C.C. McKenna

Thank you guys for the nice reviews. That sure keeps me going. And "Smarterthanu" I also appreciate your statement; I'll make sure to let Mr. James Brady, ex-secretary of Press of Ronald Reagan in 1981, know about this.

Chapter Five

Proven Harassment.

Phoebe had been in school for nearly two months now, but she had not visited the soccer field yet; or talked to her teammates; except for Karen of course, but she was more than a teammate, she was her friend, she was like a sister; she understood perfectly well the way Phoebe felt about being blind and not being able to play soccer.

The incident with the British girl was almost forgotten; she had spent her free time trying to learn how to move herself freely inside and out the University of San Francisco; and she was an expert by now.

The dean had a special predilection for Phoebe; she thought she was extraordinarily unique. That's why she always allowed Phoebe to leave the classrooms a few minutes before the other students to avoid any kind of accident; and today was no exception. Phoebe walked out of Literature class and headed for the cafeteria; slowly walking throughout the quiet, lonely hallways. The only noise that could be easily heard on the empty corridors was Phoebe's cane bumping on the floor and on the walls as well.

Phoebe suddenly stopped on her tracks when she listened to a conversation between a guy and a girl.

"Come one baby, loosen up; just one kiss huh?"

"Please, I said no, let me go" She struggled to be free but he held her wrists tighter against the wall and kissed her sweet lips.

"Please, Joshua, Leslie is going to find out about it and she is going to kill me!"

"Well I won't tell if you won't tell" He chuckled and leaned over to kiss her again.

"Oh but I will!" Phoebe smacked her cane harshly on the wall. "Shit; I missed!" She quickly made another swing and connected with Joshua's back. "Gotcha!"

"What's the matter with you?!?!" Joshua touched his back and quickly moved away from Phoebe's hitting range.

"Funny; that's exactly what I was going to ask you!"

"This is not of your damn business!"

"Ohhhoho" She chuckled scornfully. "It is when you are obviously molesting this girl; who happens to be in my team"

"I wasn't molesting her; she wants this as much as I do; tell her Alexia!"

"Alexia swiftly jumped to Phoebe's side and shielded herself behind her. " I will certainly not, that's rubbish; He is lying, that is not true, he's been holding me here for more than half an hour"

"You bitch!" Joshua tried to grab Alexia's arm but she drew back. "Phoebe!" she nervously screamed and ducked behind her.

"Joshua you better leave her alone or I'll have a very serious conversation with the Dean" Phoebe held up her cane, threatening to strike again.

"Oh, all right, all right" He glared at Alexia and smirked. "I'm leaving"

"Thank you very much" Alexia came out from her hiding place and slowly tried to regain her respiration.

"No problem" Phoebe's answer was cold. "You better go to class before he gets back"

"Yes, I guess you are right; just one question before I leave"

"Sure; what is it?"

"How did you know it was me?"

Phoebe smiled. "Your James Bond accent!"

"Oh" Alexia smiled back. "Thank you again"

Phoebe slowly walked away and left Alexia standing alone in the middle of the hall. The latter bent down her head and stared sadly at the floor. She was tired of everything that had been happening to her since she got to San Francisco. She wanted to go back to England, but there was absolutely no chance in hell and she knew it. She shook her head, and convinced her self about having to get used to her new way of life, something she hated so much. "Oh mother; I miss you; I really miss you" She silently cried...probably for the 10,000th time since she left her home in London.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go to the practice field?" Karen asked surprised. "It's been months since you returned to school and you suddenly decide that now it's the right time to do it?"

"Yes, I think I'm ready now" Phoebe spoke proudly. "I don't think it will affect me anymore" she smiled and grabbed Karen's elbow. "But I'm not sure if I wanna talk to that girl, Alexia, though"

"Don't worry, I won't let her get near you, if you don't want me to"

"Good, I guess I don't" Phoebe insisted as they walked slowly to the soccer field. "She makes me feel strange"

"You are crazy, Phoebe Halliwell" Karen playfully ruffled her friend's hair. "Are your sisters going to pick you up?......duh! Sorry! Her face rapidly blushed at her own stupid question.

"No, I'm driving home!" Phoebe joked. "Of course they are Karen, but not until after soccer practice"

"Are you staying for practice?

"Cary...please; try to focus here" She shook her head. I'm just going to stick around for a while...just to say hi to the girls, the coach, you know...just linger, and then, I'll call Piper."

"Oh, ok, come on then, let's go because I don't wanna run extra laps for being late"

-o-

All the girls ran to greet Phoebe. All... except one; Alexia stayed behind, sitting on the field, tying and untying her soccer shoes; pretending not to be watching; while screams and laughter surrounded the unsteady body of the No. 10 player of the team: Phoebe Halliwell.

"That's enough girls!" Coach Roberts shouted and pulled away a few girls to make her own way to Phoebe.

"Thank you Samantha" Phoebe took a deep breath and sighed. "I think they got a little enthusiastic"

"How are you Halliwell? I'm happy to see you" Coach Samantha Roberts held her tightly.

"I'm good, thanks Coach"

Right across the field, the cheerleader team spotted Phoebe, every single girl joyfully screamed and ran excitedly to meet her. The whole team intentionally ran to where Alexia was peacefully seated and ran her over. One of the girls stepped on Alexia's foot and everybody laughed when she screamed. Leslie stopped on her tracks and went back to the whimpering girl; she smirked and looked down at her. "Oh, please excuse my friend, she didn't mean to step on your little foot....will this help? She opened a bottle of water and slowly started pouring it over her head; making all the girls twitch with laughter. The whole soccer team watched keenly the way Leslie humiliated Alexia and did nothing about it; some of them laughed and a few watched displeased, disapproving Leslie's brainless actions.

"What's going on over there?" Samantha turned her head and shouted without releasing Phoebe's shoulders. Leslie stopped pouring the water for a moment and turned to the coach.

"Nothing Miss Roberts; we were just chatting....That's all!" Leslie turned to Alexia and continued with her task. Alexia remained still; She covered her eyes with one hand and slowly lowered her head, letting the water run freely on her lap. She wanted to fight back but she knew very well that it was going to be suicidal; and besides, she had never been violent before in her life. She swallowed the gulp in her throat and allowed her warm tears to blend with the cold water.

"Come on Leslie, that's enough" Karen walked to the small crowd gathered around Alexia and knocked off the bottle of water away from her hand. "This is just too much" She handed a towel to Alexia and helped her stand on her feet. "Stay out of this Karen, she's not worth it" Leslie smirked and turned to her teammates for support.

"Yeah Karen...this is not of your business.....so butt off!" Susie, Karen's right hand, and personal servant warned her. The rest of the brainless cheerleaders backed her up with a few brave YEAHs! of their own.

Alexia dried her face and didn't dare to speak her mind off; she kept her sight buried on the green, recently trimmed lawn; waiting for the first strike to land upon her face, as always; but before it happened, Karen grabbed Alexia's shaky arm and dragged her away from the crowd.

"It's ok...let them go..." Leslie raised her voice to order the girls who were amusingly trying to prevent their sudden getaway. "We were just having fun Karen" Leslie shouted as they left.

"I'm sure you were" Karen muttered to herself. Alexia remained silent, drawn deep in her thoughts, but managed to draw a weak smile on her face; maybe the first real smile in months. Alexia shuffled her hair with a rapid movement of her hand to get rid of the water and allowed Karen to take her wherever she wanted to, at least that seemed to be better than being surrounded by a throng of feisty cheerleaders.

tbc