Ayyy here's to officially reaching chapter 20! Thank you Lyssa (BrokenTourniquet) for your help as always!
Edited 1/4/23. Edit notes at the end of the chapter.
A sheep among a pack of ravenous wolves. That is how Sam felt beneath the prying gazes of the members of UCL's Pi Media Society. She kept her head held high in spite of her increasing urge to meld with the chair she sat on and vanish from existence. She had expected their unapologetic curiosity, and she knew that they were trying to gauge what type of person the daughter of the ruthless head of Nishimura Corporation was. She also knew that to them, she must have seemed like a gold mine for potential internships and professional connections. The joke was on them, however. Her father probably wouldn't give her an internship at that point, not that she cared either way.
Her film professor, Professor Bruzzi, entered the room and the inquiring eyes were finally removed from her and shifted to him. She couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief. She had been involved in student media during high school as well, but the difference was that she had gone to school with other wealthy big-wigs and members of the upper-middle class, so her presence was a daily matter-of-fact. In contrast, UCL was composed of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds and a majority weren't used to seeing relatives of well-known public figures.
"Hello everyone," Professor Bruzzi said with a smile, "I don't have any announcements for today so let's jump right in. News topics...what do you have for me?" One girl raised her hand to speak.
"I've finished my article on the global financial recovery. I just need someone to peer review my work and help me title it."
"I can help," another student, a male, chimed in.
"Alright, good, a very important topic of discussion," Professor Bruzzi said, scanning the rest of the room, "what else?"
"Sweden just launched a new music streaming service."
"Good! Media happenings. Give me something else, people," Professor Bruzzi said as he picked up a marker and scrawled everything they discussed onto the whiteboard behind him.
"I have footage from the gymnastics meet. Maybe Sam can edit it for our online newscast?" Another female student suggested.
"Perhaps. Sam, what do you think?" Sam blinked at the professor.
"Huh? U-uh, yeah sure, I could do that. Just give me the files."
"Consider it done," Professor Bruzzi fired back immediately. The meeting continued in a series of pitches and status checks on current works-in-progress before it was ultimately adjourned. Sam waited for everyone else to file out the room before leaving herself. As she approached the door, Professor Bruzzi stopped her. "Sam, a moment?" Sam hesitated before removing her bag from her shoulders and taking a seat atop a desk across from Professor Bruzzi.
"...Yeah?" She asked hesitantly after a moment.
"I know that some of the students were hawking over you earlier, and I just wanted you to know that if you ever have any issues you shouldn't hesitate to come to me." Sam scrutinized her professor warily.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Why did you ask me to join Pi Media, professor? I'm happy to join for the resume padder, but…"
"But?" Professor Bruzzi asked. Sam bit her lip.
"Is it because of my family? It's no secret that my dad's kind of a media mogul."
"No," Professor Bruzzi answered without any hesitation. When Sam frowned at him, he continued, "I asked you to join because I've seen the work you produce in my course when you actually apply yourself. I'd really like to tap into your potential a bit more and hone your abilities. Plus, between you and me?" He lowered his voice dramatically, "The girl I had filming before you joined? Her work is...well, I apologize in advance for the footage you're going to be working with. But I know you'll make something out of it." He reached for his briefcase and coat, "I won't keep you any longer now. Have a wonderful day."
"Thank you," Sam replied as he exited the room before her, "you too."
Sam found out what her professor meant about the gymnastics footage as she went through it later that evening. It almost seemed as though the filmographer lost interest or wasn't paying enough attention to get close-up, detailed footage of the gymnasts, and a lot of the footage that had visible effort put into it was shaky. In spite of her irritation, Sam had to admit that if she had been recording she probably would have gotten bored as well. It didn't take a gymnastics expert to know that the UCL gymnasts were grossly outmatched against Manchester, so finding highlights was difficult. From outright falls to poorly executed moves, Sam could see why the gymnastics coach had continued to implement additional practices for the team after the competition.
There were a few outliers in the film. She managed to find decent clips of Paige, for instance, who seemed to flip around on the balance beam with ease. She also did a routine on two crossbars of different heights that left Sam feeling stunned. What superhuman was capable of such feats? The amount of grip strength it must have taken to maintain grip on the bars while flipping around them repeatedly was staggering. And to be able to flip from one bar to another and catch oneself? Sam shook her head in disbelief and made a point to save clips of all of Paige's performances for the newscast.
She continued to filter through the footage over the course of an hour or so until she finally got to the floor routines. The first set of footage was one of the few blessed quality bits, and Sam watched as the gymnast on screen made her way up onto the floor. She was average height, with legs that Sam swore could crush watermelons as well as a muscular back that showed itself through a gap in the back of her leotard. When she turned slightly, Sam could see that she wore a bit of bronze glitter around her eyes coupled with makeup that accentuated her features, from the contours in her cheekbones and facial structure to her eyebrows, which were arched in a way that gave off the impression of sharpness and-
Sam's jaw dropped, and she paused the video to stare at the gymnast. That was Lara. Sam had never seen her roommate so done up before, she'd assumed that Lara didn't even know how to do makeup. Her roommate was, after all, a creature of practicality and never seemed to care for items of such superficiality. And yet, there she was and with the way her face was painted, her noble British-Mediterranean aesthetic was put on full display for everyone in attendance to behold and admire.
Her interest piqued thricefold, Sam unpaused the video to watch. As Lara took her place in the corner of the floor apparatus, she appeared nervous and uncertain glancing around at the onlookers as she was. Then, all traces of fear and doubt vanished from Lara's face as the music started. Sam snorted when she realized what Lara's floor music was; she recognized the song from a Korean music video game she used to play. It was an EDM fusion, with the drums being very drum and bass oriented. The overall tone and phrasing seemed to be pulled from electro-swing, but used Romantic era Beethoven as the basis instead of 1930s swing. All in all, the sound was very fitting for Lara's personality.
When Lara went for her first tumbling run, Sam raised a brow in shock at the sheer amount of height that Lara got off her jumps, as well as the movements she'd managed to do while in midair. Her roommate was flipping and spinning at the same time while managing to stick the landings and launch into subsequent flips and spins. When Lara landed in the opposite corner, she launched into a series of fluid dance moves and acrobatics that Sam could only describe as ballet-meets-pop. In the background, she saw some of Lara's teammates mimicking a few of her moves as she did them and cheering her on. She also heard the crowd clapping anytime Lara finished a particularly difficult move. Lara pirouetted and gave a small smirk to the judges before flipping her hair and proceeding to flip and leap her way to the corner for another tumbling run.
The intricacy, swagger, and spunk of Lara's routine floored Sam. She'd never seen Lara so confident and assertive before, it was like she knew she owned that floor and everyone watching her. Looking on made Sam want to cry tears of pride. She never knew Lara was so good at what she did. There was not a single moment where Lara stopped moving during her routine. When she finished her routine and got her score Sam concluded that if UCL lost, it was far from Lara's fault.
Sam saved clips of Lara's floor routine as well as those of Paige and another gymnast. When she was finally done reviewing the footage, she saved her work and closed out of her editing software, figuring she'd throw together a formal newscast the next day. Her internet browser was still open when she had exited out of the app, and she saw that she had a Facebook notification. She clicked on the tab and saw that she had a friend request from "Naomi Nishimura." Frowning, she accepted it and typed a message to her.
Hey kid, thought you weren't allowed to have a Facebook? She hit the send button and saw a typing indicator from the other end a moment later.
You really think shithead and his wife pay attention to that type of thing? Naomi replied. Sam snorted.
I understand how you feel, but you really shouldn't call dad that, Sam admonished in spite of the fact that she'd been guilty of referring to her father by similar expletives.
Sorry, you're right. You think Hisao and Antonia pay attention to that type of thing? Sam rolled her eyes.
You're such a smart aleck. Sam hesitated before adding, How have they been to you? and hitting the send button. A moment or two passed before Naomi replied again.
Can we Skype?
Yeah, of course. Gimme a second. Sam minimized her web browser and opened her Skype app to log in to her account. Once she was signed in, she looked for Naomi in her contacts and started a video call.
"Hey kid," Sam said once more with a small smile when her younger sibling's face finally appeared on screen, "what's new?"
"Mom and dad have really been pissing me off," Naomi whined.
"Hey! You know I don't care about that language but you need to not make that sort of thing a habit when you're at home with mom and dad, you hear?" Naomi let out an exasperated huff.
"Whatever." Sam sighed.
"I just don't want you to get in trouble. Anyways, what have they been doing? Talk to me." Naomi bit her bottom lip and wringed her hands before answering.
"It wouldn't matter if I got in trouble anyways. I'm already grounded because a kid was being a jerk to another kid at school and I punched him."
"Naomi!" Sam gasped.
"What? He was shoving him into a locker, what else was I supposed to do?"
"Tell a teacher, maybe?"
"The teachers weren't doing anything about it," Naomi threw her hands up in frustration, "I already tried telling them." Sam took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking again.
"Did you explain the situation to mom and dad?"
"I did and they didn't care. They don't listen to me at all. You know they also forced me into these stupid advanced courses at school too? Now I'm not even in a class with my friends and it sucks." Sam scowled at this. She'd been in those very same courses. All 'advanced' meant in her eyes was needless additional work and stress for the students.
"I'm sorry kid, I've been there too. I know it probably sucks for you," Sam said. Naomi's gaze drifted downward.
"...Why'd you have to go to England? Life was so much better here when you were home."
"Because UCL's a really good school-"
"You could have gone to NYU or Columbia."
"Naomi-"
"Just admit it, you wanted to escape and run away so you moved to another country and left me all alone." Sam felt as though a blade had been driven through her heart, and she swallowed thickly and bit her lip to choke back tears that threatened to break through.
"You know it's not like that," Sam said when she found her bearings, "you know I care about you."
"Is that why mom's saying you aren't coming home for Christmas?" Sam let out hiss through her teeth and clenched her jaw. Of course her parents were spinning stories.
"First of all, don't listen to a word out of mom and dad's mouths. Second of all-"
"Well, are you?" Naomi interjected. Sam let out a sigh.
"I'm not sure yet," she admitted.
"Why?"
"Because-" Sam took a moment to regain her composure, "because mom and dad aren't happy with me right now." Naomi raised a curious brow.
"What'd you do?"
"It's complicated. Listen, if it really means that much to you then I'll come home for Christmas and we can do all sorts of fun sister stuff together. How's that sound?" Naomi's expression brightened at this and she gave Sam a toothy grin.
"Could you?"
"Yeah, I can. Listen though, I gotta get some schoolwork done now. But if mom and dad give you a ton of trouble, you should give a call to Uncle Toru. He'll chew dad out and keep him in line. That's the only reason I was able to get away with as much as I have. But also, don't take advantage of Uncle, okay? Sometimes his heart is too big for his own good. Anyways, I'll talk to you when I can. Maybe sometime this week?"
"Okay…"
"Also, I am sorry that home's been really lousy for you. I'll see what I can do to make things easier. Just hang in there. I know how mom and dad can be. Talk to you later?"
"Later," Naomi agreed. Sam ended the video call and sat there for a couple moments, her ears growing hot and her blood boiling all the while. When she couldn't stand it any longer, she yanked her phone out of her pocket and dialed her mother's number.
"Hello?" Came Antonia's query.
"So," Sam began, trying her hardest to keep her voice even, "why am I hearing from Naomi that you told her I'm not coming home for the holidays?"
"Well I just assumed that since you didn't answer my text-"
"No," Sam cut her off, "no, don't feed me that. Why are you telling lies about me to my little sister?"
"Well we just wanted to see you-" Antonia began once more.
"I'm sure you did," Sam spat, "But don't worry, I'm coming home for Christmas. Not for you and dad, mind you, but for my little sister. But let me make something clear, the next time you try to turn my sister on me or manipulate me through her, I will call the BBC, set up an interview, and personally put our family on blast and publicly humiliate us. Don't think I won't."
"Now you listen here-!"
"No you listen, Antonia!" Sam was nearly shouting at that point, "You and dad don't control me anymore, and I don't need you two. I will pay for my own education if I have to just so I don't have to deal with either of your crap again! Now you leave Naomi out of our problems, or else." Sam slammed her thumb on the 'end call' button and slapped her phone down on her desk. She took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself and banged her fist down on her desktop. All that accomplished was making her hand throb.
"Sam?" Came Lara's voice from the left. Sam looked up to see Lara peeking through the doorway with her hair pulled up and her work shirt on. She let her gaze drift away from her roommate once more.
"How much did you hear?" She asked.
"Almost all of it," Lara admitted, taking a seat in her desk chair across from Sam, "you want to talk about it?" Sam shrugged. "Let me rephrase that, then. You should talk about it. After all, isn't that what you've made me do in the past?"
"I guess." Sam closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, "My family's just really pissing me off."
"I gathered that much."
"My mom and dad have been giving my sister a hard time and feeding her a bunch of bull about me."
"You have a sister?" Lara asked.
"Yeah," Sam replied, letting her eyes drift open so she could look up at the ceiling, "a younger sister. Just started sixth grade, so she's already a festering pit of teenage angst and hormones without my family giving her a bunch of crap."
"What's been going on with her?"
"Well...nothing out of the ordinary I guess. My parents are just control freaks who like to flex on their kids as much as possible. Only thing is that before I came here, I was always the one to take the brunt of things for Naomi. If she misbehaved, I'd do something worse so that they'd forget about whatever she'd done. I was already used to it, so I didn't care. They already screwed me up, the least I could do is protect her from winding up the same way, you know?" Sam laced her fingers together across her stomach and let out an emphatic sigh, "But now I'm not there to protect her so she's miserable and I just...kind of feel like shit, I guess? And I know I shouldn't. I know I deserve a chance to have my own success and independence. It just sucks. I just feel like no matter how far I go, I can never get away." Sam could see Lara scratch the back of her neck in the periphery of her vision.
"That last part is something I can empathize with a lot."
"Which part?"
"Not being able to get away."
"It sucks."
"It definitely does," Lara agreed.
"I really don't want to go back, either. I'd rather stay here and spend time with people I actually like."
"I'm honored," Lara quipped.
"You assume I'm talking about you," Sam fired back with a joking smirk. Her smirk quickly turned upside down into a frown, however. "If I don't go back though, who knows what havoc my parents will wreak on my sister?"
"Well," Lara began, "what if I were to go back with you?" Sam blinked at her in bemusement.
"You'd actually do that? You know that my family is incredibly toxic, right?"
"I could swing a plane ticket. Besides, it's not like I have any family plans for the holiday and I heard the Met is a lovely place to visit." Sam flung herself off her seat and embraced Lara, who stiffened beneath her touch.
"Thank you," Sam squeaked.
"O-of course," Lara squeaked.
"I'll buy your plane ticket too, so please don't worry about it," Sam said as she peeled herself away. She looked back at Lara to see that her face had gone red as a radish. "What's with the red face? You not used to hugs or something?" Lara's only response was a sheepish half-shrug. "Weirdo," Sam teased, remembering that her computer was still open, "by the way, I joined the Pi Media Society and got assigned to editing footage from a recent sporting event. The gymnastics meet, in fact." Lara returned to fussing with her pendant.
"Is that so?" Sam grinned as she pulled her edited footage up.
"Yes and in fact," she said as she opened up Lara's floor routine, "I saw one particularly cute gymnast all done up in her makeup. She look familiar?" Lara's face went beet red as Sam played the footage.
"Why yes, I-I suppose she does."
"Cute, spunky, and badass. I wonder where that all came from?"
"I, er...good...question?" Lara's face somehow managed to go an even deeper shade than what it previously was.
"Oh quit being so shy," Sam laughed, "I'm just busting your balls. Seriously though, watching that was awesome. I didn't know you had all that in you. Why is that you can't be that confident and outgoing in your everyday interactions?"
"I guess," Lara cleared her throat, "when I'm on the floor I get to play a role, in a sense. It feels like the most natural persona for me, I suppose." She glanced down at her phone screen. "It's getting late, I need to take a shower and get to bed. I have another day of double practice and work tomorrow."
"Alright," Sam said, "hey Lara? Thank you again. You're a good friend."
"Of course," Lara said as she grabbed some clothes and made her way to the bathroom without making any eye contact. Sam watched her go with a frown. Something was wrong. Lara had been perfectly fine until Sam had started teasing her. Did I do something to offend her? Sam wondered. Now that she thought about it, Lara's behavior had seemed a bit strange for the past week or so. She supposed that Lara could simply be exhausted from how packed her schedule had been lately. But that didn't explain why her roommate was so easily flustered these days.
Or why she would seldom make eye contact with Sam.
For those who are curious, the floor music I had envisioned for Lara was Beethoven Virus by BanYa. Y'all can find the full version on YouTube if you feel so inclined
Edit notes: edited dialogue during Pi Media Society meeting to maintain verisimilitude. The global recession would have ended before Beginnings takes place. Also trimmed some fat.
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