FINALLY – Chapter Two
Chapter Two
For the Sake of You
Christie woke up with a start, panting hard, sweating all over. The vision of Helena standing over her, laughing like a maniac, was still in her mind, as if someone had pressed it forcefully to her eyes. Helena had defeated her.
She walked over to the mini bar installed in her room poured herself a cuppa. She had had these dreams ever since the DOA Tournament. Though they were terrifying and made her exhausted, they motivated her to win the next tournament. More importantly, defeat that blasted Helena. She had defeated Helena in the last tournament, but she still had these dreams. Maybe it was because she was so desperate to beat her. Kasumi and Ayane were also included in her vivid dreams.
Relax, she thought, as she stirred her tea. You're on a beautiful island without worries, and the next tournament is ages later.
She sipped her tea and stepped out onto her balcony. The crescent moon hung lazily and as the stars blinked innocently in its company. What a wonderful view. Back in England, the weather was always grey and misty. Or was it my mood?
A gentle breeze blew by, and a drip of sweat dripped into her last remaining drags of tea. She glanced at her White Analog Wristwatch as she stepped back into the room. Three thirty in the morning. The sun would come up soon enough. No point going back to sleep now.
She took a cold shower, taking her time. When she came out there was a tint of pink in the sky. She opened her wardrobe. There were only a few things inside it. The outfit she wore when she first came, her white fighting suit she brought when she thought Zack was holding a tournament here, her only swimsuit Lapis Lazuli, underwear, and a pair of leather shoes. Better go to the sports shop for some new outfits. She climbed into Lapis Lazuli with immense difficulty. She had bought it at 18.
She was not worried of the extreme power of Kasumi and Ayane and Lisa's desperation to beat them. There were plenty of other contestants to choose from.
She stood on the balcony, gazing at the rising sun and the pink clouds and whatever was ahead of her.
Nothing can stop her from winning.
'- and she can be really strong. Once, my partner was blocking her spike. Or at least she tried to. And Tina just continued her spike. The ball hit my partner square in the face. Hard. She fell down sideways with a yelp and Tina's team was awarded 2000 nice points. 1000 for a good spike, 1000 for making my partner fall.' Lisa scooped a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. 'You do know what nice points are, do you?' She said through a mouthful of cereal. Her cereal almost fell out of her mouth as she said this. 'Oh, sorry.' She wiped her mouth. Lisa was talking for a long time now and Christie was only half listening.
They were in the canteen. The place was fan-cooled and tropical. Half of it was out in the air, on wooden boards. The other half was not really indoors either, as it had so many windows. They had no idea why Zack made such a big place for a mere eight girls. There were no people to serve them, except the chefs in the kitchen. Stood against the walls were actually buffet tables. (a/n: just like Club Med). The food depended on the time, and the day. Everyday they had food from different countries, and Zack's excuse for that is 'the girls are from so many different countries'. Today they had Chinese. On the buffet tables were plenty of Dim Sum, noodles, fried rice and tea. Of course, there were the usual cereal and orange juice.
They sat under the sun, because Lisa wanted a bit of a tan (as if it's not enough already) and Christie felt the fans inside a bit too irritating. They were messing up her hair. Not that she cared, but she wanted to look cool enough to make people think she's a hard opponent. Now that they were out in the blazing sun and Christie regretted coming out already.
'See that girl over there?' Lisa gestured to a dirty blonde about the height as Lisa. Still, she had strong muscles in her arms. The girl must've done push-ups everyday. She was talking animatedly, laughing, and was even more talkative than Lisa, though not as friendly. Christie fantasized about beating her in volleyball. Of course, she had met her before, in the tournaments. But Lisa didn't know that. She didn't know that all of the girls on the island knew each other beforehand. 'She's a professional wrestler. We lived in the USA before.'
Christie's dream of beating her vanished. If they were friends, beating her would be difficult. Lisa wouldn't want to beat her dear friend.
'You're British, aren't you?' Lisa asked again. Christie nodded. Lisa glanced at a magazine. She was on a page where there was a profile of the girls. The magazine was actually only sold on the island, and it contained plenty of fashion advice. Zack didn't want the girls looking like a bunch of normal people. They needed to develop their fashion sense.
'Let's see...who'll be our opponents today............'
As she flipped around the pages, a girl with purple hair strode over to their table. She had an uncertainty in her bright red eyes, a kind of despising and playful look on her face. She was their opponent yesterday.
'Oh, nice day, is it?' Lisa greeted her.
The girl thought high of herself, and didn't mind to be polite at all. She ignored Lisa.
'Nice suit you're wearing.' She sneered at Christie. Christie gave her a hard stare, daring her to say more. The girl, however, was not touched. She gently snatched the magazine from Lisa's hands and flipped to the catalog. On the verge of laughing, she handed it over to Christie.
It was Lapis Lazuli on the top right corner. The girl tapped at it with her purple fingernails. 'Have you got any taste at all? Pathetic. 90,000 dollars. That's about the same price as Opal. Ugh!'
Christie didn't show any signs of weakness. The girl was at least 5 years younger than her.
'Get lost, Ayane.' She said, boring into Ayane's red pupils.
'Oh yeah?' Ayane chimed. 'I was kind enough not to show you this, but-' She laughed shrilly. All eyes were on Christie now. '- as you asked for it....' She flipped to the news page. There was a big photo in the centre, a few small photos around it, and a big headline. It made Christie sick to the stomach.
An Assassin's Close Encounter with a Volleyball
Yesterday, infamous assassin Christie had a close encounter with a volleyball during a match against Ayane, also an assassin, and Kasumi. Partnered with Lisa, the local tour guide, Christie bravely faced a match against them, unaware of the powers of the two stepsisters. Ayane sent a powerful spike when Christie tried to block her, but that was a bad decision. Christie seemed to have high self-esteem and underestimated them. The ball hit her square in the face. She fell to the ground and ate sand while Lisa tried to revive her. Finally, after 5 minutes of awkwardness, she regained consciousness and stumbled her way back to the hotel, rejecting medication.
Her swimsuit, Lapis Lazuli, can be found in the catalog on page 24.
Christie was full of rage. Lisa looked concerned. That explained why Lisa had the magazine to herself. She didn't want Christie to see the article. In the centre of the page was a snapshot of Christie getting hit by the ball. Around it were photos her getting up and stumbling back to the hotel. There were silly captions as well.
'Who took these?' She asked Ayane, struggling to remain calm and cool.
'How should I know if Zack put a few secret cameras around?' She sneered. 'Nice photo, that one. Caught you just in the right time.'
Lisa saw that Christie was about to beat Ayane into a pulp. The last thing she wanted was a bad start for Christie and a wounded partner. She didn't know about Christie's fighting skills, though. 'Would you please go away, Ayane? We need to prepare for our next match.'
Before Ayane could answer, though, a loud bang came from a corner of the outdoor canteen. That was the sunniest bit of dining place anyone could find. Tina and another girl were face to face, fists clenched, raging at each other. The loud bang came from the table toppling over at Tina's pounding fist.
'IT WAS YOU WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF BEATING THEM!!!!!!!' Tina shouted at her, her face red as anything. She was wearing a bikini with patterns of the American flag on it.
'So what if it was?!?!?! We would have won if you didn't attempt to block their spike!' the other girl tried her very best to shout, but her little voice can't do that as well as Tina's. She was wearing a pink headband and looked no more than 18 years old. She obviously didn't want this argument to happen.
'AND NOW YOU'RE BLAMING ME?!?! AFTER WHAT YOU DID WITH YOUR LOUSY TECHNIQUES?!?!' Tina cried. Drops of sweat glided down from her forehead. The blazing sun was already scorching their skin as they stood there. The stars on Tina's swimsuit glistened. The other girl can't stand it; she broke down and cried. What a pathetic scene, Christie thought, she's so young. Lisa seemed to think on the same lines too. As the girl forced to wipe her tears away, Tina didn't waste time shouting anymore.
'I'm not going to partner with you, ever again!' And Tina stormed off. To where, only God knows.
Few people were sympathetic for the little girl. An exotic girl with her hair tied into dainty little braids went over to comfort her. Kasumi seemed touched, but after Ayane shot her a filthy glance, she just stood stiffly there. Ayane didn't want anyone to think that they were friendly, or worse, let Kasumi ruin their image. Ayane, in fact, looked as if she hasn't a care in what's going on. She continued to her noodles. What a depressing lot of people. Almost everyone's actions are controlled by others.
Christie returned to her rolls, munching lightly, trying to forget what has just happened. That was two opponents off now. All that was left was a French girl with extremely long white-blond hair flowing down to her waist – Helena and the Asian girl. Christie felt her mind's familiar response to the name Helena. Christie had worked for Helena as a personal slave at Helena's mansion. Christie was hired by the Antis-Douglas group to keep an eye on her. The work wasn't a bit fun, though she got to keep the suit she wore as a slave. Christie beat Helena in the tournament, and nothing was new to them since what they encountered. Helena was a good person, with a supreme air of elegance. She remembered how she sat on the bay-window, locked in her own room in her own mansion, while Christie served her. Helena's favourite food was a nice plate of blancmange. Her mansion was not a joke – it sat on a cliff, its many rooms lit with beautiful candles.
As for Lei fang, the Chinese girl Christie had met before in the tournament was no competition for her. She practised Tai Chi Quan, and for Christie's She (pronounced sher) Quan, she was way too slow. Her main purpose for entering the tournament was to beat Jann Lee, her rumoured crush.
However, they only get to beat them if they were in the same team. Christie hoped that Tina wouldn't team up with one of them. It would've made things harder for one thing. Christie didn't think Hitomi would have the mood to team up with anybody. Hitomi was the girl who was crying after being shouted at by Tina. Hitomi was half-Japanese and half-German. Her German father had taught her Karate and she was quite a hard opponent in the tournament.
Lei fang said some soothing words into Hitomi's ear, and she nodded. She accompanied her to her room. Christie scanned the area. Helena was eating her noodles (Christie remembered she liked changing her eating habits, although she was spoiled by her rich father), Ayane and Kasumi leaved shortly after Lei fang, and Lisa was just standing around.
'Really. I never imagined such things would ever happen here.' Lisa shook her head. She didn't know what to say after seeing her best friend Tina hurt Hitomi like that. She heaved a sigh. 'I'm going to see Tina. Meet me at lunch. Bye.' Maybe she knew Tina needed some consulting after that. She was quite experienced at Tina's behaviour, since they grew up together (a/n: let's pretend they grew up together, ok? ;-))
Christie hastily finished her cereal and thought what to do next. She can't see her partner until lunch and she didn't have any other friends. There was still Helena though...she and Helena had made up after Helena found out she was spying at her. They were supposed to start all over again and pretend that nothing happened. Days were harsh in Helena's life, with so many Anti-Douglas people watching her. It was hard to come up with a friend. Christie walked over to her.
Helena had finished her noodles and was gazing at the beach, cross-legged. Her hair was flowing even though she tied it loosely with a gigantic silk pink ribbon. She looked up when she saw Christie.
'Hi...' She greeted.
'Hi. So...what are you planning to do this morning?' Christie said. 'How are you doing lately' was out of the question. Not a single day was good these days.
'Just having a walk along the seaside, collect some shells.' Helena's gaze shifted to the beach once more. She waited for Christie to reply, but she knew she was too cool for that. She was making things hard for her now. To make things easier, she said, 'Care to join?'
Christie nodded. 'I have nothing else got to do.'
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN BORING SCENES
Together they walked along Niki Beach. They didn't speak much; there was nothing to say. When Helena spotted a seashell, she'd examine it. She told Christie how to choose the right ones. Not that Christie cared, but she listened politely anyway.
'They can't be chipped and there mustn't be any dirt inside. Also, ' Helena cast a glance at Christie. 'Make sure it's not alive.'
'So that means it just has to look okay?'
'Yes.'
Helena mostly hunted for white shells. Then, Christie joined in too. Once, they spotted a peach coloured conch as big as a beach ball. Surprisingly, Helena gave it to Christie.
'I have lots of those at home. You can have this one.' She said, half-boasting. Christie accepted the gift awkwardly with a mutter of thanks.
Their walk in the sand didn't take long though. It was 10:30 and Christie still had nothing to do. Helena had gone back to her room. To comb her hair, I expect. After Christie took the conch back to her room, she fell asleep on the bed, hoping to wake up at noon.
She woke up just in time for lunch. She had a big breakfast so she decided to skip it. She headed toward the canteen anyway to check if Lisa was there. Turns out she was not. She found Lisa's room and knocked on the door but no one answered. At last, she decided she might be in Tina's. She stepped to the door cautiously and knocked. 'Come in,' a cheerful voice called. It was Tina's voice.
She went in to find Tina in front of her vanity desk and Lisa sitting on her bed. The room, if you can call it that, was cramped with posters of Tina herself as a model. The bed was actually a copy of the American flag. Everything seemed to have Tina's own style in it. Her few swimsuits hung on starry hangers openly on the balcony to dry off.
'Hi.' Christie said, astounded by the décor of Tina's room. She wanted to make things quick. She wanted to win a match quickly and get over with it. 'Lisa? Are you ready?' She tried not to be impolite.
'Erm....you see........' Lisa glanced repeatedly at Tina. Tina caught her eye and smiled. 'I'm off for a swim. See ya!' She winked at them and dashed out of the room a bit too quickly.
'...........'
Lisa plucked up the courage. 'Well, since Tina had a bit of a problem with Hitomi, I'm teaming up with her. Just smoothing things over. She seems so distressed by that Hitomi lately.' Lisa managed to force a smile.
Christie gave her a look. How could she do that? She desperately needed a match now to show Ayane what she was made of, and here Lisa split up with her.
Lisa's short brown hair danced by the breeze from the balcony. Her eyes shone with a plea for forgiveness. A cool breeze blew by, cooling Christie's hot face from the agony.
'You did that?' She said, trying to sound as cool as possible. She did not wait for Lisa to reply. No more rubbish now. She backed away from her. 'So...bye.' She walked her way back to her own room. What can she do now? Random thoughts swarmed into her mind. She did not blame Lisa. She knew she had her own reasons. But did inside her, she did feel like blaming Lisa for what she gone through. She lied on her queen sized bed staring at the bare ceiling, wondering what to do.
Since she was bored to death, she rolled over and fell asleep again.
When she woke up, she had a slight headache. So much sleeping had made her drowsy and weaker than ever. She limped to the balcony.
By golly it was already sunset!
A huge fireball was halfway into the blue ocean. The clouds around it were fiery red, along with some purple ones. The sight was breathtaking. She had done nothing today but the reward was her very first glimpse of a sunrise and sundown. As a child she never appreciated nature. She always thought waking up early just to see a red ball come up was a waste of time. It was a nice day to play volleyball. How beautiful it would be to play volleyball at sunset. .........
She made her way to the private beach and saw several campfires on the sand. They were handmade out of wood. As the fire cackled softly, a shadow appeared. It was Hitomi. She was dancing the hula. Or at least attempting to. She probably danced to relieve stress, though her profile in the magazine said she liked to cook. Christie watched her pointlessly. The girl was concentrated on dancing most, but she noticed her.
'Oh hi there. You must be Christie.' She said, continuing her dance. Her voice was unusually sweet and high, like a seven-year old girl's.
'Hi.'
'Nice sunset, huh?' She caught her staring at the distance.
'Yeah.' She paused. 'How are you doing?'
Hitomi must've thought she refered to her argument with Tina that morning; there was a notch in her voice. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'
Then there was deadly silence except for the African drums (on Hitomi's radio) in the background, the small shifting of the sand and the gentle lapping of the waves. Suddenly, Hitomi fell. Christie, with her lightning reflexes, caught her.
'Thanks,' Hitomi gasped.
'Did you sprain an ankle....?' Christie had no idea why she was suddenly so worried about her. Maybe she was too desperate to play at that time, or maybe it was Hitomi's childish look.
'No, I'm fine.'
An idea floated into her mind. Yes!!!!!! That was it!!!!!!!!!
'Do you want to be my partner?' She asked casually. There was a mixture of emotions on Hitomi's face. Sorrow, frustration, happiness. She'd love to play volleyball again, Christie assumed. She, too, was bored sick.
'Sure.' Hitomi said smiling. 'Can't wait to beat them.'
Chapter Two
For the Sake of You
Christie woke up with a start, panting hard, sweating all over. The vision of Helena standing over her, laughing like a maniac, was still in her mind, as if someone had pressed it forcefully to her eyes. Helena had defeated her.
She walked over to the mini bar installed in her room poured herself a cuppa. She had had these dreams ever since the DOA Tournament. Though they were terrifying and made her exhausted, they motivated her to win the next tournament. More importantly, defeat that blasted Helena. She had defeated Helena in the last tournament, but she still had these dreams. Maybe it was because she was so desperate to beat her. Kasumi and Ayane were also included in her vivid dreams.
Relax, she thought, as she stirred her tea. You're on a beautiful island without worries, and the next tournament is ages later.
She sipped her tea and stepped out onto her balcony. The crescent moon hung lazily and as the stars blinked innocently in its company. What a wonderful view. Back in England, the weather was always grey and misty. Or was it my mood?
A gentle breeze blew by, and a drip of sweat dripped into her last remaining drags of tea. She glanced at her White Analog Wristwatch as she stepped back into the room. Three thirty in the morning. The sun would come up soon enough. No point going back to sleep now.
She took a cold shower, taking her time. When she came out there was a tint of pink in the sky. She opened her wardrobe. There were only a few things inside it. The outfit she wore when she first came, her white fighting suit she brought when she thought Zack was holding a tournament here, her only swimsuit Lapis Lazuli, underwear, and a pair of leather shoes. Better go to the sports shop for some new outfits. She climbed into Lapis Lazuli with immense difficulty. She had bought it at 18.
She was not worried of the extreme power of Kasumi and Ayane and Lisa's desperation to beat them. There were plenty of other contestants to choose from.
She stood on the balcony, gazing at the rising sun and the pink clouds and whatever was ahead of her.
Nothing can stop her from winning.
'- and she can be really strong. Once, my partner was blocking her spike. Or at least she tried to. And Tina just continued her spike. The ball hit my partner square in the face. Hard. She fell down sideways with a yelp and Tina's team was awarded 2000 nice points. 1000 for a good spike, 1000 for making my partner fall.' Lisa scooped a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. 'You do know what nice points are, do you?' She said through a mouthful of cereal. Her cereal almost fell out of her mouth as she said this. 'Oh, sorry.' She wiped her mouth. Lisa was talking for a long time now and Christie was only half listening.
They were in the canteen. The place was fan-cooled and tropical. Half of it was out in the air, on wooden boards. The other half was not really indoors either, as it had so many windows. They had no idea why Zack made such a big place for a mere eight girls. There were no people to serve them, except the chefs in the kitchen. Stood against the walls were actually buffet tables. (a/n: just like Club Med). The food depended on the time, and the day. Everyday they had food from different countries, and Zack's excuse for that is 'the girls are from so many different countries'. Today they had Chinese. On the buffet tables were plenty of Dim Sum, noodles, fried rice and tea. Of course, there were the usual cereal and orange juice.
They sat under the sun, because Lisa wanted a bit of a tan (as if it's not enough already) and Christie felt the fans inside a bit too irritating. They were messing up her hair. Not that she cared, but she wanted to look cool enough to make people think she's a hard opponent. Now that they were out in the blazing sun and Christie regretted coming out already.
'See that girl over there?' Lisa gestured to a dirty blonde about the height as Lisa. Still, she had strong muscles in her arms. The girl must've done push-ups everyday. She was talking animatedly, laughing, and was even more talkative than Lisa, though not as friendly. Christie fantasized about beating her in volleyball. Of course, she had met her before, in the tournaments. But Lisa didn't know that. She didn't know that all of the girls on the island knew each other beforehand. 'She's a professional wrestler. We lived in the USA before.'
Christie's dream of beating her vanished. If they were friends, beating her would be difficult. Lisa wouldn't want to beat her dear friend.
'You're British, aren't you?' Lisa asked again. Christie nodded. Lisa glanced at a magazine. She was on a page where there was a profile of the girls. The magazine was actually only sold on the island, and it contained plenty of fashion advice. Zack didn't want the girls looking like a bunch of normal people. They needed to develop their fashion sense.
'Let's see...who'll be our opponents today............'
As she flipped around the pages, a girl with purple hair strode over to their table. She had an uncertainty in her bright red eyes, a kind of despising and playful look on her face. She was their opponent yesterday.
'Oh, nice day, is it?' Lisa greeted her.
The girl thought high of herself, and didn't mind to be polite at all. She ignored Lisa.
'Nice suit you're wearing.' She sneered at Christie. Christie gave her a hard stare, daring her to say more. The girl, however, was not touched. She gently snatched the magazine from Lisa's hands and flipped to the catalog. On the verge of laughing, she handed it over to Christie.
It was Lapis Lazuli on the top right corner. The girl tapped at it with her purple fingernails. 'Have you got any taste at all? Pathetic. 90,000 dollars. That's about the same price as Opal. Ugh!'
Christie didn't show any signs of weakness. The girl was at least 5 years younger than her.
'Get lost, Ayane.' She said, boring into Ayane's red pupils.
'Oh yeah?' Ayane chimed. 'I was kind enough not to show you this, but-' She laughed shrilly. All eyes were on Christie now. '- as you asked for it....' She flipped to the news page. There was a big photo in the centre, a few small photos around it, and a big headline. It made Christie sick to the stomach.
An Assassin's Close Encounter with a Volleyball
Yesterday, infamous assassin Christie had a close encounter with a volleyball during a match against Ayane, also an assassin, and Kasumi. Partnered with Lisa, the local tour guide, Christie bravely faced a match against them, unaware of the powers of the two stepsisters. Ayane sent a powerful spike when Christie tried to block her, but that was a bad decision. Christie seemed to have high self-esteem and underestimated them. The ball hit her square in the face. She fell to the ground and ate sand while Lisa tried to revive her. Finally, after 5 minutes of awkwardness, she regained consciousness and stumbled her way back to the hotel, rejecting medication.
Her swimsuit, Lapis Lazuli, can be found in the catalog on page 24.
Christie was full of rage. Lisa looked concerned. That explained why Lisa had the magazine to herself. She didn't want Christie to see the article. In the centre of the page was a snapshot of Christie getting hit by the ball. Around it were photos her getting up and stumbling back to the hotel. There were silly captions as well.
'Who took these?' She asked Ayane, struggling to remain calm and cool.
'How should I know if Zack put a few secret cameras around?' She sneered. 'Nice photo, that one. Caught you just in the right time.'
Lisa saw that Christie was about to beat Ayane into a pulp. The last thing she wanted was a bad start for Christie and a wounded partner. She didn't know about Christie's fighting skills, though. 'Would you please go away, Ayane? We need to prepare for our next match.'
Before Ayane could answer, though, a loud bang came from a corner of the outdoor canteen. That was the sunniest bit of dining place anyone could find. Tina and another girl were face to face, fists clenched, raging at each other. The loud bang came from the table toppling over at Tina's pounding fist.
'IT WAS YOU WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF BEATING THEM!!!!!!!' Tina shouted at her, her face red as anything. She was wearing a bikini with patterns of the American flag on it.
'So what if it was?!?!?! We would have won if you didn't attempt to block their spike!' the other girl tried her very best to shout, but her little voice can't do that as well as Tina's. She was wearing a pink headband and looked no more than 18 years old. She obviously didn't want this argument to happen.
'AND NOW YOU'RE BLAMING ME?!?! AFTER WHAT YOU DID WITH YOUR LOUSY TECHNIQUES?!?!' Tina cried. Drops of sweat glided down from her forehead. The blazing sun was already scorching their skin as they stood there. The stars on Tina's swimsuit glistened. The other girl can't stand it; she broke down and cried. What a pathetic scene, Christie thought, she's so young. Lisa seemed to think on the same lines too. As the girl forced to wipe her tears away, Tina didn't waste time shouting anymore.
'I'm not going to partner with you, ever again!' And Tina stormed off. To where, only God knows.
Few people were sympathetic for the little girl. An exotic girl with her hair tied into dainty little braids went over to comfort her. Kasumi seemed touched, but after Ayane shot her a filthy glance, she just stood stiffly there. Ayane didn't want anyone to think that they were friendly, or worse, let Kasumi ruin their image. Ayane, in fact, looked as if she hasn't a care in what's going on. She continued to her noodles. What a depressing lot of people. Almost everyone's actions are controlled by others.
Christie returned to her rolls, munching lightly, trying to forget what has just happened. That was two opponents off now. All that was left was a French girl with extremely long white-blond hair flowing down to her waist – Helena and the Asian girl. Christie felt her mind's familiar response to the name Helena. Christie had worked for Helena as a personal slave at Helena's mansion. Christie was hired by the Antis-Douglas group to keep an eye on her. The work wasn't a bit fun, though she got to keep the suit she wore as a slave. Christie beat Helena in the tournament, and nothing was new to them since what they encountered. Helena was a good person, with a supreme air of elegance. She remembered how she sat on the bay-window, locked in her own room in her own mansion, while Christie served her. Helena's favourite food was a nice plate of blancmange. Her mansion was not a joke – it sat on a cliff, its many rooms lit with beautiful candles.
As for Lei fang, the Chinese girl Christie had met before in the tournament was no competition for her. She practised Tai Chi Quan, and for Christie's She (pronounced sher) Quan, she was way too slow. Her main purpose for entering the tournament was to beat Jann Lee, her rumoured crush.
However, they only get to beat them if they were in the same team. Christie hoped that Tina wouldn't team up with one of them. It would've made things harder for one thing. Christie didn't think Hitomi would have the mood to team up with anybody. Hitomi was the girl who was crying after being shouted at by Tina. Hitomi was half-Japanese and half-German. Her German father had taught her Karate and she was quite a hard opponent in the tournament.
Lei fang said some soothing words into Hitomi's ear, and she nodded. She accompanied her to her room. Christie scanned the area. Helena was eating her noodles (Christie remembered she liked changing her eating habits, although she was spoiled by her rich father), Ayane and Kasumi leaved shortly after Lei fang, and Lisa was just standing around.
'Really. I never imagined such things would ever happen here.' Lisa shook her head. She didn't know what to say after seeing her best friend Tina hurt Hitomi like that. She heaved a sigh. 'I'm going to see Tina. Meet me at lunch. Bye.' Maybe she knew Tina needed some consulting after that. She was quite experienced at Tina's behaviour, since they grew up together (a/n: let's pretend they grew up together, ok? ;-))
Christie hastily finished her cereal and thought what to do next. She can't see her partner until lunch and she didn't have any other friends. There was still Helena though...she and Helena had made up after Helena found out she was spying at her. They were supposed to start all over again and pretend that nothing happened. Days were harsh in Helena's life, with so many Anti-Douglas people watching her. It was hard to come up with a friend. Christie walked over to her.
Helena had finished her noodles and was gazing at the beach, cross-legged. Her hair was flowing even though she tied it loosely with a gigantic silk pink ribbon. She looked up when she saw Christie.
'Hi...' She greeted.
'Hi. So...what are you planning to do this morning?' Christie said. 'How are you doing lately' was out of the question. Not a single day was good these days.
'Just having a walk along the seaside, collect some shells.' Helena's gaze shifted to the beach once more. She waited for Christie to reply, but she knew she was too cool for that. She was making things hard for her now. To make things easier, she said, 'Care to join?'
Christie nodded. 'I have nothing else got to do.'
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN BORING SCENES
Together they walked along Niki Beach. They didn't speak much; there was nothing to say. When Helena spotted a seashell, she'd examine it. She told Christie how to choose the right ones. Not that Christie cared, but she listened politely anyway.
'They can't be chipped and there mustn't be any dirt inside. Also, ' Helena cast a glance at Christie. 'Make sure it's not alive.'
'So that means it just has to look okay?'
'Yes.'
Helena mostly hunted for white shells. Then, Christie joined in too. Once, they spotted a peach coloured conch as big as a beach ball. Surprisingly, Helena gave it to Christie.
'I have lots of those at home. You can have this one.' She said, half-boasting. Christie accepted the gift awkwardly with a mutter of thanks.
Their walk in the sand didn't take long though. It was 10:30 and Christie still had nothing to do. Helena had gone back to her room. To comb her hair, I expect. After Christie took the conch back to her room, she fell asleep on the bed, hoping to wake up at noon.
She woke up just in time for lunch. She had a big breakfast so she decided to skip it. She headed toward the canteen anyway to check if Lisa was there. Turns out she was not. She found Lisa's room and knocked on the door but no one answered. At last, she decided she might be in Tina's. She stepped to the door cautiously and knocked. 'Come in,' a cheerful voice called. It was Tina's voice.
She went in to find Tina in front of her vanity desk and Lisa sitting on her bed. The room, if you can call it that, was cramped with posters of Tina herself as a model. The bed was actually a copy of the American flag. Everything seemed to have Tina's own style in it. Her few swimsuits hung on starry hangers openly on the balcony to dry off.
'Hi.' Christie said, astounded by the décor of Tina's room. She wanted to make things quick. She wanted to win a match quickly and get over with it. 'Lisa? Are you ready?' She tried not to be impolite.
'Erm....you see........' Lisa glanced repeatedly at Tina. Tina caught her eye and smiled. 'I'm off for a swim. See ya!' She winked at them and dashed out of the room a bit too quickly.
'...........'
Lisa plucked up the courage. 'Well, since Tina had a bit of a problem with Hitomi, I'm teaming up with her. Just smoothing things over. She seems so distressed by that Hitomi lately.' Lisa managed to force a smile.
Christie gave her a look. How could she do that? She desperately needed a match now to show Ayane what she was made of, and here Lisa split up with her.
Lisa's short brown hair danced by the breeze from the balcony. Her eyes shone with a plea for forgiveness. A cool breeze blew by, cooling Christie's hot face from the agony.
'You did that?' She said, trying to sound as cool as possible. She did not wait for Lisa to reply. No more rubbish now. She backed away from her. 'So...bye.' She walked her way back to her own room. What can she do now? Random thoughts swarmed into her mind. She did not blame Lisa. She knew she had her own reasons. But did inside her, she did feel like blaming Lisa for what she gone through. She lied on her queen sized bed staring at the bare ceiling, wondering what to do.
Since she was bored to death, she rolled over and fell asleep again.
When she woke up, she had a slight headache. So much sleeping had made her drowsy and weaker than ever. She limped to the balcony.
By golly it was already sunset!
A huge fireball was halfway into the blue ocean. The clouds around it were fiery red, along with some purple ones. The sight was breathtaking. She had done nothing today but the reward was her very first glimpse of a sunrise and sundown. As a child she never appreciated nature. She always thought waking up early just to see a red ball come up was a waste of time. It was a nice day to play volleyball. How beautiful it would be to play volleyball at sunset. .........
She made her way to the private beach and saw several campfires on the sand. They were handmade out of wood. As the fire cackled softly, a shadow appeared. It was Hitomi. She was dancing the hula. Or at least attempting to. She probably danced to relieve stress, though her profile in the magazine said she liked to cook. Christie watched her pointlessly. The girl was concentrated on dancing most, but she noticed her.
'Oh hi there. You must be Christie.' She said, continuing her dance. Her voice was unusually sweet and high, like a seven-year old girl's.
'Hi.'
'Nice sunset, huh?' She caught her staring at the distance.
'Yeah.' She paused. 'How are you doing?'
Hitomi must've thought she refered to her argument with Tina that morning; there was a notch in her voice. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'
Then there was deadly silence except for the African drums (on Hitomi's radio) in the background, the small shifting of the sand and the gentle lapping of the waves. Suddenly, Hitomi fell. Christie, with her lightning reflexes, caught her.
'Thanks,' Hitomi gasped.
'Did you sprain an ankle....?' Christie had no idea why she was suddenly so worried about her. Maybe she was too desperate to play at that time, or maybe it was Hitomi's childish look.
'No, I'm fine.'
An idea floated into her mind. Yes!!!!!! That was it!!!!!!!!!
'Do you want to be my partner?' She asked casually. There was a mixture of emotions on Hitomi's face. Sorrow, frustration, happiness. She'd love to play volleyball again, Christie assumed. She, too, was bored sick.
'Sure.' Hitomi said smiling. 'Can't wait to beat them.'