For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Scene 11: There's a New Wind Blowing
(Age: 13)

The truth was that for the first time since her dad had left Kara was feeling almost happy. Well, maybe not 'happy', but things were definitely looking up... of course that didn't mean they weren't more than a little confusing.

Much to her surprise she had been asked to join the school's pyramid team, even though it was almost unheard of for anyone under the tenth grade to get in. That had been unexpected, especially because she was at least three years younger and about a foot shorter than pretty much everyone else... of course, being that much shorter meant she didn't need half an hour to change directions and it also meant that her rivals kept underestimating her. That was kind of fun. In fact she had discovered that she actually loved playing. It was a challenge to go up against the older kids and it felt great to know that there was something she was actually good at.

Yes, having made the team had turned out pretty okay but it had also brought about a huge change in her status in school, one she was still struggling to come to terms with.

Being the youngest player in the team had made her a sort of hero, at least with the guys in her own class... well, maybe not a hero but all of a sudden they all wanted to hang out with her and they wanted her in their team. That had never happened to her before and she still wasn't too sure how she felt about the whole damned thing. Deep down Kara still preferred to be left alone but lately that hadn't been much of an option.

Her newfound popularity was something that had caught her totally off guard --that was for sure-- but it wasn't really all that bad. Of course, she wasn't really deluding herself. She was well aware that it wasn't really her that her classmates wanted, they just wanted what she could do for them. She knew that her new 'friends' didn't really like her, they just tolerated her, but still it was a lot better than being teased and picked on so she wasn't about to complain about it or call them on it any time soon.

If they wanted her because they wanted to win, that was fine with her... besides, she wasn't exactly adverse to winning herself so that did provide them with some sort of common ground.

Of course --even though things were much better-- not everything was perfect. In fact, while the guys in her own class were being a lot nicer to her, she was having more trouble than ever with some of the older students. It seemed like all of those kids who had tried for the team and failed were convinced that she had taken their place. How she had managed to take some three dozen places she wasn't really sure but that seemed to be the prevailing attitude.

On top of that there was also the fact that even though things were going a lot better with the guys, the girls were a different story. Sure, Kara got along well enough with the girls in the team as long as they didn't talk about anything but pyramid --though they certainly didn't want her to hang out with them-- but the girls in her own class seemed to be growing nastier by the hour. Kara was well aware that the whispers behind her back were getting louder, though --seeing how she'd had a lot of practice ignoring them anyway-- they didn't really bother her.

Being picked on was familiar and expected so she just continued to tune the girls out as she had been doing for years... besides, it wasn't like those whispers were telling her anything she didn't already know.

Kara knew she wasn't pretty, she knew her clothes were ugly and she had been teased about them ever since she could remember but this time around the comments seemed to be growing more insidious. It was like all of a sudden there was a lot more venom behind them and that was somewhat confusing. It was true that Kara had never really understood girls in the first place, with their giggling and their love of dolls and pink, but that wasn't the point. She had never been able to figure out why anyone would want to pretend to be the mother of a piece of plastic or anything like that. That was something that had always been beyond her --heck, Kara didn't even want to have a kid, not ever-- but for some reason now that dolls and pink had given way to fashion, brand names and boys, she understood them even less.

Who cared if pyramid players were cute? All that mattered as far as Kara was concerned was what they could do with the ball. That was supposed to be the whole point of the frakking game... not that anyone would have known it by listening to what most of the girls in her class had to say about it.