CHAPTER TWO- SOLID GROUND
"All passengers please return their seats to the upright position and fasten their seatbelts. We will be landing in about ten minutes. The temperature is 10 degrees centigrade, and it is 5:00 AM."
"Megs…Megs wake up, we're here." Sebastien shook Megan and helped her snap the seat back into place. He took a second to gaze at her face, still tired before a flight attendant asked him to put on his seatbelt. She smiled at them before walking back to the cockpit.
"Sebastien?" Megan's gentle voice startled him. "Oh sorry- I didn't mean to bother you."
"Not at all! I was just…lost in my thoughts," he answered.
"What are your thoughts? Right now, I mean." Seb could tell by her voice that she wasn't prying, she just wanted to know.
"Well…I'm scared. This is my first international tournament and I'm just not sure what to expect. Plus, I've never been this far from home before."
Megan sat up. "I thought you emigrated from France? That's pretty far." Sebastian took a few moments before answering.
"Oh…oh yea. That's different though- it's more of changing homes, than just being away from one." Megan nodded. "And I'm worried about you. Have you had pains like this before? Have you told anyone?"
Now it was her turn to look away. "I have, and I haven't. I mean…my stomach has hurt like this before, and no one knows. I didn't want them to stop me playing tennis."
Sebastien was about to answer when they felt the plane start to descend. As the plane touched ground, he felt a jolt of anticipation hit his heart. Who knew what was to come? A few minutes later the passengers started filing off. Megan and Sebastien took their bags and headed for Baggage Pick-Up. As Megan reached for her luggage case, Sebastien gently touched her arm and said, "Let me take it. You still look tired from the flight." Megan was about to refuse, before realizing that she really was fatigued. They rolled out of the baggage claim area into a huge empty space full of people.
"Seb…where are we supposed to go?" asked Megan.
"Oh uh…I was visualizing my backhand while Gunns was explaining everything," Sebastien explained sheepishly.
"Seb! Now what do we do?" He shrugged and said, "Just stick with me. I think someone's supposed to meet us here." As they wandered off into the crowd, someone came up to them.
"Are you O'Connor and Dubé?" They nodded. "I'm Matthew Williams, of the Hamstead Tournament Committee. How was your flight?"
"Megan had-" Megan interrupted Sebastien, "I had a little motion sickness. I'm not used to flying." She tried to muster an ingratiating smile towards the man, but her effort failed after she saw the look on Sebastien's face. I've got to explain this to him…but how?
Sebastien and Mr. Williams had an animated conversation about playing on grass vs. clay courts in the taxi, while Megan rested silently beside him. Every so often, she could feel his eyes falling on her tired face, but didn't have the energy to join in the conversation. She wished as hard as she could that they could be alone at the hotel.
"Oh and the hotel we put you up with has quite a few courts to practise on. Of course, you'll be competing for space with the other Hamstead players, but we've taken over a tennis club nearby for the duration of the tournament. It's a short walk away," explained Mr. Williams.
Soon enough, the taxi came to a stop outside a large building. Mr. Williams handed them both keys and helped them get their luggage out of the car. "See you tomorrow!" he waved after getting back into the taxi. Sebastien asked Megan if she was ohkay, and started to lug the bags into the lobby of the hotel.
A bellhop popped out from a door right near the entrance and deftly piled the bags onto a cart. "Do you have a room reserved already?" he asked. Sebastien showed him the keys Mr. Williams had just given them, and the bellhop called down an elevator, helped them into it, and even pushed the correct floor button for them. As the doors began to close, he waved goodbye and stepped off the elevator.
"That was weird," said Sebastien.
"Should you be used to that Seb? After all, you get that kind of service at home all the time, right?" asked Megan.
"Oh…oh yea. All the time."

Ding! The elevator doors slid open and they got off. They were sleeping in room 733. Megan read a sign on the wall and turned left, as Sebastien followed her with the luggage on the cart. She turned the key and opened the door to an amazing suite. They saw a mini kitchen, beautiful bathroom, living area, and a huge bedroom with two beds all ready for them. "I could live here forever!" exclaimed Megan.
"I know what you mean. This place is GREAT! Hey Megs, look at the view." Sebastien pulled her open to a huge window with a view of a lake. The sun was rising on the other side of it, and they could see the water sparkling in its wake.
"It's beautiful. But…why's the sun just rising?"
"We landed at 5:00 in the morning Megan! There's a full day ahead of us. But I suggest we both get a little sleep- I don't know about you, but that guy sitting in front of us was snoring to beat Rick. It wasn't exactly a restful flight," laughed Sebastien.
"Ohhhh I know! He must have had a small animal up his nose or something, but I've never heard a noise like that before!" Megan tried to do an imitation of the horrible man but ended up collapsing in a fit of laughter. Sebastien's eyes glowed as they both cracked up right in the middle of the living room. He couldn't help but stare in wonder at how beautiful Megan looked when she was laughing. Then the smile slid off his face. Megan's laughter had transformed to something quite different. "Not…again!" Meg tried to stand up straight, but ended up moaning in pain and reaching for a something to hold on to as she fell towards the ground. Sebastien lunged for her and held her in his arms, trying to keep her calm. The pain in her stomach was gripping her insides and tearing at her lungs. A horrible rasping sound escaped her throat and she faded out of consciousness.
"Megan!" Sebastien laid her on the ground and was about to run and yell for help when she woke up.
"Seb!" She coughed, and a few droplets of blood showed up on the floor. "No! Don't…go."
"Don't worry Megs, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." He rushed to her side and scooped her up, thanking God he could lift her up. "I'm just going to put you on the bed, ohkay?" He gently carried her into the bedroom and tucked her in under the covers. "Megan…what's going on here?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." She had regained her breath and the pain was beginning to recede.
"You're not fine! You passed out!" Sebastien took a deep breath before starting again. "Something's wrong, and you're going to have to tell me, if you're not telling anyone else. You could get much worse Megs."
She shivered before answering. This was a secret that could ruin her career- but then, Sebastien knew as well as she how important careers were. Besides, they way he was looking in her eyes…"It's been happening for…for a while now. I've never passed out before though…I thought I could stop it on my own." She reached out and grasped his wrist weakly, trying to gain the strength to explain it all. "If Gunns or Baits found out, they might tell me to stop playing. And Sebastien, you know they would if people here found out. I have to play the Hamstead. My family needs me too."
"Your family? No, what matters here is you. They need you to be healthy more than they need a tennis star," explained Sebastien. If only my family needed just that.
"No…things haven't been going so well. After the charity banquet, my family started loosing money. My father says if I don't start going somewhere with tennis, we'll be bankrupt and I'll have to leave Cascadia. This tournament is everything Sebastien. But then…with you being so rich and all, you wouldn't know about that. It wouldn't matter if you quit tennis right now and dropped out of school."
Sebastien cleared his throat. "Well…not quite. Oh Dieu, comment est-ce que je dis ceci?" He stared up at the ceiling. "I have a secret too. Do you remember all those nights I disappeared before the charity banquet? And the time you wanted to bring Adena to Arnie's for her birthday? And I wouldn't help you? Or the time we were supposed to do that Frankenstein project, but I went away for the week?"
"Yes…but didn't you have a diplomatic function at the Ritz?" Asked Megan.
"Actually…my dad works at Arnie's. I had to help him out so I could pay for the ticket to the dance. I couldn't bring you guys or Adena there in case someone recognized me…and I left Squib alone for that week because my dad couldn't pay rent. He pulled me out of school so we could just make the payment." Sebastien looked at the ground, hoping Megan wouldn't hate him for lying. After all, she had been just as rich as she said- just not recently.

"I guess we're in the same boat then," said Megan quietly. "My family needs me to win so they can keep living in their extravagance…"
"And mine needs me to win so they can live," finished Sebastien sadly.