Sportadork—Sad and sweet, well I try. Robbie maybe a stinky person but he has a surprise coming to him. I'll try to brighten the mood.

Pip3—Poor Stephanie is gonna feel better pretty soon. How did you know there was going to be lots of drama and action coming up?

ArcadiaX091—I'm glad you liked Chapter 9. I tend to have short chapters cause they make the best cliffys. Angsty was not what I was going for but it kinda just happened. Sportacus is very sweet.

Chapter 10

The next morning Sportacus awoke early and climbed down the trellis. He had spent the night on Stephanie's floor and didn't want the Mayor and Bessie getting the wrong idea. Quickly he ascended the ladder and went into his airship.

Stephanie awoke to find Sportacus gone. Confused she looked around and spotted a note on her nightstand. Quickly she grabbed it and read it.

"Stephanie,

Sorry to leave so early. The hearing is at eleven so I'll pick you up and we'll go together.

Love, Sportacus"

Stephanie half-smiled and crawled out of bed. She grabbed some clean clothes and jumped into the shower. Once she was clean and dressed she went downstairs. Swiping an apple off the counter she left a note for Uncle Milford and Bessie. Then she went out.

Amanda got to the sports field early. She had to get some exercise and the sports field was nice and empty. Slipping on her cleats, she stretched out her arms and legs. Then she put on her headphones and did a couple of laps around the field.

Stephanie saw her new friend exercising and decided to go to see her. She went over to the gates and pushed them open. Apparently, Amanda was lost in her own little world as Stephanie tapped her on the shoulder, which caused Amanda to jump. She swirled around to see Stephanie smiling and quickly pulled off her headphones.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." She told Stephanie.

"Sorry about that. So what's up?" Stephanie asked.

'Oh, you know, the usual. Mummies, pygmies, big bugs.' " Amanda said. Stephanie gave her a strange look.

"You don't get out much do you? Never mind. What's going on?" Amanda asked.

"Oh, um, I wanted to talk to you about college and stuff." Stephanie didn't specify on the stuff.

"Sure, only if you help me practice." Amanda said. Stephanie agreed to help her and Amanda tossed her the soccer ball. Putting on her goalie gloves, Amanda did her pre-practice/pre-game routine. Stephanie watched as Amanda hit the two side goal posts then jumped up and touched the crossbar. After that she swung her arms back and forth, stretched her neck, and got into position. Stephanie placed the ball on the penalty kick line aimed for the top right corner. She was amazed to see Amanda knock it away like it was nothing.

"So what to do you want to talk about?" Amanda asked. Stephanie just started to tell everything to Amanda. Her relationship with Sportacus, the whole Robbie incident two years ago and his possible release today, and her fears about leaving Sportacus for college, spilled out of Stephanie's mouth. Amanda tried to absorb everything and didn't interrupt her. Finally when she finished, Amanda said she wanted to sit down and try to work everything out.

Just then Sportacus came by the sports field. Stephanie and Amanda were sitting on a bench discussing something.

"Hi, girls! What's up?"

"Stephanie was just helping me practice is all. How things with you, uh…" Amanda said.

"Sportacus. We were never actually formally introduced." Sportacus explained.

"Well, then Sportacus, its nice to finally meet you." Amanda said as she shook his hand firmly.

"Likewise. Well I hate to pull Stephanie away but we're needed elsewhere." Sportacus said.

"No problem. I was going to go get cleaned up anyway. So Stephanie I'll see you around noon, at your house?" Amanda making plans carefully.

"Oh yes, definitely. It was nice to get together. I'll see you later." Stephanie smiled.

To Be Continued…

The Mummy Returns. Prod. Stephen Sommers. Dir. Stephen Sommers. Perf. Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah. DVD. Universal Film Corporation, 2001.