"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!"
Hamstead- June 16th, 9:30 AM
"I can't do this…" Megan cried clutching her racket hard in her hands, the blisters on her fingers causing her an enormous amount of pain.
"Come on, Megs, you're one game short of being a superstar, you can do it!" Sebastien smiled taking her racket out of her hands. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep squeezing this."
"Can't you see!" She groaned grabbing her racket back "This is the finals! My whole career is depending on this!"
"I realize that, look if I could do it, you can too."
"You're a much better tennis player than I am." She argued heading down from the hotel to the courts.
"Don't say that, tell you what, after you win this match we'll play a little game and see who's better."
"If I win."
"Why do you always do that, Megan? Try to be a little optimistic." He frowned stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Optimism just isn't my thing."
"You sound like Adena." He laughed and she blushed.
"Yeah, well, she was bound to rub off on me after knowing her for 11 years."
"So you know that if she was hear she'd tell you to relax and that you'd do fine."
"I guess so. Okay. I'm going to win!" Megan grinned waving her racket proudly in the air.
"That's the spirit!"
Cascadia- June 16th, 7:45 PM
"This is great!" Adena exclaimed doing a little pirouette on the spot.
"We have to tell Bates, we have to tell that this was all a big misunderstanding and we have to go pick up Megs and Seb at the airport." Cody said dragging her friends out of her house, they were all happy and relieved that there was a possibility that their friends were still alive.
"Principal Bates!" Squib called out when they reached his office.
"Come in…" Bates invited, his voice was depressed and his students couldn't wait to tell him the good news.
"Principal Bates! Principal Bates! They're alive! Megan and Sebastien are alive! They're plane wasn't meant to leave until 12:47! 2 hours after the plane crashed!" Adena grinned
"Please take a seat." The trio was surprised that the tone of his voice hadn't changed; the sadness was still there.
"What's wrong, Sir?" Cody asked, regretting the answer.
"I'm afraid that I did remember their plane left at 12:47, when I was first heard about the accident I immediately called Hamstead Airport. I consulted the manager and he told me that…" He paused and looked at the students in front of them, tears already filling up their eyes. "…That there was an opening on the plane for two passengers, Megan and Sebastien were already at the airport waiting for their plane so they were offered their seats. They got on that plane." There was a moment of silence and the gang collected their bearings.
"How sure are you that it was them?" Squib finally spoke up.
"89 percent sure, the manager told me that they had used Megan and Sebastien's tickets."
"Did they check their passports?" Cody questioned
"No, it's a small airport, there really is no need too."
"So it's possible that they didn't get on the plane."
"Possible but not probable."
"Why not probable! It could be that some people stole their tickets knowing that the airport didn't require idea." Adena cried
"It's possible, but again that's not what I call probable."
"But, Sir, it's a perfect explanation!" She continued
"Mrs. Stiles, we're all grieving, denial isn't going to help matters."
"But, Sir-"
"-ENOUGH!"
Hamstead- June 16th, 9:55 AM
The sun shined brightly on the tennis courts, all eyes were on Megan and her opponent. It was the last match of the tournament, the finals. Megan planted her feet firmly on the ground, holding her racket in both hands as she studied her opponent. She watched carefully as the girl threw the ball in the air, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. That could only mean one thing. Megan was in the zone. The ball was coming her way and in an instant everything was calculated in her mind, she'd move to the right and hit it with her amazing backhand. The crowd clapped, 15/Love O'Connor. Match point O'Connor. Set O'Connor. Game O'Connor. Tournament O'Connor.
"I did it, Sebastien!" She exclaimed running up towards him, her black hair bouncing with every stride she took.
"Just like I knew you would!" Sebastien smiled and Megan threw herself into his arms. He was surprised, to say the least, but he hugged her in a loving manner. She pulled away, realizing she hadn't yet accepted her trophy. She ran up to the podium, slightly red, she took her award as the crowd cheered her on.
---
"Megs, could this weekend be any better?" Sebastien grinned as they headed back to their hotel rooms to pack for the flight ahead.
"Nothing can ruin this, nothing." She smiled, a thrill took over her, a thrill she had never felt before. Because everything had fallen into place, when she got home her career who surely sky-rocket from her success in the tournament and she was alone with Sebastien. She was almost sure that he felt the same way about her as she did about him. There was a break of silence and they both stopped walking. He lowered his face into hers, their lips about to meet. She wanted to remember this moment forever, her first real kiss with the boy she loved for so long. She could smell his fresh breath and the scent of his cologne that covered his body.
"Excuse me, sorry for interrupting but you two are the Hamstead winners, right?" They quickly pulled back, Sebastien mentally slapping himself for not going through with the kiss. He looked at the reporter in front of them and mumbled 'yes'.
"Great, mind if I take a picture?" He was rather young looking. Silky black hair smoothed back, bright green eyes and a very muscular built. Sebastien couldn't help but feel intimidated.
"Err, yeah. Sure, I don't mind. S'okay with you?" Megan asked Sebastien and the reporter waiting for him to nod his head.
"Great! Come with me." The reporter smiled
"Where are we going?" Megan questing her hand wrapped around Seb's.
"There's too much light here, I thought maybe we could go to a shadier area."
"Actually, I don't think we can… Me and Sebastien have to pack for our trip home."
"Nonsense, I just need one picture."
"I'm sorry but we really do have to go." The shook his head and ushered them towards the forest off the campus, they followed reluctantly. It would be the last time anyone ever saw Megan O'Connor and Sebastien Dubé.
Cascadia- June 16th, 8:00 PM
Cody, Squib and Adena dragged themselves out of Mr. Bates office each of them feeling more and more depressed.
"Cody, how much do you think a plane ride to Hamstead cost? Hypothetically of course." Adena asked her as they walked down the empty hallway.
"Probably 500$, hypothetically speaking."
"So if we were, hypothetically, going to Hamstead all 3 of us it would only cost 1,500$?"
"Hypothetically."
"Then let's do it."
"I thought you were being hypothetical." Squib muttered.
"I was, but I'm not anymore. They're alive, I can feel it. I'm sure I have enough money saved up for us to go. What do you say?"
"I'm in."
"I'm in."
"Then it's settled, we'll leave tomorrow morning."
"To Hamstead."
"To Hamstead."