaking some ass,” she smiled ferociously. As they turned to leave she locked eyes with Vi again. “Lock in!” she hissed and jutted her head at Caitlyn. Caitlyn waved bye to Mel and they watched the pair sink into the sea of people once more.
Caitlyn leaned her elegant frame against the mosaic of beer boxes on the wall. She looked Vi up and down and felt herself smile. “Do you always look so brooding?”
Back straightened, Vi casually leaned onto the wall as well, “truth? Yes. But this time its different. I think I’ve got the yips.”
Caitlyn covered her mouth with her hand. “Don’t say that! Are you sure? What’s happened?”
Another long pull from the bottle. A little more liquid courage? Sure, why not. “I can’t score. Nothin’ I do seems to help. Sev even stayed after practice all week to let me shoot on her in the cage. I can’t get the ball in.”
“That sounds pretty serious. I’m so sorry to hear that.” The concern in her voice sounded so genuine, and the pity made her eyebrows knit together in a way that made Vi’s stomach flip. Caitlyn leaned closer and reached for the bottle in her hand.
“It’s trash. I feel useless out there. I mean we obviously still win games but like…I want to help, you know? That’s my whole job. I keep letting everybody down.”
Caitlyn grimaced after swallowing a sip from the bottle and handed it back. “And to make things better you’re drinking…what is this, jet fuel?” She smiled such a gorgeous smile that Vi felt herself smile too.
“Knowing Sevika? This is probably jet fuel.”
“I’ve never met Sevika before tonight. She looks awfully strong under that tank top,” Caitlyn observed. The tank top I let her borrow for tonight, Vi thought with irritation.
“She is, she is. But she’s not as fast on the field. I hold the team record for the fastest mile. And I’m pretty sure I can out-bench press her.”
Cailtyn reached out and gripped Vi’s biceps. She touched her forearms. She put her open hand on Vi’s abdomen and asked her to flex. Vi flexed with all her might and tried not to show it on her face. Silently she thanked the gods for the crazy colored lighting that kept flooding around the room to the beat of the music, otherwise her extremely red cheeks and ears would be blinding to anyone in the vicinity.
“Hm. Is that right?” Caitlyn murmured. Her hand was still on Vi’s stomach, the heat of it nearly radiating straight to Violet’s jeans. Emboldened, Vi carried on.
“Yeah. And I out-squatted her once too. It was over Christmas break but that still counts, right?”
“Oh I’d say that definitely counts. You’ll have to show me how you did it sometime.” She pulled her hand away and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing some piercings.
“Would you care to get some air outside? It’s beginning to smell a bit too much like spilled beer in here.” Caitlyn nodded towards a sliding glass door. Took one last pull from the bottle before setting it on top of an abandoned pong table and found herself out on a pleasantly cooler patio moments later.