Chapter Two

A Change of Heart and Decision

By sunrise the next day the group had found themselves gathered around their usual spot by the fountain. They were all still in distress after their meeting with Courtney the day before. They had all planned to individually speak with her, but the meeting with Courtney in the coffee shop had not been expected. The girls had informed the boys and now they were all worried for their own safety. Would Courtney really start turning them in? She could easily do it, she could easily turn anyone from Scarlatina in. When joining the Tracker Academy from another town in Growlen you don't have to give anything up about your past, it's one of the rules there. You don't have to speak of it, you don't have to tell anyone anything. You don't have to turn anyone in to prove your worth or any silly thing like that. But you can. You could just as easily turn your back on your old life by turning in everyone you knew.

"It's been a year," Ellie mumbled to herself, not looking directly at anyone in the group. "She could be a completely different person." The Courtney they all knew wouldn't turn anyone in, but then again, the Courtney they all knew wouldn't have become a Tracker.

"Or she could be exactly the same," Geoff argued against his younger sister. While there was a god chance that Courtney was becoming more and more like a Tracker with every passing day, she had also seemed fairly friendly towards her old friends yesterday.

"She has changed." Gwen couldn't stress it enough. "She's halfway to becoming a fully qualified Tracker." It wasn't a lie and everyone knew it. Two years was all it took to get your qualification, and you could apply as soon as you turned sixteen (that was why there weren't four year old Tracker's running around everywhere, they did have an age limit). Courtney would be out in the world hunting down people that were her own kind in no time. She seemed set in her ways.

Trent sighed his words, "She's been talking to us." This earned him a death glare from his girlfriend. Trent glared back for a second. "She wouldn't be talking to us if she was one of them."

"She'll change her mind, just you wait and see," Taylor added as she got to her feet, dusting off her pants. Everyone stared at her. She shrugged it off. No one wanted to say it, but they all knew Taylor was right.

It was only a matter of time before Courtney succumbed to the Tracker life. It always happened eventually. There came a point when everyone who attended the Tracker Academy turned their backs on the rest of Growlen. Those who had been around long enough would always remember what happened to Courtney's mother...and they saw the repeated pattern.

Geoff took a look around his pack. "Regardless of what we want to happen, this is Courtney's choice, not ours."

"Her choice is to become a tracker." Duncan's voice was harsh as he spoke for the first time that day. His mind was racing with the memory of two nights before. No one would ever understand why he held onto it so badly. Except maybe one...but Nigel Black had moved back to Canada some months ago. He rarely returned. Felt no need, even if his oldest friend needed him.

"Bridgette." The group snapped their heads in unison towards the newcomer. They eyed the man from the gate suspiciously. There were very few reasons why he left his post. "You have a visitor." That was one of them. The group turned their attention to the blonde fairy who was staring wide-eyed at the greying man. There was only one person who would come to visit Bridgette and not be allowed into Scarlatina to see her themself.

Taylor and Leah were shaking their heads vigorously at Bridgette. Geoff had wrapped his arm around her shoulder, squeezing her tightly in assurance. The rest of the group stared at her until Duncan got to his feet and disappeared, running back to his house and hiding himself from the rest of the world or another day.

"I'll come with you," Gwen quickly said, but Bridgette shook her head. If she was going to do this she was going to do it alone.

"Anytime today, Bridge." The gate man walked back towards his post, but the group didn't waste any more time on him. They waited and watched as Bridgette slowly rose from her seat and followed behind him. The closer she got to the gate the clearer Courtney became. She was pacing back and fore, muttering something to herself, but stopped once she saw Bridgette. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before Courtney spoke.

"Hey."

Bridgette stared at her ex-best friend as if she had transformed into a giant snake. A simple 'hey' was not going to cut it. Bridgette let out a mental sigh and prepared herself for whatever was going to come next.

"What are you doing here?" The fairy asked. After everything that had gone down over the past few days she had been shocked to realize that Courtney would actually show her face around Scarlatina unless... "If this is some sort of trick I demand you tell me right this minute." Bridgette didn't usually argue, she was too peaceful for that, but she knew how to stand her ground. Courtney looked confusedly at her until she realized what Bridgette was thinking.

"No trick!" She promised, holding up three fingers in a girl scout salute. It was legal for Courtney to capture Bridgette outside the Scarlatina gates, it was why her friends had been so cautious about her going alone. "I just- I want your opinion about something."

"My opinion?" Bridgette repeated, making sure she heard the right thing. Courtney nodded, not smiling, but not quite frowning either. "Why my opinion?"

Courtney took in a deep breath, willing herself to continue on, even though she wanted nothing more than to go back to the Academy. "It's just...I don't really have many friends at the Academy. No one likes me and- don't get me wrong, I don't mind it, but...sometimes I wish I had a best friend again, you know? Someone who's there for me through everything, and someone who's always got the best advice when I need it." Bridgette found herself subconsciously nodding her head along to Courtney's words. She understood what it was like not to have a best friend anymore. "You know," Courtney continued. "You'll always be my best friend, even if I'm not yours. You'll always be that girl who wanted to be my friend even though everyone else thought I was weird. You can't just lose thirteen years of sleepover's and secrets overnight."

Bridgette's eyes were starting to cloud over and Courtney already had a tear rolling down her cheek. Both girls quickly rubbed at their faces before Courtney started talking again, not waiting for Bridgette to respond to her confession. "So, I've been thinking a lot, and- and I don't think I want to be a Tracker anymore. I don't think I ever wanted to be a Tracker. It-It's not who I am, it's just something I thought I would try." Bridgette finally understood what Courtney was babbling on about- she wanted to drop out of the Tracker Academy. "What do you think I should do?"

The blonde hesitated at first, not sure if voicing her own opinion was going to get her in trouble or something. But then she realized that this was Courtney- Courtney! Her Courtney, the girl who she had known since the age of four and who had always been there for her through every up and down. "I personally want you to come back." Bridgette answered sheepishly. She felt as if she was admitting to a boy at school that she liked him- it was embarrassing. But Courtney didn't care. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her best friend. At least there was one person on her side. "And you can come stay with me and my parents- if you want, that is. They won't mind, and since Lilly moved out we have the spare room already set up." Lilly was Bridgette's elder sister, but she had moved out a number of years ago and was still living on Earth. Courtney hugged Bridgette tighter. It was the best offer she could have gotten.

A flash of light passed between the two teenagers, making them jump back from each other. Squinting her eyes, Courtney saw the light coming from Bridgette. When the glow had settled Bridgette was standing there in her fairy form. The blond was staring down at her blue dress as one hand stretched out, caressing her silvery-white wings.

"I'm a fairy," she gasped.

Courtney chuckled in confusion. "Did the bright light give you amnesia? You've always been a fairy."

"No." Bridgette responded with a dismayed shake of her head. "I mean you turned me into a fairy when we hugged."

"That was me?" Courtney asked eyeing the other girl up and down. She hadn't done anything, just hugged her. Then it hit her. Courtney reached into her pocket and pulled out a marble ball, around the size of a tennis ball that fitted snugly into the palm of her hand and looked as if it was made completely out of some sort of expensive metal.

"I should have known," Bridgette giggled. "Revealer's." The girls shared a private laugh- something they hadn't been able to do in a long time. Courtney motioned for Bridgette to follow her and the two walked away from the gates and towards the river that started at Scarlatina and ended in Nishnaville, just a few miles away. Courtney tossed the ball into the river and listened as it made a satisfied splash. She pulled a fee more out and tossed them in too. "I guess I should really empty my pockets after training."

Bridgette smiled a knowing smile. "Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore." Courtney bit her lip. "What's wrong?" But the brunette shook her head.

"Just tell Lindsay to meet me at my dorm at seven o'clock." Bridgette nodded and pulled Courtney into a quick embrace before they parted ways. Bridgette needed to find Lindsay and Courtney had a lot of explaining to do back at the Academy.

Later that evening Lindsay and Courtney found themselves rushing around the squashed dorm room. Three suitcases were lying open on the bed; two were full and the third was almost there.

"I can't believe you're doing this!" Lindsay squealed, grabbing a pile of clothes from one of the drawers.

"Me either," Courtney told her friend, bursting with excitement. She had changed out of her Tracker uniform earlier that day and she never would have thought how good it felt to wear normal clothes for a change. After her meeting with Bridgette, Courtney had come straight back to the Academy and straight to Mrs. Fields office to fill out the paperwork for leaving the Academy, to which her headmistress hadn't been very surprised of her departure. She then left for town to get her papers checked over and signed by one of the Growlen Center officials. Courtney knew the price she was going to pay for this from the other students, but she was willing to deal with anything they threw her way.

Heather had been out for a walk with one of the boys from her class. Late night strolls was the only way students could get around the no dating rule at the school. The girls had found this to the perfect time to make the escape, but they hadn't counted on Heather coming back early. The raven haired antagonist walked into her dorm room already grouchy from her lousy 'date', but what she found when she entered the room put her anger into overdrive.

"What are you doing?" Heather asked, watching the two girls pack. They hadn't let Heather's presence alter their plan.

"Leaving," Courtney replied calmly as she folded more of her t-shirts.

"WHAT?!" Heather yelled before realizing the door was still open and the other students would be able to hear their argument. "Why are you leaving?"

"I don't want to be a Tracker anymore," Courtney answered. Lindsay placed the last of the contents into the last suitcase and began zipping up the other two. Courtney closed the last one while Heather tried to come to terms with what she had just been told. Her face was contorting into the snarl Courtney was used to seeing on her roommates face.

"You can't just get up and leave me for those pathetic losers you call friends," Heather told Courtney sternly. "You're halfway through training!" Courtney stopped what she was doing and finally looked at Heather.

"Being a tracker isn't who I am." The brunette grabbed one of the suitcases and started walking towards the door. "I'm going back to my old life." She pushed her way past Heather and into the corridor outside their dorm room.

"You can't do this!" Heather whined.

"Watch me." Courtney walked off, Lindsay hot on her trail carrying the other two bags.

"Find someone else to torture, Hannah," the blonde sneered over her shoulder as the two girls walked down the hallway. Heather was dumbstruck, she had just been left. No one ever left her.

"You wait, Courtney Black," Heather yelled after her. "This is not the last you will here from me." Courtney ignored her.

The two girls took the bus to Scarlatina. Courtney couldn't stop shaking from her adrenaline rush. She'd left the Academy and told Heather where to stick it in the process. This was the most fun she had had in eleven months, if not her whole life!

When they approached the Scarlatinan gates, the old man looked up at Courtney with a faint smile on his lips. He held out his hand and Courtney handed over her paperwork with a wide grin on her face. He started scanning the papers and Courtney remembered a time one whole year ago when she had been stood in the exact same spot with her father. Back then she had been in awe of Scarlatina. The wonder hadn't worn off.

"This is so exciting!" Lindsay jumped up and down on the spot. Courtney was about to reply with the same sentence when the tic-tac colored girl appeared next to her.

"Izzy!" Courtney gasped, clutching at her heart. "You almost killed me."

"Almost?" The redhaired girl pondered. "As in I scared you half to death? But-I-scared-you-half-to-death-before." Izzy was talking too fast for Courtney to understand a word of it. "OH MY GOD! I KILLED YOU! DON'T TELL THE COPS!" And with that, Izzy dashed away in an overly dramatic run, leaving Lindsay and Courtney more baffled than before.

"All you're paperwork looks in order," the old man said having missed the whole Izzy ordeal. He waved his hand and Courtney's luggage disappeared. He then handed half the papers back to Courtney and stored the other half in the top drawer of his desk. Courtney wondered how he kept so many different kinds of paperwork in such a tiny desk, but she didn't ask. Instead she let the man press the button that swung the gates to her hometown open. As soon as they were wide enough to enter Lindsay skipped through.

"Are you coming?" She asked, turning back to Courtney who was glued to the spot she was standing in. She stared at the town for a little while longer before a smile broke out on her face once again.

"Yeah." She was home.

As she walked through the gates she could have sworn she heard the old man mutter the words, "Just like her mother." But when she turned around her was asleep with his feet proper up on the desk, as usual.

Courtney sighed and turned back to the town. Bridgette came racing forward, engulfing her best friend in a hug once again. It had only been a few hours since they saw each other, but it was still a lifetime since they had been able to be themselves around each other.

"You made it!" Bridgette yelled happily. Courtney smiled, raising one hand to the ear Bridgette was screaming in.

"Yeah, I made it," Courtney laughed, her voice muffled in Bridgette's hair.

"What did Heather say?" Bridgette asked, breaking away from her new old best friend.

"She said she's gonna get revenge and stuff like that." Courtney passed it off as nothing. She knew Heather was going to try and get back at her sooner or later, but she wasn't scared of her anymore.

"Just remember, when she does, I'll always be here to help."

A/N: Aww!

Gotta love some Courtney/Bridgette friendship.

Which is a change for me since I'm writing a Gwen/Courtney friendship for NaNo...OH YEAH! I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year! Isn't it exciting? I'm writing a Courtney/Gwen friendship/romance post-apocalyptic/zombie fic! /participants/chloerhiannonx/novels/novel-444041

Thank you to AHRedDeath and Sadie Loves DxC for the awesome reviews!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX