A quick update for once. Inspiration comes from the strangest places.
4
For the first time in her life, Blossom slept in. On a Saturday morning. Voluntarily.
It wasn't just the fact that it was nearing eleven when she wandered into the kitchen still clad in her dressing gown that made Bubbles' eyes widen, it was the combination of that and the fact that her long red hair, though newly washed, blow dried and straightened, was hanging down over her shoulders without a ribbon, hair tie or clip in sight.
"Morning," Blossom said amiably, reaching into the cupboard and pulling out her cereal. Bubbles returned the greeting, looking at her sister warily over her morning cup of chamomile tea.
"Where's Buttercup? Still in bed?"
"No, she's at practice. The team have a game this afternoon."
"Oh, really?" She sat down opposite her sister with her bowl and reached for the milk.
"What about you? Got any plans?" Bubbles nodded.
"I'm going to the game; we've got a new routine."
"I see. Hey, when does it start?"
"Huh? Oh, at one." Blossom nodded and took a spoonful, chewing thoughtfully. Bubbles threw another confused glance at her before finishing her tea, putting her cup in the sink and heading upstairs to get herself ready for going out. Blossom continued eating, wondering what exactly was suitable for wearing to a high school basketball game.
xxx
It occurred to Blossom as she was walking to the school that her head felt much clearer than it had over the last few days. Thinking about it more, she realised that, although she had been bone tired after the fight last night, she hadn't felt as emotionally drained. As much as she hated to admit it, losing her temper over a certain testosterone-ridden moron seemed to have done her some good. She shoved that thought away quickly; if she started entertaining ideas like that then she might actually develop some respect for him.
She reached the school a little ahead of schedule for the beginning of the match, but as it turned out, she wasn't the only one. In fact, she was rather surprised by the sheer amount of people that had turned up, especially considering the heavy drizzle that had begun to fall. She pushed her way into the gymnasium and finally onto a seat through a crowd of parents, siblings, friends and several teachers, all talking very loudly and many displaying little banners and pennants with the school team logo. The cheerleading squad came through the gym doors after a few minutes, with Bubbles leading them, looking as comfortable and fashion-conscious in the red and blue Townsville Titans cheer uniform as she did in any of her various designer outfits. They took up position on the right hand side of the court, with their backs to the Blossom, just as the opposing squad made their entrance. Blossom saw Bubbles turn to her team and start gesturing and talking excitedly. She instantly recognised Bubbles' usual excitement, but there was something else in her manner, something new that Blossom hadn't seen before, but it was something she recognised all the same. Bubbles, for all of her cheerful enthusiasm, was undeniably the leader of that team, and from the positive way that the other girls were responding, she was damn good at it.
As Blossom sat turning this new revelation over in her mind, the speakers in the hall squealed and gave a burst of static before churning out a blast of some generic dance number. The other team was obviously unprepared for this, scrambling to get themselves into their starting positions, but Bubbles had her team ready and moving within seconds. They launched into their routine with all the ease of breathing and Blossom found herself watching them intently, admiring the precision with which they executed each movement in the sequence. She wondered if Bubbles had come up with all of this choreography herself, but this thought was interrupted by the shrill noise of a whistle and the gym doors burst open once again as the two basketball teams came barrelling through.
Blossom picked out Buttercup easily, her black hair tied back into a short ponytail at the base of her neck and her green eyes flashing with excitement. Officially, the team was co-ed, but Buttercup was the only girl brave enough to break into the all-boys club, mainly due to her stubborn refusal to give into stereotypes and her near-fanatical love of sports. Of course, none of the boys were about to complain; apart from the fact that their number of wins had shot up dramatically after Buttercup had joined the team, they were all in equal parts terrified and fascinated. Of course, she never noticed, nor took any interest in anything other than a purely team-mate relationship with any of them, but that was just Buttercup, and they'd all come to accept that.
When the game started, Blossom realised that she wasn't exactly familiar with the rules, but soon enough, she was caught up in the action. After a few minutes, she realised that she didn't have to know the rules inside out to enjoy it. With Buttercup racing up and the down the court and Bubbles leading the cheers, Blossom felt herself getting caught up in the excitement of it. It was apparent that, however often Buttercup might complain about how 'lame' the team was, she was truly passionate about it, and she would do whatever it took to see them to victory. However, 30 seconds before halftime, Buttercup caught a pass and headed for the net, getting blocked on her way. She threw herself to the side, skirting round the opposing player with ease and keeping the ball in perfect rhythm, never missing a beat, but just before she finished the turn and tried for the basket, she locked eyes with Blossom and froze. The ball was snatched from her easily, and just as the buzzer went, the other team scored. Bubbles snapped her head around to where Buttercup was staring, her own eyes widening as she caught sight of their red headed sister.
xxx
"What are you doing here? You never come to see the games." There was nothing but confusion in Buttercup's voice, which was a welcome change really, but still, Blossom was unable to give her an answer. Bubbles too looked confused, but she seemed mostly pleased.
"It's good to see you out of the house at least. I thought you'd be doing homework cos it's raining." Blossom automatically flashed back to the (small) pile of homework that was waiting for her at home, but dragged herself back to the present.
Buttercup, having recovered from her shock in the first half, had been utterly ruthless in the second, scoring basket after basket and generally frightening the life out of anyone who dared try to interfere. Then, the minute the game ended, she had rushed to the locker room, pulled her tracksuit on over her kit and rushed out to confront her sister. Bubbles had taken her time about it, but she too had made a beeline for Blossom once she was done with her squad. In truth, Blossom didn't really know why they were so surprised.
"I just… wanted to come support you two. I mean, it's what sisters do, right?" The pair of them stared at her, and she scratched the side of her head awkwardly.
"Again, you never come to see the games," Buttercup repeated. Bubbles laid a placating hand on her sister's arm and suggested that the three of them head home. Buttercup told them she would catch up, saying she had 'team business' to take care of, and so the other two left without her.
xxx
"It was nice of you to come to the game. I think Buttercup's happy you know, even though she'd never admit it."
"I suppose so. I just thought I should come see what you two actually do. I never really thought about it before…"
"Before Thursday?" Blossom nodded. They walked along in silence for a while, before she spoke again.
"Hey, um… you know, you're really good. At the whole cheerleading thing, I mean." Bubbles looked at her and smiled excitedly.
"You think so? I was worried that my performance might have been a little sloppy on some of the tosses. You didn't see that?" Blossom laughed.
"Oh come on Bubbles; you know how good you are. You got offered that try out, didn't you?" She saw her sister's smile fade a little.
"Yeah," she said, the excitement now gone from her voice. "Yeah, I guess so." Blossom felt a pang of guilt as she saw how upset the mention of the try out had made her sister. She cast about for another topic of conversation, but none presented itself, and in the back of her mind, a nagging little voice kept prodding her to make this better.
"Bubbles, listen. I know I was… well, I was selfish about this whole New York thing, and I'm really sorry." Bubbles opened her mouth, presumably to mutter that of course it was okay, but Blossom held up her hand.
"Look, I want you to go to New York. I want you to try out for that team." Bubbles opened her mouth further, her jaw almost literally dropping.
"You… want me to go?" Blossom nodded.
Buttercup caught up to them as Bubbles launched herself at Blossom in an overly enthusiastic hug, shrieking incoherent noises of pure, unabashed gratitude and happiness. Blossom buckled under the assault, landing unceremoniously on her rear end as Buttercup jogged over.
"What happened?" she asked, staring at Bubbles who was now frantically scrolling through the numbers in her phone, obviously about to call everyone she knew.
"I'm going to New York!" she babbled happily, mostly to Buttercup. "Blossom said it's okay! I'm going to New York!" Buttercup looked sharply at Blossom who shrugged helplessly.
"I can't exactly deny that she has talent," she said. She made to get up, but found Buttercup offering her a hand, a peace offering of sorts. She smiled reached out gratefully, but the three of them suddenly froze as something flopped onto the pavement in front of them. Bubbles flipped her phone closed and bent down to examine what had fallen, while Blossom immediately averted her eyes and tried not to groan.
"Roses?" Buttercup said, watching as Bubbles picked them up and examined them. "Where'd they come from?"
"I don't know… Oh! There's a card… Huh? It's blank." Blossom got to her feet and dusted off her jeans.
"It's probably just a prank or something. Just throw them away and let's go home." But Bubbles was still looking at the roses intently.
"Hey, Blossom. April told me the other day that you had some roses in your locker. Is that true?" Blossom felt herself flush.
"It was just someone playing a joke, that's all. You shouldn't listen to gossip. Now come on, let's go." She marched off, leaving her sisters behind to exchange confused, and slightly worried, glances.
xxx
Alone in her room later that evening, Blossom sat on her window seat with a book on her lap and stared at the empty street outside. She had been less than impressed when she had gone downstairs for dinner only to find the four roses she'd been ambushed with in a vase of water on the kitchen table. Bubbles had simply shrugged, claiming that it was a waste to throw them out; roses were expensive afterall.
Now, she realised just how much this whole scenario was bothering her. Brick was going out of his way to deliver these to her and it was starting to get to her. Part of her wondered if he was really serious about this, while the rest of her was smacking that part on the metaphorical head and telling it not to be so stupid. She groaned and dropped her head onto her knees. For once, she wished that she could just skip all the 'normal' teenage problems and stick to the superhero ones. Saving the world was so much simpler than trying to understand boys.