Italics=past memory
Chapter II
"Earth B team, standby. Mars B team, standby; service, Mars B." The mechaniZed voice droned on.
A whistle blew, Ayumi's teammate threw the ball upward, and served. Kris was ready and hit the volleyball upwards. Anna set it, and while Ayumi was getting ready, Akari jumped and spiked the ball, only to see it land on the sand, on her side of the net. Ayumi had successfully blocked the spike. Akari's face showed her dismay as the scoreboard read, Mars B: 1, Earth B: 0.
40 minutes later: "Final score, Mars B: 131, Earth B, 2." Scattered applause, lots of snickering. Ayumi shook Akari's hand, feeling how weak the handshake was. She nodded, then walked out the door to the rooms.
"That was great, guys!" Ayumi exclaimed.
"Yeah, we killed them….hehehehe…" Once again, all Ayumi did was smile. She fell on her bed with a flop and slept that way the rest of the night.
~*~
"There are so many teams this year, we may not be able to play Lahrri Feldnunt. A good thing too, she's 12 and 0 so far."
"Yeah. What was her last game? Oh, the Earth team A, right?
"Yeah…that was the team that used to be 11 and 0, like us."
"From what I heard, Lahrri swung the ball right into Jessie's face and she went flying."
"Oh yeah…?"
"Hey…where's Ayumi?"
Ayumi was watching the current anti-gravity lacrosse game, Saturn A against Mars A. They were closely matched, and Ayumi could see the tension in her best friend's face. She looked at the scoreboard. It had been Mars A: 3, Saturn A: 2 for the last four minutes. C'mon, Carol…beat them… Carol Ingram, black long hair in a braid, 163 cm tall, was struggling with her team to beat their opponent. A pinkish light shown from behind the Mars' goal line. Shoot, they're tied… The time flashed to signal that half the time was gone. Unlike Ayumi's team, Carol's was 6 and 5. Ayumi knew Carol to be a good athlete. In fact, Carol had finished second, only 2 seconds after Ayumi. It was Carol's teammates that were holding her down, Ayumi knew. If only we had been put on the same team… but she shook her head. Whatever happens, happens But Ayumi knew that her friend deserved to continue onto the Great Competition. But I can't say it's not fair… She walked away.
~*~
Caterers and waiters were everywhere, scrambling from table to table. People were socialiZing, laughing, talking about the past experiences in the tournament and the upcoming events in the Great Competition. What Ayumi didn't see was her best friend.
"I'm sorry about your friend, Ayumi." A friendly hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Headmaster!…"
Grant Oldman nodded. "Carol was a fine athlete. Too bad."
"I-I believe it was the rest of the team that held her down."
"Is that so?" He leaned down to look straight into my eyes.
I must have reddened, because I leaned backwards and stammered, "Y-yes."
"Haha…maybe, maybe not…" Then, with a wave, he winked and walked away.
Whew
The night before, I had made my way to Carol's room. She had been packing, her roommates nowhere in sight.
"Who is it?"
"I-It's me, Ayumi…" I closed my eyes, hoping at the last minute that she wouldn't open the door, because I did not know what to say. But the door did open. She looked a little flushed, and smiled briefly, and let me in.
"Um…Carol…" She took one look at my face and shook her head.
"No, please don't…I don't want to talk about it…every time I have a free second, I think about what I could have done differently in each game." She sat down on her bed and sighed. "I always have this thought that if I did something differently, then maybe we could have won a few more games…" She stood and continued packing. "Aren't you going to say anything?" She looked up.
"I just wanted to say good-bye…" I turned, and started to walk—ever so slowly—towards the door.
"Ayumi, wait." I stopped. "Stay, for a little while…we-we need to talk."
Talk? I thought.
"…which is something we haven't done in a long while," she continued.
"Well, we were in different teams for the last two months [is that how long the "tournament" lasted?], we've been training differently, no way to see each other." I replied.
"Right, but…"
"Yes?"
She sat down again. "There was just too much pressure to succeed, and then I didn't even make it."
I sat down next to her. "You should have been on my team…"
"I don't believe that has anything to do with my performance! I should have done a better job of keeping my team together…"
"Stop saying that…stop saying what you should have done…stop blaming yourself."
"I can't, I just can't stop thinking about that…"
"Carol," I whispered, "Don't do this to yourself."
She had turned her head away, I knew she was trying to hide her red eyes.
"You were always so calm and confident, always ahead. I admired you for that, but I was also jealous. I needed you, fighting with me, in order to win. Did you know, that fighting against you in that triathlon was the hardest thing ever…several times I nearly gave up seeing you so ahead of me. But that smile you gave me, during that last turn, it raised my spirits. I thought that if I could do this, then maybe, maybe, I could go the Great Competition without you helping me…but I was wrong. It's just…I went this far…only to be stopped by this…"
I put a hand on her shoulder. Her face was turned away, but at that moment, she turned, and I saw the red-rimmed eyes and half-dried tear streaks. "It's ok." She moved forward into a warm embrace. I wanted to comfort her. But I knew her pride wouldn't let me, so I let go.
"I have to go…I will miss you…"
She tried to smile. "I'll be waiting for you back home when you're Cosmo Beauty."
I smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence…" and left.
~*~
That morning, Ayumi had waved her friend good-bye. And then she came here, to the celebration of entering the Great Competition. Other than Lahrri, Ayumi's team was the only one that won all their games. Earth A came at a close second, losing their only game to Lahrri. At the end of the list stood Earth B winning the least number required to make it to the Great Competition. Ayumi had her doubts about that team, but they had come back strong at the very last moment. Looking around, she tried to find them, but couldn't. Oh well… Suddenly, off to her right, she could hear rumbling, screaming, and the unmistakable ring of a cowbell. Oh, not again!
"Akari HATES me!!!"
What is up with this girl?!
Months before, Ayumi had watched as they entered University Satellite. From that moment, Ayumi knew that they would not make it. They were so scrabbled, each doing their own thing, no unity at all. It was very surprising when they made it, but not surprising that they had just barely made it. In order to compete, you must have discipline Ayumi told herself. Winning did not just come to anyone who wanted it, it was worked for. She frowned. When the commotion with the cow finally stopped, Ayumi stood and feigned yawning. "I guess I'm too tired to continue…I'm gonna hit the sack early."
"Ok," her teammates said.
As she walked back, Ayumi thought. How strange it was, that only two months before, they had no idea where to go, or what to do. Now that they were halfway through their training, the hardest and longest part was to arrive shortly. They no longer had an instructor, instead, they would train by themselves or with others that had decided to stay after being defeated. She could not believe how much progress she had been through. No longer a team, but an individual. What was it that Carol said she was? Oh yes, calm and confident. She laughed inwardly. She has no idea…
~*~
End Chapter II
It doesn't rilly show in this chapter, but I was trying to show the "evil" side of Ayumi in the end. The scene from the past wasn't rilly meant to be a love thing, but if it was for you, then ok.
