Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:22:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Nate House <extreamlucky14@yahoo.com>
Subject: Silent Cellist 21: The Regionals

Hello to every one once again. I apologize for the LONG wait for this
chapter, but a lot of things have happened in my life that made it all the
better. A few of you have written to me in the downtime period and now I
would like to single out a couple friends of mine in this. Ryan. He's been
sending me what, as a reader, he would like to see almost since the
beginning. And Jack, who sends me messages about when the next chapter's
coming out. Thanks for the suggestions and comments.  (that goes for
everyone. . . lol)

I think the last chapter was the fan favorite. We finally got to see Amanda
actual have a good time, and alone with Brittany. Most of you loved the
scene at the end, but my favorite part was when Amanda played Tyler's
cello. I'm not gonna say who gets the honor in this chapter, but it's been
long coming. Thank you again. Keep writing me with the comments,
suggestions, or if you just wanna chat. I always answer back.

*******************************

Chapter 21: A Tournament First

   Amanda sat in the exact center of the bleachers, her favorite spot to
watch her girlfriend practice. She's had a smile on her face since arriving
at the "stadium". The teams call it that, but it's nothing more than three
paintball fields surrounded on three sides by aluminum benches set atop
stepped concrete--it's more of a horseshoe really. Amanda's been watching
Brittany practice even before their first date five weeks ago. Not only
does she get to see her girl do what she does best with her best friends,
but watching her get all hot and sweaty is a pleasant bonus. Over the
course of the past few weeks, Brittany and her teammates have been able to
educate her on the game and it's fundamentals. She still sees it as a bunch
of people shooting each other for the purpose of grabbing and hanging a
flag.

   Not only had Amanda been attending--and enjoying--these practices, but
she's also had the opportunity to travel with Brittany to their
tournaments. The one last weekend almost ended with the varsity team losing
their first event in two years, but Brittany and Brian made some damn-good
clutch plays to send the game into overtime where they ended up winning. If
only Amanda could cheer for them.... Either way, it was a great game for
the teams and the spectators and cameras who expected a blowout. Needless
to say, Brian, Brittany and Coach Wilson were not the least bit impressed
that they had to come form behind to win it. After watching them rip the
team's collective ass a new one, Amanda could see why she is such a damn
good player; Brittany hates losing just as much as she hates missing a
note. That's why they don't do it. Amanda was sure she heard Brittany say
that once before.
   The JV team won their last event as well, securing their top-spot in the
regional tournament along side their varsity counterpart. Brittany and her
crew, along side the coaching staff, rode their butts so hard they could
have sworn they were being ass raped the whole time. They didn't
necessarily need to win the event to receive the invite, but being number
one in the district ups the chances of getting a better draw in the
regionals. Both teams did in fact win their respective district titles in
the last event, which was a huge confidence booster for the JV team, but
they will need to play like they did in World Cup if they wanted to advance
beyond the Regionals and to the Sectionals, and then to State.
   This is why everyone was screaming and yelling so loud for today. They
have two weeks to prepare for the Regionals event and any slacking now will
be a huge mistake. Amanda just watched and smiled as brightly as the
afternoon sun beating down on their tired minds. Today was a day of
P.T. and drills, and no one was overly thrilled about it either. The drill
they was practicing involved countering counter-coaching. It's damn-near
impossible to master, but once you do, no one could use it against you. One
thing that made it easier for this team was that they were the only ones
who have girls on both sides of the field, and they know what they're
talking about. Amanda got up to head down to the pits as Coach Wilson
called for a water break.
   Brittany lit up like the Fourth of July when she saw her girl coming
towards her. Even though her body was sore, her throat was scratched and
she lost her voice about an hour ago. Her hair was a mess from all the
sweat, dirt and paint plus her face had that signature red outline from her
mask pressing into her skin. Despite so, she was beaming. Her Amanda was
standing right in front of her with a smile matching her own. Even though
she was wearing her sunglasses, Brittany could feel the happiness behind
them. That was all the prompting she needed. The star player practically
jumped into her girlfriend's arms. The mute quickly folded her into her
body, giving a white-toothed smile to no one in particular.
   "Glad you made it out again, hon," Brittany said into her ear. Despite
the fact that she's been here everyday for the last five weeks, it felt as
if she just came back from some long business trip. Her embrace and inner
warmth just had that feeling of rightness.
   Amanda could only kiss Brittany on the cheek in answer. How she wanted
to say everything that's been on her mind for a while. All the sweet and
loving things Brittany has the right to know. It made her heart ache
knowing that will never happen. But holding her so close made it ache that
much less. Brittany was right, she doesn't have to say it to make it
true. Besides, Brittany is always ecstatic to see her.
   "Hey, Amanda," came from the crowd, as they each in turn looked up to
see what made Brittany so happy all-of-a-sudden. Still holding onto
Brittany, she waved a hand slightly to acknowledge their greetings. By now,
everyone knows who she is and who she comes for. It also helps that they
all love her cello.
   Amanda pulled Brittany back onto the grass from the gravel staging area,
still smiling as if she hadn't seen her in months. Amanda took her shades
off to see her girlfriend without their protection. Brittany placed her
hand against her girlfriend's cheek and looked into her eyes. To the common
onlooker they would appear to be twin pearls of nothingness, but Brittany
is no such fool. What those eyes say to her is truth, strength, a reason to
keep fighting. There into those eyes she stared, all but forgetting about
the rest of the team until one of them suddenly had to clear his throat.
   Blushing out of being caught ogling her own girlfriend, she spun around
and shot Frank the nastiest look she could muster. All he could do was
laugh and turn away. Brittany took hold of Amanda's hand and led her to the
Gatorade table. She offered her a cup, but Amanda turned it down trying to
say "It's for the team"; Brittany downed both cups. However mundane these
small moments the two of them shared, it was all that Brittany needed to
keep going. She about jumped out of her skin when Coach decided to make his
presence known.
   "O.K. captains, get your lines gathered up." He looked over at Amanda
and winked, inviting her to join he team in the pits. "I want you guys to
walk the field and come up with a game plan As. A. Group." He gave a little
more force to those last three words. "I don't want everyone relying on the
captains; everyone will have a say. After that, we're going to have a
little JV/varsity showdown." The teams erupted in cheer. All they've done
for nearly two weeks was the boring drills and P.T., that they were
actually going to be playing a game was what they needed to hear. Coach
Wilson was feeling the unrest growing, plus he wanted a reason for his two
teams to go at each other.
   Brittany was so pumped that they're going to be playing a real game she
forgot to give Amanda her usual hug of departure. Amanda wasn't
bothered. This is what Brittany wants to do for the rest of her life, so
why not let her enjoy it with her team? "Amanda, may I speak with you for a
moment?" Coach Wilson asked politely. Not taking her eyes from her
girlfriend, Amanda nodded.
   The pair walked a little ways from the pit area to be more
secluded. Apparently this is just for her to hear. She reached into her
pocket and found her pad and pen. "How's things going?" he started,
throwing Amanda for a bit of a loop. Normally he just gets right to the
point.
   "good" she wrote.
   "Great. You and Brittany getting along alright... away from here I
mean?" His face was showing a bit of concern; he kept eying the field.
   Amanda just gave him a look that said "duh". Clearly, the girl was more
than confused at this. She was getting annoyed. "where you going with
this?" she wrote with a huff.
   The older man smiled. "I would like to thank you for what you're done
for Brittany. You know she's had a lot of crap to deal with this year, and
ever since you started hanging around here she's felt a lot better. It's
nothing short of ironic that the rest of the team is feeling better now
that you've started watching all the practices and games." His voice was
sounding like he had more on his mind that he didn't want to say just yet.
   "You're welcome for that, Coach," she wrote smiling. He too smiled as he
read her words. "But you have me at a loss: why couldn't you have said this
five minutes ago? Why now?"
   The older man curled his lips to a smirk, clearly feeling meek about
this entire conversation. "Let's just keep this between us," he said with a
watering eye. "I'm just glad that the kids have taken a liking to you and
they're chemistry is the best this school has ever seen. Brittany in
particular. Like I said, ever since she started seeing you, her whole world
has changed for the better. She's got that glow and energy that we all love
her for. And from that, the team has that glow, that energy. I just wanted
to thank you personally and away from the rest of them. I don't do this
very often, so you'll have to excuse me." By the time he finished, his
voice was cracking and his pulse had quickened. Amanda could sense it.
   She took a breath and began writing. All Coach could do was hope she was
more receptive than her expression let on. "Well, I've got a little secret
to share with you. I'm the reason she was having a crappy fall. It's hard
to explain, but believe me, I'm happy for the way things have worked
out. And I know things will only get better."
   Coach Wilson just closed his eyes and gave a sigh of relief. Handing the
pad back to the girl, he continued. "Thanks for being there for her when
the rest of us couldn't." Again his emotions were running rampant and in a
way he's very not acquainted with. Brittany has been as much of a daughter
to him as she is a captain to his team. He's watched her grow up and helped
to mold her into the player she is now. The mutual love between the two of
them is uncommonly deep for a coach/player relationship. And all of that is
now bleeding from is heart and showing on his face. He took a deep breath
to repress the tears from flowing. "Come on, Amanda. They should be close
to done by the time we get back."
   Right on cue, as Coach Wilson got back into coach mode the kids came
back to the pit area. The captains of the teams were busy with finalizing
the plans for the game while others were busy getting the paint from the
shed. Amanda kept her distance from the organized chaos inside the
nets. This is Brittany's time to shine. She'll have her own time soon
enough.
   "Alright, listen up!" Coach Wilson shouted over the commotion. "I'll be
coaching the varsity team with Coach Willard, Coach Danielson and Coach
Florez. Coach Peterson will take Coach Talnik and Coach Meters to the other
side with the JV team. Remember, this is a fun scrimmage, so keep the blood
to a minimum. I don't want any injuries this close to the Regional
tournament, but we're going to have to play like we did at Cup if we want
to win this thing.
   "Remember, there are no refs for this, so use the honor system and come
out when you're hit. If you think you're hit, then you're hit. Be careful
with your slides and dives. Play your hearts out, just use caution. Finish
getting set up. I'll blow the whistle to get started in ten minutes."

With that, everyone set about their chores. The JV kids had to move their
playing gear to other pit area along with their paint and team
equipment. That and they had to get their lines picked and ordered
accordingly. It's all part of the strategy. Brittany watched as Ashley
tried quarterbacking the team as if she were the team's captain. Maybe she
will be if she keeps that attitude up. Brian, Curtis and Brittany had their
lines set to go. All the varsity team had to do was get in some final
stretching and finish podding the packs. The coaching staff for the JV
squad had their hands full given the small clock they had. Amanda
meanwhile, resumed her seat in the bleachers. But this time she was not
alone.
   Mrs. Williams joined her, along with the rest of the parents that were
wondering what was going on. This week was supposed to be a week of drills
and physical training, but hell, the kids looked pretty pumped to be
playing. The usual suspects of parents and siblings formed a group around
Amanda and the older Williams as if they needed to be near each other. Some
started up some conversation about the upcoming tournament. Others talked
about some other random topic. Amanda and Brittany's mom just stayed quiet
and watched the pandemonium coming from the pits. Everyone was so into
their conversation or what was going on inside the nets that they failed to
notice Kayla and Samantha making an entrance of their own.
   In the pits, however, the mood was far from the warm-and-fuzzy feeling
of a common get-together. Ashley was finishing with getting everyone's
packs loaded up, screaming the entire time. Much like her idol, the younger
blond got into everyone's face to scream something to get them pumped
up. She grabbed their masks, their jerseys, whatever she could get her
hands on as she yelled some disturbing profanity. In any other situation,
her parents would have grounded her for a year.
   In the adjacent pit, Brian and Brittany were a different story. Brian
kept his mouth shut while his team got ready. Curtis went to say something
to his captain, but kept his mouth shut when Brian put his hand up. He was
dead set on giving their "opponent" the silent treatment. It worked at
World Cup, so there's no reason to think it wouldn't work here. Brittany
kept that smile on as Ashley continued her ranting. 'She learns quick,' she
thought to herself. She seemed to be listening to herself from just a few
years ago. Good thing the plan was to give them the silent treatment
because she couldn't find anything to counter that until her adrenaline got
flowing.
   Coach Wilson blew his whistle once he knew everyone was ready. Brian led
his line out to the field while Ashley took her own. The crowd that's been
slowly building erupted for the World Champions. Amanda was on her feet
clapping and whistling, while Mrs. Williams saved her energy for her
daughter's appearance. Coach gave his teams the standard two minutes to get
situated and ready to go. Brian and his teammates pointed out the false
locations of where they were going. The other coaches seemed to buy it as
they relayed that information to his starters. Ashley continued her rants
and screams trying to get her line ready to win this thing.
   "Ten seconds!" Coach Wilson bellowed out from the loud-speaker by the
buzzer.
   Ten seconds later, all hell broke loose. It was clear that the JV team
has learned a few things from the World Cup victory. With all the paint
flying through the air, it was a wonder how anyone made it to their
break-out spots. Brian actually ran right past his primary bunker and dove
into the snake without a hit on him. This immediately got everyone's
attention. He clung tightly inside while his teammates shot out the first
two that tried to come and take him out. He just smiled and continued
playing along with their little ruse. While everyone focused on him in the
snake, Tommy leap-frogged his way downfield, taking out one and pinning
what was left of the other team. Frank made his way up the middle and shot
out the last two guys in the corners.
   Ashley was furious to say the least. Not only did they just get scored
on, but they managed to do it in less than two minutes. She tore into her
other four players, just as bad as Brittany or Coach would have. For the
better half of their two minute between-point interlude, she did nothing
but rant and rave. As soon as she took a breath, Coach Peterson, who had
been letting this freshman tear into seniors, boomed his own voice. Mostly
he agreed with what she said, but Ashley was far from perfect herself. He
ripped into her what she did wrong and what she flat-out didn't do.
   The entire match went by in a similar fashion. The JV team was able to
score points against some of the best Division One teams in the world so it
seemed fit to assume they could play better than this. What they forgot was
that it was the varsity team that really won them the Cup. And they just
proved it to their inexperienced counterparts. At halftime, it was Brittany
who was ranting and raving about whatever was on her mind. She was beyond
pumped, as well she should have been. The JV kids managed only two pints in
the entire half. Ashley, on the other hand, grew more and more quiet as the
match went along, and it wasn't from her losing her voice. She may be one
of Brittany's students, but it takes a lot to win against the master. The
lesson was driven home by the 15 to 5 score after all was said and done.
   The crowd in the bleachers were soon split. One half for the varsity,
the other for the JV, and parents can be the worst of the worse. Even
though this was just a friendly scrimmage amongst teammates, the parents
didn't get that message. One would be hard-pressed to think this was
nothing short of the World Cup finals. Amanda winced at the words some
people were throwing around. Mrs. Williams didn't like it much either when
her cohorts got to this level, but just like her daughter's on-the-field
language, it's all part of the game and if you don't like it then get the
fuck out.
   The final whistle of the scrimmage marked the end of practices for the
week. The varsity kids just smiled and joked amongst themselves while their
junior friends were busy arguing and figuring out what went wrong. The
coaches gathered at the same spot Amanda was given her thanks not too long
ago.

"Alright, listen up people!" Coach Wilson bellowed out over the commotion
when the JV squad returned. Immediately, the area went quiet; he had their
undivided attention. "I want you to pair up: one varsity, one JV. Each of
pair will go over the game and discuss what happened. This game is very
emotional and very technical and that's how I want your conversations to
go." He stopped to look around. The teams were already taking arms with
each other as instructed. A wicked smile appeared on his lips. "And I want
you to have this conversation as you're cleaning the field. Get to it."
That was met with a collective grumble of disappointment.
   Brian, Brittany and Curtis, being the varsity team captains hung around
the field after everyone finished to have a little discussion of their
own. They looked up to the stands to find them empty save for Brittany's
mom and Amanda who seemed lost in a little chat that had them both smiling.

   "So, what do you think?" Curtis said standing up his gearbag.
   "Well, they weren't the team we saw in Orlando, that's for sure," Brian
answered. "They definitely lacked that. . . that fire. I think they played
like they had something to prove instead of playing like they had something
to show. It wasn't the technical, mechanical stuff, I think they were just
out-classed and they knew it. I mean when Ashley led her line in Florida,
she WANTED it. We all heard her. But this time that 'want' wasn't there."
   "I agree," Brittany said, answering Brian's asking gaze. "They kind of
reverted back to the team from last year. Their lines of communication
broke down and their game plans went to shit as son as a couple key people
got eliminated. Watching from the pits, it was obvious that they just fell
apart internally and that can't happen. Not ever. Ashley did her best to
keep their spirits high and the adrenaline flowing, but it seemed that they
just couldn't do it. Even when they won a couple of points, they looked at
it like they were still behind. Rather they should have seen it like, 'Hey,
we can score on these guys. We have a chance'. I guess it's still the
mental game we need to work with them on." Brittany was looking around
before they began talking about what they came here for.
   "Which brings us back to the question at hand," Brian said looking his
co-captains in the eye. They all needed to be certain about this. "Who's
going to be the JV captain for this event? I don't need to say how
important this event is for everyone."
   "The obvious answer is Ashley," Brittany said quickly. Her heart was
pounding, her hands were shaking. This was one of her best students she
speaking about. "She's motivated, she's seriously pumped about the game and
she has more heart than almost everyone on the roster. Not to mention she
earned my respect at Cup in that finals point against RNT. I mean, shit,
not only does that girl's got talent, but she's got that drive that team
needs."
   "That's true," Curtis answered nodding his head in agreement. "All game,
me and my line were actually hesitant to make a move against hers. She
directed them nicely on locking down the field and when to make their own
moves. When I think about it like that, it's a wonder how they lost so
bad." He looked around, then a smile curled around his lips. "Oh yeah, cuz
we're better."
   "And we've proven that time and time again," Brian said laughing. "But
it all seriousness, are we in agreement here?"
   "Yes," Brittany and Curtis said in unison.
   "Alright then," he said grabbing his gearbag, "I'll talk to Coach
tomorrow. Brit, you're her idol--if not freaking goddess--so do you wanna
do the honors of telling her after I call you?"
   "Sure.  In fact, why don't we do that at another get-together at my
house tonight? We can tell her in front of the entire team plus get in a
little extra practice. I'm sure my mom will go along with it."
   "Alright, then," Curtis said, taking the first step towards ending this
discussion, "I guess I'll see you all tonight."
   Brit and Brian decided to follow suit. Once they got past the football
stadium, Brian gave his "lil sis" a hug goodbye. With a smile on her face
and pep in her step, Brittany made quick work of getting to her mom's
van. She threw her gearbag into the back and joined her Amanda in the other
captain's chair, rather than her usual spot next to her mom up
front. Brittany failed to notice that Inikye was lying under the third row
bench and that her mom couldn't stop smiling at her.
   It wasn't until they were halfway home that someone finally said
something; Amanda wasn't about to do the honors and Brittany was nervous
about the get together she has yet to inform her mother
about. Mrs. Williams, looking into the rear-view mirror, glanced up at her
daughter and lowered eyes. "What's wrong, Brittany?" she asked turning her
attention back to the road for a moment. She'd been switching back and
forth for the past few minutes; a rolling ambulance coming up behind them
caught her eye.
   "Mom," she started, the nervousness obvious in her voice, "can I have
another hang-out with the team at the house?"
   "Of course, honey," her mother answered. "You know you don't have to ask
if you can have friends over. Just make sure I know ahead of time." She
could see the relief on her daughter's face as Brittany gave a sigh. "What,
did you already invite them?"
   Busted. "Yeah," she answered quietly. "It's going to be more like the
one at the start of the season as opposed to a party. We're going to
regionals soon so we figured we should get as much practice as
possible. Plus the captains have decided who will take the JV team for this
one."
   "Really?" her mother asked astonished. "Doesn't Coach pick the
captains?"
   "During class today he asked us to make the call. After what we saw at
the scrimmage today, we're definite about this."
   "So, don't leave me hangin'. Who is it?"
   "Ashley Sanders." Amanda jumped at the sound of her last name. She
snapped her head over to her girlfriend. Brittany smiled at the unasked
question. "Don't worry babe, she's not related to you." Amanda was not as
relieved as Brit would have expected. She shook her head in
argument. Fumbling about her pocket for her pad and pen, Amanda looked damn
near frantic.
   "she's just shorter than me? dirty blond hair, brown eyes?" she wrote,
almost illegibly.
   "Yes," Brittany answered with a raised eyebrow. "You spoke to her just
five days ago, remember?"
   Amanda let out an aggravated sigh while writing, "I didn't know her last
name then".
   "Alright, I'll bite. What's the big deal?"
   Amanda drew in a deep breath before starting. "Sarah told me that she
and her sister will be having a very bad weekend. I don't know what that
meant, but I don't like it. I know that you have a tournament coming up
soon, and I don't want to dampen your mood, but I just know it's not all
going to go well. Ashley said something like that to her sister.
   Brittany read her words, not understanding at all. 'She could have come
to me about anything like this,' she thought to herself. Amanda tugged on
the pad and Brittany handed it back. The semi-worried look sprawled out on
her face was confusing to say the least. "Look, Amanda," Brittany started,
"If she were that worried about something she would have come to me. I
wouldn't worry about it."
   Amanda took her words at face value. She leaned over and rested her head
on her girlfriend's shoulder, letting her stroke her hair as she always
does. Hearing it come from Brittany made her feel better about the whole
thing, but still that nagging feeling of worry lingered. This is the girl
who gets so into her game that she forgets who she is. Amanda set it aside
as her just getting overly emotional about something trivial.
   Shortly after they got home, Brittany plopped down on the couch. She was
worn out both physically and mentally. Closing her eyes and taking a deep
sigh, which came out as a huff; the teenager couldn't help but think about
tonight. These get-togethers were always so much fun. The team has always
tended to bond closer as a family at the events right afterward, as opposed
to being just a group of friends. They were always there for each other, on
the field and off. Brittany couldn't get over the closeness of this
team. Hell, one of the guys on the JV squad is a huge homophobe, but one
could never tell by how he acted around the star player. Brittany opened
her eyes when she felt the couch move beside her. A smile came to her lips
just as Amanda's hand came to her cheek.
   With both of them ignoring Brittany's ringing phone, Amanda pulled her
girlfriend into her embrace. She felt so lucky to have someone like
Brittany in her life. Everyday she thanked Sarah for leading the two of
them together. Even if no one believed her and Illitor, she wasn't as
fucked up as the people who were supposed to take care of her. She never
hurt a person in her life--on her own accord anyway--and she has no reason
to start now. That is unless they tried to take Brittany away from her. She
and her mom, and her brother of course, were the only ones who loved her
for who she is, not hated her for where she came from. It made her feel
alive and wanted to have Brittany cuddled up to her like this, and that is
what she needed.
   Brittany wrapped her free arm around Amanda's middle. Out of response,
she bent over and gave her a kiss on the head. This earned her a warm
cooing from her girl. Amanda knows that Brittany tires hersef out at
practice so this is how they spend most of their evenings. But tonight,
Amanda made plans for Brittany and her mom.
   One of the biggest stipulations of Brittany and her "little team
functions" is that she must get her homework finished before the team shows
up. No matter what is involved, she must be completely done or her mom
won't allow anyone into the house. A big pain in the ass, but it drives the
point home and then Brittany--and the rest of the team--has no one to blame
but herself. This is where she found herself a short time after getting up
from the couch. Amanda was still in the living room with her mom,
presumably watching TV. It always made her feel good about her mom that she
never questioned her sexuality or her choice in girlfriend. Her mom always
had this thing about letting her daughter make her own decisions when it
came to matters of love. She knows that Brittany will make good and bad
choices in life, but so far she's kept the bad to a minimum. But as she
stared into her chemistry book, she began to think that she is going to
have to cheat to pass her semester exam three weeks away.
   The star paintballer was startled out of her "Critical Thinking"
assignment at the sound of Inikye singing. Curious, she pulled away from
her desk and began to make her way down the hall. The music was a song very
familiar to Brittany; Amanda plays it for her all the time, though the name
of the piece slipped her mind at the moment. She was too intrigued with how
well her girlfriend can play for that to matter anyway. The drama, the
melancholy, the dark joy, it all fit together in this beautiful piece of
music. The moment was short-lived, however, for Brittany felt a soothing
presence stir in the air behind her, soon followed by a familiar voice.
   "Brittany, you will not have that party tonight," Sarah said, directly
into her ear. It made her jump, but the teenager didn't scream lest her mom
think she too is nuts.
   "Goddamnit," she swore in a whisper knowing Sarah could probably hear
her lips moving. "I hate it when you do that." Brit took a soothing breath
to relax the tension away. "Why shouldn't I have my little party tonight?"
   "They are waiting, Brittany," Sarah said ominously. "There are those who
wish do you harm in any way they can. In a twisted way, they see your
failure as an open invitation back to you. I can't say their names, but
believe me when I say they're twisted."
   Frustrated by all of this, Brittany's fists clenched to the point of
pain. She just wanted to spin around and punch the hell out of Amanda's
ex-wife. This is not what she needs right now. "Why are you telling me
this?" she demanded from the so far faceless ghost.
   "Because I care about you and Amanda. I can't do anything to prevent it,
so I will do what I can to help you see it so it will never happen."
   "Why me? Huh? There has got to be at least a dozen other people that can
'prevent it' from happening. Why do I have to be the one who steps up and
stops it? You've been pestering me for the last three weeks about what 'it'
is. Tell me. Why me!" Brittany was damn near tears before she
finished. Stress of both on-field and in-school success has just about
fried her brain. For a few fleeting weeks she thought she can have a break
from it all only to have shit like this fall into her lap.
   "Brittany Abigail Williams is a smart girl with a bright future and her
head on her shoulders," Sarah said, as if reading from a cue card. "I
believe every bit of that and will do what I can to see to it that that is
what happens. If not for you, then for her. I like you Brittany, but as
much as I want--and would love to, I cannot answer your questions. I am
truly sorry."
   "Yeah, I fucking bet you are!" she spat back. "All you ever tell me are
cryptic messages and parental advice. I'm tired of it. I can get the same
thing from my mom and all of the bullshit you've been telling me about this
'great tragedy' and 'grave danger' is getting on my fucking nerves. Just
leave us alone, damn you!" Brittany looked up to see Sarah's worry-filled
face staring back at her. A tear was falling down both of their faces, one
out of concern, the other out of frustration.
   "I'm sorry you feel that way, Brittany," Sarah said looking down. "I'm
only doing what I can to help you not feel the same pain that Amanda and I
felt. It'll eat you from the inside out and won't stop until there's
nothing left but an empty shell. Amanda suffered like that once. I don't
want to see that happen to another."
   Brittany remained less than convinced. Closing her eyes and titling her
head back, she drew in a deep breath. "Just leave me alone," she started
once her head became level. "Please, Sarah? Stop with the random visits and
inane babble. I'm sorry about what happened to the two of you. I truly am,
but I won't let anything happen to Amanda either. You seem to forget that I
love her too."
   "Clearly," Sarah said with a bit of a chuckle, but her face held onto
that pained expression. "I know you love Amanda as much as I do. It's what
allows me to make these 'random visits'. I can't promise you I will stop,
but I will leave you tonight with the knowledge that she will need you more
than you can possibly know. More than your little blond friend, Ashley,
does right now."
   That got Brittany's undivided attention. "What's wrong with Ashley?" she
asked, wide-eyed, to the wall. The teenager frantically looked around the
hallway and back in her room, but Sarah's visage was gone. "Goddamn IT!"
she yelled as her fist hit the wall. During her conversation with Sarah's
ghost and her search, Brittany neglected to notice that Inikye's song
finished and the house was quiet save for her ranting. "Why me! Why the
fuck does it have to be me!"
   Brittany just laid on her bed, curled into herself in the fetal
position. She refused to cry. Anger and frustration was oozing from her
pores. "Fuck it all to hell," she mumbled out loud to no one in
particular. On the desk, her phone started ringing but rather than
answering it, she picked it up and threw it at her door.  She didn't want
to talk to anyone right now, especially over the phone. 'Why does Sarah
have to keep doing this to me?' she said in her head. 'She does nothing but
interfere with my life and annoy the shit out of me. Why now when things
with me and Amanda are going so well? What the fuck does any of this have
to do with Ashley? Everything is so fucked up.'
   "Honey? What's wrong?" came her mother's voice from her bedroom door,
making Brittany damn-near jump out of her skin. "What was with all that
banging around for?" Amanda was standing right behind the older Williams,
in the exact same spot where Sarah had disappeared from. She was touching
and running her fingers gently up the wall as if inspecting it for the
whole truth.
   Brittany didn't know what to say. How could she possibly explain this
situation to her mother and not come off as sounding as insane as her
girlfriend? The truth was about the last thing she needed to say, but her
brain wasn't coming up with anything else. "Everything is so fucked up,
mom," is what she got out.
   That set her mother aback. Given her daughter's bloodshot eyes and
sweaty face, it was easy to assume that she was upset and frustrated about
something, but what made this particularly troubling was her choice of
words. She only swore like that when playing or when the two of them were
arguing about their past lack-of relationship. Mrs. Williams came into her
daughter's room, with Amanda in tow, and sat next to her sniffling baby
girl. "Brittany, tell me what's troubling you," she said in her
caring-but-stern voice.

Brittany just threw up her hands, as if she was giving up. After letting
out a huff and wiping her face, she looked at her mother but nothing would
come out of her mouth. The tension was rising among the three women. The
teenager trying not to cry and blurt out the truth in a moment of
frustration; the mother trying to sooth her upset baby girl; and then there
is Amanda, who knows more about what just happened than either of the other
two.
   Brittany tried several times to speak, but once again nothing came out
of her mouth. Maybe it is time to tell the truth about Amanda; the whole
truth about everything. She had the courage to tell Brian once, but telling
her mother is a whole other matter. She didn't want her mother to think
that she couldn't deal with her own problems, however, she didn't exactly
know how to do that. With bloodshot eyes, she looked at her mom pleading
for understanding. Yet again her will to speak abandoned her.
   Amanda came to the bed and stood between her girlfriend's legs. She
wrapped her arms around her head and pulled her into her stomach. It pained
her deeply to see her like this, especially since they both know the
truth. Mrs. Williams could only sit there with that pained expression on
her lips, wondering and fearing about what was wrong with her baby
girl. Amanda reached a hand out to her and rubbed her shoulder; however,
this did little to deter her from fearing that her daughter was reverting
back to the way she felt at the beginning of the year. With Brittany
weeping into her midsection, Amanda wrote a small message on her palm. "I
know," read the simple note.
   No sooner had Mrs. Williams took the girls before her into her embrace
that the house phone started ringing. Suddenly jostled out of her thoughts,
she looked over at the open doorway then back to Amanda. The mute held her
sobbing girlfriend against her body, rubbing her smooth hair. She looked up
at the matriarch and nodded her approval for her to answer the
phone. Mrs. Williams moved quickly so whoever it was wouldn't hang-up on
when the machine answered. Amanda released Brit just enough so she could
join her on the bed beside her. With her eyes of black, Amanda looked unto
her girlfriend's and rubbed her cheek.
   "Why, Amanda?" Brittany asked of the seemingly all-knowing mute. "Why
now when things..." she was cut off by Amanda placing a finger over her
lips.
   Amanda pulled her into her, giving her a sensual kiss. Still she gently
stroked her rough fingers over Brit's cheeks. Their lips seemed
inseparable. Brittany herself abandoned her earlier woes, deciding to just
enjoy this. The brunette wrapped her arms around Amanda's neck to hold her
even more tightly. Time stood still; this was there moment.
   Amanda become even more assertive. She licked the outer part of
Brittany's lips, completing a full circle with her tongue, dipping down to
her neck and shoulders. Brittany responded with a gasp and soft moan. She
could feel the heat run through her body and come to a wet stop at her
groin; it made her skin rise to feel her girlfriend's hot, wet tongue
gliding over her lips and throat. She grabbed Amanda's face and returned
the favor. It wasn't often Brittany gets this aroused, but when she is she
is virtually unstoppable.
   Brittany tackled Amanda onto the mattress in a passionate motion. She
started giving the mute rough, sensual kisses over her face and neck. Her
hands got to work on all of Amanda's sensitive spots; her jawline, the nape
of her neck, her breasts. Not to be outdone by her cellist, Brittany traced
her tongue over her throat and shoulders. When she hit that spot where her
shoulder meets her neck, the mute jumped and scratched her back. Brittany
moaned into Amanda's neck, using the vibration to arouse her further.
   "Oh my God! BRITTANY!" came her mom's voice from the living
room. Whatever this was about, the woman had the worst timing in the world.
   "You've got to be fucking kidding me," she mumbled into Amanda's
neck. But when her mother called again, she immediately changed her
mood. Something was definitely not right; the last time she heard her
mother scream like that was when her father and brother died.
    Amanda too suddenly became worried. Both of them ran out of the bedroom
into the living room. When they laid eyes on the older woman, their worry
increased exponentially. She was hunched over and crying, but managed to
hold the phone to her ear. "Mom?" Brittany asked nervously.
   "Yeah, she's here," Mrs. Williams sobbed to whoever it was. She handed
the phone to her daughter, wrapping her arm around her shoulder.
   In a confused worry, Brit took the phone. "Hello?"
   "Brittany, honey, are you sitting down?" came Mrs. Sander's troubled
voice. "We've got some bad news."
   "Yeah. Wh-what's the matter, Mrs. Sanders?" She could hear the mother's
sobs over the sound of her own voice.
   "It's Tina. She had an ac-accident," Mrs. Sanders barely choked
out. Brittany's blood ran cold.  "She's in a... a sleep in the
hospital. Please come by tonight."
   Feeling like someone just punched her in the stomach, Brittany hunched
over the couch with her arm around her middle. Her face flashed ashen, "Oh
god, I think I'm going to be sick," she blurted out, hyperventilating. She
dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom. Amanda followed close behind as
her mom picked the phone up to probe for more details. Even over their
conversation, Mrs. Williams could hear her daughter retching into the
toilet.
   Amanda had her by the hand and led her back out to the living room. Her
girlfriend's face was completely void of color and her legs were weak. The
older women had finished their conversation just moments ago. All that was
left was for everyone to get into the car and go to the hospital. Brittany
wasn't overly fond of what she might see. She still gets deathly ill at the
thought of hospitals, and for good reason. She doesn't exactly have a good
track record of good news from phone calls like that. Memories of lost
loved ones have a way of manifesting into the form of vomit from news of
"accidents".
   The entire ride no one said a word. What was there to say? It wasn't as
if anything they could say now would be of much help. That wasn't to say
that they weren't screaming inside. Mrs. Williams knew all too well what
Tina's mom was feeling; it isn't fair to see your child laying in a bed,
never to move again. It just sucks the life out you and there's not a damn
thing you can do about it. Brittany too knew what must be going through
Mrs. Sanders' mind right now. She can still see her brother lying in his
bed, that terrible constant beep sound going off just two feet away. It
killed her to see that line flatten and see that monitor read zero. For
Amanda, just seeing Brittany and her mom like this is enough to tear her
heart out. She too knows what it feels like to lose someone so close, and
for no apparent reason. Not knowing any more than Tina is lying there
asleep kept the hope alive that she was alright, just a little banged
up. It was this hope that all three of them believed in that held their
spirits from hitting rock-bottom.
   Flashbacks are one thing, but reliving such deja vu is more painful. As
the trio entered the hospital and found out where to go, this thought
became a reality. The more they spoke to the receptionist, the more their
bleak hopes fell apart. When she spoke the letters "ICU", there was no more
hope. This was serious, possible surgery and who knows what else. The fact
that Tina's mom was upset gave nothing away in terms of her condition, save
for that fact she is still alive. After the receptionist mentioned her room
number, the women made their way to see their friend and teammate, all of
them wishing for the best.
   Mrs. Sanders found them getting off the elevator. She greeted them all
in a group hug, all of them crying and sobbing. "We may want to sit down,
they gave me an update," the older Sanders said, wiping away a tear.
   After taking a seat in the small waiting room, Mrs. Williams spoke
first. "How bad is she, Theresa?" she asked taking the woman's hand.
   Holding back a sob,"Not good," she said looking down and shaking her
head.

"Tell me," Brittany implored, taking her hand as well. She may want to hear
it, but that didn't mean that she was going to like what the woman was
about to say. "How bad is it?"
   "She's in a coma," the mother got out, somehow. She immediately broke
down and fell into her fellow mother's embrace. There was nothing more
anyone could say. Brittany and Amanda joined the mothers in this
holding. After a few minutes of weeping, Mrs. Sanders took a deep
breath. "You can go in and see her if you want. I've instructed the doctors
to let the entire team in her room. The coaches and some of them are in
there now. Ashley's been asking for you for almost an hour."
   Mrs. Williams nodded at her daughter, telling her to go ahead with
Amanda. Holding hands, the two girls walked through the double-doors and
down the corridor. Both of them were hit by the memory of the asylum,
walking slowly to keep an eye out for the room number and doctors. About
halfway down the hallway, Brittany stopped dead in her tracks and just
stared at the nearly all wood door. Only a small window above the handle
granted a view into the room, just like the ones in the nuthouse. It wasn't
lost on Amanda that they walked the same number of steps to get here as it
did to find the spot where "Sarah's spot" is in that corridor.
   Through the small window, Brittany could make out Curtis, Brian, Ashley
and Coach Wilson standing close to each other. She wanted to go in there,
but at the same time she didn't. It isn't right for someone so young to be
lying in a hospital bed instead of doing what she loves to do. All of these
people were supposed to be at her house right now going over gameplans,
playing video games, watching movies and having fun, not wishing their
friend would wake up. Brittany's heart became enraged thinking that very
thought. A million emotions ran through her at once after the vision of
their last party. Bitterness, frustration, anger, anything to distract from
the pain in her chest.
   The door swung open, snapping her out of her daydream. Mr. Sanders
immediately took his daughter's best friend into the room. He coud see the
tear tracks running down her face. "Brittany, stop that," he
ordered. Brittany's bloodshot eyes looked up at the much taller man
pleading for answers, but none were coming. "Those tears are not going to
help my little girl wake up any quicker."
   "Yessir," she got out, wiping her nose. She held Amanda as close to her
as possible. The man's very presence was enough to lift her to where she
coud look at her sleeping backman. And what she saw--and heard--made her
heart sink once again.
   Wires coming from her head and chest; tubes connected to her nose and
running under the blanket; monitors all around the room making beeping and
gurgling noises, all of which was nothing compared to what her gaze finally
settled on. Tina. That poor, sad girl lying in that bed, not moving, no one
knowing if she could hear anyone or not. Then her gaze fell on Ashley once
more, sitting at her big sister's bedside holding her hand.
   Brittany made her entrance a bit more gracefully as she made her way
over to her younger teammate. It wasn't right for the fourteen-year-old to
be the stronger one. Seeing both of them this vulnerable just made her
think of her own period of vulnerability once again. She knows that
strength is the only way to get through it all. And now she has to convince
Ashley of this.
   She stood behind the younger Sanders sibling and placed a hand on her
shoulder. The girl responded by taking it into her own. She leaned her head
over to her captains show of affection, silently uttering thank yous that
she is here. Taking a deep breath, Brittany asked, "How did it happen?"

  Ashley stood, still holding onto Brit's hand. Pulling her out into the
hall, they walked passed the rest of the team who seemed to have heard the
story already. Ashley took a spot against the wall while Brittany stood
just before her. The younger girl couldn't look her captain in the
eye. Brit couldn't tell if it was from shame, pride or pain, but it wasn't
helping. "Ashley, talk to me,"she asked in a concerned tone.
   Without a bit of sorrow in her voice, Ashley responded. "It wasn't an
accident." She looked up at her surprised captain. The determined anger in
her voice was enough to send the older reeling back. "It was a
hit-and-run," she clarified. "I don't know why, but that fucking bastard
ran over my sister and took off! Just left her there. How can someone do
that! It's not fair. It's not fucking fair!" With that she collapsed into
her captain's arms, and just screamed.
   Brittany felt for her teammate, but she knew that she needed to hear
something more than weeping words. Grabbing her by the shoulders, she
pulled her away from her chest. "Ashley, listen to me. I know you're
hurting but Tina needs you to be strong for her right now. Don't go around
blaming people for what they didn't do, just be happy that you were there
for her when she needed you most. Those tears are not going to help her
much right now. What will is talking to her as much as possible. Remind her
of how strong she is; tell her stories of when you two were growing up,
just get your mind out of this 'beat myself up mode'."
   "But Brittany, I saw who..."
   "No buts, Ash," Brit interrupted. "We will deal with that later. Just
get your ass back in there and get her brain thinking. People in comas DO
hear what's going on around them. Sadness will get her nowhere. Anger will
get her nowhere. Love and affection will get her brain wanting to wake back
up. O.K.?"
   "Alright, Brit,"Ashley said quietly. "I'll try, but I know who did
this."
   No sooner had those words left her mouth that a team of doctors went
into Tina's room. It wasn't a panic, it was them prepping her for her next
operation. Moments later the team filed out of the ICU room and down the
hall. Brittany gave Ashley one last hug and kiss on the cheek before
leaving. She wanted her to have as much time as possible with her big
sister, her best friend. Ashley walked into the room and closed the
door. Amanda grabbed her girlfriend's hand and led her down the hall. It
was then that it hit her, this will be the first time that the team will
not have a full roster. This was going to be an interesting, emotion-
filled tournament.

**************

   Brittany was sitting behind her primary bunker going over the shots
she's got from that location, using her arms and fingers to point out her
lanes to some of her fellow Insert players. Some of the midfielders were in
the Large Can beside hers doing the same thing. Out of the corner of her
eye she saw Brian going over the Snake's shots and potential cover
lanes. The star captain turned her attention to the Dorito side of the
field where Ashley was teamed up with her fellow tape-players getting
familiar with their offensive and defensive strategies. Brittany couldn't
help but feel the loss of her star backman--or rather wo-man in this
case. Tina was always the one covering her no matter where she went. Right
or left, up the middle or run-thru, Tina was always right there making sure
she didn't get shot out. It got to the point to where the two of them could
practically read each other's minds. The team would feel the brunt of her
loss, but now Brittany especially so. Not that the other back players were
bad at their job, she just trusted Tina over everyone else.
   It made her proud to see Ashley, a freshman player, leading her line
through their pre-event walk-through. The coaches and captains stil haven't
told her about her being the JV captain for this event; they wanted to see
how she was going to handle the stress of her sister's hospitalization. So
far so good. If anything she seemed more pumped than ever. That fire; that
want was all around her. Maybe she was distracting herself from the stress
of home. Maybe she was channeling all of her pent up anger into aggression
like she's been trained. Either way, Brittany was glad to see her friend
back to her usual on-the-field-self.
   "Hey, Brit, you O.K.?" Brian asked after tapping her shoulder.
   The brunette sighed. "Yeah I'm fine." She looked around at her
teammates, who were jotting down their notes and marking their field
diagrams. Reverting back into captain mode, she stood up. "Everybody got
it? Questions? Concerns?"
   Johnny put his hand up while still looking at his notes. "Yeah, whoever
gets to this spot on the break needs to stay tucked in and wait for their
cover to give them the 'all clear' before opening their lane. This is a God
Bunker so they'll be pounding the shit out of it, so stay patient and stay
tight." He noticed that Brian and Brittany were looking at him and were
making note of that little tidbit. "When you here the 'all clear' a second
time, or if you've got the opening, make your bump. It's a good six yards
from here to the snake so corner players stay ready for the move and don't
stop your lane. Cross up with the back X guy if you have to, but make sure
your man gets in there."
   Brian looked up from his notes after skimming them once more. "Nice
speech, John. You're right. Same goes for the Dorito tape. If you see your
opening, take it but make sure you are shooting cross-field from that side;
let your corner cover the tapeline. If you see your mirror get to the fifty
first, get his ass right the fuck out. Sacrifice yourself if you half to,
but make sure we hold that spot. Center X guys, if you make it on the break
make sure you either stay crossed with your Dorito guy, or cooridinate your
lanes with the snake. If you see a guy coming to do the snake guy, blast
his fucking face off. Draw an overshooting penalty if you have to, but make
sure they'll think twice before trying again. Most teams here don't respect
our style of play and I'd like to keep it that way. But if they do
eliminate our snake player, Center X will be the fill-in. Got it?"
   Everyone nodded their head. That was the reason he is captain. As a
leader, he knows the game dynamics inside-out, backwards, forwards and
side-ways. He can adapt the team's gameplan in seconds and have his team on
their side of the field even faster. As a player he's won several regional
and national One v. One titles, taken teams to national and world class
events and won, and played for several Division Three 'farm teams'. To add
to his resume, this was the guy who just led his team to a Division One
World Cup crown a month ago. Respect just came to him as naturally as
oxygen to his lungs. It also doesn't hurt that he's got the admiration of
the girl who just signed a contract with their chief sponsor to play on a
Pro team. "Alright, it's getting dark so let's get the hell outta here and
get some food," he said putting his notes and playbooks into his backpack.


   Everyone has already had one helping, some were working on their seconds
and thirds. The varsity team comes to Moss's Buffet every year for this
event; it was as much of a tradition as the varsity team buying the JV's
dinner for their district title. Granted that hasn't happened in a while,
but it's an inner-team tradition all the same. The coaches of the past used
their kids as wild cards in a bet, and the post-district championship
dinner is always the wager. Needless to say the JV coach won the first bet,
and then the second. Then the third. Soon enough, the two gave up on the
idea and decided to make it what it is now. Now that the two teams and
coaching staff are combined, it made the "wager" a moot point; but that
doesn't mean the coaches don't have fun with it.
   Ordinarily the two teams would sit amongst their respective
teammates. Varsity with varsity, JV with JV. They would go over gameplans,
talk paintball, or just unwind. But this event is too important for both
teams to segregate themselves, so they intermingled their seating
arrangements. Brittany decided it best to sit next to Ashley
tonight. Amanda was on her other side, but she knew her girlfriend needed
to be a friend to the freshman, not just her captain. Sarah was right, she
needs her now than ever before. It isn't fair that this fourteen-year-old
girl has to see her big sister lying in a hospital bed; it isn't fair for
her mother and father to see their elder daughter sleeping indeterminately
and their younger suffering every time she looks at her. This was the
lesson she learned at her time in the asylum, life's not fair--it flat out
sucks.
   "How you holdin' up?" Brittany asked her teammate, trying to break the
silence.
   Looking up from her food, the girl responded more than
eagerly. "Freakin' awesome. I can't wait to get out there and fuck up some
bitches." The determined look in her eyes told the captain everything she
needed to know, and then some. This wasn't just some facade she was putting
on, she wanted this event.
   Relief washed over Brittany's face. "Glad to hear it," she said touching
her hand. "You're going to need that attitude tomorrow when you're out
there on that field."
   "I know that already, Brit," the younger blond said with a hint of
confusion in her voice. "Why would you need to tell me that?"
   Brittany looked across the table at Coach Wilson and Brian. The two of
them were listening in on their brief conversation, but managed to hide
it. Both men nodded for her to go on with what she has to say. The
pride-filled teenager stood up and got everyone's attention. "You guys on
the JV team have been pestering me, the other captains and coaching staff
all freaking week about who will be the captain for this event. Quite
frankly I'm tired of it. Well at the scrimmage last week we all came to the
same conclusion." Looking to her side, she continued. "Ashley played with
more determination and heart than most of us have seen from the JV team in
years. In the finals game at Cup she proved her salt as a line captain and
she confirmed her ability to lead a team at our little scrimmage last
week. So, Ashley Sanders will be heading the JV squad into the regionals
tomorrow." The star player was interrupted with a flood of applause from
her teammates, coaches and family. Before Brittany could say anything more,
a tearful Ashley stood up and threw her arms around her favorite player,
teammate and mentor.
   "Thank you," she breathed into Brittany's ear.
   "You earned it," Brit mumbled back.
   After the applause died down Coach Wilson stood up and got everyone's
attention. He had some news that the league's board of directors informed
him about as they were walking the fields that he thought they all ought to
know about. "Let me start off by congratulating Ashley on her
achievement. Your sister would be proud of you. But before we all get too
mushy, Mr. DaWalt told me earlier tonight that we will be given a special
treat tomorrow at the captain's meeting for winning World Cup and every
tournament going back to last year. We're the first team in the league's
history to do so." His voice was drowned out by an onslaught of
cheers. Using his hands and arms, he calmed everyone down so he could
finish. "He didn't say what the treat is, but assured me that it will be
worth it. He also congratulated our JV team for the biggest turn-around
this league has ever seen. Not a single win all last year to District 5-AA
Champions, and by over fifty points; that's a feet in itself. Since the
media has been hightened because of our success, the prize pool has tripled
and the winner of the Region 6-AAA Championships will receive double prize
money and a FREE trip to State, paid for by the Board members themselves."
Once again, the kids went ape-shit. The emotion flowing from the team was
picked up by the entire restaurant--patrons and waitstaff. "So finish
eating, then get a good night sleep; you're going to need it. With the
prizes being the highest ever, you'd better believe every other team will
be gunning just as hard."


   Kennview rolled through their preliminary rounds. The varsity kids went
a perfect 3-0, that's to say as perfect as humanly possible. Their first
two games were complete blowouts, not a single point scored against
them. It wasn't until they went up against Clemson, from their own
district, that they were scored upon. And that was held to a singe
event. Kennview reminded them who the district champs were by a final score
of 17 to 1. Brittany, Brian, Curtis and the rest of the team had a smile on
their faces the entire game, knowing they were in the Quarter-Finals no
matter how that game ended. But having the number one seed and having the
largest point differential in the history of this event never hurts.
   The JV team fared much the same. They allowed only ten total points in
their preliminary round, that's including their one loss. Their first two
opponents scored one point each while the Kennview Kids (their name they
adopted from World Cup) scored 12 and 14 respectively. During their final
game of the prelims, their gameplan was to play conservatively and save
their energy for their own Quarter-Final round. Their loss came to last
year's Regional Champions, the Theodore Roosevelt Rebels, who they will be
facing in the semis, shoud all go to plan. They lost in overtime 7 to 8 in
what, for the most part, was a very boring, very meaningless game. No
matter the outcome, Kennview and the Rebels were the two teams advancing to
the next round. Ashley and her starting line played only two points the
entire game. She and her team took the number two seed behind the Rebels.
   The regional tournament is broken up into six-four team brackets who
play each other in a round robin format. The top two teams from each
bracket advance to the Quarter Final round. In this round, the teams are
grouped into two-six team brackets who will play in a round robin format
with a shortened game clock. The top two teams from each group advance to
the Semi Finals where they will be paired with the team with the same
ranking from the other group--Number One from Group A plays Number One from
Group B, Number Two from Group A plays Number Two from Group B--and resume
the standard game clock. This round is a best-of-three series. The winners
from each go on to face each other in the Finals in another best-of-three
series. The losers play one game of two-five minute halves to decided third
and fourth.
   Energy conservation in vital to all the teams that were to advance into
the latter rounds. Playing upwards of fourteen games in a singe day makes
for a very long day. The refs were taking a five minute water break before
the start of the Varsity Group A Quarter Finals. Brittany sat on the bench,
sucking down an energy drink, preparing herself for their first game of the
Quarter Finals. She looked through the nets, over to the spectators'
seating trying to find her mom and Amanda. From that distance and through
three layers of black netting made this all but impossible. She huffed and
took another swig of her Monster, one of her favorites and one of her
team's sponsors. She's been pretty quiet when her team wasn't on the field;
she's been thinking about how much she missed having Tina right next to her
on the bench and right behind her on the field. The teenager could feel her
team wanting to win this thing for their missing teammate; they just had
that extra push in their game.
   "Hey Brit," Frank said, plopping down next to his captain, "got some
good news."
   "Bellemont forfeited and we get to skip ahead to the semis?" she
guessed.
   "Not that good," he answered smiling. "The JV guys just won their way
into their semi- final round. They played a great series, sucks you missed
it sitting here. You ready to go for ours, by the way?"
   "Fuck yeah, bitch!" she shouted, jumping to her feet. She threw her pack
around her waist and fastened it into place. "What about you? You ready
fucker?"
   This is the Brittany he loves and respects. Ready to go and blast some
bitches' faces off. Ready to get out there and triple-tap some poor mother
fucker in the head. "Hells yeah, bitch!" he said, jumping up and getting in
her face. They continued their little shouting face- off for the next three
minutes, getting the attention of everyone in the stands and pits. Coach
Wilson just dropped his head and chuckled.
   Two minutes later, Brittany led her line out to the field to get this
thing started. As the top seed, they got the dubious honor of playing the
first game of the round, even though they just played the last game of the
prelims. She threw her fist in the air to get the crowd going. And they got
going. People like seeing the National Champions defending their crown,
especially when they're coming off a World Cup victory the month
before. Brittany huddled the team up at their start station for one of her
signature chant-rants, shouting loud enough so the whole venue knew they
were there.
   "ALRIGHT MOTHER FUCKERS! THIS IS OUR FIELD! THIS IS OUR EVENT! NO ONE
COMES INTO OUR HOUSE AND TAKES OUR FUCKING EVENT! GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES
OUT THERE AND RAM YOUR IT DOWN THEIR FUCKING THROATS! WE ARE WINNERS, THEY
ARE NOT! TAKE EVERYTHING!" To which her team and crowd replied, "GIVE
NOTHING BACK!"
   Brittany put her hand into the center of the circle. The other four put
in their hands, while shouting into each others faces. "MAKE ME HEAR IT,
MAKE'EM WEAR IT MOTHER FUCKERS!!"
   Her line pumped their hands simultaneously, chanting "WIN!"
   With their fans at their backs, the team lined themselves up and waited
for the ref to announce the ten second countdown. As they got into their
starting positions, the head ref called it out. No sooner had the words
left his lips that the coaches in the pits, the teams on the field, and
crowd in the bleachers began calling out who was running, who was gunning,
where people were going and who was staying home. This is the kind of
spectacle that made this game worth playing. But underneath the chaos of
calls and chants, each person on the field kept a silent clock in their
heads of the seconds counting down.
   The ref blew the whistle, and the players unleashed the flood. Kennview
came out firing on all cylinders, all five running and shooting their way
into their assigned bunkers. Brittany, and Johnny filling in for Tina, took
to the right tape. Brittany leaped over a rope of paint to get into the
snake clean, adding to the spectacle of her playing style. Instantly, she
crawled her way onto Bellemonte's side of the field. With Johnny covering
her attack from his position, the star girl began her methodical
dismantling of her enemy. One by one the "Boys in Black" found themselves
walking off the field, and wondering how Brit was able to shoot them out so
easily. Johnny took out the guy that made a desparite attempt to eliminate
his snake player, clinching the point for his team.
   By the time the dust settled, only a minute was taken off the
clock. Brittany led her squad to a total victory for her series of points,
a perfect 4 to 0 score, and with only two bodies eliminated in those four
points, before she turned the field over to the next captain's line. After
all was said and done, her team burned a total of seven minutes off the
clock; one minute to halftime. For Bellemonte, this was shaping up to be a
bad game.
   That notion wasn't lost on the next line to step on the field. Brian led
his squad to the start station, pumping his fist in the air. With the crowd
still reeling from Brittany's amazingly quick score, he easily whipped them
into a frenzy. Brian and his line felt the adrenaline surge through them,
allowed it to take over fatigue and turn it into aggression. Shouting and
chanting just like Brittany, Brian let that aggression flow through him and
pass it onto his teammates. He grabbed their masks, their jerseys, their
heads, whatever he could get his hands on to get them to his level. And his
efforts were well rewarded.
   In the minute left in the half, Brian's line scored twice against a
deflated Bellemonte team. A team that was looking more and more like a low
level JV team than the district champions that they are. In eight minutes,
they allowed six points and scored none of their own. This is the first
time all year they went into halftime trailing and it's also the first time
they failed to score in the first half. Coach Wilson knew who the better
team was and he made damn sure they knew it too. For the entire
intermission he went on and on about how sloppy the mid-guys were playing
and how the back players need to advance with the frontman they're
covering.
   His voice could be heard on the spectators' side of the field, were
Mrs. Williams and Amanda watched their girl do exactly what she does best;
she wins games. It's because of her that the level of playing has
skyrocketed in their district, in both the high school and divisional
leagues. People train for the sole purpose of beating her team, but so far
this year none have succeeded. The older Williams may cringe whenever her
daughter gets her line pumped up, or when she triple-taps some poor guy in
the head, but knows she does it because she is always improving her game
and elevating the potential of those around her. Besides, she'd rather she
her baby take her anger out on some opponent in a way like this than in a
moment of stupidity. Her and her daughter's girlfriend shot to their feet
when the head ref blew the two minute warning horn.
   Right on cue, the teams filed out to the field. Kennview, in an act of
sportsmanship, exchanged a few words of "good luck" with their
foe. Bellemonte reciprocated but knew they were beat. The crowd could see
it in the way they carried themselves. This time in the first half, they
were just as excited and amped as their opponent, but know they felt
exactly how they looked. Beaten, battered and covered in orange
paint. Unfortunately for them, there is no "Mercy Rule" after the
preliminary round of play; they had to finish this game whether they wanted
to or not.
   Kennview kept at the beating. Not for a second did they stop their
onslaught. Just as they've been trained, they played every point like they
desparitely needed it for the win. By the time the clock was in the final
minute, the Kennview Kids were making break-out moves that should be
impossible. Frank's line, who played out the rest of the game, managed to
run competely down the field and slide into their backline without a hit on
them. Bellemonte's coaches and staff were pissed at that, but knew their
kids were out of steam. Stopping the tidal wave that is Kennview High is
simply not possible once it starts; there's just too much water to
break. Kennview won their first Quarter Final game by a mere 14 to 0, a
small margin when compared to their usual scores, but Coach Wilson was just
happy to start the round with any "Points Against".
   Not to be outdone, the JV squad put up some pretty gaudy numbers
themselves in their first match. They beat Jefferson Central 13 to 3 and
put on a show doing it. Much her idol, Ashley came out with anger in her
eyes and hate in her heart. She played with a furious fervor that is rarely
seen at the JV level, and that angry abandonment made it's way into the
hearts of her teammates. When Brittany heard the news, she nearly screamed
out of pride. She finally trained a freshman girl to take her place once
she graduates. That only took two years and fifteen candidates.
   Both Kennview squads easily picked wtheir way into the Semi Final
round. Neither team lost a game; hell between the two, they only gave up
eight points all round. They both moved on comfortably as the number one
seed. As the sun was going down on the day, the Ultimate Referee called for
an official meal break for both the teams and event crew. It's a well known
fact that the players get tired and hungry, thus get more and more hostile
to the refs; but what everyone seems to forget is that the refs are people
too. People who go unnoticed until something bad happens. People who go
fourteen hours before getting a break from the sun, the teams, and the
fans. But when the Ultimate called for the break, the players from Kennview
made it a point to thank the refs and staff for how well the event had been
running. Not trying to show bias or favoritism, each one thanked them for
how clean they've been playing before the Ultimate broke them apart.
   Back in the players' area, Coach Wilson and his staff were going over
the gameplans for their next opponent, the Wilson County Cougars ironically
enough. He let the coaches and staff of the JV team keep to themselves as
they've been doing all day. Everyone was putting in their opinions and
suggestions on how best to play this field against these guys. They know
from watching some of their games that they like to crowd the snake side
early in the match, then spread the field as time goes by. They like to gun
heavy to their weaker side in an effort to cover their advancement
downfield. In the game they played each other, this tactic worked for the
first two points--they were the only team to score on them all round. But
the Cougars soon found themselves cutting their own throats as their
gameplan fell apart and they impaled themselves on Kennview's guns.
   "Coach, I think they're going to switch up their plan a bit and crowd
the middle, shooting outward," Brian said, moving his fingers along the
field diagram. "It almost worked in their game against us and it won them
their game against McMinville. I see no reason why they wouldn't use it
again."
   Brittany sat up and put her sandwich on the table. "I agree," she added
around her food. "The pins and mini-x's make for good cover all the way up
to the forty. We need to play the first couple of points conservatively,
get a feeling of their overall strategy, then run them into the ground. I
watched their last game, and to me they were starting to look pretty
winded."
   Coach nodded. "Yes they did," he agreed. "Personally I think they'll
come out fast to fool us into thinking they're up to the challenge. They'll
want us to play that game and then they'll sit back and reverse the tables
on us. But we won't do that! We're going to mirror their game and play the
middle, but we're going to just hold our lanes and let them come to
us. Play the ol' wear'em-down-til-they-get-bored-and-do-something-stupid
game. Then we'll bring the pain. But right now, everyone get something to
eat and drink."
   Brittany finished eating as quickly as possible, she had people to go
see. "Hey Coach, I'm gonna go see my mom and Amanda. I'll be back in
twenty."
   "Alright," he responded, holding up his watch, " and your time starts
now."
   With that she ran like hell out of the team's tent. This is a huge
venue, but fortunately the spectators have limited access passes. Brittany
went to the first place she could think of, the B-B-Q Pit, the biggest food
vendor of the event. Sure enough her two girls were sitting at one of the
picnic tables eating some of the "best barbecue in the southeast",
according to the sign. It put a smile on her face to know that her mom has
taken a liking to her clinically insane girlfriend, or it could be she
likes her because she doesn't know exactly what's happened to her.
   Amanda about jumped out of her skin when she felt Brittany's arms wrap
around her neck. With her mouth oozing barbecue sauce, she gave her
girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. If nothing else, just to embarrass her in
front of her mom. Wiping the sauce from her face, Brit sat down across from
her mother. "We're in the semis, mom," she said feeling like she did back
at Cup.
   "I know. Congratulations, honey,"she said holding her daughter's padded
arm. "When does your game start?"
   "In about twenty-five minutes," answered Brit, who took a hold of
Amanda's non-eating hand. "Ashley and the JV guys start about two minutes
after we do on Field 4, so we won't even be able to see any of it."
   Mrs. Williams looked over Brit's shoulder. "Speak of the devil, and she
appears," she said smiling at the youngster.
   "Hi, Mrs. Williams," Ashley said before she stopped at the table's
edge. "Hey Amanda," she waved, and got a mouth-load nod from the gluttonous
mute. "Brit, I need to talk to you."
   Taken a bit back at her tone of voice, Brittany scooted down the bench
and patted her old spot. "Well take a seat, hon."
   Ashley had a lost look in her eye. Brittany got the message that this
wasn't something she wanted to discuss in front of everyone. "I need to
talk to you in private, captain." Her eyebrow was raised as she said that
last word. Brittany looked to Amanda for a clue as to what to do. Being the
understanding girlfriend, Amanda nodded her head and rubbed her arm telling
her to go ahead. They shared a small kiss goodbye before Brit followed
Ashley to a more secluded spot behind the main traffic aisle.
   "What's up?" the captain started. "You seem anxious about something."
   "Kayla and Sam are here," Ashley said bluntly. Her tone carried with it
a feeling of woe and anger, but Brittany would have none of it.
   "I don't have time for this, Ashley," she said angered, pushing her way
around her young teammate. "They can be here if they want, it's not like I
give a flying fuck." Brittany attempted a bee-line away from her sobbing
teammate, but was caught by the loose arm of her jersey.
   "Wait," the JV captain begged, looking at the ground. "There's more."
   Brit huffed a annoyed breath. She may not want to hear any of Kayla's
drama bullshit, but she has always told her teammates to come to her about
any problems. For the sake of her own integrity, if nothing else, she
turned towards the sobbing blond. "Alright, Ash. I'll listen, but make it
quick. I would like to say more than one sentence to my mom before the end
of the break."
   "I don't know how to say this," Ashley warned with a tear in her
eye. "They've been teasing me about Tina... and I think they know who hit
her."
   Immediately Brittany's eyes widened. It's typical for Kayla to start
shit with people she doesn't like, especially people she considers beneath
her and freshmen always apply to that. But for her to sink so low as to
tease her about her comatose sister, that's a whole other level of
bitch. "Did you tell Coach? He can have her thrown out of here."
   "No, I couldn't find him. Johnny said you came over here right after
your dinner."
   She took Ashley around the shoulder and began moving towards the team
tent. "Let's walk and talk. I want you to tell me everything, then you're
going to tell that exact same thing to Coach. Understand?"
   "Yes, ma'am," she said, feeling better that her captain was willing to
hear her out.
   "Now, what exactly have they been saying to you?" Brittany asked in
captain's voice.
   Ashley stumbled for the words they used. In their hurried pace and
stressful situation, her brain wouldn't cooperate, but Brittany wanted her
to think good and hard about this so she just let her think. As they past
out of the vendor's village, they stopped dead in their tracks. Ashley
looked over to her idol and said, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
   This was the first time she's really seen her ex away from school. This
is the first time she'll have the chance to say everything she wants to say
to the lying bitch without the fear of teachers and principals to
interfere. "Just what the fuck have you been saying to my teammates,
bitch?" she snapped out before she could think twice about it.
   "Aw, what? Did the poor baby freshman go running off to my girlfriend
and spread lies about me?" Kayla quipped in a mocking tone. Ashley just
buried her head into Brittany's shoulder, trying to disappear.
   "Don't start that bullshit with me; I'm not your girlfriend. Answer the
fucking question!" Brittany demanded, moving them closer to their
adversary.
   "I guess she must really miss having a big sister to look out for her,"
Kayla said, keeping that arrogant smirk on her face. "Too bad she's laid up
in the hospital and all."
   Brit got in her face. "You're right, it's too bad. Because now she's
going to miss out on me kicking your ass." Brittany Williams has a good
mean-streak in her, but Kayla wasn't buying into it.
   "You aren't going to hurt me, Brittany," she said matter-of-factly. "As
I recall, it was that slut-mute of a charity case you picked up that
ambushed me. You know, she doesn't fight fair."
   For some reason, that brought a smile to Brittany's lips and crazy look
in her eye. Now Kayla was feeling Brittany's presence grow heavy. "If the
fight is fair, then your tactics suck," she said clenching her fist. "I
don't know where you get off on calling her names like that, but I know if
you say it one more time you'll be sharing a room with Ashley's sister."
Brittany fought back the urge to reel back and punch her in the face. That
would get her kicked out of the tournament and her team could possibly be
disqualified as well; she isn't worth it.
   "Who? Oh you mean the slut who says she's in love with you?" Kayla
mocked, trying not to be afraid of her ex's threats. "Can you believe she
had the balls to say that to MY face?"
   Brittany blinked. "What? You mean you didn't know? Damn are you slow on
the up-take." That elicited a giggle from Ashley,and a pained grimace from
Kayla. "Yeah I can believe that. Hell she flat out told me herself a while
ago." She looked over at Ashley, "Come on Ash, let's get back to the team."
   "Brittany wait!" Kayla pleaded, but she just kept on walking.
   "Shut up, cunt," she yelled over her shoulder. Ashley was walking at her
side, rather than buried in her chest. Out of nowhere, Ashley was thrown to
the ground. She gasped and sat up just as Brittany felt someone wrap their
arms around her shoulders. Out of instinct Brit spun around and drove a
fist into the gut of Kayla, who was trying to kiss her. She hit her with
enough force to knock her back five feet before landing square on her
ass. "I told you to watch yourself, bitch. Don't you ever try that shit
again. I will kill you over her, and her family," she said, pointing at
Ashley. "I don't want to imagine what I would do to you over Amanda. You'd
better keep that slutty mouth of yours shut."
   Kayla just started crying; not from the shot to her gut, but from what
Brittany just said. "I love you, Brittany. Can't you understand that!"
   Brittany helped Ashley up from the grass, not meeting her ex's
gaze. "No, I can't," she said bluntly, finally looking towards her. "You
spread rumors about me, you hurt my friends and then you insult their
families. Get it through our thick-fucking-skull: I don't love you
anymore. You're fucking crazy. Stop with this drama bullshit and stop using
Samantha as a little toy to make me jealous. I've got someone who loves me
and understands me. I don't have to do stupid things to make her happy,
she's happy to just be with me."
   "But she's freaking insane," Kayla said, trying to regain her composure.
   With her hard-toe cleat, Brittany kicked the downed girl in the
stomach. Kayla felt the air fall from her lungs; her face met the grass,
turning the same color. "I warned you not to talk about her like that,"
Brittany said ominously. She looked around to make sure no one saw
that--good thing everyone's eating right now. "I went threw a hell you will
never understand to be with her. Fuck me, we're still trying to figure it
all out." She turned to Ashley, who had a sullen look on her face. "Let's
get out of here." As they left the blond gasping for air, Brittany could
swear she heard her repeat over and over that she loves her, and she'll
prove it.
   "Right on time, Brittany," Coach Wilson said when she arrived. He looked
at his star player and her slightly annoyed look. "Everything alright?"
   Brittany just smiled brightly. "Yeah. I ran into a slight problem, but
it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."
   "Good. Now get your shit wired and let's go." Brittany winked at her
coach and grabbed her gearbag.
   When the team got to the pit, they saw that Wilson Central was nowhere
to be found. The team started looking at each other, then at their
schedules. Then at the coaches. They were at the right field. They arrived
at the scheduled time. Apparently the Cougars didn't read that part. Even
the refs were looking a bit anxious for someone to show up.
   "Calm down everyone," Coach said. "Get your gear in the pits like we
always do. I"ll have a little chat with the head ref of the field."
   Brian led his team into the empty pits. He and Curtis started putting
the paint boxes on the table while some of the other guys started pulling
the pods out of the tote. Frank, Johnny and some of the others set to work
getting some ice for the water and Gatorade. Brittany set her mask around
her neck as she pulled her gun out of her bag. She went over to the fill-
station for the first tank of air of the match. . . assuming there will be
a match. The girl-star looked out onto the field as her tank filled.  Coach
Wilson was still discussing the situation with the refs and it was looking
more and more that the "Kennview Kids" were getting into the Semis by
default--not at all the way they want to. In a forfeit, the "winning team"
receives only seven points for their "points-for" column. Everyone knows
they would have scored at least double that.
   A good five minutes went by with still no sign of the other team. Just
as the team was starting to get the paint in the pods, Coach came back into
the pit. "Alright, it seems the Cougars had an incident during their last
match," he stated, getting everyone's attention. "None of the refs would
tell me exactly what that was, but long-story-short, we get a bye this
round. I know it's not the way we wanted to get into the Semis," he said
among the groans, "but that's the way it's going to be. So, we can either
stay here and keep our claim on this pit and chill out for a while, or we
can go watch the other Quarter Final games. But whatever you decided to do,
this gear does not stay unattended."
   Most of the team dispersed to go watch their potential opponents. Brian
and Frank went to go watch a game of one of their higher seeded bracket
teams, the Goodletsville Gladiators, who were pounding their weaker
opponent Owensburo Catholic by a score of 9 to 1. In fact, they and the
Gladiators square off next game. Coach Wilson and most of his staff went to
go watch another in-bracket match up of Nashville Central and Lafayette
Regional. Brittany went to go find her mom and Amanda once again. She had a
hard time getting to go anywhere. It seemed no matter where she went
anymore, especially after World Cup and her internationally viewed
interview, she was being begged to sign one of her posters or someone's
gear. Mostly it was girls who were trying to make a name for themselves as
well in their own areas who sought her out. They would ask her for tips and
advice as she signed their stuff. Though more than happy to answer, it
drove her nuts that Amanda was waiting so patiently for her.
  Frantically she searched the venue. They weren't at the picnic area and
she couldn't find them in the stands. With her time running out, Brittany
started the lonely walk back to the pits. She hated feeling like this right
before a game. Feeling like she let her loved ones down. Feeling like she
isn't deserving of someone like Amanda. Flat out feeling like shit. A few
other Angel patrons hit her up for some autographs ad advice, but the star
player's mood was quickly going down the toilet. "Damn it!" she swore out
loud to no one. "Damn it, I told her I'd spend time with her today."
   Back in the pits, Coach Wilson was putting his lines in order. He
decided that Brian would start off the game against Goodletsville. This
time, there would be no free rides. The Gladiators came to win. Just like
Kennview, they too have gone the day undefeated. The crowds were eager for
a great game. Most were taking bets that there would be a rematch in the
finals. This notion wasn't lost on the teams either. In fact, this is a
rematch of the State Semi-Finals from the last two years running, so
Kennview knew they were out for blood.
   Brian and his line filed onto the field amidst the cheers of their
fans. He and his crew had plenty of rest for this game. But their opponent
just came off the biggest victory in their school's history. If for that
reason alone, the Gladiators were more excited about this game than
Kennview. Before the head ref could blow the ten second warning whistle,
the crowd and pits were alive with cries of the other team's plan. Both
team captains and their teams tried to ear out the hype and chants as they
had to play their game and not give in to the other's plan. And both teams
a well prepared for each other.
   On the whistle, both teams held back from taking too far of
positions. Kennview's plan from last game applied to this game as they
anticipated a fast, aggressive break-out. With both teams holding their
positions further away from each other, this game would prove to be a long
drawn out affair. These teams are evenly matched and each knew how to lock
down a field.
   It wasn't until the third minute of the game that someone made an
aggressive move downfield. Johnny somehow managed to dive into the second
notch of the snake untouched. That caused a little stir in the Gladiators'
pit. It also proved top be their downfall. As each man tried to get him
out, Brian sent him to the deadbox. Johnny never fired a shot from that
position, he just sat there and let his enemy impale themselves. Just as
Coach predicted, you sit long enough they'll get bored and do something
stupid. Brian and his line played their series of points just hat way. And
it worked without fail. The team captain led his line on a perfect three
point run, even if it took the entire first half to do it.
   The crowd wasn't disappointed by the low score--everyone expected
it. Everyone likes to see two powerhouses go at it in a game that can
easily go either way. They knew this was going to be a drawn out defensive
game. They know that the last team to score is the one who will win.
   Amanda stood when she saw Brittany leading off the second half. She made
her entrance in grand fashion, just walking to the start station with her
mask on and looking at the ground. She gathered her team around her but
kept her usual banter to a minimum, much to the dismay of the crowd. For
the first time in her career, she had other issues on her mind than
paintball. However, one would be a fool to take that as a sign of weakness
for this is THE Brittany Williams.
   When the head ref blew the whistle to start the half, the other team
apparently forgot that part. During their pre-point predictions, everyone
saw the team captain acting down-and-out and made that very mistake. As
they soon remembered the hard way, she has an uncanny ability to turn
almost every emotion into anger and aggression. The entire half she ran her
line down the throats of the Gladiators. They couldn't seem to catch a
break and Brittany couldn't seem to get tired. Every point after her line's
series, she kept waving of her substitution wanting. . .needing to stay on
the field. Her bloodlust could not be quenched. She ended up leading her
team to a perfect 12 to 0 victory over a team that was supposed to be their
toughest opponents. Amanda made a mental note to never piss her girlfriend
off.
    The rest of the round went by much the same. Brittany couldn't seem to
get this. . .  this inner rage out of her system. The spectators--save for
her mom and Amanda--ate it up. They love watching one of the best the game
has ever seen having her way with her opponents. Those same opponents had
the roughest time of their lives when going up against her. It was as if
all of her shots were guided by as unseen hand to land exactly where she
pointed. But in Brittany's mind, there was something else.
   It was Kayla and the suspicions around her. What she said to Ashley only
started making sense when she was loading the gear into the pits. They way
she taunted her about her sister. That was low even for her. Then there was
the way she said she talked about how much she loved her and no one else
would. And that surprise hug that earned her a fist in the gut. Kayla was
never one to show her love like that. She always thought her as a little
nuts, but to do what Brittany thought she did was taking it a step too
far. But isn't that what true nut-jobs do? Then, as she was preparing her
team and personal gear, all of her suspicions culminated into something she
did not like. Pure, unstoppable rage. For a while, all she wanted to do was
ring her ex by the neck until she could feel her heart stop in her
hands. Fortunately she had the opportunity to get some of that out of her
before that plan came to fruition.
   In the Semifinals, Brittany was just as viscous. The unfortunate
opponents that lay in her wake could only wonder from where her rage came
from. They may have met in the past, but no one has seen her playing like
this. The cold heartedness of her entire demeanor was what made her all the
more troubling. She never once shook anyone's hand. she never once spoke a
word to anyone of the opposing teams aside from the usual on-field
banter. In the pits, it was business as usual, but her up-beat and
in-your-face ranting was replaced by a cold, steady toned line captain
discussing strategy. Brittany wanted nothing to do with anybody in the
pits. She wanted to kill her ex, but mowing faces on the field would have
to do for now.
   Even the coaches and staff couldn't get through to her. Nor could they
see to the reason behind her madness. She was simply not altogether
there. Yes, she was taking part in the planning stages between points and
rounds, but when it came to getting the team pumped up and ready to go she
didn't seem to care; she had blood to spill. Upon their entry to the
Finals, Brian tried saying something but once and he was met with the fury
of a woman scorned. Even the news of the JV team's first ever Regional
Championship seemed to do little to sway the blood-thirsty girl from
quenching her hunger.
   What did keep her going, however, was Ashley's bright, smiling face when
she joined them in the pits. For reasons not known even to her, Ashley's
expression of pride and confidence lit a new fire in her idol's gut. It was
the extra push she needed to keep he mind focused just long enough to get
through this thing and deal with Kayla later.
   Just as predicted, Kennview went up against their Quarter-Final rival,
Goodletsville. Taking once last swig of her energy drink, Brittany threw
her mask on and demanded that she be the one to lead the team onto the
field.
   "You know, Brittany, when you play your first point you will set the
record for the most consecutive points played in the history of this
league?" Coach Wilson said sardonically.
   "Coach, you know I don't really care about shit like that," she
answered. "I just want to go out there and win this thing. I know I've been
down-and-out all fucking night, but now's my chance to make it up to
everyone. I want this lead."
   Coach stood there for a second, trying to think of a reason not to give
it to her. She may have been a bit on the bitchy side for the last three
hours, but it's not like that's never happened bfore. Images of earlier
this year flashed through his head. How hard she struggled to keep her head
high and play the way he's trained her. How bad she felt whenever he saw
her around campus. And above all, how she still manage to produce when he
needed her most. "Alright, it's yours," he said to his star player. "But
the minute you start looking tired I WILL pull you out of there. Understand
me?"
   "Yessir," she said, smiling brightly. She picked up her gun and headed
for the start gate. Brian, Curtis, Frank and Adam joined her in what was
known among the team as the "All-Star Lineup". Everyone of these players
has started on national level teams and each one specializes in a certain
area of the field. If everything went according to plan, the Gladiators
wouldn't be able to move against them.
   From the get-go, the "Kennview Kids" hammered everything they had at
their opponent. It was a spectical not unlike what happened in the
Quarter-Finals just three hours earlier. Brittany had played nearly six
games straight with her only breaks coming between games. If she got her
way, she would have played seventeen halves of X-Ball; nearly one hundred
total points. The numbers were simply astounding, not to mention the fact
that she is leading her team in the most important part of the event on a
full tank somehow. The fans started calling her "The Machine", and during
halftime of that first game some even made crude signs in tribute to this
new alias. She and Brian had played the entire first half of the game
without rest. Kennview managed a two point lead with a 5 to 3 score going
into the break.
  Keeping true to her word, Brittany led her line back out for the second
half. Aside from her and her captain, three faces that have barely seen any
playng time joined them. The plan was to start eating away at the clock,
but the Machine wanted complete domination over her enemy. She wanted to
show them who truly belonged atop the podium. And she set herself into the
gear to make her wish come true.
   Brittany played her game true to form and kept adding to the
scoreboard. They did take time off the clock, but the line did their own
way. Point after point after bloody point, Brittany and her team kept
wearing down an ever deflating Goodltesville team. With time on the clock
for one last point to play, Kennview had secured it's first game victory
with a 14 to 5 score. Brittany lived up to her new namesake. By game's end,
her total number of consecutive points played totaled 105. And with another
game left to play, she fully planned on increasing that record.
  The second game wasn't so much of a game as it was a slaughter. Totally
mezmermised by Brittany's inability to get tired, the Gladiators themselves
felt their own energy drainging out of them. And with the hour growing more
and more late, the fact that half of Goodletsville's team hasn't slept in
nearly twenty-four hours became an important part of their playing
ability. They were no match for the Kennview onslaught. The Machine ended
the event with 121 consecutive points played in a single event. That's on
to of the points that didn't get counted during the prelims and first game
of the Quarter-Finals. But someone somewhere would add those up.
   Brittany went over to her coach after their victory, rather than join
her team in their celebration. "Coach I need to tell you something," she
said very seriously.
   "It can wait, Brittany," he said, smiling. "You should be happy. Our JV
team just won their first ever Regional Championship. Ashley's been voted
to lead them into State. We just won our third consecutive Regional title
and you yourself just set a league record. Smile a little, would ya?"
   "It's about Tina!"