I'm starting to get used to the two thousand word chapter idea. I can write faster now, at least. Yay.

Review reply button! Whoo! It took me a while to finally discover it, but awesome! Expect every review you leave to have a response. I've been itching to do individual responses ever since I found out we weren't allowed to in the actual chapters.

Review of Crunchball rules: (Yeah, I know some of you are bound to have forgotten) Played on a triangular field. Seven to a team, three teams. Players are in an arrow-like formation (the arrow would be pointing to the team's goal which is located at one of the vertices). The player closest to the ball in the center of the triangle is the First Dunker, the next the Second Dunker, then the Goalkeeper. On each side of the goalie are two wingers, who spread out to be open around the enemy's goals to score. The wingers have position names that are First Right Winger (or FRW), First Left Winger (FLW), Second Right Winger (SRW), and Second Left Winger (SLW).

When the game starts and the players start to move, the first to get to the ball (normally one of the First Dunkers) throws it hard at the wall, the floor, another player's head, etc. It flattens into a disk with a loud crunch, hence the name Crunchball. Then the disk must be thrown into a goal by one of the dunkers or wingers (wingers is the easier way and generally preferred). Holly plays Second Dunker. She's the second most valuable (though there is controversy over this, some believe it's the goalie) player, though not seen that way because of her gender. Jon, or the Hulk, plays First Dunker.

Also, (I didn't tell you this part), The game ends when one team gets a certain amount of points. They play with normally twenty.

Summary: Right after Holly gets a job in the LEP, she cuts her hair. Each auburn lock falling through the floor makes her think about choices, and especially their consequences. What will happen after?

Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl.

Haircut

Chapter Seventeen

Holly awoke to the chirping birds, nature sounds of her alarm clock, and a phone call from her new boss.

"Why aren't you here, employee?" Already, he had forgotten her name.

"Let me guess, sir. Because I'm here?" Holly answered sarcastically. Today was not her day.

"Don't be insubordinate with me!"

"I'm not, sir. Just telling the truth."

"Well, then, I'll be expecting you in about ten minutes, and you'd better be telling the truth about why you left work early yesterday." He hung up.

Go to work? Holly thought sardonically, Now why would I ever want to do that? She got out of bed (finally) and picked up her new Crunchball uniform, starting to ready for the game.

In ten minutes (about the time she was supposed to be at work), she was all set, and headed for the LEP building to practice for the game. It wasn't for another two and a half hours (at least), but for one, their coach was strict and liked promptness, and second, this way she had an excuse to miss work. Not that she needed one, but this way made her feel less guilty.

In fact, she was feeling pretty good by the time she reached the gym. No work, a day of Crunchball, and no work. Not to mention Foaly paying her bills and all she had to do was pick up some carrots for him (Foaly rarely left the office and even more seldom the building—going all the way to a grocery store would give him a stroke).

Though, her good mood was dampened when she opened the doors. There, already warmed up and ready, was The Hulk Jon, crunching ball after ball with mighty strength, as Coach Atnek watched. It looked like he was about to cry with happiness. And really, she couldn't blame him. He really was a good player.

Who probably robs banks, Holly reminded herself. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was odd about him.

"Hey, Short, get over here!" The coach called her over. "How 'bout you play Goalkeeper so Jon here can take some shots?"

Well, it was better then not playing at all. Holly mentally sighed but nodded and jogged over to the hole at the point of the triangle.

She soon realized that she was wrong. Not playing at all was much, much better then playing goalie. She was inexperienced, and the Hulk drove very hard, fast balls. It wasn't long before she realized it was less painful just to dive out of the way of the balls then to actually try to stop them from going in.

A little while later, she was tired and battered, and allowed a little of her magic to seep in and refresh her. The Hulk, though, was excited, jumping up and down like a child, eager for his turn on the slide.

Soon, the rest of the team was there. Sleepy, cranky, and not really wanting to play, but there nonetheless. Atnek ordered some drills, and the lethargic players sluggishly started to move about. Holly was beginning to wonder if they'd last five minutes into the game.

But Holly had never played in team sports before, and in no time the entire team was taking after Jon and bouncing around like balls of energy, chit chatting and ready for the game to begin. Of course, they still had half an hour left. Atnek gathered the team in the gym corner (they couldn't take the locker room any more, as Holly wasn't allowed in) and began to discuss strategy.

Holly couldn't help but be impressed at how the entire team suggested methods and moves, and felt a little better about the outcome of the game.

They started to warm up. They started with stretching and jogging, practiced their shots (except for the goalie, who practiced his saves), and Holly and Jon went off into a corner with the coach to practice crunching the balls.

Atnek had gotten some special cheap versions of the game balls. The game balls were expensive, painted well, and spelled into being able to pop up into a sphere after a game. These were just as hard, but only able to be used once.

Holly and the Hulk differed in their crunching skills enormously. Jon used brute force, slamming the ball into the ground, a person's chest, anything that was remotely solid.

But Holly, on the other hand, used strategy and intellect to plan her move. An opening there, a right pass here, a corner that would serve as a wedge to crunch the ball. She was smart, and what she lacked in muscle could make up in wit.

Of course, people didn't know that just by looking at her. When she had tried out, she had known that others would think she was a weakling, from her size and the plain fact that she was a girl. Especially standing next to the Hulk was enough to make her look even smaller—the (she didn't know if he was a sprite or an elf) guy was tall enough to ride a horse (not that any of the People had ridden horses, that was for Mud Men), which was pretty dang tall.

Holly rubbed her arm tiredly. It ached slightly from all the throwing, which wasn't really good as the game was about to start. Not to mention her uniform was already dirty. Ack.

"Now presenting," an announcer said proudly (this wasn't the fancy-shmancy one they usually had—he quit the moment he found out about the bank robbery), "The LEP (Lower Elements Police) Leprechauns, the FIR (Fight Is Right) Fauna, and the KOL (Keepers Of the Law) Knolls."

Interesting. The FIR was an all female (the ONLY all female team) Tae-Kwon-Do type place that had prospered amazingly in the past year or so. They were total feminists and were a decent Crunchball team, all slim and graceful and dexterous. They weren't that strong, though, the only strength they really had was gained in their martial arts.

And on the total opposite side, the KOL were tough large guys, not as large as the Hulk but still about three and a half feet. They depended largely on muscle, and it worked, most of the time. FIR and KOL were pretty much rivals, as the FIR hated it when the KOL picked up their small girls and threw them around, and the KOL despised it every time the girls would outsmart or slip around them. Playing against them both at the same time would usually result in the win of the third team, as the two nemeses would brawl about, not really paying attention as the other players scored.

Holly had a pretty good feeling they were going to win, and the stone at the bottom of her stomach that related to nervousness evaporated in an instant. No worries.

And no pressure, either, she thought dryly, as she looked about. Crowds were cheering in the stands, waving about posters that said things like "Knock the Knolls!" or "Flaunt the Fauna!". Some posters said bad things about their team, though—it was obvious not everyone in the neighborhood was a Leprechaun fan. One poster in particular caught her eye. In big letters, it said "Lepers Eat Poo!" A large man was holding the sign up—Holly guessed he was the father of one of the Knolls or something of the sort. The sheer stupidity of the sign pointed to that conclusion.

Her attention snapped back to the field when a whistle blew. The game had started, and she didn't even hear anything that had been going on before… oops.

The Hulk was fast. He was the first to the ball, and in what seemed to be less then a second, had crunched the ball. This seemed to slow the other teams down considerably, as they watched in awe. Jon pulled his mighty arm back and, almost like a slingshot, launched the ball into the goal.

The arena was quiet, as the shocked Fauna Goalkeeper moved to retrieve the ball.

And the commenter goes wild. "Amazing! Awesome!…" He continued to rant. Holly sighed, and moved back the two small steps to her starting position. The Hulk jogged back to his spot, grinning.

As soon as the whistle blew, the Hulk rushed forward, Holly following half heartedly. She expected correctly—he had scored in less then a minute.

One would expect the Wingers to be mad at him, for taking all the glory upon himself and not passing to them. That was certainly how Holly felt. But no, they were looking up to him like some sort of idol; like some sort of god. It was making her feel sick, watching him revel in his attention, turning around and smiling. Ugh.

That's all Jon is, she decided. A suck-up.

The Crunchball dropped again, and this time, Holly didn't even bother to move.

END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Okay, sorry about the totally uncreative names for the teams. I'm having a sort of breakdown, as my IPC grade is an 80. 80! Not good! I have to raise it at least 6 points in the next 2 and a half weeks. Ugh.