"It's just a rumor, it'll go away,"
Julia's words from the previous night echoed in her head as she pulled the pillow tighter to her chest and closed her eyes. Sure, it might have started as just a rumor, but it'd had soon snowballed into something bigger, something Mathilda wasn't sure if she could handle.
She wasn't weak, she just… She just couldn't take this much at once, it was all too much and she felt like she was drowning.
It had started out like just any other day, practice with Miguel and the rest of the team and then she, Julia and Mariah had hit the streets trying to find a dress for the formal affair that the BBA was putting on. All in all it had been a great day, sure, practice could've been better, but the girl talk later and the giggling in the shops had made up for that.
That is, until she found herself more or less dropped into a tank filled with sharks. Or reporters as it were, but it made little difference, they'd torn her pieces none the less.
It had begun simply enough, they'd asked about the team and how she thought they'd do in the preliminary rounds that were coming up. Then someone had began to ask if they were planning to use the same strategy as they had done previously, never mind the fact that Barthez was no longer their boss, never mind the fact that Miguel had quite publicly gone against his wishes, never mind that they'd fought fairly ever since.
They had to bring it up. They had to bring up that one painful memory Mathilda tried her best to ignore, the one that woke her up in the night and had her sobbing in the shower after practice. It had only been a few seconds, but as she'd watched her previous Pierce blow up into a million little pieces something in her heart had broken and she had no idea how to fix it.
Never mind the fact that she had a new beyblade, a new Pierce, never mind that her team had used their own parts to build her one during the tournament, sweet as it was, it just wasn't Pierce.
As the reporters had gotten more rude and violent, she, Mariah and Julia had done their best to dodge them, but it hadn't taken the reporters long to zone in on her and separate her from the others. Before she knew it she was swarmed and they were coming at her from all sides, she had felt like she was being torn apart by a pack of wild wolves.
Then a real wolf had appeared, or rather, the master of one. She had no idea where he came from, but she remembered his arm pulling her to his side and pulling her out of the mass of people, reporters screaming as they tried to get an answer as to whether or not she'd do it again, and were they a couple?
He'd kept walking, almost holding her up and pushing her forward they'd put a little distance between them and the reporters. She wasn't sure how he did it, but something about him kept them away and gave her a few sacred moments of silence.
They'd kept going until they reached Julia and Hilary who had managed to hail a cab. She'd stood there, staring at him for a few brief moments, contemplating what to do when he'd brushed her cheek. Later she'd discover that she'd been crying, but at the time she could only blink and stare at him. He had glanced towards the reporters who were slowly gathering again, whispering amongst themselves; Is this the new power couple?
They had looked at one another for a few moments then he'd bowed down so his lips rested next to her ear.
"They won't stop until you give them what they want or you give them something else," he had pulled back and looked her into the eyes then, "the only choice you have is whether or not that something else is going to be given voluntarily by you or taken by force by them."
She had stared at him, uncertain of what he meant she had glanced toward the reporters; she had no idea what to give them. She wasn't that exciting, she wasn't like Julia or Raul who could easily distract a crowd simply by performing. She didn't have the dazzling smile that Mariah did nor did she have the mystique that Kai had. All she had was her mistake, that's the only thing she could come up with that was even remotely exciting about her.
He must've seen her confusion because he sighed and rolled his eyes, touching her cheek affectionately with his hand he'd moved down again.
"Allow me," he's said and she'd been so confused and mesmerized she hadn't been able to see it coming. A soft peck on the cheek, nothing more than a butterfly's wings brushing across it, he'd pulled back.
"I'll pick you up at eight," he's said, just loud enough that she and the reporters closest to them could heart. It hadn't taken long, she'd heard them mumbling as she stared at him.
Are they together? Are they dating? How long has this been going on? What is she doing with him, everyone know he's got a new girl for every day of the week! Isn't she with Miguel? What about Mystel, weren't they spotted together somewhere? Who else has she been with?
It had gone on and on until Julia had grabbed her hand and tugged her into the cab as she'd gotten impatient waiting for Mathilda's brain to catch up with what had just occurred.
It wasn't until she was safely snuggled on the couch in her hotel room that the reality of what had just occurred struck her.
She'd turned on the TV and before her very eyes she watched as the reporters dug through her (nonexistent, but that didn't seem to matter) love life. Every incident involving another male was analyzed and by the end of it she felt like she was dirty and cheap.
She'd called Julia first, thinking she'd be the best one to ask for advice, completely forgetting that Julia was in the news every other day, constantly being paired with one guy after the other. To her, it was normal and it didn't embarrass her at all.
It didn't just embarrass Mathilda, it mortified her. She felt like a common prostitute and as the day had faded into evening and the evening news had begun it had just gotten worse.
When she finally crawled into bed she felt like she might as well have slept with every single male member in the BBA, well, except for Zoe, Oliver (who'd been nice enough to leave a reply on her answering machine telling her it'd be alright) and Bryan (who seemed to have some magic trick going that kept him out of the limelight no matter what was going down).
She hadn't heard a word from him, but frankly she wasn't certain if she even wanted to.
He might've said that either she could give or the reporters could take, but as it were she felt like he had made the decision for both herself and the reporters and as she clutched her blade tightly in her hand she felt herself grinning just a bit.
You started this game Tala, you used me as a pawn in your little game. Well, I can play games too, and we both know I'm willing to sacrifice everything for my cause. The question that remains unanswered however; are you?
So my Mathilda (at least in this story) has a bit more backbone that she usually has (in my head at least). This is pretty much just meant to be a drabble, but become rather long and ended up as a one shot. I don't really plan on writing anything more on this, but if inspiration strikes, who knows?