This has been a long time coming, folks. Let me assure you that this project is still alive and well. The only way I'll ever abandon an unfinished fic is if death takes me.

The problem was that real life has been taking up a lot of my time lately. Not only the holidays, but I moved into a new apartment at the start of the New Year, and have been getting settled in. Not to mention that in my outlines, I had the key events in Melanie's growing up mapped out, but I was missing some filler material and other things to connect Point A to B to C, and so forth. I think I have a clearer idea of those connections now and hope to update at more regular intervals. Thanks for your patience, and I hope that it will now be well-rewarded as this chapter will show you Kimberly's decision, and its consequences. Please enjoy, and as always, feedback is welcome.

All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them or the video games. I won't say that any original characters belong to me, but if anyone else wants to use them, just as a courtesy, could you shoot me a PM first telling me you're doing it? ( :


Chapter Thirteen: Field Day

Saturday, May 31st, 1997

The door to the general store came open with a ding, its top edge striking the small bell nailed to the frame. The dark-haired boy behind the register cast a quick glance up from the customer he was helping, flashed Melanie a smile that made the blonde girl want to stuff his hand in a food processor, and then turned back to the person directly in front of him.

"Sixty, sixty-one, and sixty-two is your change." Desmond Jones finished counting the coins from the register and handed them off to the plump, middle-aged woman on the other side of the counter. "Thanks for shopping, ma'am."

"Thank you, dear," the customer responded, and picked up her paper bag. "Such a helpful boy. Please tell your father I said hello."

"I sure will, ma'am," Des said with a nod. After the woman had left, Melanie grabbed a Snickers bar off the candy rack, and approached the register. Suppress the urge to strangle him, she thought to herself. Remember, you don't need the entire school hating your guts.

Even after Joan Landy had called an assembly in the wake of the incident with Janis, and explained that Melanie's outburst was the result of some deep-seated phobia brought on by people who'd helped raise her in the past (Melanie was still wondering how the matriarch had figured that out), the school was still largely divided on her. Half the girls thought she was an outcast, and the other half was indifferent, as long as Melanie left them alone. Kimberly was still Kimberly, but to her credit, she didn't ask more probing questions after that assembly, even though the blonde girl could see on her face how much she wanted to.

That was one of the reasons she had sneaked away from Kimberly, who was her "buddy" on this latest trip to town, as always, and was even deigning to enter Des's family's store. After that first trip, her disdain for him had only grown, since he always had some snide remark whenever he saw any of the girls from Landy's school.

"Afternoon, um… Melanie, isn't it?" Des said as she got closer to the register.

"Last time I checked," Melanie said with a shrug, avoiding eye contact as she placed her snack on the counter.

"You don't come in here enough," he said, and punched buttons on the register.

"Well, I've been busy with stuff," the small blonde answered, managing to keep her voice neutral. "But I'm here now. And that's because I know you can get things."

"I've been known to acquire things," Desmond said with a nod. "But does this have to be all business?"

"The bus is pulling out soon," said Melanie, still keeping her voice level. "So I'm afraid I don't have time for anything else. I need something, and I've got the money. So… can we do business?"

The boy gave a sad shake of his head. "Sure. What is it you need?"

"I need an item to be sent in your dad's next delivery," said Melanie. "And I need this kept a secret from Kimberly."

Desmond gave a nod. "Ninety-three cents for the candy. As for the other thing… I need to know what it is you need."

Melanie pulled a dollar from her pocket, and after handing it over, told Des what she was looking for. Des gave her a figure, and without any snark, she produced the rest of the money.

"So, how is Kimberly?" Des asked after he finished counting it off.

"Same as always," Melanie said with a shrug. "A weirdo." There was something about the way he spoke her name that set off all her alarms.

"I think she's kind of cute," Des said with a shrug. "Receipt?"

"Well, she's got a bad case of acne right now. So, she looks like Quasimodo fucked a pizza. And no thanks." Melanie pocketed the candy, suppressing the urge to split open his nose with her fist. "So, you'll have that item delivered by Field Day?"

"Of course," Des answered. "Anything for a lady. Tell Kim I hope she feels better."

"Sure thing," the small blonde said, left the store, and started walking in the direction of the bus.

"There you are!" She heard a voice behind her after she'd been walking for a few minutes. Melanie turned her head and saw her roommate double-timing it up the sidewalk. "You ditched me while I was taking a leak. I was afraid I'd have to report to Wallace that you ran away."

"Why would I do that?" Melanie asked with a casual shrug. "I just wanted to get a snack from the store and I figured I'd spare you having to look at Des's ugly mug."

Kimberly quirked one black eyebrow. "Did you mouth off to him?"

"No! I behaved myself." Melanie did her best to sound just a little insulted. "But… the next time you see him he might ask about your terrible acne. So just… play along, okay?"

Kimberly thought about asking what that meant, since her face was clear at the moment, but decided against it. "Sure, whatever." She fell into step beside her roommate, and then asked: "Why'd you need a snack, anyway? That Big Mac wasn't enough?"

"I wanted some dessert," Melanie answered. She pulled the Snickers bar out, opened it, and offered Kimberly half.

"No thanks," she said. "Mickey D's always sits in my stomach like a brick after I eat it."

"Same," said Melanie, taking a bite of the candy. "But I'll still get my fix every two weeks, just 'cause Landy would never let us have it at school."

"Same," Kimberly echoed, and the two girls continued on towards the bus.


Friday, June 13th, 1997

Breakfast had just ended, and fifty girls were assembled on the Quad in their gym uniforms, standing as straight as they could. Janis was towards the back row, her hand still in a hard cast. Melanie did her best not to look at the hazel-eyed girl, and instead focused her attention on the makeshift podium that had been set up.

Joan Landy stood behind it, with Wallace on her left and Hartman on her right. The headmistress needed no microphone to project as she addressed her girls. "It's been quite an academic year for all of us, my children," she spoke loud and clear. "My staff and I have done our very best to nourish your minds and bodies, as we always do. Now you all have a chance to show off how much your skills have grown, not just physically, but in here as well." She tapped two fingers against her forehead.

Now Melanie couldn't help but look around at some of the other girls. The shirts of a few uniforms did appear tighter, not so much due to any development in the front, but rather to an increase in vertical height, even though a small handful of girls (most notably Regina and Amanda) had experienced some growth in that other area. It had been a little depressing yesterday afternoon when Gladys had measured all the girls and documented the numbers in her files, which according to Kimberly happened at this time every year. "Landy uses that info to order new uniforms for all of us," her roommate explained.

Everyone appeared to be growing. Even Kimberly had another half-inch. Meanwhile, Melanie was still at four foot five, the same height she'd been at the beginning of last year. So it looked like she'd be wearing her original uniform for a while, which was a depressing thought.

"Now, even though this is a chance for individual accomplishment, and sadly there is one of you who cannot participate," Joan went on. "I still want to see teamwork and sportsmanship. Like the young ladies we all know you are. I have every confidence that you'll do this school, and your faculty, proud. Good luck!"

With that, the girls began to split up. As they did, Melanie failed to notice the questioning glance Regina gave Kimberly, which the dark-haired girl answered with a nod and a wink. But then, the small blonde had other things on her mind.

In the weeks leading up to this day, sign-up sheets had been placed in the hallways of the school. Every girl was free to sign up for as many events as they wished, provided there was no overlap. Melanie had been a bit more selective than most of the other girls, choosing ones that she thought she stood a good chance of winning.

But when she got to her first event, Archery, it turned out to not be her forte, as she was eliminated in the first round. "It was all that wimpy safety gear," she tried to justify it to her friend afterwards. "It got in the way of my aim. You never see them wear any of that pussy shit in the movies."

Kimberly had scored among the top ten and so was moving onto the next round. "Why would movies tell the truth about that sort of thing?" She asked with a laugh. "Remember what Landy said, Mel. The objective is to have fun."

"Well, I can think of a few ways to make this more fun…"

Kim put a warning hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Don't, Mel. You know that anyone caught cheating will get thrown in Solitary for a few days."

"I wouldn't get caught. Lend me your knife and I can cut a few bowstrings for you, improve your odds."

"Forget it, Mel. I give you my knife, I probably won't see it again."

Melanie pretended to look wounded. "I thought you said we were friends."

"And we are, except when knives are concerned. Then we're just mentor and pupil, remember?" Kimberly jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Now take a hike before you miss your next event. It's over on the other side of the school."

The event that Kimberly referred to, the Hurdles, was one that Melanie did much better at. But then, her speed and agility were better than several of the other girls, since she'd spent a good portion of her childhood learning to outrun police, child welfare, and abusive foster parents. In the end, it came down to her and Amanda, but the other girl won, since she could take longer strides.

Melanie sneaked away after crossing the finish line, so she wouldn't have to shake her opponent's hand. She already knew that as the silver medal winner, she'd need to do that at the awards ceremony later, and once was enough.

The relay race did not go as well. But then, that was mainly because Regina had somehow rigged it so that she and her "bitch squad" were all on the same team. Melanie had been second to last in her own line and gotten the baton to her teammate in record time, but the girl was running against Regina herself, and had let the Alpha win.

"Way to pussy out back there," Melanie said to the girl later, a pig-tailed blonde named Isabella. "You know you could have outrun that horse-faced cunt, right?"

"And make my own life harder?" The other girl shook her head. "No thanks."

"Hey, don't be so hard on Izzy," spoke up another girl, Jaclyn from Mel's social studies class. "If I were racing Gina, I'd have thrown it too."

"Thanks, Jax."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Um, you girls do know they're not invincible, right? I think I proved that with a locker door."

"And while you and Regina were in the hole," Jaclyn growled at her, "Amanda was running things in her absence. And she vented her anger on the rest of us."

Melanie thought about pressing the argument that the best way to respond when someone hits you is to hit back, but the only thing stopping her was her agreement with her roommate. So instead, she simply muttered, "does anyone in this fucking place know how to think for themselves?" Then she stalked off to her next event.

For the other events she participated in, she was never able to do as well as she'd done winning silver in Hurdles. Lunch was uneventful, just cold-cut sandwiches, fruit, granola bars, and water or Powerade. But Melanie couldn't help but watch the "Bitch Squad" out of the corner of her eye; she noticed that Janis was eating her salad with her left hand, when Mel had only ever seen her use her right. Like her, Kimberly and Niko, the hazel-eyed girl seemed to be having no difficulty with the left. But she pushed the thought away as quickly as it had formed. She had other things on her mind.

As mid-afternoon rolled around, it was time for the last event of the day: Capture the Flag, which took place in the woods on the other side of the fence. Kimberly had told her roommate about this back when the sign-up sheets were first posted. This was one event where all girls had to participate. They were split into two teams of twenty-five, and the object was to venture into "enemy territory," find the other team's flag, and bring it back to "friendly territory" before the other team did it first. What made this school's version of the game more interesting was that the girls were given rubber knives that they could use against one another. If a girl got "stabbed," they had to sit down on the ground and stay there for the remainder of the game.

After Joan had gone over the rules, she announced: "Now then, we are one person short. So I regret that whichever team Melanie is on will have only twenty-four people." She ignored the groans of protest from a few of the girls and pulled a folded slip of paper from the pocket of her blazer. "Here are the teams."

Melanie was not surprised to find that Regina, Amanda, Lacey and Sunako were all on the opposing team. But at least she was on a team with Kimberly and Niko, so she could ignore the grumblings from a few of the other girls about being a person short.

"Well, look at it this way," Kimberly said to the rest of the girls on the team after they'd been divided up. "Thanks to Mel, we only have four Alpha bitches to deal with on the other team instead of five. Now, we should probably talk about how we're gonna beat them."

"Figures you'd defend her," Janine said with a roll of her eyes.

"And who the hell made you team captain, anyway?" Chimed in another girl named Kaitlyn.

"No one," said Kimberly. "But we have a limited amount of time to plan our strategy, and everyone else seems to be spending it bitching about our predicament instead of actually coming up with a fucking plan. So if someone else wants to lead, be my guest. Any takers?"

There was silence in the circle. Even Melanie, who hated being a follower, figured their odds would improve if Kimberly took the helm. So she also said nothing. "All right, then," the dark-haired girl went on. "Regina is their best player, so we need to take her out of the game as early as possible."

"Good luck with that." A girl with a short blonde bob named Ramona rolled her eyes.

"Nah, I got an idea," said Kimberly. "You'll all like it. It involves using Melanie as a decoy."

Her roommate took a step back. "Wait, what?"

"Well, see, here's what I'm thinking, Mel. Regina hates you more than anyone else here. So… you lure her away from any teammates backing her up by… um, just being yourself, I guess. Do what you normally do around her. The objective is to piss her off as much as you can, so that she loses focus and someone else can come at her from behind while she tries to stab you."

"I like that plan," said Janine.

"Well, I don't," Melanie retorted.

"Come on, Mel," Niko argued. "It's just a rubber knife. And let's face it, you're Regina's biggest weakness. And I mean that as a compliment."

"That's the truth," laughed a girl named Sierra.

"But then, who's gonna stab Queen Bitch?" Kaitlyn asked. "I'd rather not get on her shit list."

"Me neither," chimed in another teammate, Henrietta. This was met with affirmative nods from most of the other girls.

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll do it, then."

Hearing that seemed to bring Melanie around. "Okay, if you're gonna do it, then I'll be the decoy. But you'd better not miss."

"Hey, I did get the gold in Archery today. Now, then, we need to talk about what everyone else is gonna do. Mel, you've got your role, so go hide the flag."

Melanie scooped up the scrap of red cloth and broke out of the huddle. "I'm on it. Got the perfect place."

A short time later, they were all in position within their "territory," as were the members of the other team. Several members of the faculty and other school staff stood at key places throughout the playing area in the woods, to monitor when a child was "stabbed" and make sure they left the game. After a few minutes of waiting, Joan Landy's voice could be heard over a megaphone.

"BEGIN!"


They started by sending Janine and three other girls who were considered the best at climbing up into the trees to scout ahead and provide lookout. Melanie had a feeling that she could probably climb better than any of them, but they couldn't risk her getting "stabbed" before they located Regina.

She stayed on the ground, close to Kimberly, advancing forward with the other girls on their team only when they heard a signal from above. Two knocks on a tree's trunk meant it was safe to proceed, three meant an ambush had been spotted.

They'd been advancing, using the trees as cover, but it was starting to get monotonous. Advance a few paces, find cover, listen for two knocks, repeat. Melanie grew bored with it, and began to find it hard to focus. Until after God knew how long, they heard three knocks. Kimberly and the other girls who were part of the first offensive wave instantly took cover behind the thickest trees that were nearby, so Melanie thought it best to do the same.

After they'd been waiting for a moment, Janine appeared in a sturdy, low-hanging bough of the evergreen that Kimberly and Melanie had taken refuge behind. "Straight ahead," she whispered down to them. "Those bushes on our eleven."

"Gotcha," the dark-haired girl answered. "We'll divert." Kimberly's dark eyes flicked left and right, accompanied by a nod of her head. The other girls turned to face her. Kimberly pointed to her right, then made a half-moon motion, which was met with nods of understanding. Like a school of fish communicating with one mind, the girls all moved to the right, in a wide curve around what was perceived to be the threat.

Melanie did her best to keep up with her roommate. Moving as quietly as possible was not new to her, she'd had to do it plenty of times in her life, both to avoid beatings in some of her foster homes, and also to avoid the police whenever she ran away from one of those homes. But the signals… she wasn't used to working in a team environment like this.

Once they'd moved past the bushes in question, the petite blonde risked some conversation. "Hey, Kim… what's with all the hand signals?" She whispered.

"We've been playing this game ever since the first Field Day back in First Grade," the other girl explained. "We've developed a system of communication without words. I'm sorry I haven't really had a chance to teach it to you, but I'll make up for that later."

For a brief moment, Melanie again found herself wondering just what this place was, but the thrill of competition soon pushed that towards the back of her mind. The party advanced deeper into the enemy's territory. For a few more minutes, they kept hearing two knocks. The small blonde was starting to wonder when things might get exciting.

The attack came without warning from the left, as six girls on the enemy team leapt from the undergrowth with their knives drawn. The girl to Kimberly's left, a brunette named Charlotte, took a rubber blade to the chest and sat down on the grass. Kimberly was a bit quicker, pivoting her body to dodge an overhead swing, and then deflecting two gut jabs with her own blade. Melanie's rubber knife was out as well, and she barely had time to assume her old, familiar stance before they were on her as well.

"Everyone come together!" She heard Kimberly call over the din of shouts, twigs and leaves being trampled, and the clash of fake knives. "Form a circle! Quick!"

Melanie swung her blade up in a half-moon to avoid a stab, countered with a low sweep that caught her opponent on the thigh (which didn't take her out of the game but did limit her movement), and then moved to stand back-to-back with her roommate. The rest of their teammates followed suit, forming up on Kimberly's command. However, one of them, a girl named Angelica, was not as quick and took a rubber blade to the chest, joining Charlotte on the grass.

"Why didn't the scouts warn us of this?" Kimberly asked out loud, mostly to herself, as the girls deflected knife strikes from their opponents, and did their best to watch each others' backs.

"Our own scouts intercepted them a while ago," one of the opposing team said with a laugh. "Janine and the other three have been sitting in the tree where they were stabbed, a ways back down the trail. You've been following our scouts since then."

"That's actually not bad," Melanie muttered. "We should try that next time. Or at least pick scouts with better knife skills."

"Not a good time to talk about that, new girl," muttered Silvia, a girl standing to Melanie's right. The small blonde would have said something sarcastic, but this time she had to admit her teammate was right. So she devoted herself to the task at hand. In her head, she thanked Kimberly for the extra training, as it was probably the main thing keeping her "alive" at the moment.

A few minutes later, the Blue Team had lost two of their attack squad, while they'd managed to take out one more, the girl standing to Kimberly's left in the circle. Melanie cast a quick glance at those sitting on the forest floor, and got an idea. "I'm gonna try something, Kim," she said. "Cover me." She then stepped out of the circle and started towards one of the "fallen" enemies, still holding the blade of her weapon out in front.

"Melanie, what the hell?" Kimberly snapped, as she and her teammates took a step backwards to tighten the circle and close the gap made by Melanie's sudden absence. Kimberly's opponent, a blonde girl named Riley, saw her moving away and tried to intercept, but Kimberly tossed her rubber knife, and struck the other girl between her shoulder blades. A "fatal blow," and so Riley was forced to sit down on the grass.

Kimberly was now without her knife, but that didn't mean she was helpless, though the remaining enemy were focusing on her. Two of them were trying to double team her. She ducked a knife swing from one, pivoted her body to the right to avoid an overhead, and then just barely managed to divert a stab from the first girl with a wrist chop.

"Hey!" For a moment, all activity in the clearing stopped, and every head turned towards Melanie, who had just hoisted another blonde named Rochelle, one of the "fallen" Blue Team members, up to her feet. "The fuck are you doing, you little freak?" Rochelle asked, struggling in the smaller girl's grip.

"This," Melanie said simply, and then shoved her opponent in the direction of the two who were double-teaming Kim. She crashed into them, and all three struck the grass in a heap. While they were dazed, Melanie ran over and quickly jabbed the two who were still in the game with her rubber blade before they could get back to their feet.

Naturally, this was met with protests. "What the hell, runt?" Riley shouted from where she sat not far away. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Melanie asked with a casual shrug.

"Because the rules don't say you can do that!"

"Did the rules say we couldn't? I listened to Landy read them off, same as you. She just said that if we get 'stabbed,' we're out. Not once did she say that players who were still in the game couldn't do that to players who are already out."

Kimberly had retrieved her weapon by now, and was using the tip of the rubber blade to scratch her chin. "Well, she's got a point there."

"Figures you'd take her side," Rochelle grumbled.

"Ah, what are you bitchin' about?" Melanie shot at her. "You got offed in the first two minutes of the fight, so you were useless to your team anyway. You may as well serve some purpose."

"I'll show you useless, runt!" The other blonde snarled, and started to her feet. Melanie was about to assume her stance when they heard the shrill blast of the whistle through the trees, which meant time out. Less than a minute later, Joan Landy was at the clearing, and listening to the story from both sides, as well as the arguments for and against.

After mulling it over for a minute, Joan came to the conclusion that technically, the rules didn't say that Melanie couldn't do that little move. "But moving forward from this point," she went on. "When a player is out, they are out. Which means they are off limits to those still in the game. If Melanie or anyone else tries that again, they'll be out as well." With that, she turned and started walking back to her vantage point.

Kimberly and her teammates who were still in decided to use the few minutes they had until Joan blew the whistle again to head back to their own territory, to regroup and see what the damage had been in their absence. Just after time-in was called, they made it back over the invisible line, and spoke to one of the lookouts, a girl with freckles and a black bob-cut named Olivia. The report she gave them was that the other team had tried an offensive move with Regina at the helm, which cost them four people, but Regina had managed to take out that many defenders as well.

"So, we're down to thirteen," said Kimberly. "Not a lucky number."

"I make my own luck," Melanie scoffed.

"And they didn't get the flag?"

"We'd know if they did," Olivia said.

The small blonde scoffed a little louder. "Trust me, they're never gonna find that hiding place."

Kimberly gave a grim nod. "We'll have to hope so. Now, did anyone see which way Regina went?"

One of the girls who'd been on the defensive, a blonde named Madison, pointed over the dark-haired girl's shoulder. "That way. Southwest of here."

"Maybe we can catch her," Kimberly said. "Mel, with me. Niko, can you be spotter?"

"I'm on it," the freckled blonde answered.

"Good, then get airborne."

As Niko scrambled up the nearest tree, Kimberly picked three others to come with her and Melanie, then told a second team of three people to follow at a distance and wait for the signal that Regina was taken out. The remainder were ordered to set up a defensive perimeter on their home turf.

"Okay, let's double time it!" Kimberly told the others. "We can still pull this off if we work together."

"Stay frosty, everyone!" Melanie chimed in.

"What does that even mean?" Olivia asked.

"I dunno, but it sounds cool." Sadly, they could not continue this discussion, as Kimberly and her attackers were already moving back over enemy lines, so Melanie had to scramble after them. "Way to almost ditch me," she grumbled when she at last fell into step alongside Kimberly.

"Sorry, Mel, but we gotta move on this," her roommate explained. "We hurry, we can catch up to Regina and take her out of the game." But as she said this, she seemed distracted by something. What, Melanie couldn't tell.

"You okay, Kim?"

"I'm fine," the other girl affirmed. "As you said, let's just stay frosty… whatever that means."

Melanie couldn't help but laugh, noting how Kimberly usually failed to catch her movie references. "You have a lot to learn."

Her roommate raised a finger. "Let's can the chatter until we've taken take of business."

The blonde shrugged. "Whatever you say, Landy Junior." There was no quip in response to this, and so Melanie allowed herself to fall silent as well, her amber eyes scanning the foliage for signs of an attack. The girls paused under a particularly thick evergreen, forming a circle with their backs to the trunk. A few moments later, Niko appeared on one of the lower hanging boughs and flashed some hand signals to Kimberly.

The dark-haired girl nodded, and leaned over to Melanie. "You don't know all our signals yet, Mel, so I'll just tell you: Regina is about a quarter mile from here on your ten. Which means…"

"Yeah, I know what that means," Melanie said.

"Okay, here's what's gonna happen, then: you, Layla and Zoey will break off and head towards her group. She's got two others with her, according to Niko, so you'll be evenly matched. Once they're in sight, Mel can do her thing. Layla, Zoey, can you put personal feelings aside for this?"

"Maybe," one of them answered. "Why?"

"Because I'm asking you to possibly take one for the team. Your job will be to run interference, keep Regina's teammates away from her and Mel, whatever you have to do, so I can take the Queen Bitch out."

The other two girls exchanged a glace. They knew they were being asked because neither one of them liked Melanie that much. Several tense seconds passed, and their gazes moved back to Kimberly. "Okay," Layla said, speaking for both of them. "But like Mel said, you'd better not miss."

"I won't."

Pressure's on her now, Melanie thought as she walked off with the other two flanking her. This is why I'd never want to be team captain. The three of them did not speak to each other, though the small blonde couldn't help but notice the way they were walking, in such a manner that their sneaker-clad footfalls made only a minimal rustling on the pastoral carpet of the forest floor, so she did her best to mimic their movements.

When they got close to Regina's last known whereabouts, she felt Zoey tap her on her left shoulder, and turned her head to face the green-eyed brunette. Zoey pointed to Layla, then held up two fingers on her hand and moved it in a counter-clockwise circle.

"Huh?"Melanie whispered.

The other girl rolled her eyes. "It means we're gonna break off from you now, move around the clearing to try and flank her support. After we're out of sight, wait ten seconds, then go and piss Regina off."

"Just act as clueless with her as you're being right now," Layla whispered. "That should work." Both she and Zoey snickered as quietly as they could at that one.

Melanie felt her ire rising at that. "I got a better idea," she said, one side of her mouth curling upwards in a smirk.

"And what's that?" Zoey asked her.

"I do this myself, 'cause I don't need you two." Keeping her wrist loose as she'd been taught and moving as fast as the eye could blink, Melanie's knife hand flicked both left and right, the rubber blade catching each girl square in the chest. "The rules only say you're out if you get stabbed. They don't say it has to be from the other team."

For a split second, they were both silent, as the movement had been so swift and sure, it took them that long to register what had just happened. Then they began to protest. Loudly, at that.

"What the fuck, new girl?" Layla shouted, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, which was echoed by the black-haired girl on Melanie's right. As Melanie had hoped, while her teammates were sitting down on the ground, Regina came into sight, flanked by her two guards.

The plucky blonde's smirk grew more pronounced at the sight of her nemesis, and she ignored the protests coming from either side. "Hey, horse-face, I just realized I didn't give you any tribute this week." Melanie then reached one hand down and gripped the white fabric on the crotch of her skirt. "So why don't you come over here and suck my balls?"

Regina's eyes narrowed into deadly slits. The two girls flanking her started forward, but she raised a hand. "Stand down. I don't need your help. This runt is mine."

"I'm right here!" Melanie answered. "Come and get it!" She began to move her knife from one hand to the other in steady rhythm. Regina padded down the trail towards her, her own knife hand raised in a defensive stance. Her two teammates remained rooted in place, their gaze fixated on Melanie's own knife movements…

...Just as Melanie was hoping. Again moving in the blink of an eye, she reversed her grip on the knife so she held it by the rubber blade, and then tossed it in their direction. It caught one of the two "lesser bitches" in the stomach, taking her out of the game. The other girl gave an angry growl and started forward with her knife raised.

"Stand down, Jennica!" Regina repeated in a firmer tone. "I told you I've got this!"

"Nah, what you've got is a face that would make the Elephant Man cry!" Her opponent said with a laugh. Though inwardly, she knew that she was unarmed now, which meant one hundred percent of her trust had just been placed in her roommate. Don't let me down, Kim...

"I wouldn't be so smug, runt," the taller blonde said coldly. "I've still got my knife, and you don't!"

Melanie now started to back away at a pace to match Regina's. "Why are you still talking, when that mouth could be put to better use? My balls are still dry."

Regina paused in her advance, sheathed the knife. "You know what? I'm not gonna use this just yet. First, I'm gonna have a little fun."

"Said the same thing to your mom last night!" Melanie then found she had to scramble backwards a little more quickly to avoid the haymaker that Regina threw with enough force to take the smaller blonde's head off. Melanie quickly raised her arms in the loose defensive stance she'd learned to adapt, and eyed her opponent warily, rocking on the balls of her feet.

Regina was flying on rage, which made her less coordinated, so Melanie dodged the blows more easily than she normally would have. But she knew she could only avoid it for so long. Come on, Kim, it's all up to you now…

She pivoted her body to avoid a stomping kick to her knees, then managed to block a body blow from Regina's right fist. She responded to that by reaching out with her right hand and slapping Regina across both cheeks. But she overreached in her attempts to mock the Alpha, and Regina capitalized on that by grabbing Melanie's wrist and slamming her other hand into the smaller girl's gut, knocking the wind from her.

After that, it became a bit more difficult for Melanie to keep up her rhythm. She dodged one or two blows, but wound up taking several more, which ended with a headbutt that sprawled her on her back on the ground.

"Ow…" the small blonde muttered absently, blinking several times to clear the stars from her field of vision. As the world came back into focus, she saw Regina towering over her, rubber knife back in hand.

"Okay, fun's over," the Alpha said with a sneer of triumph. "Time to stab a runt." She got down on one knee, grabbed Melanie by the collar of her brown pullover, and raised the dagger to bring it down on her breastbone…

But before she could complete the movement, she felt another knife pressing between her shoulder blades, followed by a familiar voice saying: "You're dead."

Regina lowered her arms, turned her head slightly to see Kimberly standing over her. "You'd better make this up to me later," she growled, and moved into a sitting position on the forest floor.

"I will," the dark-haired girl assured, and then offered Melanie a hand.

"Took you long enough," she grumbled as Kim pulled her to her feet.

"Well, I had to sneak up on Jen first to take her out," her roommate explained, looking and sounding very agitated. "Which I wouldn't have had to do if you hadn't stabbed your own support. What the fuck were you thinking, Mel?"

The two girls had started walking towards the clearing that Regina had emerged from. "I was thinking that I could have followed the plan. But then I thought: if I stabbed them, they'd yell loud enough to alert Regina. And then Regina, in her arrogance, would have told anyone with her not to do anything. I didn't even need support in the first place, so I used them. And it was more fun that way."

Kimberly looked aghast. "But… they were on our team!"

"Who gives a shit? It's not real. We're using rubber weapons, so they're still alive, aren't they?"

"You're missing the point, Mel. But I can't argue this right now. We need to finish the job. And now thanks to you, our attack force is down by two."

They were passing the spot where one of Regina's teammates fell, so Melanie stooped and retrieved her knife. "Will you relax, Kim? I told you: no one's gonna find where I hid our flag. We have all the time we need to pull this off."

"Assuming we don't run out of people," Kimberly fired back. "Think you can avoid stabbing anyone else on our team?"

The small blonde rolled her eyes. "If it means that much to you, then fine! I won't."

They were silent as they entered the clearing Regina had left. Kimberly had questions, but instead wanted to focus on the win. Now that the Blue Team's captain was out, they had a chance.

While they waited to regroup with the remainder of their attack team, Melanie asked: "So, what did Regina mean by making it up to her?"

Kim gave an absent shrug. "Just that I'll probably have to pay her extra tribute money this week. You know how it is."

Something was off in her roommate's voice, but Mel didn't want to think about it at the moment. Like Kim, she wanted to score a win off the "Alpha team" too. Seconds later, they were joined by their backup, who asked what happened to Zoey and Layla. When they were told, their reaction was identical to Layla's from earlier.

"What the fuck, new girl?"Kaitlyn snapped.

"Now's not the time, not while we're in enemy territory," Kimberly intervened. "Mel fucked up, and she knows she fucked up. Right, Mel?"

The blonde girl gave a casual shrug, but other than that said nothing. So Kimberly went on: "Anyway, we'll deal with that later, because right now we have a chance to win this. I sent Niko on ahead, and she should have the location of their flag soon."

"Can we trust her?" Asked a girl named Camille.

"More than you can trust the first group of scouts. Niko may not look it, but she's got skills with a knife. She just hasn't earned the real one yet because she's… got other projects that interest her more than meeting the Sarge's standards."

Sure enough, right as Kimberly finished speaking, the freckled blonde showed up on the edge of the clearing to announce she'd spotted the enemy flag. "Amanda, Sunako and Lacey are guarding it," she said. "I can't see anyone else around. Looks like they may have sent whoever they have left into our territory."

"So, it's a race at this point," said Kimberly. "Who can get the flag first? Okay, here's what we do…"

She took a few moments to map out their plan and then they started off, Niko moving through the branches while the remaining five moved cautiously along the ground, using the sturdy trunks as cover. Since the woods had been around for millennia, there were many trees to use as hiding places.

"Only three people?" Melanie whispered to her roommate. "This'll be cake."

"I'd like to think that," Kimberly said. "But all three of those girls are in Hartman's upper class, while on our side, we've only got one girl who's earned their knife: me."

"Well, we had Layla," Kaitlyn grumbled, fixing the small blonde with a venomous stare.

"And now we don't," Melanie said with a shrug. "But who cares? We can do this without her."

Kimberly raised a hand, pausing in her advance to glance up at the rich canopy of hemlock, cedar and spruce. She spotted Niko, and the girl gave her a series of hand signals. "Okay," she whispered, bringing her gaze level again. "From this point on, no talking. Mel, stay close to me."

"Why?"

"So I can keep an eye on you," was the curt reply.

From that point on, the girls all moved silently, with only the occasional crackle of their sneaker soles on the carpet of dead pine needles at their feet. As they got nearer to their target, Kimberly gave a series of hand signals to the other three in their group, and those girls split off. Melanie assumed it was to try and pincer Regina's jackals from behind.

Their forward movement slowed as they got closer, and then Kimberly moved into a crouch, motioned for Melanie to do the same. Through a crack in the bushes they were using as cover, they could see their prey surrounding the flag, a small scrap of blue cloth hanging in the green branches of a small, year-old sapling.

Well, this worked before, so why not again? Melanie asked. She stood up suddenly, coming into view of the three opponents in the small clearing. Kimberly was about to ask what the hell was going on when the blonde girl shouted: "Hey, Amanda! Regina called. She wants to know why you're not sucking her balls! It's two-thirty!"

Amanda's cheeks grew slightly red, but she stood her ground. "You think we don't have our own watchers? I know how you got Regina. I'm not as stupid as her."

"Yeah, but you're uglier. Must be all the ball-sucking you do for her."

The auburn-haired girl did not move, except to raise her rubber knife into a defensive stance. "Not gonna fall for it, runt!"

There was a brief pause as Melanie's amber eyes locked with the other girl's green. Then they heard a cry of frustration from Lacey, who'd just been stabbed in the back by the three girls flanking her and the other cronies. "You were saying?" Melanie asked with a malicious laugh.

Hearing Lacey go down was enough to spur Sunako into action. She ducked a jab from one girl that would have caught her in the neck, then did a leg sweep that knocked her opponent's feet out from under her. As the girl was headed towards the ground, Sunako brought her own rubber blade down to stab them in the chest.

This spurred Melanie and Kimberly into action, and they leapt into the clearing to join their teammates. Amanda and Sunako were facing Kaitlyn and Camille, and so far the other two girls were dodging the attack, but it was clear they were back-pedaling. Camille managed to pivot her body to avoid a chest stab from Sunako, but she over-reached in her counter, allowing the Japanese girl to grab and nudge her in Amanda's direction, whose own rubber blade caught her in a "fatal" spot. The redhead then let go of her in time to block a knife jab from Kaitlyn.

"You take Sunako," Kimberly said to Melanie, and moved forward quickly to try and help Kaitlyn. Unfortunately, Amanda saw her coming out of the corner of her eye and turned to block the other girl's downward swing. Kimberly tried to follow this up with a jab to the gut, but Amanda was again too quick. As she deflected the blow, she also pivoted to avoid a strike from Kaitlyn, then grabbed the other girl's outstretched arm and flung her in Kimberly's direction. The blonde managed to avoid hitting Kimberly with her knife, but the dark-haired girl was not as fortunate. As they tumbled to the ground, her fake blade caught Kaitlyn in the chest.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Kimberly said, trying to move Kaitlyn off her as gently as she could, despite the urgency of the situation.

"It's okay," the other girl said. "I know you didn't do it on purpose." Moving into a sitting position on the grass, she then held her rubber knife out to Kimberly. "Here, take it."

The dark-haired girl hesitated for a split-second, then she accepted the weapon and got to her feet again. Might as well take a page from Melanie's book, she thought. Landy only said that people who get stabbed are out of the game. Didn't say anything about their weapons.

So she got back to her feet with a blade in each hand. Amanda raised an eyebrow at that, and immediately looked around. Both of Kimberly's fallen teammates would likely not give up their knives. Then her gaze moved to Lacey, sitting several yards away. Before she could call out to her, though, Kimberly was on her.

The redhead was now the one backpedaling, using her single blade to try and block her opponent's blows. Kimberly moved like a dancer, going high with one knife and low with the other. Though Amanda was slightly higher in skill than her, even she was starting to find blocking them to be taxing.

"Lacey!" She managed to call, turning her head only slightly in the other girl's direction. Lacey, sitting on the grass, raised her head slightly.

"Your knife!" Her superior said, causing the dirty blonde-haired girl to raise her brows.

"What about it?" She asked.

"Give it to me, you idiot!"

"But… I'm not allowed to get up."

"Then toss it to me!" She then had to drop and roll to the left to avoid a two-pronged attack aimed at her neck and belly. She got halfway to her feet in time to avoid another "fatal" blow. Thankfully, Lacey had gotten the message at this point and tossed her weapon to Amanda, who snatched it out of midair by the handle.

Her green eyes flashed a cold light as she stood up straighter. "Nice try, runt, but two can play this game!"

Kimberly took a step backwards, but raised both her knives with a smirk of defiance. "You think I'm scared of you? I never have been! Let's dance!"


Not far away, Melanie was cautiously circling Sunako. She'd been paying attention at gym class, knew that the girl was a cut above Janis, and so was being a bit more cautious, not wanting to make the first move. Then she chanced a look out of the corner of her eye over at Amanda and Kimberly, and saw how they were armed. It didn't take her long to figure out where the extra knives had come from.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" she said out loud. "Excuse me a sec." So saying, she dug the toe of her sneaker into the earth and kicked up, sending a clump of dirt and pine needles towards Sunako's face. The other girl raised a hand to block it, but Melanie used that time to dash over to where Camille sat on the ground, and scoop up her knife. "Yoink!"

Now armed the same as Kimberly, she turned back to her opponent. "Okay, now let's do this." She came forward swinging and jabbing, cockier now that she thought she had the advantage. But like the other Alphas, Sunako did not get where she was in Hartman's class by slacking off. She deflected a series of blows from Melanie, watching for an opening. When she found it, she lashed out suddenly, striking Mel in the left wrist and causing her to drop one of her weapons.

"Can't use that hand now, runt!" Sunako said with a smirk of triumph.

"True, but I can use the rest!" Melanie tossed her other knife at the Japanese girl's midsection, and Sunako had to swing downward rather quickly to deflect it, moving her knife arm towards the ground. The smaller blonde use that opportunity to lunge and swing with her left elbow, checking her opponent hard on the jaw. Sunako dropped to the ground, stunned for a few moments, but Melanie needed to find where she'd dropped her knife.

Her amber eyes rapidly scanned the thick carpet of dirt, grass, and pine needles. She was so caught up in her search, she almost forgot about the other girl, until Sunako regained her feet and swung upwards with the knife. Melanie lurched backwards to avoid the swing, but would up losing her balance and falling flat on her back.

A moment later, she felt an uncomfortable weight press cruelly against her chest as Sunako pinned her with the sole of her yellow sneaker. "Game over, runt!" She said with a sneer of triumph. She raised her rubber knife, but before she could bring it down, something flashed through the air and then she felt a sting on the side of her neck.

She glanced down at her feet, saw a new rubber knife that had not been there before. Then she glanced up and saw Niko in the branches of a spruce on the edge of the clearing, grinning at the other girl. "Sorry, Sunako, but you're out."

"Shit!" She muttered under her breath, and then removed her foot from her opponent and sat down on the grass.

"Use my knife, Mel!" Niko called down at her. Melanie glanced over at Kimberly and Amanda, still going toe to toe, and nodded. She grabbed the weapon and sprang to her feet.

"We got this!" Melanie called over to the freckled blonde. "Get the flag and book it back to our side!"

Niko pointed down at the blue scrap of cloth tucked into her skirt. "Way ahead of you!" She said, and started off through the branches.

While this had been going on, Kimberly was trying to hold her own against her opponent, but she was starting to tire. Her smaller size made it easy to dodge Amanda, but the other girl had better reach. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up.

Amanda thought that victory was assured… until she and her opponent were turned in such a way that she could see Sunako sitting on the grass. "What the hell?" She half-whispered. This took her mind out of the game for a moment, long enough for Kimberly to strike one of her knife hands, incapacitating it. A moment later, Melanie was on the other side of her, a knife in her right hand.

Amanda's green eyes flicked in the direction of the young sapling, saw that the flag was already gone. Unlike Regina, the redhead possessed enough tact to not let her anger get the best of her. She knew when to quit, and so dropped her knife and sat down on the grass. "I give up," she said.

"Good move," said Melanie. "I'm surprised you had it in you." A moment later, there were two blasts from the whistle, indicating that Niko had made it back to the Red Team's territory. The game was over.

"Thank God!" Sunako said, as she and the other girls all got to their feet. Melanie and Kimberly were already on their way out of the clearing, wanting to put distance between themselves and Regina's cronies. Amanda did not follow, but called after them: "Don't think this is over, runt!"

"What else is new?" Melanie said with a roll of her eyes. Her roommate was strangely quiet. The blonde raised her hand to Kimberly. "Hey… we did it!"

"Hell, yeah, we did!" The two girls high-fived each other, but Kimberly's voice made it seem like she was distracted by something.

"Don't get too excited," Melanie said. "You might embarrass yourself."

"Sorry, Mel. I'm… still thinking about what happened earlier. You know that Landy might take issue with that."

"Well, I didn't exactly break a rule, since there was no rule that says who you can't stab."

"Oh, gee, thanks, that makes me feel so much better," grumbled Layla, who'd fallen into step behind them. This was echoed a moment later by Zoey, who'd also joined the queue. After that, they fell silent until they emerged into their own territory, where the rest of the team was assembled.

Kimberly made her way through the other girls, exchanging high-fives with a few of them, until she got to Niko, who was still holding the enemy flag. "Awesome job!" She said, and the two slapped skin.

"Yeah, that was a pretty sweet strategy," Melanie added. It seemed to her that Kimberly had sent Janine and the other three up into the trees first as bait, to lull the other side into a false sense of security before breaking out the real scout. But she kept quiet about this, as several of the girls were giving her dirty looks.

Before they could say anything else, they were joined in the clearing by Joan Landy and Mr. Hartman. The girls all gathered in a circle around them, and Joan waited until the opposing team began to join that circle before speaking.

"That was a very impressive game, girls," the matriarch said. "Probably one of the best ones you've played so far. You're clearly learning your lessons well."

"Most of them," Hartman spoke in his usual gruff tone, which sounded like old leather and gravel. "One of the key points of this day is to teach you ladies teamwork." His gray eyes narrowed as they focused on a certain petite blonde. "I wouldn't exactly call stabbing your own teammates a good example of that quality, would you, Melanie?"

"You may not, sir," Melanie answered. "But I do. I mean, by taking them out of the game, they still helped me and Kim achieve our goal. So technically it was teamwork."

"And would you be so quick to sacrifice your own men like that on the battlefield?" The gym teacher growled at her.

"It wasn't a sacrifice, because they're still alive," the blonde said with a laugh. "None of this was real. It's just a game, not a war."

Hartman sucked in a sharp breath, and grew slightly red around the ears. "Ms. Landy, I recommend throwing her in Solitary for the night."

"But I didn't cheat, sir. There was nothing in the rules that said I couldn't do that."

Joan couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "Well, you certainly do keep us on your toes with that, don't you, child? Something tells me this won't be the first time we need to revise the rules of the game, because of you. But just because it's not real this time, doesn't mean it won't be real later in your life. That is a lesson you must learn, but this time I don't think Solitary is the answer. We'll come up with something else."

If it was detention, Melanie could handle that. So she nodded and simply said: "Yes, ma'am."

"But in the meantime, we'll need to gather things up here and head back to the school for the ceremony and for dinner. I see Niko has the blue flag, but where is the red?"

"I'll get it," Melanie said, got to her feet, and walked a short distance away. Then she got back down on her knees and began to dig at a patch of soil and dead pine needles. This led to shouts of protest from the other team, as the small blonde quickly dug back up the flag from the hole she'd first buried it in.

"That's cheating!" Amanda shouted.

"They should be disqualified, Ms. Landy!" Regina said.

"Now she should get thrown in the hole," grumbled Jennica.

The other team began to protest as well, but all of it was soon cut short by the shrill blast of the whistle tearing through the woods, sending birds scattering from the branches overhead and bringing both sides to silence. Joan Landy's gaze was once again like ice. "Explain this, Melanie."

"What's there to explain?" She answered with a shrug. "The rules didn't say this wasn't allowed. They just said to hide the flag on your own side. Didn't say it had to be in sight."

"I see." For a while Joan was silent, her poker face flawless. Then she said: "I'll need to give this some thought on the way back to the school. So for now, everyone on their feet. We have a small hike ahead of us."

And so the girls all began the walk back through the shady evergreens and the summer afternoon towards the familiar structure of their school. Most of them kept their distance from Melanie, which was okay with the blonde girl. Only Kimberly seemed willing to walk by her, but even she didn't say much, still looking preoccupied by something. At one point, she stooped down to tie her shoe, and told Mel she would catch up.

Once her roommate was out of sight, Kimberly moved as silently as she could towards Regina. "Have you got it?" She whispered.

"Yeah," the other girl answered. "We'll hit her at the cookout. You know what to do?"

"Of course I do," Kim said, her tone almost defensive.

"You're not gonna flake on us, are you? Because you know what will happen."

"I'm aware. And I won't flake. I'll do my part."

"Better get back to her then, before she sees us talking."

"Right," Kimberly said with a nod, then went to go look for her friend.

Arriving back at the school, the girls milled around on the quad for a bit while Joan discussed recent events with a few of the other faculty. Finally, the headmistress called them to order, and there was a minute of scrambling as they assembled into rank and file.

"As Melanie pointed out, the rules technically don't say that the flag needs to be hidden where the players can see it. They will be revised because of that oversight. But because the Blue Team did not even have a chance to try and win, this year's contest has been declared a draw."

This was met with protests from the Red Team, but Joan swiftly raised a hand, which silenced them before they really started. She went on to say: "For her conduct today, Melanie will be punished. I'll allow her to participate in the cookout for dinner tonight, but every morning for the next week, she is to report to Nikolai at six AM sharp for kitchen chores. And those chores will not count towards her weekly allowance."

Several of the students nodded, especially those on the Red Team. Joan allowed them that before fixing her ice-blue glare on the small blonde. "Is that understood, Melanie?"

"Yes, Ms. Landy," Melanie said, managing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. No point in risking Joan giving her any more slave labor than she'd already been assigned.

"Very well, then," Joan went on. "And with that out of the way, it's time to begin the awards ceremony."

The ceremony also took place on the Quad, so Melanie was spared having to hear complaints from the other girls right away. For the most part, her mind wandered as the bronze, silver and gold winners were announced for each event, but she clapped along with the other girls when necessary (though her applause was sincere when Kimberly was given the gold medal for Archery).

She herself accepted the silver medal for the Hurdles, which came at the price of having to shake Amanda's hand. "Way to cost your team their win, runt," the redhead whispered.

"It's not like you won, either," Melanie whispered back. "That's how draws work. At least, most people with a functioning brain know that."

Amanda had no response to that, instead turned and started back towards her seat on the grass, which put Melanie on the defensive. She remembered what happened the last time an Alpha had just walked away from a possible confrontation. But she couldn't think about it now, and so took her own seat.

By the time the awards had all been given out, it was a little after five, and Melanie was famished. Halfway through the ceremony, the quad had started to fill with a pleasant smell of charcoal smoke, mixed with cooking meat. It had been ages since she'd eaten anything prepared on a grill (a dine and dash at some barbecue place, since none of her foster parents ever cooked with fire), and it was making her mouth water. Of course, it was having the same effect on the rest of the girls. More than one wore an impatient look, silently wishing Joan would get on with it and finish her closing speech.

"It's apparent from your performance today that you girls are clearly learning your lessons well," the headmistress finally got to the end. "Thank you all for making this the most… interesting Field Day so far. Now, I'm sure you're all hungry after so much activity. So let's all go to dinner."

Those words were met with hearty applause, and the girls began to get up from their seats on the grass. Melanie started in the direction of the dining hall, but then felt Kimberly's hand on her shoulder. "We're not going there, today, Mel. The dinner after Field Day is always outside, when the weather permits."

So the blonde girl followed her roommate over to where gym class was usually held. Several blankets had been spread out on the tilled dirt of the practice field, and the kitchen staff had set up several buffet tables. Melanie was quick to spot the source of that heavenly smell: a row of grills that they'd been cooking the meat on.

The students all began to claim seats on the blankets. None of them were speaking to Melanie, which suited her just fine, as it meant that her and Kimberly had their own blanket. Kim asked Niko if she wanted to sit with them, but the freckled blonde said she would rather sit by herself, to review her notes for something she was working on.

Benches and tables had been set up on the edge of the field for the faculty. This time Joan led them in grace, which was also fine with Melanie. Then, at long last, they were allowed to line up for the buffet.

The small blonde didn't think anything could have topped the meals on Christmas Day, but this came close. Nikolai and his staff had grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken. There were also trays of the usual burger fixings (iceberg lettuce leaves, sliced beefsteak tomato, pickles, etc.) and the sides one would expect from any summer cookout.

Melanie selected a burger and a drumstick, took a large scoop of creamy potato salad, another of vinegary coleslaw, and a buttered ear of corn, which was somehow still hot. Joan was even allowing them to have soda with the meal. After grabbing a can of Dr. Pepper from the cooler, she high-tailed it back to her seat, eager to dig in.

Just as she was lifting her burger to her mouth, she heard Kimberly curse under her breath. "Damn, I forgot to grab a soda. Hey, Mel, can you grab one for me?"

"Why can't you get it yourself?" She grumbled.

"Because I just got comfy. And also, I think you owe me that much for costing our team the win. Now… please?"

The small blonde set her burger back down and got to her feet. "Fine." Then she stomped back towards the buffet.


Over on another blanket, Regina and her crew watched Melanie get up, and leave Kimberly by herself. "Now's your chance," she said to Janis. "Move."


When Melanie got back to the blanket a few minutes later, she saw Janis walking away. "What'd she want?" She asked Kimberly, sitting back down and passing her the can of Dr. Pepper.

The dark-haired girl shrugged, and took a bite of her hot dog. "Oh, you know: just delivering the message that Regina wants to talk to me later. Probably about the whole stabbing thing."

Melanie gave an absent nod, picked up her burger, and finally started tucking in. "Not bad," she said, her mouth still full of the first bite. "I'm amazed he didn't burn it."


"What the fuck?"

The Alpha girls had been watching their nemesis eat for a few minutes now. Melanie was almost halfway through it, and showed no signs of distress. Regina glanced down at the jar of scotch bonnet peppers that still sat in Janis's lap. "You loaded her burger with those, right?" She asked her lackey.

"Yeah, I swear I did." Janis raised her unbroken hand with thumb and pinky curled in Scout's Honor. "At least a half-dozen."

They watched Melanie take another bite, then raise one golden eyebrow, after which she kept on chewing. "What's going on here, Gina?" Amanda asked. "I thought you said Kimberly told you the runt was allergic to these." She grabbed the jar from Janis and began to skim over the label. "And according to Des, they're crazy hot. Like, at least a thousand times hotter than a jalapeno."

"She did," Regina growled, starting to get annoyed.

"Flames should be shooting out her ears by now," Sunako noted.

"Her ears, if we're lucky," Lacey quipped.

Regina started to get red in the face, which was what Melanie should have been doing by now, among other things. "It's obvious what happened here," she snapped. "Janis fucked it up."

"No I didn't," the other girl protested. "I put these fucking things right on her burger. Like you said."

"No, you messed up," the Alpha grumbled, and rose to her feet. "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this." She then started off to where Kim and Mel were happily eating.


Melanie was about to raise the burger to her mouth for another bite when she saw the shadow fall across the blanket. She looked up to see Regina, arms folded across her chest. "Can I help you?" She asked.

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Do we have to settle up now, Regina? We're trying to eat here."

"How's the burger, runt?" The taller girl asked Mel, ignoring Kimberly.

"Not bad. Considering who cooked it, it's actually edible."

"Really? Mind if I have a bite?"

Melanie gave a bored yawn. "If it'll get you out of my face, then sure, help yourself." She held the burger up to Regina, who snatched it from her and took a bite…

...Then immediately tried to suck in air as an explosion of intense, painful heat overwhelmed her mouth. Breathing in may not have been the smartest action with a mouth full of food, as evidenced a moment later when the bite of incredibly hot, scotch bonnet-laced burger became lodged in her throat. Regina sank to her knees, clutching her neck and coughing.

Melanie was on her feet now, standing over the taller girl for the first time since she'd arrived at the school. "Were you trying to prank me, bitch? Because if you were, you should have paid closer attention to a cardinal rule: know your enemy." She started to circle Regina now, hands clapped behind her back. "If you did, then you'd know that… well, it's just the damnedest thing, but spicy food has no effect on me whatsoever."

Regina was starting to turn purple. "Hey, Mel," Kimberly said. "Maybe we ought to…"

"Yeah, I'll take care of it," Mel told her. "Just gimme a minute." She then turned her attention back to her rival: "I have no idea why, but I'm totally immune. Least I think I am. I've never found a pepper or sauce hot enough to burn me. I feel nothing when I eat them. Which is obviously more than can be said for you."

Regina could do nothing to reply except make small, strangled coughing noises, and Melanie laughed. "What? You'll have to speak up. I can't understand a word you're saying."

"Landy on your six, Mel," Kimberly said, interrupting any further mockery the small blonde had cooking. She turned her head, saw the matriarch walking towards them, so she raised her hand and started to slap Regina on the back.

After three smacks, the food flew out of her mouth onto the blanket, and Regina began to suck in air like a drowning victim. Not that this was much better. The seeds in the pepper had left their imprint on her tracheal tissue, so for the next hour or so, the action of inhaling would make it feel like her lungs were full of fire.

Joan Landy arrived to find Regina on her knees, tears in her eyes as she tried to breathe without pain, and Melanie standing over her. "What's going on here?" She asked.

"Regina was choking, Ms Landy," Kim explained, pointing to the piece of half-chewed burger on the blanket. "Melanie just saved her."

"I see." Joan's eyes flicked down to the morsel that moments ago had been stuck in Regina's throat. "Well, that was very impressive, Melanie, keeping a cool head in an emergency. And you knew just what to do."

Melanie shrugged. "It was no big deal, Ms. Landy. I saw it on TV once."

"Regina," Joan said to the taller blonde, who was now on her feet, still sucking in air. "Don't you think you should thank Melanie?"

Regina looked at Melanie with venom in her eyes, despite the fire in her throat. She tried to make words, but her mouth parts were still extremely sensitive. So all she could manage was a few coughs, and then she threw up all over Joan Landy's very expensive alligator boots.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, child," Joan muttered and took a few steps backwards. Then she looked around the blankets until she spotted Regina's crew and called over to them. "Amanda, will you please escort your friend to the infirmary? And be sure to bring a bag or plate with you, in case she loses it again."

"Yes, ma'am." Amanda trudged over to them, took the still-gasping Regina by the hand, and started to guide her off the practice field. Several of the girls were glancing over at Kim and Mel's blanket, wondering what had just happened. A few were on their feet to try and get a better look.

Then Joan Landy cleared her throat. "The situation is under control, ladies. There is nothing to be alarmed about. Please enjoy your dinner." She then started back towards her table, trying to discreetly shake some of the vomit from her shoes while she walked.

After she was a healthy distance away, both Melanie and her roommate started to laugh. It took them a minute before they were able to breathe again, and then Melanie wiped her eyes and reached for her chicken. "Wow… so that wasn't what I was expecting, especially after the roach thing. What the hell could have given her that idea? I mean, I'm lucky she got it, but still, I'm curious."

"I gotta confess something, Mel."

The blonde girl was munching on her drumstick, and paused when she saw how thoughtful (and slightly nervous) Kim's expression had become. "Um… okay."

She took a deep breath. "Here goes: The night you went to Solitary, Regina came to my room and offered me a spot in her pack if I helped her find a new weakness of yours she could exploit. And I may have told her that you're very allergic to spicy food."

Mel's brow furrowed. "But… I'm not. You know that."

"Yeah, but Regina didn't know that. I set her up."

"Wait… you had a chance at Easy Street, and… you gave that up… for me?"

The dark-haired girl gave a small laugh. "Of course. What sort of friend would I be if I left you to the mercy of those bitches?"

Melanie was so startled she almost "pulled a Regina" at that point, but managed to swallow what was in her mouth without choking. After wearing the same stunned expression for a few more moments, she smiled at Kimberly, an actual warm smile without any malice behind it. "Um… thank you, Kim."

"You don't have to thank me."

"You always say that, and honestly, it's annoying. Well, this time, you're wrong. Wait here." She got up and walked over to the blanket that was occupied by Sunako, Lacey and Janis. They all fixed her with the same cold stare.

"The fuck do you want?" Janis growled.

"Well, since you ladies clearly won't be needing these anymore, I thought I'd relieve you of them." Showing no fear, she reached down and snatched up the jar of scotch bonnets. Though the other three looked like they wanted to make a move, none did. Not even when Melanie grabbed Regina's pudding cup with her other hand. "I figure she won't mind, since she can't eat it. Well, enjoy your dinner. Lemme know if you need a hand with anything, Janis." The small blonde cackled to herself as she turned and walked back to where Kimberly sat.

"Here, you want this?" She asked as she sat back down, holding out the pudding to the other girl. "I hate butterscotch."

Kimberly smiled and took the dessert. "Thanks, Mel. I love it."

"Yeah, because you're weird." She held her hand out, and the two roommates exchanged a high five. The smile didn't leave Melanie's face as she pulled a scotch bonnet pepper from the jar, bit it off at the stem, and started crunching with obvious pleasure.


Later that evening, after dinner had ended, Kimberly was in one of the shower stalls of their dorm bathroom, wringing out her long raven hair, getting it as dry as she could before she went back to her bedroom. Unlike Melanie, she didn't have much of a problem showering with other girls present, but today, she didn't feel like using the locker room with the rest of them, and had wanted some time to herself as she rinsed off the dirt from a very long, but rewarding day.

Now she was finishing up. Satisfied that her hair was dry enough, she grabbed her bathrobe off a nearby hook, donned it, draped her towel over her shoulders, and left the bathroom. She glanced through an open bedroom door as she walked down the hallway, seeing the sunlight streaming in through the window. Although it was almost seven-thirty, it was still bright as day, and the sun would not actually set until after lights-out.

Kimberly remembered how Melanie complained about that, when the days had started to get longer, much longer than she was used to experiencing in summers down in California. "You'll get used to it," was all the dark-haired girl had to say to her. "By mid-July, you'll have no problems falling asleep."

She arrived back at their bedroom to find Melanie sitting on her bed, flipping through a comic she'd gotten through Des, something called "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac." The blonde looked up and smiled again, as Kimberly entered.

"I glanced at that comic once," Kimberly remarked. "And you say I'm weird."

"Yeah, well, this still beats anime," Melanie said with a laugh.

Kimberly was readying another retort while she turned to her dresser and pulled the drawer open, looking for sleepwear. But she paused when she saw what was on her dresser-top. Among her collection of action figures was a new one, still in its packaging. One of the characters from "Bubble Gum Crisis" that she hadn't picked up yet. Confused, she picked it up and faced her roommate again. "Hey, Mel, did you see who left this?"

The girl's cheeks reddened a little at the edges. "Um… yeah. It was me."

"You?"

"Yeah, I… ordered it through Des. Asked him to keep it a secret."

Now it was Kimberly's turn to furrow her brow in confusion. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, well, um… you… got a better grade on the book report than I did. And remember, we agreed that if you did, I'd buy you an anime figure."

The smile was back on Kimberly's face, and she sat down on her bed. "But we never actually shook on that bet, Mel. You said you didn't want to."

The small blonde's cheeks grew more flushed. "Well, maybe I felt like doing this because of… all the training you've been giving me. And all the other stuff you did."

Kim's smile grew wider. "You didn't have to do this, Mel. But… thank you."

"I know that. But I felt like it. And… you're welcome." There was silence between the two of them for a moment. Then the blonde set her comic down and turned on her side to face the other girl. "Hey, Kim… I've been wondering. When Regina made you the offer, you could have just said 'no'. Not that I care, but… why go to all that trouble to set her up?"

Those dark eyes seemed to turn a shade darker. "Well, two reasons. First, she insulted me. I mean, she and her pack treated me like shit before you came along, and then suddenly she waltzes into my bedroom and tries to pretend that never happened? No, fuck her. And also: maybe I wanted to see her pay for that prank she pulled on you. Because she hurt my friend. And I gotta say, what happened today could not have gone better."

"No, it really couldn't." The two girls laughed again at the memory, and for a while they were silent again. Kimberly opened her new figure and found a spot for it on the dresser, then she changed into shorts and an over-sized brown nightshirt, and started to braid her hair. She was halfway through when Melanie spoke again.

"Hey, Kim?"

"Yeah?"

Melanie was looking at her again, wearing an expression Kim had never seen on her before. "I… was about four years old. It was my first foster home. Like any kid, when I was bad, I was put in timeout. Except they didn't… make me sit in a chair. My fake dad… would toss me into a crawl space. It was… pitch black in there… with a dirt floor… it smelled like old vegetables and piss…" Melanie's eyes were shut now, she was breathing more quickly. "And there was a nest of roaches in there. I couldn't see them, but I… could always FEEL them… crawling on me… and… I could never stop them…" Her arms were tucked to her chest now, hands clutching her shoulders with fingers curled into hooks. "I screamed… I cried… but they were always there… I could sometimes squash one or two, but… this only seemed to get them more excited, and… and they… they…"

She seemed close to hyperventilating, so Kimberly reached over and took one of Melanie's hands in both of hers. "It's all right, Melanie. You're not there. You're here now. If it's making you upset, you don't have to keep talking about it. I get what you're saying, and I understand why you don't like bugs. And… I appreciate you sharing this. Thank you for trusting me."

Melanie opened her eyes, and the two girls shared a brief hug. Then the blonde sat up a little straighter on the bed. "Okay, enough Hallmark stuff. Let's go down to the rec room."

"Why?"

"Because, I have something I wanna show you."

Kimberly laughed a little. "Um… what?"

"You'll see. I signed up for some TV time a week ago." Melanie got up from her bed. "Now come on!"

"Mel, I have to finish braiding my hair!"

"Finish it downstairs. I managed to find a copy of 'the Princess Bride,' and we're going to watch it, because it's hilarious, and you're cheating yourself if you've never seen it."

Kimberly smiled, and got up as well. "Okay, but this movie better be as funny as you say it is."

"We can make a bet if you want," Mel quipped, and the two girls laughed as they started in the direction of the stairs.


Shortly after lights out, there was a small gathering in Joan Landy's office consisting of her, Hartman and Ms. Wallace. Joan's assistant was also there, pouring champagne into three flutes. Through the window behind them, the sun was finally starting to drift down below the tops of the evergreens, though it would be another hour before it set.

"Leave the bottle, hon," Ms. Wallace said to Candace. The younger woman looked over at Joan, who gave a small head shake. "Put it back on ice," the headmistress ordered. "But pour a little for yourself, if you like, dear."

"Thank you, ma'am," Candace said. After passing out the full glasses to the faculty members present, she picked up the bottle and left the office, shutting the door behind her.

Joan picked up her flute and raised her glass in a toast. "Well, Edna, Sergeant… that's another Field Day in the books."

"Well done, as always," Hartman said.

"And the most interesting one we've had to date," Wallace chimed in.

The three clinked together and then drank. Joan ran one finger around the rim of her glass, deep in thought for a second. Then she said: "You are right about that. This was Melanie's first Field Day, and already we'll need to make more than one revision to the rule-book. Makes me wonder what that clever child has in store for us next year."

"Permission to speak candidly, ma'am," Hartman spoke up.

Joan nodded, sipped her drink. "I always welcome that from you, Sergeant."

"I think you were too lenient on that girl. She should have been thrown in Solitary."

"Yes, I considered it. But something tells me that young Melanie is used to isolation. So it wouldn't really be a punishment for her. She's a loner… she takes after her mother in that regard."

"Even her mother knows when it's necessary to work with other people," Wallace pointed out.

"Indeed," said Joan. "But she also wouldn't hesitate to do what Melanie did, if she felt it would accomplish her mission."

"Careful not to say that around the Director," Hartman warned. "You know that he has a different goal in mind."

"I'm aware of my responsibilities, Sergeant. Melanie will be made to conform to our ideals, but… it would be a shame to lose that spark of ingenuity. If only we could find some way to mold that to meet our standards…" Joan swirled the champagne in her glass. "But, then, it is all or nothing. At the moment, we have other issues. The games today have shown us how much each girl's skills are improving. Melanie is progressing in her training, but she still has a lot to learn."

Wallace drained her glass and set it on Joan's desk. "Ms. Landy, if you don't mind, I gotta get back to the dorms to check on the girls."

Joan raised her glass at the other woman. "Of course. Good work today, Edna."

The beefy woman nodded at them both. "Ma'am. Sergeant."

After she was gone, Joan Landy called her assistant back in to top off hers and Hartman's drinks. "Now, then, Sergeant," she told her colleague. "You are correct. Melanie does need to be taught a lesson. But the problem is that Solitary isn't punishment for her, not like for the other girls. I think another exercise is in order."

Hartman nodded. "I know what you're suggesting, ma'am. Melanie needs to go camping?"

Joan returned the nod. "It seems the best way to get her to work with others. I'll leave the details in your very capable hands."

"I'll take care of it, ma'am."

"I have no doubts about that, old friend." Joan smiled, and raised her glass for another toast. "Young Melanie is about to get a crash course. But sometimes, being thrown headfirst into something is the best way to learn."

"Absolutely," Hartman said, and clinked his glass to hers.


ADDITIONAL NOTES

So, I found a handy inflation calculator in my Google searches. According to my research, a 1.86 ounce Snickers Bar is $1.39 today, which translates into eighty-six cents in 1997. From there, I just added in what the sales tax for Washington state appeared to be in that time.

I also want to point out that Des is the same age as the girls at Landy's school. Doesn't make him any less of a creep, but I did want it known there is no sizable age gap between them, lest anyone think I was being too skeezy with him.

For the Archery event, the "wimpy safety gear" Melanie refers to are the guards that most schools make you wear on your forearm and fingers to avoid getting burned by the bowstring. Is anyone else old enough to remember that safety gear?

"Stay frosty" is a line from the 1986 James Cameron classic "Aliens." Melanie has seen a LOT of R-Rated movies for a girl her age, and that's mainly because growing up in a lot of broken foster homes, TV became one of her only "babysitters".

I feel there's some delicious irony in Melanie saying she'd never want to be team captain. Basically because it's my HC she was the captain of the Anti-Kyokugen Team in KoF XI. I don't know if SNK has ever confirmed anything, but everything I've looked at says that the team was largely Malin's idea, hence the reason for my HC.

I didn't even realize this until chatting with a friend, but apparently the sun sets much later in summer in the Pacific Northwest. Which, honestly, will make certain parts of this story more interesting.

In case you were curious, a Jalapeno is only 2,500 to 3,500 Scoville (the unit used to measure how hot a pepper is). Scotch bonnets can be as hot as 350,000 Scoville.

And that's all for now. This was my longest chapter to date, and I thought about splitting it into two, but it's been over three months since I updated, so I felt I owed you all a nice, meaty chapter. The next one should hopefully not take as long to get out. Thank you to Illyrilex for helping me proofread the second draft of this. I wanted this to look as neat as possible, but due to its length I wanted another set of eyes to look it over.

Until next time, please feel free to review if you're so inclined. There's a lot to talk about in this one. ( ;