Author's note: Hello again! I know it hasn't been long, but this is hot off the press. I've decided to make the chapters a whole lot longer so I can pack more meat into them and keep decent time gaps in between. And also I was going back and forth between and M and T rating, but I decided to go with M because it makes room for more fun. This chapter is more of another segway into the plot and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I love reading your reviews so feel free to do so. Love you ~S
Chapter two
Alex's tray smacked harshly against the grimy cafeteria tables when she took a fervid seat next to Nicky and across from Morello the following day, startling the pride of Lions and causing her black rimmed glasses to fall askew.
"I haven't been able to sleep all fucking night. What the fuck is Red thinking?" Alex lashed out at a pathetic chunk of mystery meat with her plastic fork. She shoveled the gravy-bathed victim in her mouth, ignoring the putrid taste. The itching question at hand was something everyone on the team had pondered within the last hour. Nothing in the godforsaken planet would have provoked Red enough to just bring in another girl without trying her out. And the mere idea of another Lion was so vexing, it was borderline painful. The question still floated about them as Alex continued to stab at her prison-worthy meal. Cindy shrugged her hefty shoulders as she hunched back over her lasagne, averting any and all eye contact with the livid girl.
The cafeteria was buzzing with people as usual. Meat-headed jocks occupying one corner of the musty vicinity, preps and do-gooders in the other. But despite all the meaningless commotion that hummed about them, the team's frustration, whether voiced or silent, seemed to occupy the entire place. The whole day leading up to the long-awaited lunch period seemed to pass over in a dull sepia kind of light. Economics seemed staler than usual. The math lesson tempted agonizing migraines to press around their temples. The water fountain water's nauseating metallic overtone seemed way more abrasive than normal. Hallway traffic seemed more congested. It felt as if the all the discontentment and defeat rode arrogantly upon their shoulders. Their bones felt heavy beneath their skin, making the perpetual soreness along their delts and biceps sting more than usual. And moreover,
It was a Tuesday.
Taystee released a puff of stress from the depths of her stocky body and folded her arms across her chest.
"Don't even remind me. I got enough to worry about." That triggered a bark of laughter from Cindy.
"Mmhm like what? Curlin' up in bed and kickin' it with your Harry Potter smut or is there somethin' else y'all wanna share?" Taystee flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger as the table bubbled up in a swell of hilarity and hollering. Poussey drummed her hands against the table and blared a makeshift air horn that consisted of her own voice and her fist. Nicky clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened and even Alex couldn't contain the snickers that managed to slip. Cindy took a firm smack on the shoulder from Taystee across the table.
"You fuckin' went through my tabs? Bitch, that shit's personal!" She continued to pile on slaps with the calloused palms of her hands until her fingers were numb and tingling.
"That's why you put a password on ya phone, dumbass!" Taystee gave a doubled over Cindy a final swat on the side of her head before returning back down to her seat, still boiling over with humiliation. Poussey wiped a tear that glossed over her duct before refocusing the conversation.
"Aight as much as roastin' Taystee's ass is fun as shit, we gotta regroup. Real talk." Alex un-neeedingly adjusted her glasses, genuinely impressed by the slim girl's ability to reign in the commotion. And she had to give credit where credit was due.
"Thank you." Alex nodded to her across the way. The girls took a second to catch their fleeting breaths and regain seriousness, even minutes after the discovery of Taystee's magically guilty pleasures. The table was silent for a few arid moments. As if the winds anything and everything anti-epiphany related blew above them for a while. Eyes darted to the right or left of the faces around them or glued themselves to the ceiling or floor. Blunt nails drummed against the table and passive sighs filled the empty space of idea-less air.
"Well, I mean, is a new girl so problematic?" All eyes attacked the petite little New-York-Italian who bore a nervous smile.
"What do you mean is a new girl problematic? It's terrible news!" Nicky finished up the last of her Diet Coke before crushing the can with her hand. Morello's eyebrows bent upon each other and her smile began to fade.
"I think you're being a little dramatic." Nicky scoffed and tossed the can behind her head, hitting a passing prep on its descent.
"Hey, watch where you throw," The Lacoste-hampered boy hissed with a pretty blonde on his arm.
"Watch where you walk," The catcher didn't even bother to turn and look at them.
"You should find some class," the boy continued on his way through the cafeteria, the doe-eyed girl still turning back to steal glances at the table members.
She almost looked curious.
But none of them seemed to notice.
"Okay, Tommy Hilfucker." Nicky scoffed and started on a bag of chips.
And just like that, their interaction ended and abruptly as it began.
And the Lions refocused even faster than that.
"So, why is a new girl a bad thing. Guys, I really think you're being paranoid," Morello's feminine voice chided. She was twisting a short lock of her mousy hair between her dainty fingers and looked around shyly. Even in her intense frustration, Alex couldn't help but smile in amusement at the little thing's natural coyness. But she had to push any outside opinions of cute little Morello aside and bring down the hammer. As any good leader would.
She raise her glasses to the crown of her head and began her spiel.
"Okay. Think with me here. We have this-" Alex stopped to scour the corners of her brain for a simplified name for what she was trying to convey. "Let's just call it a 'complex system'. That's entirely reliant on how we interact with each other. If you take one person out or add another one in, it ruins everything. See, if you took away…" Her green eyes scanned the table for a subject for her analogy, but a mix of laziness to explain the effect of someone's disappearance on the complex system and impatience to get to the point got the better of her. She shook her head and continued. "Whatever. But the point is, if you add someone or take someone out, something would be different. And it just wouldn't feel right. You know?"
"Like a ecosystem" Taystee added before crunching down on a potato chip, over annunciating the word ecosystem. Alex motioned her approval and returned her focus back to a bewildered Morello.
"But don't new animals join the ecosystem? Like don't they all kinda do life in the jungle or wherever together?"
Alex's sigh made her seem like she deflated entirely, like a balloon. A defeated, confused, and slightly irritated balloon. She massaged the achy corners of her eyes and closed her torpid lids.
"Someone help me out," She waved her hand and opened up the topic for more elaboration. Cindy was the first to take the reigns.
"Listen, boo. It's taken us forever to make our 'complex system' the way it is. Example: Sure, Pennsatucky needs a minute to chill every now and then," the hot-blooded girl she was referring to shot Cindy a baffled and almost offended look.
"But" Cindy raised a finger before anyone could protest. "That's what my girl Butchy Boo's here for," she motioned to Big Boo. And even though Cindy failed to get her name right, Big Boo and everyone else shrugged in mellow agreement.
"I'll take that," the solid butch responded as she continued on her food. Pennsatucky considered what Cindy said for a moment before she adjusted the gray hood covering her head and leaned in closer to the table.
"That's actually a great point 'cuz like I never woulda considered befriendin' to any a y'all kitten charmers if it wasn't for the wisdom of my ironically gay ally here." She patted Boo's thick shoulder. Though the input wasn't exactly relevant, the Lions still nodded their heads. At this point, any point was relevant if it meant getting Morello on the same page.
" 'Specially you, Lurch." Pennsatucky pointed a finger at Alex, who raised a thin eyebrow in turn. Simply, not interested in an explanation, Alex took in a breath and brushed the rogue comment aside.
"Glad it's behind us." She pressed her lips into a fine line to feign a smile of sorts.
It worked, as the topic was dropped instantaneously.
"I mean I see what you guys are sayin' but I think we should just be nice," Morello shrugged as another wave of uproar washed over them. Nicky's head completely collapsed on the table as she drew out a lamenting groan. Alex pressed her cold hands flat against the back of her burning neck, letting her head hang low. Everyone began speaking all at once and the little Italian shied away in her seat. And when the bell rang, the Lions left lunch unsatisfied. With a distressing question and another three hours left its torment.
/
Practice after school had never been so dreary. The harsh November air sank its serrated fangs into their jacketed skin and their heated bodies were nowhere near warm enough. Their sweat was burning cold and seemed to freeze against them. The biting pain from their numb hands ringing against their aluminum bats was harrowing. Everyone scorched their tongues and throats from trying to gulp down their hot beverages. And Red in the cold was not so pleasant either.
But the dreadful day took a turn when Alex got a hand on the Russian's clipboard.
It was after fielding drills when Alex went to get another splash of her boiling tea. She winced as she swallowed down the molten lava in her thermos and skimmed the place for anyone. And in her skimming, her lucky green eyes found the prize. Like a small beacon of light hidden beneath a tattered glove.
She felt her pupils dilate and her stomach twist itself into an anxious knot.
Without thinking, she flipped hastily through the papers attached to it. Past drills, tournament calendars, other miscellaneous sheets of paper that weren't important, until her eyes fell upon a stray slip of paper she was never intended to see.
xxx-xxx-xxxx
Just the number.
And something told her that that number was fucking important.
Alex's quivering hand immediately dove into her nearby duffle and her blind hand felt around for her phone, eyes still locked on the slip of paper. She fumbled with it for a while before opening her camera. Her hands shook as miniature bursts of adrenaline pumped through her fingertips. She took a burst of photos of the number and hoped to whatever deity that at least one of them came out clear. After taking a moment to regulate her heartbeat and clip the number back in place, she saw a spot of fiery hair in the distance. She picked up her paper adjusting pace and found herself floundering around with the clipboard as the blur of red drew nearer. And in a flash of setting the thing back under the glove, tossing her phone in her bag, and sprinting like mad back onto the field, she was doing wrist snaps to Nicky on the lush green of left field. Looking as focused and composed as the rest of the Lions.
As if there was nothing to be suspicious of.
As if nothing ever happened.
/
Nicky was packing her bat into her bag when Alex pulled her aside by her ear.
"Ah! The fuck Vause!" the catcher rubbed her angered cartilage as Alex was realizing her unnecessary action.
"Sorry. But this is important."
"No shit it's important. You pulled my fuckin' ear for it, you know how much that hurts."
"I'm serious, listen." Alex motioned for her to come closer with her finger, to which she complied. "I got my hands on Red's clipboard today-" That was enough for Nicky to clap a hand over her mouth to stop up her disbelief. Alex smacked a hand on top of Nicky's too and hushed her astonishment. Her un-spectacled eyes peered around for any possible eavesdroppers. And when she decided that everyone else was too busy to listen to their conversation, she removed her hand from the top of Nicky's. The catcher left her hand there for another heartbeat before finally removing them to speak.
"You what?!" Her words were barely a whisper, but all the inflection came through in the shocked expression on her sooty face.
"Yeah, and I found something." Alex scanned around the dugout once again to make sure no one still listening. A silent moment passed between them and Nicky's expression was still frozen in amazement.
"Well are you gonna tell me or are you just gonna leave me hangin'?!" Nicky said just above a murmur. Alex rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh through her nose.
"I found a phone number and I think it may have to do with this new girl."
"You gonna call it?"
"I think so. Wanna join?" Alex's lips pulled up into a sly smirk and her green eyes darkened. Nicky's mischievous grin was her resounding agreement.
/
Straight to voicemail.
It went straight to fucking voicemail.
And when it did, Nicky let out a groan of defeat while Alex settled for a more withdrawn "fuck."
But they weren't done yet.
At least Alex wasn't.
/
The next day at school, Alex refrained from pulling Nicky's ear and settled for the back of her shirt instead.
"Hey, you doing anything tonight?" She had a cigarette dangling loosely between her lips and she was exploring in the front pocket of her backpack for a lighter. Nicky itched her perplexed brow as she watched Alex kindle the smoke.
"No, why?"
"I need you to break in the school with me tonight." This time, Nicky didn't care to lower her voice, in contrast with their last conversation.
"Vause, come on. Now you're just being paranoid." Alex took a casual drag and blew out the smoke with a groan.
"Come on, I really think this number means something. We can get some good information." Nicky broke eye contact to roll back her almond irises back into her head. "You know how bad this can be. If she's bad, we'd have to slow down for her. If she's good, she'll take up all the attention and guess who won't get a single glance from colleges." Alex pointed at the both of them. Nicky's lip pulled down in agreement.
"And no matter how good or how bad she is, she's gonna fuck up the system anyway. So we might as well figure her out. You know you're just as concerned about this as I am. Don't fucking lie to yourself." Alex took another slower drag and her piercing eyes didn't leave Nicky's pondering ones.
It wasn't Nicky's concern for the complex system that finally pushed her to agree. It was the deluge of uncertainty behind Alex's mossy eyes that really swayed her. Because as tough or intimidating as her tall friend was, deep down she knew Alex was scared as shit. Scared that she wouldn't get the scholarship that had been dangling in front of her since freshman year. Scared that she wouldn't be able to give Diane the life she deserved. Scared that she'd end up a lifeless deadbeat like her father. Nicky knew that she could pay tuition easy, but she'd been to the Vauses' tiny one-bedroom apartment in the worst part of town and knew well enough Alex didn't have that luxury. So Nicky surrendered. Because it pained Nicky to think that all her best friend's work would be for nothing.
Nicky muttered an inaudible profanity and sighed through her nose.
"Fine. Now me."
Alex scoffed as Nicky plucked the cigarette from her lips and brought it to her own.
/
"Come on hurry up. It's cold as fuck out here," Nicky was stomping in place stimulate the blood flow to her legs as Alex was picking the lock of the school's back door with a bent hairpin.
"Jesus just give me a sec." Alex stopped to warm her hands for a moment before returning to her job. And after a few more moments in the blasting cold and in a click of a lock, they were in the warmth of their abandoned school. The vacant halls were a lurid black and it took them a minute for their eyes to readjust. Walking through the desolate place was haunting. Like walking through a graveyard. The two were so used to all the pandemonium and stuffy hallway traffic, that seeing their halls void of life was more than chilling to them. Chilling enough to make their stomachs churn a bit.
Alex was striding far ahead of Nicky as they passed deserted classrooms. The catcher cursed her short legs and trotted up to Alex's long-legged pace.
"So what's the plan," Nicky stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and she followed her friend.
"I don't have one." Nicky stopped in her tracks.
"We break in here and you don't fucking have a plan?" That made Alex stop in her's and turn on her heels to face the other girl.
"I'm improvising. And we break in here all the time what difference does it make?" Alex turned back around and kept walking.
The smaller girl huffed and cantered to meet her once again.
A few doors down and one lock later they were in the administration's office, kneeling next to a file cabinet.
"Okay, so what was the last name in the voicemail?" Alex opened up the drawer full of Manila folders, ready to learn about Red's addition.
"Chapman." Only a few seconds after that, Alex had her hands on a folder and was opening it up. Nicky peered over her broad shoulder to get a peek.
"Okay," Alex adjusted her slipping glasses and glided her finger across the pages. "Piper Elizabeth Chapman. Transferred in October. And has a 4.5 GPA?" Alex had to re-read that line, just to make sure she didn't see the numbers correctly
"Those go that high?" Nicky said as scooted in closer to see the appalling number. Alex shrugged and pushed her glasses up again. "Probably sucked someone off to tack on the extra .5."
Alex couldn't help but mentally agree.
The two continued to skim over Piper's information. And thus far, their main take-away was that she was fucking perfect.
It made them hate her even more.
They heard a heavy door slam in the distance. Both of their shoulders jolted and they locked their widened eyes. Then they heard nearing footsteps and a whistled melody echoing down the halls. Their hearts caught up in their throats and Alex took in a full bodied breath in attempts to coax it back down.
"What time is it?" The wild-haired girl stage whispered. A mostly unshaken Alex glanced at the glowing screen of her phone as she swallowed down her excess adrenaline.
"2:13."
"Why the fuck is someone in here? Security doesn't come 'till 5! Shit, Alex!" Nicky's blood was still firing like bullets through her veins. "Come on we gotta get out." Alex hastily tucked the papers back in the file and dropped it back in the metal drawer. She clicked the cabinet lock back on the handle, sure to cup her hands over it to mute the sound. And in a split second they were peering around the corner, watching the tall dancing shadow on the wall sway back and forth against the white wall. They couldn't tell who it was or why it was whistling in the vacant halls of a high school at two in the morning. But all they cared about was escaping the situation with their reeling heads still attached to their necks.
"Alex, there's no way in hell we're gonna get out of here. We're fucked!" Nicky pulled the back Alex's black band shirt back into the hallway. The tall girl released a sigh through her nose and looked up to the ceiling for inspiration.
"Come on. I got an idea." Alex started down the short corridor and stopped in front of an office at the end of the hall. She fished out her trusty black hairpin from the depths of her pockets and picked away at the lock in quick, silent prods. Seconds later, she gave the wooden door a hefty push with her shoulder and they were in. They crept over to a window behind the paper-drowned desk and Alex squatted to unhinge the stubborn locks.
"I need you to spit." Nicky looked at her, bewildered.
"Huh?"
"I need you. To spit." She pointed a finger at the sides of the window. "So when we open it, it won't squeak and we don't get our asses chased down the block."
Too rushed and ruffled to argue, the catcher began spitting against the rusty hinges, sure to cover an entire area before moving on to the next. When Alex tapped her shin to let her know she was ready, Nicky bent down and got a grip on the sides of the old window. She turned to Alex, fully focused. The flickering street lamps outside hit her friend's face just right so she could see her mouthing the count of three. And on that final, street-lit count, they soundlessly pushed the rigid thing up. Alex crawled through and slid down first and Nicky followed, clicking the window shut behind her. And as soon as the catcher's feet hit the black pavement, the fugitives were speeding like mad down the sleeping avenue, feet and legs like pumping machinery.
/
"Piper Elizabeth Chapman," Cindy mused in a mock aristocrat voice, stroking an invisible beard. "She sounds like a hoe." She broke character to let out a scoff and take a bite of her food.
"Well, I guess she's a smart one. Had a 4.5 GPA." Alex pulled open a bag of potato chips, a bent expression painting her face at the scarcity of chips.
"Those go that high?" Poussey's jaw dropped a bit and Nicky motioned her avid agreement.
"I still don't know why you're being so harsh about this. I mean maybe she's not that bad or maybe she's even a good person," Morello said as she spooned chocolate pudding in her mouth. Nicky was watching her lips with sheer intent, but pried herself of the rosy sight to respond.
"Listen, I know you're the nice one here and we all look like huge assholes, but trust me, we're gonna plummet if we get someone new. The whole team dynamic is gonna turn on its head and there goes our 4-year streak of state champions."
"Well, what do you suppose we do to get rid of her, eh? Red's not gonna take her out just because we don't like her," the little Italian raised a snarky brow at them and drummed her nails against the table. All eyes wandered over to Alex, who raised her glasses to her head as she thought.
"We have three days till she starts and two weeks until tournaments start. And in those two weeks, we shun her and make her look like an idiot. So Red has no choice but to kick her off. The plan will be revisited next week. But for now, we just stay focused. All of us." Heads were subtly nodding up and down as everyone turned to Morello, holding their breaths simultaneously.
Morello ground down on her crucifix pendant with her front teeth and mulled over the arguments made. She squinted her coffee shaded eyes until they were caged behind her long lashes as her lips naturally pursed.
The girls looked at her anxiously, painful silence circulating about them.
Morello couldn't just choose not to side with them. For one, that was the equivalent turning against her family. But the most prevalent reason against her disagreement with them was because she had a keen sense of pity. At one point, she was the new girl. She had to choose the dusty, shameful cubby in the back corner of the dugout. She faced being the blame for lost tournaments and being the scapegoat for Red's punishments. And with a ripped open chest and burning quads, she had to find where she fit in. But now, Morello held her firm place in the ecosystem. The team wouldn't dare put anyone else at Second Base. But most importantly, she learned that the Lions made people earn their loyalty through sweat and borderline emotional trauma. And for the sake of this Piper Elizabeth Chapman, Morello decided to go with the flow. Because she pitied her. Because she wanted to protect her. Even though she had no idea who she was protecting.
"Ehhhh…"
The whole team seemed to lean in a little closer."
"Fine."
The bracing silence released itself in a unified sigh of relief. Another wave of uproar washed over them and a good energy rekindled the table. Nicky leaned over the table to grab Morello's brown head and kissed her dainty temple out of sheer impulse.
"But I really think you guys are reading a little too far into this."
"As long as you don't fuck up the plan, you don't have to worry." Alex gave a smug smile and lowered her glasses. Confidence and pride settling in her bones once more.
/
And they did stay focused. Every single one of them.
With the exception of Morello, who they had to remind daily of her loyalty.
But the weekend seemed to blow over their heads and soon enough they were back in the dugout, shuffling about inside and setting their things in their assigned cubbies. Pre-practice ritual was in high gear. Big Boo was stretching her thick arms over her head. Alex was putting in her contacts and placing her delicate glasses inside their velvet case. Pennsatucky was tying the white-made-orange laces of her beaten cleats for the umpteenth time. Crazy Eyes was angrily snapping a ball in her glove. Morello's blood curdling moans reverberated against the ceiling as she foam rolled her the backs of her achy thighs on the dusty floor. And Nicky was perched on the top of the bench, her fingers twitching at the thought of being inside her.
But Crazy Eyes was the first to see the white Escalade roll up to the curb of the field. She tossed the ball in her bag and squinted to see the driver.
"Hey uh, guys?" The Lions stopped their ritual to see what her gloved hand was pointing to. Nicky hopped down from the bench and looped her fingers in the fence as she observed.
"Holy shit," Everyone began to press up against the clinking fence to watch. A tall blonde got out of the front seat with her hair pulled high in a ponytail.
"Piper, so it begins," Alex scowled internally.
Her black pants seemed to be free of any stains or wrinkles and her thick, expensive looking pullover matched her navy socks. She shifted her weight over to one hip and twisted her ponytail around her girly looking hand.
"Taylor Swift called, she wants her identity back," Big Boo scoffed. Pennsatucky elbowed her side, even though she was forcing down her lips to suppress a smirk. Then out from behind the driver's seat came her mother. Dressed in skintight thermal leggings and a maroon exercise jacket they assumed she never broke a sweat in. Her hair was also in a sleek ponytail, identical to her daughter's.
"You think her mom's the type to braid our hair and pretend we're all straight or the type to give the kid a rape whistle and a crucifix?" Nicky leaned in closer to the metal cage to see the pair better. Piper walked around to the open truck and slung a quilted and speckled duffle around her thin looking shoulder.
"Did she embroider her duffle? And add iron ons?" Taystee arched the corner of her lip in disapproval, rolling her dark eyes and her head along with them.
"Aye, Poussey. I bet she made that shit with Judy King," Cindy quipped. Poussey's neck snapped to look and the snickering girl and puffed out annoyance from her nose. Then everyone turned to Alex, whose eyes were already narrowed into thin slits. Her knuckles were already a tension charged white as they tightened around the links of the fence. They watched Red fold her arms across her chest as she spoke to mother. And after a few moments, she was back in her Escalade and cruising out of the lot. The Russian pointed over to the dugout and uncrossed her arms, the girl's ponytail bobbing up and down as she nodded. And then they started walking.
Everyone simultaneously went over the details of the plan and sent subliminal messages to Morello not to be a nice person.
They backed away from the fence and acted as if they weren't taking her every move into account.
Then Red and the blonde finally came up to the dugout. The Russian nudged her forward, catching Piper off guard. She stumbled a bit to catch her balance and then looked back at Red.
"Warm up in five," The thick Russian accent asserted in monotone. The girl's eyes were wide as she took in the icy stares of the Lions before her. She swallowed down a bitter taste in her mouth and cleared her throat.
"Uh, hi. Um, I'm Piper. Piper Chapman."
/