A/N: Mmmkay, read on.
Hailey stood on a wrestling mat in the corner of the weight room, stretching out. Inhaling deeply, she gripped her left ankle and lifted the leg behind her back. The tip of Hailey's arched foot grazed the crown of her head. Pushing herself up on the tiptoes of her standing foot, Hailey held the position.
"Yoga, eh?" Zoe had just finished a set of crunches while hanging from the pull-up bar. She took a swig of water, straddling a bench. "Does that mean you're into all the spiritual shit like Brodi?"
Releasing her leg and easing the arch on her back, Hailey exhaled. "Nope. It just keeps me in form for freestyle."
"Ah. Well I can't wait for you to show us all what you got," Zoe smirked, dropping the towel she used to wipe her brow and reaching for the water again.
Hailey shrugged, shaking out her legs before working on the other side. A nervous spasm shot through her gut.
"So why weren't you partying with us last night?" Zoe took another stab at conversation.
"It's not really my scene," Hailey said, pressing her heel a little higher on her head.
Zoe raised her eyebrows. "Alright, suit yourself."
The door squeaked open, allowing Jp, Marisol, and Seeiah to step across the threshold. Sensing some kind of unfolding drama, Hailey slipped down into a straddle and reached for her toes.
"What, is today parade of the assholes day or something?" Zoe laughed in spite of herself, reaching for the bar and pulling herself back onto it.
Jp's nostrils flared like there was a putrid smell wafting through the room. But he held his tongue and headed for the treadmills, Marisol's hand perched on his forearm the entire way. Seeiah sent Zoe a dirty look, but Zoe, suspended by her ankles, just laughed harder.
Hailey watched the scene, stretching down to touch her left toe, and couldn't help but chuckle. After finishing a set of crunches, Zoe turned towards her.
"Isn't this great? Our darling Jp is officially on probation," she smiled. Across the room, he shot her a death glare.
Sensing Zoe's gaze upon her, Hailey automatically replied, "For what?"
"It is not her place to tell," Jp piped up, continuing to trot on the treadmill.
"Really, then whose it is, Holeshot?" Zoe cheered.
"Jean Pierre may have gotten in trouble for hitting you back last night, but if you slug me back, you'll take the blame as well!" Marisol was fuming, fists curled into balls. Laughing amusedly, Zoe let herself down off the bar.
"Well, princess, being suspended from races may not mean anything to you because you never make the finals anyway," Zoe said vehemently. "But I, on the other hand, are on this circuit due to talent and not because I'm some veteran's booty call."
The door flew open again, yielding to Psymon.
All the confidence Marisol had gained seemed to shrivel down to nothing. She stepped sheepishly away from Zoe upon seeing Psymon, clad in a wife beater and scowling menacingly as usual.
"Seeiah, your dear mother is on the phone in the lobby and apparently I'm some kind of goddamn messenger. Go talk to her," he said monotonously. He gave Zoe a meaningful look, nodding his head at her before departing.
"Kay, I think we need fake ID's," said Mac, thumbing at the controls of his Gamecube.
Not taking her eyes off the screen, Kaori replied, "But why, Maccie? We're too young."
"Because there was a huge bar fight last night! I always miss the good stuff sitting around playing video games!" Mac whined, mashing harder still on the controls. His Link sent Kaori's Peach sailing across the screen with the strike of his sword. She recovered, chucking a red shell at him.
Brodi sipped at his herbal tea, watching the screen with a slight interest. "The drinking ages vary based on what country we visit. When we get to France next, the legal age is only 16."
Mac whooped loudly. "Sweet."
"Was Psymon in that fight?" Kaori asked. "I hope he got suspersded."
Mac shook his head. "Jp was the one who got suspended. He hit Zoe."
"Oh." Kaori shrugged. "She seemed okay when I saw her today."
"That's because Jp can't fight for his life, he's a big, fat, French-"
Knock, knock.
Pressing pause and tossing aside his controller, Mac strode across the room to get the door.
"Hi... Elise," Mac grinned, messing up his hair. "Funny seeing you here!"
"Not really. It seems the man whose taking me out to brunch is in your room," she replied, slightly hitching up the straps of her tiny blue tank top.
"Oh?" Mac looked slightly hopeful. Brodi appeared at his side.
"Shall we go?" he asked, gesturing down the hallway. Elise nodded, and they set off. Mac stood in the doorway, looking slightly crestfallen.
"Maccie! If you don't get back here, I'm going to press pause and kick your butt!"
Mac's grin returned.
Hailey made a motion to knock on the door, faltered, and put her hand back at her side. Lifting it back up again, she paused.
Just do it already, she said inwardly, scowling.
Finally, after getting tired of standing at the threshold of Eddie's room, she knocked.
"Uh, just a sec," Eddie called out. He cracked open the door enough to poke his head out. "Oh! Hi, Hailey. What's up?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted go riding or something," she said, shrugging. "Y'know, train for freestyle."
"Sure! I just got out of the shower, but I'll get ready if you wanna give me a couple minutes," he replied.
"Oh," Hailey said, scuffing her foot on a bare patch of carpet. "Well, I can come back later if you want..."
Eddie shook his head, his wet fro bouncing sideways with the movement. "Nah, you can just come in for a bit."
Brodi and Eddie's suite was neatly kept, and smelled faintly of sandalwood. Hailey lowered herself into an armchair near the tv as Eddie padded back into the bathroom. She picked up a small stack of magazines, scanning through old editions featuring various extreme sports. Coming across a year-old issue of Play Hard, Hailey flipped through it to find a story on a local street luge competition marked off.
"Ready?" Eddie asked, leaning against the door frame leading into the bathroom, clad in his usual retro 70's ensemble.
Hailey set down the magazines, nodding. "Sure."
The walk from the hotel where the riders stayed to the course was only a hike down the street, easily asccesible by taking the underground. Luckily, the course wasn't crowded with riders.
"Whoa, solid Crippled Squirrel!" Eddie yelled out as Hailey nailed the trick. "Can you do a Backwash 1260? the judges love that one."
Hailey sideslipped down the trail, stopping and twisting her board 180 so she could sit down next to Eddie. "Yeah, I practiced it a few days ago actually."
"I've never seen anyone on a BX board pull off tricks like you," Eddie commented.
Hailey tugged the goggles off of her eyes, fishing around in the pocket of her baggy riding pants for a small bottle. "Freestyle boards just don't give me the pop I need on the approach," she said in between swigs of water.
"For me, it's the only board small enough for me to manuever with," replied Eddie, propping himself up on his elbows and tugging his heelside edge back and forth, creating a thin line in the snow. "And it's not like I can unstrap my foot and twist it around my head."
Hailey chuckled, flopping back into the snow and tossing aside her empty water bottle. "I'm telling you, it's all in the stretch."
"All I know is you definitely have the potential for a metal," Eddie complimented.
Hailey snorted. "All I'll have to do is not fall on my ass on every single big trick I try to land," she replied waving her arms in the snow. "The day I win is the day pigs will start to fly. Well, pigs other than Luther."
Eddie snickered. "Making a snow angel?"
"Mhmm," Hailey continued to flap her arms before rolling over to admire her work. "Looks more like a landing gone terribly wrong."
"True," Eddie replied, peering over at the markings in the snow. "Well, there's a really big jump up ahead where landings are a bit tricky becase of the ice. Want to go practice on it?"
Hailey sat up, a dusting of snow snow stuck in the messy, chesnut colored bun on the back of her head. "Cool, sounds good."
Moby's hands kneaded the stiff muscles in Zoe's upper back, thumbs circling across her shoulder blades.
"You're tight, love," said Moby. "Something stressing you out?"
"Is anything not stressing me out?" Zoe responded dully. "Oh, and a little lower... That's it."
Sighing slightly, Moby continued to move his hands slowly down her back. "Anything I can help you with?"
"Don't stop massaging me," replied Zoe, her eyes shut serenely.
"But really, you seem unhappy lately," Moby continued silkily, pressing his fingers into the gray cotton t-shirt covering back. "Is Psymon bothering you?"
Zoe's eyes fluttered open, but she continued to breathe slowly, seeming unfazed. "Well, it's not really bothering, he's not a bad guy."
Typical Zoe response, Moby said inwardly. "Meaning, you like him."
"Look, I don't know right now," she replied. "Please, don't do this to me. I hate feeling weak."
"But it just buggers the hell out of me to see you like this, Zo. These last two years you were so much happier than on the first SSX circuit. So much more consistent, fiery. Then you stumbled across him, and it all fell apart again," Moby said sadly.
"Psymon is not the reason I'm sad," Zoe said firmly, as if trying to cocnvince more than one person. "Can we please stop talking about this? Moby, you know you mean a lot to me."
Giving in, Moby sighed again. "Okay. Well then how about I take you out to our favorite sushi bar tonight?"
Zoe twisted her head around, giving him a distressed look.
"... As friends," he added hastily.
"I'd love to," she smiled gratefully, turning back around and letting his wandering hands relax her again.
"Good. It will be just like old times," said Moby quietly.
Zoe didn't speak, or move from her indian-style position on Moby's bed, him straddling her from behind and working out the tight knots on her back as he always had. But she knew in her mind, for tonight at least, he wasn't really the one she wanted to be there with.
A/N: Whoa, mad long update!
The reviews I've been getting are truly amazing, and I'm glad you guys are liking this fic. So keep 'em coming.