"You did it, Megs!" Sebastien congratulated as Megan won her third match of the Hamstead Tournament. She plopped her tired body onto the players' bench and took a sip of water from her bottle.
"Barely, it was too close. I let to many shots go." Megan scowled, knocking her racket on the ground. Sebastien, who had been sitting in the bleachers the whole time, climbed down and went to sit beside her.
"Why are you always so hard on yourself?" He frowned, sliding his hand through his hair.
"I have to be hard on myself if I want to win." She grinned as she stuffed her belongings into her gym bag.
"That understandable, bien sur, but you won, Megan! You're in the finals! It's time to celebrate!" He told her as he took her by the hand and lead her out of the court and towards the campus' café.
"Sebastien, coffee isn't good before a match! You're in the finals, too, we both have to keep our health up not drown it by drinking caffeine."
"They don't only sell coffee at cafés."
"Oh you're right, I forgot about all the chocolate muffins and fatty cakes." Megan cringed but Sebastien licked his lips at the thought. "Hungry, aren't we?" She laughed as he nodded.
"A little chocolate never hurt anyone. Please, just one little chocolate cookie?" Sebastien pleaded half-jokingly
"You know, that's how it all starts, just one cookie and all of a sudden you've eaten your weight in sweets."
"Fine, you win. But I promised Squib I'd buy him a box of chocolate." He said as he continued to make his way towards the shop.
"That's illegal, Sebastien!"
"Only if he eats them, if he doesn't eat them it's just a souvenir."
"Squib told you that, didn't he?" And Megan chuckled as Sebastien nodded once more.
---
"Your hands are raw!" Sebastien exclaimed holding Megan's hand in his and examining it, she couldn't help but tingle at the feeling of his skin touching hers.
"I'm, uh, used to it." She shrugged, slowly pulling her hand away from his and hiding it in her pocket.
"Oh mon Dieu, there's a lot of people!" He shuddered as he entered the court where he was about to play his final match of tournament in a matter of minutes.
"You'll do fine. You've made it this far. Just think, after this we can finally go home and rest." Megan patted him reassuringly on the back and Sebastien gave a nervous smile in return.
The match went on for what seemed to be hours. The ball was constantly being hit and served across the court but in the end Sebastien turned up the victorious one. In one hand he held the Hamstead Cup and in the other hand a beaming Megan.
"Now it's your turn." He whispered to her as camera snapped their pictures.
Cascadia- June 16th, 7:30 PM
He couldn't understand it, he couldn't understand how one moment, one second, could change his life, forever. How one careless pilot's mistake could cause so much damage and affect so many people. It seemed hardly fair, but Squib knew that nothing in life was fair, life just wasn't fair, and he had learnt that the hard way.
Twap, it was the sound of a small furry green ball hitting the old court's brick wall. It rebounded and he hit it once more with the tennis racket. He was muttering and cursing under his breath as rain trickled down the sides of his face. He glanced for a moment at the bleachers where he had left his guitar case, open. He hated that case, it represented his unwillingness to let go, just a few hours ago it held one racket; his brother's, but now it held two; Sebastien's.
He could feel his stomach begin to tighten as a wave of exhaustion hit him, the rain had picked up and he had found himself in the middle of a thunderstorm.
"Squib, come inside, please!" Begged a certain red-headed girl, her face was completely soaked and he wasn't sure if it was because of the rain or her tears.
"Just let me hit it once more time." He wheezed, changing the position of the racket in his hands. He gave the tennis ball another whack and before he could do it again the girl had grabbed the ball away from him.
"Please, you've been out here for hours. You're going to get sick." Her was unusually desperate and he couldn't help but obey. He made his way to his guitar case and gently placed the racket on top of the other one, revealing the initials S.D. He could feel her watching him, but he didn't care even though he'd spent so much of his time trying to hide the contents of it. He closed the case and put his arm around her. He was a good two feet taller than her, forcing her to look up into his eyes. He knew than that she had been crying, a lot. With his right index finger he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
"Let's go inside."
---
"It's not right!" Adena screamed, pounding her fists on the bed in front of her, tears already overflowing her eyes. Squib sat next to her, his face blank and still wet from earlier. "This can't be happening." She wailed, again no one said anything or reacted.
"This can't be happening" Squib repeated Adena's sentence in a whisper.
"And to think that at 10:47 I was busy watching Rick stuff his mouth with energy bars while two of my best friends were dying." Adena cried, burying her face in the palms of her hands.
"What did you just say?" Cody asked, her face shocked.
"And to think that at 10:47-"
"10:47?" Cody gasped snapping her fingers in realization.
"What's so great about 10:47?"
"Don't you guys remember? Megan and Sebastien's plane only left the airport at 12:47!"
"So you mean-" Adena started but Squib finished for her
"-they're still alive!"