Two weeks later...
They call me a menace
They say that I'm cursed
But somethin' about me is makin' 'em jealous
So listen and learn
Cassandra was punching furiously at the training dummy in the Jock Hangout, dressed in her workout gear. Short breaths were escaping her mouth and she was imagining Max's smug face as the head of the wooden dummy. God help the one who crossed this girl in her current mood. Rock music was playing in the background on her phone.
Two weeks earlier, they had held a play for the first member of the board, Mr. Kernsprickle. Autumn had given them more information on Mr. Kernsprickle's preference for Shakespeare plays. They decided to perform Romeo and Juliet. Mia was appointed director because of her penchant for bossing people around, Jason and Kimberley were Romeo and Juliet, Julian the fight choreographer and the others were to help with the creating of sets and costumes for the play. The day of the play, everything went smoothly with the actors' performance on point, until Autumn got wind that Mr. Kernsprickle complained that he preferred musicals.
I herd 'em like cattle
Cause I'm surrounded by cowards
And I don't give a fuck when I walk into battle
And that's why I got all the power
I'm where you wanna be
'This guy sure is picky,' Cassandra thought anxiously.
They had to choreograph a dance and a musical number with the dancers and musicians in thirty minutes which was some kind of record. All in all, it went well and Mr. Kernsprickle was super impressed and he gave the his vote.
One down, two to go.
Ain't no one ahead of me
All of my enemies made a decision
It's better to follow me
I make no apologies
All of my sins I would repeat and I repeat
Cause I'ma be me 'til the death of me,
oh yeah
Next, they had to hold a science fair in the school. Nishan had contacted the second board member, Professor Edwin. They had to get everyone to participate in the science fair regardless of clique. Julian did an experiment on arm wrestling, Mia did a comparison on attractiveness vs. popularity and quality of clothing to household income and Payton did an experiment on the psychology and physiology of partying. Nishan's experiment was to be the pinnacle of the science fair;a fully operational Venusian Vapor Volcano.
I can smell your fear
The only reason that I'm here
Is to wreak havoc
Everybody prayin' that I'll change, yeah
Professor Edwin went around the room, looking through the various projects the students had done. She had been rather impressed by the degree of creativity and innovation in the school, until Nishan's experiment backfired. The moment he turned that volcano on, everything went to hell. It rumbled, shook and then violently exploded, erupting in paint and goop that splattered all over the room and all over Professor Edwin. Needless to say, Professor Edwin was very, very angry and she left in indignation.
Maybe one day but tomorrow
I'll be back at it
Cause bad habits they die hard
We live fast we die hard
Go against me you'll die hard
Die hard
A blame game arose the moment Professor Edwin left between Mia, Nishan and Autumn since she had helped Nishan with painting the volcano. Only Cassandra's intervention prevented any further blow-up that would have arisen.
As they cleaned up the mess, Cassandra found burnt-up firecrackers at the bottom of the volcano.
"Nishan, did you put firecrackers in the lava-mist?" Cassandra had enquired.
"Of course not! The volcanic eruption is a chemical reaction, not the result of firecrackers..." Nishan trailed off.
If no-one in the school had put these firecrackers, then it only meant that this was Hearst's work. Cassandra growled in anger at this and she clenched her fists around the burnt-up firecrackers in her hand.
Once she was done with the cleanup, she went to her place of Zen, namely the Jock Hangout, more specifically to the workout dummy where she could take out all her fury on it. Hearst had ruined their chance to stay open by making them lose one of the board members vote.
I dine with the blood on my hands
Thrive when I'm beatin' the man
All I learned in the pen
Is never get caught
Just get out and hit it again
Thump, thump, thump, thump. Punch, elbow, kick, backhand and growl had been her routine for the past hour, and this girl was not about to stop. That's where Julian found her, furiously working on the dummy as if it was the source of all her problems, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.
"Cass?"
She didn't hear him and continued punching on the dummy.
"Cass!"
No response.
Julian grabbed her by the arms to stop her and she resisted at first and tried wiggling from his firm grip but he was unrelenting.
"That's enough, Cass!" Julian firmly told her.
"Let me go, Julian!" Cassandra demanded.
"No, I won't!"
Cassandra tried escaping but he wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug and she wiggled until she finally gave up. He led her to a bench and he guided her to sit next to him.
They sat down in silence until Julian asked her gently, "How long have you been here?"
"I don't know, ever since we finished clean up at the science fair," Cassandra mumbled.
"Let me see your hands," Julian requested.
She complied and Julian took her hands in his and looked at them. Her knuckles were raw and red as she had neglected to wrap some bandages before proceeding to kick and punch the crap out of the dummy. Weirdly enough, her anger had numbed the pain that she should have been feeling.
Straight outta context
Ain't see me come like it's phone sex
Ain't hear me tick like a Rolex
Cause I'm keepin' a nuclear conscience
I fly like an atom bomb
In a world riddled with conflict
"Cass, really? You know that this is not good for you. Why didn't you use any gloves or bandages?" Julian scolded.
He rose up and went for the first aid kit that was on the wall and came back with it. He got out an ice pack and broke the press and iced her hands.
"Julian, Hearst just ruined our chance to impress Professor Edwin just because of some petty vendetta they have against us. We have done nothing to antagonize them and yet they're doing all this shit to us. Why?" Cassandra asked him, tears in her eyes.
"Hey, listen to me, Cass," Julian whispered and cupped her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "That's how bullies work. They don't really need a reason to make you feel anything less. But don't let them get to you. You're a strong one. Keep your head up and never forget to come up for air when you feel like you're drowning. We're all here for you."
Cassandra lay her head on his shoulder and sobbed silently and Julian just let it happen. Once she was done, she wiped her eyes and smiled at him. "Thanks, Julian. I really needed that."
Hate that you need me
Wanna destroy me but you can't
You're gonna deploy me in the end
Better believe that I'ma be me 'til the death of me,
oh yeah
"No problem," he smiled back. "Besides, it's not over yet. We have one more member of the board we have to impress."
"Oh?" she quirked an eyebrow in interest.
"Yup. I'll give you more information when the others come by."
Cassandra nodded and continued to ice her bruised fingers as they waited.
Fifteen minutes later...
The crew was gathered in the Jock Hangout where Julian was debriefing them on the final board member.
"...We just got word from the third member of the board, Mr. Javellana. He's an ex-basketball star, a huge sports nut... and he wants to check out our sports program firsthand."
"We don't have any sporting events coming up," Cassandra pointed out.
"No worries, Cass. Mr. Javellana took care of that for us. Apparently, the's all buddy-buddy with the principal at Hearst, so they worked out an exhibition match... A co-ed basketball game against Hearst High."
"Of course he would have," Cassandra sighed. "Now, it's all a matter of recruiting players."
"Count me in. I actually have played some basketball," Autumn piped in.
"Good girl," Cassandra nodded in approval. "Julian, you're our star athlete. We can count on you right?"
"Um... Actually Cass, basketball's not really my thing. If you want me tackling guys on the court, sure thing."
"And there's something else. Max is a basketball star. He's been playing since I was six years old. My dad would make me watch all his games. At this point, I can coach an entire team," Mia said with a grimace.
Cassandra gave her a knowing smile and Mia let out a sigh.
"Yes darling, I will coach the team."
Cassandra grinned and she said, "Okay people! Tomorrow, the real work begins! Head on home and get some rest."
I can smell your fear
The only reason that I'm here
Is to wreak havoc
Everybody prayin' that I'll change, yeah
Maybe one day but tomorrow I'll be back at it
Cause bad habits they die hard
We live fast we die hard
Go against me you'll die hard
Die hard
The next day was one hell of a day. The gang was assembled in the gym ready for practice. Mia had requested for assistance from the student govs, gamers and filmmakers. The gamers was helping create plays for the game, the filmmakers footage and the student govs, well, were errand people.
Cassandra, Autumn, Julian, Ross, Seamus, Contessa, Aaliyah and Sean were all lined up on the basketball court and Mia blew her whistle, basketball in one hand.
"Okay people! Your training begins now! Are you ready?"
They all shouted back, "Yeah!"
Mia nodded and threw the basketball to Julian and told him, "Let's see what you've got, Vega!"
Julian caught the ball and ran up to the hoop and threw the ball. It crashed off the backboard. Mia loudly blew her coach's whistle.
"Wrong, wrong, WRONG! Julian, you're travelling. Remember, you're supposed to dribble! And you're throwing that ball like it's a football. You're never going to make a basket that way," she informed him.
Julian gave her a sheepish look and apologized, "Sorry. Old habits die hard."
"Well, I'm going to help put them out of their misery. Give me twenty laps around the court, and dribble the ball while you run!"
Julian did as instructed and began his drills. Mia passed another basketball to Autumn.
"Art girl, show us what you can do."
Autumn easily caught the ball, dribbled down the court, and gracefully lobbed the ball into the hoop. The others appauded and Mia was actually shocked.
"Impressive moves, Autumn," Mia remarked.
Autumn blushed, "Thanks. My dad's a big basketball fan. Playing one-on-one is basically the only father-daughter bonding we do."
"You still need to work on your speed though," Mia added. "Sprints up and down the court."
Autumn went off and Mia threw a ball towards Cassandra who caught it.
"Cass, you're up!"
Cassandra dribbled down to the three point line and took a shot, which entered with a swish. Mia smiled at her but still made her run sprints. Basically, the entire team ran, regardless of how good they were. When they were running plays, if anyone made a mistake, they would do ten push ups, ten sit-ups and five sprints.
"Wow, I didn't realize Mia could be so... hardcore," Autumn commented after Julian messed up a lay up.
"Thank God she's on our side," Cassandra told her.
And if love is real
Maybe I'm just too bad
To remember how good it feels
My heart is still
All week long, they trained hard and intensely. Their hard work began to show when Julian actually managed to go an entire practice session without tackling someone on the court and the speed of the team was at an all time high. Whenever they did lay-ups, barely anyone missed a shot.
On Thursday, Nishan and Payton walked into the gym with boxes in their hands.
"Hello, everyone," Nishan called, pausing the training. "We have a surprise for all of you."
"Shoes for each and every one of you!" Payton squealed excitedly.
The team came over and Nishan and Payton handed each of them a box. Cassandra opened hers and took out one of the shoes. It was black and blue in colour, with some white stripes. Just like the school colours. They looked like Jordans. At the bottom middle of the shoes was a clear substance that looked gooey.
Cassandra whistled in appreciation and Julian remarked, "Awesome shoes!"
Then he frowned and poked in the middle of the shoes asking, "What's this mushy stuff?"
"That's my special bouncy goo. I call it B-Goo. Or GooB. Patent pending," Nishan replied. "It's designed to make you jump higher according to the given weight and give you a spring in your step."
"AND they're fashionable. I used color blocking and our school colors to...," Payton quipped.
Julian interrupted, "Yeah, whatever, they're a color."
Payton rolled her eyes and sighed. Julian put on the shoes and tested them out. He was surprised at how high he could jump. "Look how high I can jump!"
Cassandra tested hers out by doing a back flip. Autumn on the other hand was busy on her phone, nibbling on her bottom lip. Cassandra noticed this and asked her with her eyebrow raised, "Anything wrong, kid?"
Autumn sighed and replied, "I just got a text from Wes. He wants to talk to me."
Julian had been busy dribbling the ball until he heard this. He sneered and caught the ball in his hands. "That guy?"
He threw the ball to Cassandra, who took a shot that entered with a swish. "Again?"
Autumn frowned at him and folded her hands across her chest. "I know you don't trust him, but he did help us figure out what Max was up to."
"And with good reason. He lured us into Max's trap!"
"Wes gets very specific results."
"Well, let's just say I don't trust his 'very specific' way of doing things."
Autumn scowled at him and sighed, "Look, if he says he needs to talk, then I'm going to meet him."
"And we're coming with you," Cassandra spoke up.
Autumn nodded and the trio walked out of the gym to meet 'Sketchy McSketcherson' as Julian called him.
They drove to Gül Park to meet Wes and he was waiting at the bench where they first met him. Wes saw them approaching him and he smirked in amusement.
"Nice entourage, Autumn. I'm starting to think you don't trust me," Wes remarked.
Autumn asked rhetorically, "Can you blame me, Wes? After what happened last time?"
"Yeah, well, has it ever occurred to you that I'm spending all this time trying to keep your school OUT of trouble? Speaking of which... I want you to cancel the basketball game."
Cassandra gave him a once-over and asked, "Have you lost your mind?"
"Is this your scheme? Trying to get us to blow our one chance to save our school?" Julian pointed out.
"You really don't trust me," Wes said dryly.
Cassandra snorted, "No shit, Sherlock."
Wes ignored Cassandra's quip and continued, "You'll come up with some other way to show the board member that your school deserves a shot. Trust me, you are not winning this game. I've heard Max and Kara talking. They're going to play dirty. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
Wes gave Autumn a pointed look. Autumn shifted uncomfortably and told him, "I'm no damsel, Wes. I'm not afraid of them."
"I'm serious. Don't play in this game. It's going to get ugly," Wes implored her.
Autumn shook her head and said, "No, Wes. I can't do that."
Wes scowled and said, "You want to ignore me now? Fine. It's your loss."
He stood up and stormed off. Cassandra sighed as she ran a hand over her face and asked no-one in particular, "Why can't things ever be simple for once? Oh God."
The Day of the Game...
Cassandra was all dressed in her black and blue basketball uniform as she entered the locker room. The rest of the team was getting ready and she smiled at them warmly.
"Are you guys ready?"
Julian grinned at her and out an arm around her, "You know us, Sage. We Knights are always ready."
"Kinda nervous," Autumn piped up.
Julian gave her a warm smile and said, "Don't be. We have this in the bag."
Just then, Mia entered the locker room, looking confident dressed in black yoga pants, emerald Jordans and an emerald hoodie. Cassandra whistled and remarked, "Looking good, Mia."
"I know, darling," Mia smiled. "Okay, people. Huddle up."
The team gathered around her and she spoke, "Okay, team. This is it. The big game. It all comes down to this." Cassandra was standing next to her and she continued. "Hmm... what does my dad always say to Max?" She thought for a while before snapping her fingers. "Oh yeah... In this house, we're WINNERS. What do we train for? To WIN. If you want hugs and cuddles, go live with your mother!"
The team was silent at this, so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Cassandra finally spoke up, "Wow, that was..."
"Too much?" Mia finished as she noticed their looks of surprise.
"Pretty much," Julian said.
"Oh, fine. I guess just go have FUN or whatever, and if it's not too much trouble, think about trying to win. Y'know, to save our school," she said, rolling her eyes as they ran out of the locker room cheering.
The stands were packed with the crowd cheering for their respective teams. Mr. Javellana, Principal Warren and Lance were at the front stands, applauding politely. Cassandra caught his eye and Lance winked at her and mouthed, "Good luck, sweetie."
Cassandra beamed and nodded. They ran too the centre where the Hearst team joined them. Cassandra, Julian, and Autumn took the court, facing off against Max and Kara.
"Well, well. A football player and an artist in the starting lineup. So this is what the bottom of the barrel looks like." Max remarked.
"Sounds more like the setup for a dumb joke... 'Little Miss Artistic and the Dumb Football Guy walk into a basketball game...' I don't know what the punchline is, but it probably involves them making out!" Kara added in laughter.
"Don't worry, Kara. I'm sure they'll be too busy awkwardly flirting to actually play ball," Max continued his dissing.
Cassandra rolled her eyes at their lack of original disses and she nearly retorted at them but Mia beat her to it as she walked up to them.
"Back off, Max! I'm coaching them and you'd better be ready!"
Max's eyes widened. "Mia?"
"I should've known you'd really enjoy the whole traitor thing," Kara sneered.
"If you cupcakes are done being a bunch of jerks, let's start the game," Cassandra scowled.
I can smell your fear
The only reason that I'm here
Is to wreak havoc
Everybody prayin' that I'll change, yeah
Maybe one day but tomorrow I'll be back at it
Cause bad habits they die hard
We live fast we die hard
Go against me you'll die hard
Die hard
The referee came and called for Cassandra and Kara to take the centre. He had the ball in his hands and as they took the centre, they scowled at each other. The referee threw the ball up and Cassandra jumped for it and ripped it towards Julian. Julian grabbed it and began dribbling, only for Max to slam his shoulder into him and knock him down and take the ball and make an easy lay-up. As he celebrated, Mia was busy being flabbergasted.
"Ref? Where were you on that one? Ugh."
Autumn helped Julian up and he groaned, "Wes warned us they would play dirty, but I'm ready."
The game continued and Autumn threw the ball in to Julian. He dribbled the ball back to the team's end of the court, and passes the ball to Cassandra. She grabbed the ball and dribbled it. She thought as she observed her surroundings, 'Max is covering Julian... I can take the shot or pass it to Autumn... I should pass to Autumn.'
She decided to pass the ball to Autumn. Cassandra called her, "Autumn! Heads up!"
Autumn caught the ball and sunk an easy shot. The Avalon supporters cheered and Mia nodded in approval at their team work. The game went on in that vein. Whenever Hearst pushed, they pushed back and they gave as good as they got.
Around half-time...
The game was a narrow one, Hearst was like three points ahead of Avalon, since Max had managed to make a three-pointer. Autumn was busy dribbling the ball when the unexpected happened. When she was near the basket, Kara hooked her foot around Autumn's ankle and shoved her.
Autumn fell with a scream and her head slammed hard against the floor. The ref blew his whistle, and the game stopped. Cassandra could hear Payton's cry of surprise and the crowd murmured. Julian ran to Autumn and shook her.
"Autumn! Autumn, can you hear me? Autumn, please, open your eyes," Julian inquired, worry laced in his voice
Julian lifted her up in his arms as she moaned in pain as they walked to the locker rooms where the nurse came for her for check up. As they waited, Payton burst into the locker room and asked, "Will she be fine?"
Mia answered worriedly, "Autumn's going to get checked out by the school nurse. I think she'll be fine... I hate to say it, but maybe we shouldn't finish the game."
Julian's fist slammed into the locker where he had been standing silently.
"Are you crazy? We can't let them get away with this!"
"Look, I don't want to see anyone else get hurt! You don't understand Max. "Maybe it's better if we give it up."
"No! No quitter talk. I'm not going to let them get away with hurting Autumn. We can't let them get away with that." Julian looked at Cassandra and implored her, his chocolate brown eyes boring into hers. "Cass, tell me you're with me."
The entire team waited for her response with bated breath and she stood up and faced Julian. She smiled and said, "Insieme per la vittoria. Together, we stand and we shall be victorious. We're going to win this for Autumn."
The team cheered and the duo hugged each other. Just about when Mia was about to speak, the door to the locker room slammed open and a furious Wes walked in.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Mia asked with a scowl.
"I warned you. I told you to stay out of the game. I told you they were going to play dirty."
Wes slammed the locker room door behind him and walked to the center of the room.
"So you came to rub it in our faces?" Julian asked sarcastically.
"No. They crossed the line. I'm here to help you take them down," Wes replied.
"I've been watching them practice. I know their tells," he continued.
"Out with it then, Wes," Cassandra told him.
"Just listen. Kara's terrified of getting hit in her beautiful face. If you fake like you're going to throw the ball at her, she'll break. As for Max, when he's dribbling, he sticks out his tongue every time he's about to crossover from one hand to the other. Just wait for that to happen, and you should be able to steal it from him, easy," Wes informed them.
"Any tips on how to avoid getting pummeled?" Contessa asked.
"Easy. Be the fastest one out there," Wes replied flippantly.
"Sure... 'Easy.' " Contessa gulped nervously.
Contessa was made Autumn's substitute and they rushed back out to the court. And so, a few minutes later... the ref whistled to resume the game. Kara inbound the ball to Max. He dribbled the ball... and stuck out his tongue. Contessa reached out and snagged the ball from Max.
Max yelled in surprise, "Hey!"
Max lunged for Contessa, but she spun around and ran down the court. Kara blocked her path and told her, "You aren't getting past me!"
Contessa replied, "Watch me!"
She faked throwing the ball at Kara's face, who yelped in fear and covered her face. Contessa jumped and shot the ball. It sailed gracefully through the air... and sunk perfectly into the basket!
Contessa rejoiced, "Amen!"
Julian shouted for joy and ran for Contessa and lifted her up on his shoulders.
"Nothing but net! We win!" he shouted.
Max growled in frustration, "Arrgggh! Unbelievable! This is all your fault, Kara!"
"My fault? You're the one that let them steal the ball, hotshot!" Kara retorted.
They went away bickering and Cassandra ran up to Lance, who hugged her and whispered in her ear, "I'm proud of you, Tolah."
"Thank you, Uncle Lance," she replied.
"Get your team ready. We're going out for pizza. My treat."
Cassandra nodded and Mr. Javellana cleared his throat and they looked at him. He stated in a deep voice that suited his slightly built stature, "Ms. Sage-Beckett, I have to say that I was skeptical about this institution, but I'm happy to be proven wrong as you have an excellent sports program around here. It reflects in the way you played today; teamwork and strength. You certainly have my vote."
He held out his hand and Cassandra shook it with a smile. "Thank you, sir."
Mr. Javellana turned to Lance, "Mr. Sage-Beckett, you have done well creating this school with your company. Excellent work."
He shook his hand as well and he walked off. Cassandra and Lance looked at each other with a beam. Their school was safe for another day. She walked off to get changed with the rest of the team and she found Autumn waiting for the team in the locker room.
"Autumn! You're okay!" Cassandra exclaimed.
Autumn nodded and said, "Yep, the nurse says I'll be fine... and it sounds like our school will be too!"
Wes entered the locker room and Autumn looked at him with a smile, "I hear you helped, Wes. Thank you."
"Just doing the right thing, that's all," he shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, I don't think Max and Kara are going to see it that way. I get the feeling people at Hearst aren't going to be throwing me any parades..."
"Well, you could always transfer here," Cassandra offered.
"Whoa, Cass. You sure? Sketchy McSketcherson?" Julian enquired, eyebrows raised.
"He helped our cause. Makes him right by me," Cassandra stated with a smile.
Julian was silent for a moment and then he nodded, "Alright then, I trust you, Cassandra. If you're sure."
The team changed and they went out for pizza on Lance's bill at the local pizzeria, Wes among them as Avalon's newest student.
Author's note:
Hey hey hey! Oh God, school has been kicking my ass and I haven't been able to update as soon as I wanted. Well, add that to finding a way to add all three school board member events to this chapter without making it too long. Sigh, but I managed it!! : ) The Italian words Cassandra says are a nod to the Assassin's Creed game, more specifically to the character, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The song for this chapter was 'Wreak Havoc' by Skylar Grey. (Felt it kinda matched Cassandra's mood to kick Max's ass.) Well, if you noticed Lance calling Cassandra 'Tolah', that's her middle name, actually. And if Cassandra seems hostile to Wes, it feels authentic because she doesn't entirely trust him until he helps their cause. So, I'm not too sure when I will be updating next, but I will do my damnest to update ASAP. Forgive any typing errors in this story as well as grammatical errors. Reviews and ideas are always welcome but no flames please. Bye bye! Canary out! : )