Meadow567- Vague? What was he vague about? I thought Silk was very clear about what he was talking about. Hmmm. And I love your thing with the fortune cookies. It made it sound like Craig and Kylah were up to some naughty-naughty stuff! LOL

Lia06- I am glad to see some people are rooting for Coach Patrick. When I wrote him as hanging out with Kylah, I actually feared people would be grossed out!

Theprincessbride06- Ah,so are you from the Memphis side of the state? Never been to Memphis, but always wanted to go there. I am glad you are enjoying the story and hope you continue to. Here is the update you wanted.

Staceygirl- I love writing drunk Silky. He has made an appearance in both my previous stories, and I always find he gets great reviews. And he's so fun to write!

Strangexbutxtrue- LOL, the ever popular Johnson joke. Poor Mark will never live that down. So glad you liked drunk Silky. I thought he was a bit of a turn on, LOL.

Emador- In Silk's defense he was drunk! LOL And why was Coach Patrick's line so unbelievable? LOL I thought it was funny, but you were screaming. Hmmmm, but if Philip had said it we wouldn't have been surprised at all.

Killerkeanegirl- Another one thinking Craig should get Kylah, hmmmm. You own a southern accent. I used to, but since moving a lot of it has worn off. Hope you had a fun vacation.

Hello all. I am sorry if my updates are spaced out a bit. Work has been busy. But I love the reviews, and I am hoping for more. I have finally set n update goal of 250. So keep the reviews coming. I love reading them and responding. And actually your responses is going to determine how I handle a few things in the next several chappies. Big Hugs! Peace and Love!

The following weekend, I was finishing lunch in my apartment when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"I believe you and I have a drinking match to get to." I heard Verchota on the other end.

"Silky beat you, so shouldn't I be drinking against him?" I giggled; my mind remembering Silk's comments while drunk.

"I don't think you could out drink me, let alone him." Verchota said.

"You're just dying for her to embarrass you." I heard Buzz in the background.

"You got your whiskey?" Verchota asked.

"Yeah, I'll be down to your room in a bit." I said and hung up.

I went to the cabinet and found my bottles of Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. I giggled. 'Maybe I should've had my parents send me a jug of moonshine. That'd knock Verchota on his ass in no time.' I thought. I gathered up a few shots glasses, and headed down the hall.

When I got there, I could see several of the boys already waiting for me.

"Why is it that on a Saturday, none of you have anything better to do than watch this?" I asked.

"We're too tired to go out and do much. Herb is killing us in practice." Rizzo said.

"Besides, what could be more entertaining than watching Philly get his butt kicked by a girl?" Janny laughed.

"Hey, you said you were on my side." Phil said to Janny.

"I am, but I wouldn't exactly bet against Kylah either." Janny said.

"Some cheering section I got. One goalie that is trying to get laid by my opponent!" Verchota rolled his eyes. He looked over at Bah, Buzz, and Pav. "Thanks guys."

"I cheered you on when you were drinking against that Shane…something or other guy at the Chi Nu frat house back in April!" Buzz said.

"Besides Kylah might beat us up if we cheer against her!" Pavelich winked.

"Oh I would not!" I laughed.

"We know….but before Silky, Phil was undefeated. If loses to a girl….." Buzz started snickering.

I sighed dramatically. "Honey…I'm not a girl, I'm a woman!" I threw my head back with a haughty air.

"Candice Housen once said the same thing to me in the back of my brother's car!" Verchota said.

"Why did you have a girl in the backseat of your bother's car?" Bah asked.

"I had only had my license about three days, so he let me borrow his car…..after I promised to fill the gas tank up before I brought it home, wash and wax it and tell him the details of what happened on the date." Verchota explained.

"What happened on the date?" Broten asked.

"We don't wanna know!" I said.

"Okay, can we get started?" Jimmy asked.

"Harrington, Schneider I trust you two. If I should get bad drunk, make sure I get safely back to my room…alone!" I said.

"That's like asking a wolf to guard the henhouse!" Silk laughed.

"We'll make sure you're okay." Buzz said.

"Are we placing bets on this? I wanna run a betting pool." Baker said.

"You made a killing when Silky actually beat Verchota." Strobel said.

"That's because I talked with Rizzo who assured me Silky could drink like a sailor." Baker said.

"Sure, I'll bet a few." Rizzo said.

"Me too." Morrow said.

"Help me set up the shots." Verchota asked Ramsey.

"I brought Jim and Jack." I giggled.

"I brought Captain Morgan and Jose Cuervo." Phil said.

Ramsey, Phil and I began setting shots on the coffee table while some of the other boys gathered around Baker placing bets.

"I bet $100 on Verchota." OC said, appearing form no where in the doorway. Most of us turned and looked.

"OC, this is all for fun. $5 is the betting limit." Baker said.

"Well I thought little hillbilly hardass was a sure thing." OC said walking in.

"Jack, leave her alone. Whatever your problem is, we're here to have fun." Rizzo said.

"Come on Rizzo. All I've heard is about this little hick. I wanna see if she's all she brags to be." OC walked into the room.

"OC that's enough. It's probably best if you weren't here. For whatever reason, you insist on being an asshole to Kylah." Silk said.

I wasn't sure what to say. I had had enough of OC's attitude towards me. But I didn't want to cause further conflict on the team.

"I'm just here to support Verchota. Maybe if he's able to knock the belle off her pedestal, she'll quit hanging around so much!" OC said and patted Phil's shoulder.

"OC, I don't want to hurt Kylah. We're just goofing around." Phil said.

"Seriously OC, I think it best if you left." Jimmy said.

"Now where's the fun in that?" OC smirked.

"Phil, maybe we should try this some other time." I said.

"No, stay. You're drinks are already poured." OC snapped. "Let's see what you're made of hillbilly."

"Will you quit calling me that? Where I am from, we don't take kindly to that term." I snapped.

"Where you're from people blow up outhouses with dynamite for a good time!" OC rolled his eyes.

"Of course, I mean if it's on the introduction to a show, it MUST be true!" I snapped with sarcasm, getting to my feet. "Phil, we can do this another time."

"Oh, go screw your brother like a good little hick!" OC said.

I had slapped OC before I realized I had done it. But the next thing I knew OC was rubbing his cheek, the room was quiet and my hand was stinging. I couldn't believe what I had done. But when he said that, it was just an anger reaction.

"I……oh no." I took off from the room and ran to my apartment.

(TPPOV)
"She hit me." OC said, rubbing his cheek after Kylah ran from the room.

"Good for her. What the hell is your problem with her anyway?" Silk said.

"I don't like her kind. You shouldn't either Silky." OC said.

"What's her kind?" Bah asked.

"You know people from the south, they're all alike." OC rolled his eyes. "Wait till some of her friends visit her."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Janny shook his head.

"Me either." Verchota said. "Dude, I pick on her about dating, but I would never set out to hurt her like you do."

"OC, whatever your problem with Kylah is, you have to get over it. She is going to be with us till the end of the Olympics." Strobel said.

"And, whatever bothers you about her…..leave us out of it. We all really like her." Pavelich said.

"That's right, she's a wonderful person. There's not a reason for you to not like her. She's sweet and caring." Bah told him.

"She opens her heart up and let's people in…..you should give her a chance." Buzz told him.

"Or at the least, avoid her and leave her alone." Ramsey told OC.

"And Coach Patrick is good friends with her, so watch that you don't piss him off." Christian told OC.

"But she hit me?" OC said. "Hard too, to be so innocent looking."

"She had every right to. You had it coming." Jimmy told him.

"I'm going to get ice for my cheek." OC said. "I just don't understand how some of you could like her."

OC walked out of the room.

"What is his problem?" Silk asked. "I've never seen him be so mean to a woman."

"Me either." Rizzo shrugged.

"Did you see Kylah's reaction? It's like she slapped him before she realized it." Verchota said.

"I never thought I'd see her so mad. She's such a nice person." Broten said.

"We should go check on her." Buzz said. "She seemed upset when she ran out of here."

"Yeah. She might think we'll be mad at her or something." Pavelich said.

A few of the boys stood up, and started walking down the hall towards Kylah's apartment. The door to her apartment was opened slightly.

"You hear that?" Rizzo asked.

"Yeah, sounds like crying." Buzz said.

Bah knocked on the open door. "Kylah? You okay?"

They received no answer but the sound of the crying continued. Bah opened the door further and glanced around the apartment. She was no where to be seen. Bah turned to the other boys and shrugged.

"She has to be in there. That's her crying." Silk said.

"Kylah?" Buzz called out and walked farther into the apartment.

"Kylah, it's us, where are you?" Ramsey asked following the boys in.

"There's a light coming from under her bathroom door." Verchota pointed out.

Bah walked over and knocked on the bathroom door. "Kylah? Are you okay?"

There was no response. But it was clear that she was in there from the sound of her crying coming from the room.

"Should we go in and check on her?" Pavelich asked.

"What if she's not dressed? I mean she is in the bathroom." Rizzo said.

"But we can't just leave her crying like that. She sounds really upset." Buzz said.

"So help me if OC came here and harassed her…" Silk said.

"Well what should we do?" Baker asked.

Bah knocked again. "Kylah? Kylah?" Bah slowly opened the door to the bathroom to see what was going on inside.

Kylah was sitting on the floor in the corner of the bathroom next to the shower. She had her knees pulled up against her chest and was hugging herself. She was crying hard and didn't seem to notice that Bah had opened the door.

Bah moved farther in the room. "Kylah, what's wrong?" Bah asked.

"I shouldn't…..he didn't know." Kylah mumbled, still crying hard.

Buzz and Silk peeked their heads inside the door, frowning when they saw Kylah on the floor crying.

"Oh Kylah, you shouldn't be this upset that you slapped OC." Buzz said, stepping into the room too.

"He doesn't know." Kylah cried again.

Bah sat down in the floor next to her and put his arms around her. "Kylah, he had no right to say those things to you. You have nothing to be upset about."

"Bah's right. OC has been rude to you since he met you. You finally just lost your temper is all." Buzz said, kneeling down to Kylah's level.

"But OC didn't realize that…"

"OC had no right to be saying any of those things." Silk said, also kneeling beside Kylah.

Kylah lifted her head from her knees. Her eye make-up was severely smeared and running down her face. Her face was red and blotchy.

"We all lose our tempers sometimes. You don't have to be so upset about it." Buzz said.

"But I'm upset because it made me think of…" Kylah started.

"Where do you keep your washcloths?" Silk asked looking around the bathroom.

"Cabinet under the sink." Kylah said.

"I'd have hit him long before now if he treated me the way he has you." Bah told her.

"We don't know what OC's problem is. But don't take it so hard. We all really like you." Buzz said.

"Yes, but OC didn't know that my…." Kylah started again.

"Here, this will help your face cool down." Silk said handing her a wet washcloth.

"Thanks Silky." Kylah said, dabbing her face with the washcloth. "Is any of the team mad at me?"

"Of course not." Bah told her.

"Actually, we've told OC to stay away from you." Silk told her.

"And now we know not to make you mad!" Bah winked at Kylah. She managed a small laugh.

About that time Verchota and Janny stuck their heads around the corner and looked into the bathroom.

"We wanted to see what was going on. The crying stopped and 4 of you are in a bathroom." Janny snickered.

"It's okay, you can come in." Kylah said.

"You okay?" Verchota asked her.

"I guess so. I just really didn't mean to do that." She explained.

"Hey, we all think you held out a long time before losing your temper." Janny said.

"Well, we have like 30 shots poured back at my room. Feel up to me putting you under the table?" Verchota asked.

"My stomach feels kinda knotted up." Kylah explained.

"Well wait till you relax a bit." Baker called in. "I have lots of bets on you. Not many have faith in Phil!"

Kylah laughed a bit. "Yeah, once I calm down. I'll have no problem putting Phil in his place." She said.

"Let's go then." Silk said. Bah helped Kylah to her feet as she tried wiping the smeared make up from her face.

"You gonna be okay?" Verchota asked her.

"I think so. Sometimes the little things bring it all slamming down on me again." She said.

Verchota pulled her into a hug. And for the first time since he was 13 years old, his hands stayed above the waist when hugging a woman.