“They never do,” Cadence agreed with a sigh, looking back at her books with no little amount of disdain. If school had been hard before she’d transferred, it seemed impossible to her now. She wasn’t sure how the Foxes kept up. Maybe there was some secret she wasn’t in on yet, some tutor or bribe she hadn’t been around enough to be clued in on.
Cadence realized about five seconds after she spoke that she had no idea what she had in mind. “Not really,” she confessed, already stuffing her books into her bag. It was better that way, really; she wasn’t going to get anything done in that moment, even if Olivia did reject her offer. “Honestly, would anything be worse than this, though? There is a cafe downtown I wanted to check out.” A lie, but a plausible lie that might help them both.
Olivia mulled it over for a moment. She was tired, and didn’t think staring at the same page for six hours would get her anywhere. She deserved a break, and outside of schoolwork and practice, getting to know one of her teammates better was probably the best use of her time. It was a shame that she was still so far behind on that front.
“Yeah, alright, I could definitely stand to be caffeinated,” she said, following suit and putting her things away. She doubted it would actually help her, but not much would at this point. She had already resigned herself to a three am cram session, she might as well pick up some stuff for the dorm, maybe win some points with her roommates. “Do you wanna walk or should I call a car?”
On any given day, Glory found herself attracted to the gym. Not only was Exy keeping her fit, but the gym was the easiest way for her to relieve some pent up aggression from practice. Every player was so different in the ways that their personalities meshed and flowed together. There was the mix of angry players, and those that decided to play with grace. She was not one of those players. She had always been rough, pushing outside of the boundaries and getting herself in trouble. Last game was no different. The regret was still swimming through her even though she had beat up a kickboxing bag like it was no one’s business the day after the game. Her mind was still full and her brain wasn’t clearing. She needed anything else to distract her. Spotting Olivia running, she sighed as she made her way to the treadmill, resting her arms on the top and pressing the stop button. “Hi. Running is boring, isn’t it? Wanna come kickbox with me? I’ll let you go first.”
“Um.” When the machine stopped under her, Olivia knew it was less of an offer than the other girl made it out to be. Not that she minded, necessarily. She usually worked out alone, but it would do her some good to spend time with her teammates off the court. She planned to make Palmetto her permanent home until graduation, and while she wasn’t looking for any long lasting relationships, she’d be doing herself a favor by making sure she was at least on friendly terms with the other Foxes. Also, Glory looked like she really needed to vent out some of that energy, and Olivia was nothing if not accommodating. “Sure? You can go first though.” Olivia grabbed up her ipod and water bottle, gesturing for her to lead the way. “I don’t kickbox much.”
Some people seemed to stay in Exy Mode all the time and Teddy wasn’t one of those people. If he was bored enough he’d study previous games or maybe take himself to the court for a little extra practice but Exy more or less stayed within the timetables of their practices and games for him. Teddy loved Exy but he couldn’t let himself got addicted to it because he would and then it’d break his heart when it stops being a permanent fixture in his life. If it stops being a permanent fixture in his life.
He understood how some people could stay in Exy Mode for much longer though. For some of the people on this team it was their past, present, and future; sometimes it was like living with a number of Kevin Day’s (or at least that’s how he imagined it would be). Now that Teddy thought about, maybe if he spent more time on Exy then he’d come up with less stupid ideas like getting shots from strange men and eating his weight in McDonald’s fries.
Teddy shrugged when Olivia refused his offer and said, “Suit yourself,” as he slumped into the space on the couch she made for him. He winced, having forgotten about his ribs for a second and landing quite hard. He straightened and slowly manoeuvred himself so he was sitting upright but cross legged, breathing sharply through the momentary flair of pain. “Sore,” he said, “what are you doing? Not with the others?”
Olivia winced a little in sympathy. She had seen her fair share of injuries, and bruised ribs were no small thing in her experience. Pain aside - the faint scent of alcohol under the overwhelming smell of salt and grease told Olivia how Teddy was coping with the pain - you ran the risk of getting a chest infection, which if not treated correctly, could have you off the court for weeks. So early in the season, such a thing could be devastating. Not that she was going to tell Teddy any of this, obviously.
“Ah, just browsing some of the blogs, watching highlights from tonight,” she shrugged, tapping her fingers over the tablet. “I don’t really know what the others are up to, you’re the first one I’ve seen in a while.”
She was still too new to know what the Foxes typically got up to after a win, and they were doing too well for her to know what they did after a loss. Either way, she felt better having some quiet time after a game. She wanted her teammates to have a good time celebrating, but that just wasn’t something Olivia felt she could be a part of. “I usually try to wind down after a game, my muscles will thank me for it in the morning.”
FULL NAME: Olivia Anaya Finch
NICKNAME: Liv, or Anaya by her mother.
BIRTHDAY: January 3rd
GENDER: Cis female
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Undetermined. (She got no clue)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn
SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English and Punjabi
BIRTHPLACE: Concord, NH
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Perpetually single.
02/ PHYSICAL TRAITS
HAIR COLOR/STYLE: Dark brown, cut shoulder length
EYE COLOR: Brown
FACE CLAIM: Naomi Scott
HEIGHT: 5′6″
TATTOOS: None
PIERCINGS: First holes in both ears.
UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES: Has multiple large birthmarks on her back and around her abdomen.
03 / PERSONALITY TRAITS/TYPES
POSITIVE TRAITS: Disciplined, well mannered, ambitious, loyal, tactful.
NEGATIVE TRAITS: Detached, meek, gullible, single minded, maladjusted.
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Exy. Thassit.
INSECURITIES: That she isn’t capable of making/trusting her own decisions. That she isn’t good at making friends, or getting along with her peers. That people will always see her as a victim.
QUIRKS/ECCENTRICITIES: Gnaws at her lip constantly, prefers to sit on the floor over furniture when she can, still doesn’t know how to drive.
MBTI TYPE: ISFJ
ENNEAGRAM TYPE: The Achiever
MORAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good
TEMPERAMENT: Phlegmatic
04 / FAMILY & HOME
IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Oliver Finch and Aadhya Sodhi.
HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT THEIR FAMILY?: Olivia loves her mother, but only sees her semi regularly since she left her dad. Her feelings for her dad are complicated. She loves him, and for most of her life, he was one real companion. Still, it wasn’t easy growing up with his high expectations of her. She sometimes felt like less of a daughter and more of a dream.
HOW DOES THEIR FAMILY FEEL ABOUT THEM?: Her mother loves her, but doesn’t understand her. She’s not heavily involved in her life, and hasn’t been for some years now. She tried to get in contact with Liv a lot during the whole debacle at Penn State, but Olivia wasn’t willing to talk about it. Olivia was her father’s entire world, ever since his career ended. Her leaving Penn State for Palmetto felt like the ultimate betrayal from her, and he hasn’t talked to her in months now.
PETS: She had a lizard when she was seven. She named him Benny.
WHERE DO THEY LIVE?: South Carolina. She has yet to figure out if she has a home to go back to after the school year ends.
DESCRIPTION OF THEIR HOME: More than comfortably sized for two. The furniture is minimalist, but what they do have is good quality.
DESCRIPTION OF THEIR BEDROOM: Her home bedroom is cozy. The walls are lined with posters she tacked up in middle school. Thea Muldani, mostly, but a few other Exy players she looked up to. Her desk, bare from her departure, is usually a cluttered mess of notes and books and papers, similar to her father’s desk in his study.
05/ THIS OR THAT
INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT? Introvert
OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST? Optimist
LEADER OR FOLLOWER? Follower
CONFIDENT OR SELF-CONSCIOUS? Self-Conscious
CAUTIOUS OR CARELESS? Cautious
PASSIONATE OR APATHETIC? Passionate
BOOK SMARTS OR STREET SMARTS? Book smarts
COMPLIMENTS OR INSULTS? Compliments
06 / FAVORITES
FAVORITE COLOR: Green.
FAVORITE CLOTHING STYLE/OUTFIT: Practical. She wears what’s comfortable above all else. Tank tops, loose shirts, yoga pants.
FAVORITE BANDS/SONGS/TYPE OF MUSIC: She likes most things that come on the radio, top 40 stuff.
FAVORITE MOVIES: Her favorite movie is the Iron Giant.
FAVORITE BOOKS: War and Peace
FAVORITE FOODS/DRINKS: She loves fish, specifically salmon or tuna. She loves fruit smoothies. Her favorite is mango pineapple.
FAVORITE SPORTS/SPORTS TEAMS: Exy. Her favorite team is the Ravens.
FAVORITE WEATHER/SEASON: She loves everything about summer.
FAVORITE ANIMAL: Iguana.
He’d been dreading the banquet ever since it had been announced that the Foxes would be hosting it. He hated going to banquets on principle but at least when it was at other schools Akira knew Wymack would let him slink off after a little while. He’d made it abundantly clear that doing just that would not work tonight. Parties, no matter how contained, always made Akira’s skin crawl these days. It didn’t matter if this one was contained, most of the people here were going to be on their best behavior, it was still a party. The beating music, the moving bodies, even the smell brought back memories Akira would rather leave buried. Especially at a time like this. Surrounded by people Akira felt the need to impress and by people who just wanted his autograph.
It was inevitable he’d attempt to get away eventually. He politely excused himself from the group that he’d started talking with to use the restroom, fully intent to not come back out for at least thirty minutes. It would probably be a pathetic excuse if anyone pressed him about it but Akira needed to get away for just a moment. Slipping out was easy, it was the slipping back in part that proved to be Akira’s undoing. He’d been gone thirty minutes exactly and already feeling light years better. He could hear the music through the walls of the press room and when he opened the door to go back it washed over him like a wave. Dampening his new mood a little. What he hadn’t expected upon re-entering was the human shape just outside the press room doors. Caught. Trying to save face just a little bit Akira closed the door behind him. “Fancy seeing you here. Enjoying the party?”
As she’d already spoken to a couple people from every team by now, coaches included, Olivia felt okay relaxing a bit. She smiled when people passed her, chatted amiably with the other wall dwellers, watched her teammates mill about the court. They more or less seemed to stick together, not that she could blame them. It made it easy to account for all of them-- or, most of them. Someone was missing, though. It wasn’t that big of a concern, as she couldn’t actually see everyone on the court, and there was always a chance someone had gone to the bathroom. However, after a few minutes, she realized Akira was the missing Fox, and looking back, she couldn’t remember seeing him for a while now.
Wymack was on the opposite side of the court, him and Abby deeply immersed in conversation with a few people Olivia didn’t recognize. Taking the chance, Olivia wandered out to the Foyer, planning only to peak her head in and check if she could catch a glimpse of her missing teammate. She didn’t need Wymack thinking she’d gone AWOL as well. She needn’t have worried, she hadn’t even made it to the press room doors, and there was Akira, looking slightly frazzled, but all in one place. She could understand the impulse to flee, even if she’d never act on it. She was hardly going to judge him for needing a break, nor would she lecture him about it. Her main concern was making sure Wymack didn’t catch wind of it. She had no doubt that their coach was a hundred percent serious when he said people who skipped wouldn’t see the court their next game. “It’s fine, as far as parties go,” she said, crossing her arms. “Listen, if you need to get out, let me know next time. I can cover you, but it’s no good for any of us if you’re benched next game. Okay?”
Social events were always going to be torture for Paxton no matter how much they tried to be comfortable with them. This was always something that Emma was easier at handling. Even the wedding had been a bit too much for them. But tonight was going to be torture. Pax had gone to Betsy in hopes that she could get them out of this, but Wymack had said no. Sure Paxton wanted the team to look good, but that didn’t mean they had to be there for it. In fact, they were sure having a panic attack probably wouldn’t make the team seem normal at all. Hopefully this night was going to be painless, even though Pax knew that probably wasn’t the case. Once the floor was cleared for the DJ, Pax thought about slipping away, but Wymack’s threat actually mattered to them. They wanted to redeem themself from their last game. Pax hated getting carded during a game and it normally didn’t happen, so they were still sort of annoyed at that.
They found themself surrounded by a bunch of other Exy players. It seemed that everyone was at least attempting to play nice. From what Paxton was seeing anyway. The group Pax was in was chatting about their predictions for the season. Which players would be benched by the end of the season, which teams were going to make it to the Championships, what players had the best statistics. This was at least more comfortable for Pax to talk about and though it was difficult, they managed to keep up with conversation. Maybe they didn’t know who they were talking to, or they purposefully were trying to piss them off, but one of them brought up the Foxes.
“One hit wonders, I’ll say. I doubt they’re going to make it very far.”
Luckily the music was turned up high enough that Pax didn’t think they were going to cause an actual scene because honestly, Pax couldn’t let that comment go. “They’re two and oh right now. Much better than some of the other teams,” Paxton replied, a little harsher than they meant to. “I’m just saying.” Paxton was sure the group had no idea who they were talking to.
“No one on that team is worth anything. Look at all of them, they’re a mess. None of them know how to play as a team. I give it two more games before they fall apart.”
“That’s not fair. The Foxes are a great team. Stop talking before you regret saying anything about my team.” Yeah, they had no idea who they were talking to. Pax needed to get out of here fast before things got worse.
Olivia had been making the rounds, moving around the room and greeting people. Wymack had been very explicit in his desire for the night to go off without a hitch. Olivia hadn’t needed any warning, as she definitely didn’t have plans to start any trouble, but she figured she should do her part by playing the gracious host. It was exhausting, honestly. She had a hard time socializing with her new teammates on most days, let alone people from other teams.
Olivia never bothered with the trash talk so many athletes seemed prone to. Even before she found herself at the quote unquote bottom of the heap, she preferred to prove herself out on the court, without the proverbial pissing contest. She wasn’t surprised, though, when she walked by a small group of people belittling the Foxes right in front of one of her teammates.
It was the kind of petty thing she prepared herself for when she joined the team. Luckily, it took a lot more than that to ruffle her feathers. She didn’t know if Paxton equally as good at keeping their head, but their body language said it was best to get them away from there before she found out.
“I hope you’re not putting money on that,” Olivia said, slipping in next to her teammate. She recognized one of the shit-starters as a backliner from USC, and turned to face him.. “Haven’t the Gamecocks lost to the Foxes two years in a row now?” she asked conversationally. She met their drawn out silence with a nod.
“Enjoy the rest of your night, guys,” she said. With that, she placed a light hand on Pax’s shoulder and steered them away from the group. She managed to keep her face composed until her back was turned to them. When they were far away enough, she let go and turned to face Pax squarely. “Are you alright?” she asked.
Louis was always the life of the party and never part of the set up. It’d always been like that; in boarding school, parties never got started until Louis and his friends turned up and if they weren’t going then the party wasn’t happening. Things were different now, he tried to keep a barrier between himself and the kid he was at school but sometimes he still itched for that kind of fun, even though helping to set up is pretty satisfying.
He generally keeps out of the way during the ‘prom’ itself because this isn’t his territory and the last thing Louis wants to do is try and turn this into more fun than it’s ever going to be. So he mostly sticks with the Vixens, eventually venturing off to talk to a couple of the Foxes and deadass nearly ruins someone’s night when he walks straight into them with a drink in his hand. “W-oah!” Louis exclaimed, taking a step back and looking the person up and down, checking to see if any of his drink had spilled on them. “My bad! Totally wasn’t looking where I was going. Did I get you?” He asked, grinning a little sheepishly. And this is why you don’t check out players from other teams whilst walking.
Objectively, Olivia understood why Exy banquets were important; they boosted morale, encouraged players to see the other teams as people and not just competition, and helped kick the season off in a positive manner. Subjectively, she wouldn’t be too upset if she never attended another one again. It wasn’t so bad, this year, in comparison to others. It’d still be a stretch to say she was having fun, though you wouldn’t know by the smile she kept hard pressed on her face.
She socialized for as long as she could stomach, slipping around the room and engaging in small talk when she could. Then she retired toward the outskirts of the court with a plate of celery sticks and people watch’d, catching glimpses of her teammates every few minutes. She maybe should’ve said something when she saw one of the Vixens about to barrel into her, but by the time she got it in her head to do so, they were smacking into each other, his drink spilling out of his cup and splashing onto the matted floor. “Gods, no, sorry, I saw you coming, I should’ve-- it’s fine.” She brushed her hands over her skirt, but they came back dry. “Pretty sure the floor got the worst of it, anyways.”
In between practices, on days where she didn’t have any classes scheduled, Olivia could almost always found in the gym. On bad days, she’d allow herself to cheat, lay about in her dorm and feel sorry for herself. The bad days were coming less and less since she moved to Palmetto, thankfully. She had something driving her again, something to get out of bed for. She cherished her workout time, made sure to fit in into her schedule at least three times a week. With the beat of the music in her ears and her heart thudding against her chest, there was no room for any intrusive thoughts, allowing her to get lost in her own head. So much so that she didn’t even notice anyone in the room with her until they were practically right in front of her. “Uh, hey,” she said, pressing pause on the treadmill and ripping out one of her earbuds.
Most the team was upset with themselves or pissed at someone else, even though they had won. The Foxes were a team that weren’t used to winning, and yet some treated this win as if it wasn’t something to be celebrated; an attitude like that could put them back where they started. Kent wasn’t often one to look on the bright side. He was full of guilt which turned to anger towards himself, knowing there was no one else to fault. He tried to run from that anger, which only made him feel guiltier and in turn, angrier, staring the vicious cycle all over again.
But tonight, that didn’t matter. Tonight, he felt impressed with himself, or with his exy skills, at least. He couldn’t be angry at the sport, couldn’t be upset with how he played; exy was the one way he could release that anger that burned so hot inside of him, sparked hotter by the energy that had been pulsing through his veins endlessly since he was born. And now, it fueled the pep in his step as he thought back on that penalty shot, the one that made him cocky as ever, only amplified by the booing of the crowd. He shrugged as Olivia spoke up, looking over at his teammate. “Dunno. I’m not regretting that fuckin’ awesome shot. Apparently people forgot that we used to be the worst damn team in the league.”
“And you shouldn’t,” she said, beaming. At least someone seemed to be in relatively high spirits. “Seriously impressive.” She walked over to the benches, snagging her water bottle and taking a sip. “Good. By the end of this season, no one will remember us for being anything but great.” It was a stretch, but Olivia was nothing if not optimistic.
“Whatever slump they’re in, hopefully they shake it off in time for the banquet.” Exy banquets, in Olivia’s experience, weren’t something to be enjoyed, but she was hoping that this year might change that for her. She always had something to prove when she went out with the Lions - I am happy, I am well adjusted, I am not a victim. She was a hostage, smiling with a knife held to her back, an animal on a tightly wound leash. A year and one transfer later, and she still had something to prove. I am strong, we are winners, you should not underestimate us. A part of her feared retribution, everyone saw what happened to Zia at last year’s Winter Banquet, but she’d been afraid before. She refused to let that control her this year. “For morale’s sake, if nothing else.”
It was an old and bitter excuse on his tongue already, despite the fact that he’d only been their manager for a few months now. Any time he got caught putting in more effort than anyone expected of him (and as much shit as he talked about Exy in general no one expected anything of him and he was sure that they questioned why Wymack had even brought him on), he pulled it out again. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t lose my job. And maybe not all of them knew it, if any of them did, but the job was the only reason he was still at Palmetto. So he threw himself into it in thanks, despite his disdain for sports.
That’s what it had been at first.
Now… now, he’d keep telling himself it was still that, despite the fact that how hard the Foxes tried and how much they cared touched the quiet part of him that wondered what might’ve happened if he hadn’t had to fight so hard to get here.
They’d all had to fight for their lives at one point or another. That’s what made the Foxes.
Dominic brushed a thumb against his bottom lip, shaking his head at her question. “I like doing stuff like this,” was what he finally said, and as true as it was it wasn’t the truth. “Coach didn’t have to ask me to do anything.” Again, true, and closer to the truth than what he’d said before had been. The team manager looked over at Olivia, and the smile that graced his lips for a second was self-depreciating. “It’s just something to fill the time, and if it didn’t have to do with Exy I’d say it wasn’t any of your damn business.” He shrugged, broad shoulders rolling smoothly. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Olivia found that some of the Foxes made it hard to remember what kind of team they were, how they all ended up here. From the outside, it was easy to see them as a bunch of lowlife degenerates. Criminals. Problem children. She definitely harbored this bias for most of her young adult life, much to her embarrassment. Sure, they weren’t boyscouts, but in her limited experience, she found there was very little to distinguish them from any other team in the league. They weren’t at all what Olivia expected.
As for their team manager... well, he almost exactly fit the bill. All sharp angles and hard lines, there was always an aura of danger that surrounded him, a ferocity. Exy could be a brutal sport. She’d seen many players use the game as an excuse for mindless violence, and it kept them reasonably tame off the court, but.. Dominic wasn’t an Exy player. He had no court to take it out on. She didn’t know what he channeled all of that violence into, but she could hedge a few guesses.
Not that she tried to make assumptions about her peers, but, it was hard not to be a little curious, and moreso, a little cautious.
She knew the end of a conversation when she heard it. She wasn’t dumb enough to push for an answer that sounded a little more real. “And you’d be right,” she said, tearing her eyes away. “I just recognized a couple of names, is all. I like doing stuff like that too.” She leaned back on her hands, staring up at the clock on the wall. “I was just gonna run some extra laps before practice.” She shrugs. “It’s a better use of my time than sitting around in my room.”
Cadence shook her head in response, knowing all to well that sometimes nothing helped at all. At least, that was her experience. She looked at the page in front of her, only staring for a second before the words started to blur together. “There are days made for studying and then there are days that end in ‘Y’.” She managed a small smile at her own joke, shaking her head as she looked toward Olivia again.
While she couldn’t say she trusted her team yet, moments like this made it easier to feel like she belonged; her last team had always made her feel like an outsider. They had always been so perfect and put together; at least the Foxes never pretended to be more than they were. “Maybe a distraction will help?” It was what tutors used to suggest to her, though she was old enough now to realize the break was for them, not her.
Olivia laughed. “Seems my professors didn’t quite get the memo.” She knew she was being dramatic. This was absolutely doable. If she lost her head now, she didn’t know how she’d make it through the rest of the year. Still, it was nice to know she wasn’t alone.
“Ah..” she should have declined. Olivia has only ever gotten anything done by forcing herself to, keeping herself on track. She feared if she allowed this train of conversation to continue, she’d never get anything done. However, she also thought that if she opened that book again she’d cry. “Did you have anything in mind?” she asked.
“22,” he said, shortly, in greeting. He didn’t lift his eyes again, but adjusted his glasses all the same, marking another name with a star instead of scratching it out completely. The margins were filled with notes, in a messy hand. He leaned back after a moment, glancing up at her question with a slightly wrinkled nose. “I’m going over stats versus people who fucked themselves academically last year. I’m trying to make a short list of people who we might actually be seeing on the court. People scratched out completely are ones who have a long history of academic issues, people with the little stars are ones with more recent troubles that made continue into this year.”
Dominic paused, mouth clicking shut. He’d given far too much of himself with just that little spiel, because it showed that he actually kinda sorta almost gave a shit about the Foxes.
Olivia hadn’t had many - or any, really - full conversations with their team manager, probably because he couldn’t even be bothered to call her by name, but as someone who could spend hours talking stats and strategies, she could hardly help herself. She smiled. “That’s.. really smart,” she said, her heart giving a weird little twinge. She didn’t mention that her dad had made similar charts when she played for him in high school. His home office was a mess of papers, graphs, and charts scattered about in an order and scrawl she was sure only he could understand.
She’d never got the impression that Dominic especially cared about the Foxes as a team, or Exy as a sport. Definitely not enough to spend time on this when he didn’t really have to. “Is that homework from Wymack, or..?”
Four textbooks. Fifteen pages. An essay, it’s rough draft, a thesis statement, equations and diagrams and a ridiculous poem she wasn’t prepared to write. Cadence was surrounded by things she hated, her eyes casting from one to the next. She’d been there for hours now, trying to work her way through at least one assignment, to no avail. The rough draft was complete but the essay was only half-finished before it was abandoned. Her equations were sloppy but filled out, even if she wasn’t sure half of them were complete. The poem was… Well, she was probably just going to fail.
She looked up at the welcome distraction of another person’s distress, offering Olivia a smile when she caught her eye. “You’re fine. In fact, let me just second that sentiment.” She flipped her own book shut dismissively, leaning back in her seat with a sigh.
Olivia smiled, not a little relieved to know at least it wasn’t a complete stranger she’d just lashed out at. Her and Cadence weren’t friends, Olivia didn’t think could say any of her teammates were her friends, but the freshman had always been nice to her, and seemed to be able to empathize with Olivia’s aversion of schoolwork. Normally, finding one thread of common ground with someone was as close to companionship as Olivia got. With her high school teammates it was just her playing with them every Friday that earned her seat at the lunch table. She clung as tight as Zia would allow her first year with the Lions; they were the only girls, and they shared that burden for as long as they were on the same team. Privately, Olivia thought that was the closest she’d ever come to actual friendship.
“I thought getting out of my room would help me concentrate,” she said, turning around in her seat to face Cadence. It’s not like she wasn’t getting anything done, anyways. She’d likely be up until the early morning trying to finish. “I guess you can see how much that helped.”
Sometimes Teddy had bad weeks; sometimes they were salvageable and sometimes he got he got the end of an Exy stick shoved between his ribs. Earlier that week he’d dealt with a painful reminder of a fight with his dad when Dom almost strangled him in their dorm room, the injury he sustained during the game reminded him of the cracked rib he got during that same fight. It was a lot; it was too much to think about when he hadn’t so much as spoken to his dad in months and memories of him weren’t something Teddy felt ready to return to.
So, with the ice pack still taped to his ribs, Teddy went out to the bar across the street and did a bunch of shots with group of truckers. When he was good and tipsy, he left for the McDonald’s next door and wandered back to the hotel with enough portions of fries that someone could look at him and assume he wasn’t himself.
He approached the first familiar face he saw back at the hotel and nudged them with his elbow to get their attention and held the bag of fries out to them, silently offering them because he was too tired and couldn’t really be bothered to form words yet.
Olivia wasn’t in the habit of partying after games, or, partying at all really, but she was too keyed up to sleep, still high on their win. She sat in the lobby of the hotel, drinking lemon water and reading the game highlights on her tablet. Her fingers itched to pick up the phone and call her father like she usually would after a game. They’d go over the game play by play, and he’d offer critiques. Even when she was playing for one of the best teams in the world, he was still her coach, and he wouldn’t let her forget it.
She hadn’t spoken to her dad since she left for Palmetto earlier that summer. He didn’t call or text, and she convinced herself it was for the best, give him some time to come to terms. She hoped to hear from him by her first game, but.. nothing. Would he pick up if she called now? Should she text him first? Should she wait it out? Maybe she was meant to wait. He’d let her know when he was ready to speak to her again.
The strong scent of salt and grease pulled her out of her thoughts even before an elbow brushed against her shoulder. She looked up, blinking at Teddy and waiting for an offer, or explanation, or greeting. When none game, she politely shook her head, turning the tablet face down in her lap. “No thank you,” she said, wiggling over toward the end of the couch to allow him a seat. She wasn’t sure if he would take it, but it was worth offering. “How are the ribs?”
Olivia was buzzing, her smile splitting her face in half as she went down the line to shake hands. The Terrapins were obviously less than enthusiastic, but she didn’t mind. For the first time in over a year, Olivia had played Exy, and enjoyed it. More than that, they won. It was irrational to be this happy, probably; there was still a lot of room for improvement. Still even as she watched from the bench, each play filled her heart with hope that this would be the year the Foxes came out on top.
For the most part, she seemed to be alone in this feeling. With some exceptions, the Foxes seemed inappropriately subdued. She stood near the edge of the court as their opponents filled out, her expression incredulous. “Okay... why does it look like we just played two different games?” she asked, looking up at the closest person to her, Kent. Not because she thought he’d be particularly insightful, but because he was there. “I mean, we just won, right? Why is everyone so..” she gestured with her hands, meaning to somehow convey the overall gloom that seemed to linger on the court.
Dom rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, groaning quietly at the way it ached. He must’ve slept funny the night before, which was his own goddamn fault for refusing to get off the couch when he’d fallen asleep there the first time. He shuffled quietly through the papers in his hands, his eyes scanning over the different line-ups of the teams in their district. He muttered something under his breath, scratching out a name or two. He kept track of who’d had issues academically in the past, wanting to know who was most likely to not even be a factor on the court. He had stats memorized at this point, though he’d never actually state it out loud. Wymack would give him that smarmy fucking eyebrow if he even mentioned it, so he acted like he didn’t give a shit about Exy and talked shit about it whenever given the chance.
But dammit, it was still his job, and the one reason he was still at Palmetto. A shadow crossed in front of him where he’d been reading, and Dom shifted slightly before lifting bored eyes. “I’m reading. Move.” Dom kicked at the other with one foot, trying to readjust himself on the bench where he’d made himself comfortable.
With no classes scheduled for the day, and too much time on her hands, Olivia was ready to get in some extra laps before practice later. It was a much better use of her time than laying about in her room, anyways. When she entered the lounge on her way to the locker room, she was surprised to see she wasn’t alone. Dom didn’t seem to notice her, and seemed absorbed in his work besides, but she thought it’d be rude to not alert him to her presence. As she approached him, her eyes got caught on the stack of papers he was shuffling through, recognizing a couple of names listed.
In retrospect, it was probably much ruder going through the effort to read his papers upside down. “Sorry,” she said, side stepping and taking a tentative seat next to him on the couch, making sure to leave space between them. “What, um, what’re you working on?”
