Descended (15 page)

The girls changed into their gym clothes and started to walk out into the gym area when suddenly Tess was standing in front of them giving
Kade
an evil stare. “Hey Tess,”
Kade
greeted her kindly, even though she wasn’t fond of her at all.  Tess coiled her finger around her hair twisting it as she responded by saying her name and rolling her eyes. 
”
Kade
.”
That was all she said to her before she wedged herself between the girls with her backside blocking
Kade
.

“So Vie, it is still Vie right?” Tess said condescendingly. “Yes, like I told you before my FRIENDS can call me Vie
,“
Violet said reminding her to decide if she were friend or foe. “Well, I mean it’s so hard to tell these days
who
your friends are.   You know what I mean?” again mocking her. “No Tess, I don’t so again for the record maybe you should be clear if you are my friend or not,” Violet challenged her. “Well, I mean it’s all very confusing…first your friends with
Kade
, then you’re not.  You’re going out with Jeremy,
then
you’re not.  You’re friends with me and…,” Violet jumped in with a “and then I’m not? Is that what you were going to say Tess? I mean if we were such good friends how come you didn’t visit me at all during the month I spent in the hospital?” Tess responded, “Oh, like you would remember.” Tess’s band of wannabe’s surrounding her giggled at the remark.  “Oh trust me Tess, you’re a hard person to forget
,  try
as I may!” Violet came right back at her strong and secure in herself. 
“Oh, and how about you?”
Violet said. “Maybe you should make up your mind. I mean you like Carter, but you’re going out with Bull.  But then you stake claim with Carter.  Which is it Tess?” Violet said.  The other girls just stood, shocked by the force from Violet.  No one had ever spoken to Tess that way…no one until now.  Tess’s face began to fluster and then the teacher came into the
locker room, saving the day by blowing her whistle and telling the girls to get a move on out to the court.

“See
ya
out there friend!” Violet said with a satisfactory grin.

“Whatever!” Tess responded, clearly defeated by Violets words.

The girls took the floor and Mrs. Corrigan explained to them that she would pick two “team captains” that would be in charge of selecting teams.

“Let’s see,” she said scoping out the girls.

“Tess, you are my first team captain representing team A.”  Tess sauntered over with a proud smile displayed upon her face. Tess was an excellent athlete and a fierce competitor. She had several colleges pursuing her with athletic scholarships.  She was extremely talented in many areas but definitely lacking decency, compassion, and a moral compass.

“Vivian,” She called out seconds later, “you are captain for team B.”

“Oh, Mrs. Corrigan,” Tess interrupted by waving her hand in the air like she had a question.

“Vivian would like to be called Vie now,” Tess said mockingly with her evil little grin.

Mrs. Corrigan could clearly see the sneers the girls were exchanging, so she decided not to add fuel to the fire.  Something she had learned from experience after a few years of teaching high school gym. Where there are teenage girls, there is always drama.

“Ok Vie, your team B’s captain,” she said without a question asked.  “Score one for me,” Violet thought to herself seeing that Tess failed miserably in her attempt to embarrass Violet and to receive any attention while doing so.

“We’ll flip to see who gets first pick. 
Ready girls?”
Mrs. Corrigan asked with a coin in her hand.

No sooner than the coin flipped up in the air Tess yelled out heads leaving Violet with tails. She watched for the coin to hit the floor. Violet remained calm knowing which face would land up. “Tails it is!”  It was great being a Guardian knowing in advance which side the coin would land on.  Mrs. Corrigan held up the coin for the girls to see. “Vie, you select first,” she said.  Without hesitation, Violet picked
Kade
and her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. 
Kade
was usually one of the last girls picked to join a team during gym class, given that her sporting skills were somewhat lacking.  It was part of the reason
Kade
hated gym class so badly.  It humiliated her on a daily basis.  Tess couldn’t believe the losers Vie was selecting, but she loved it.  Tess was confident they were going to cream them with ease.  They continued selecting the girls one by one until the teams were complete.  Of course, Tess’s team was filled with all of the popular athletic girls, but Violet seemed pleased because she knew she had the team with heart.  She just needed to figure out a way to tap into their souls so they shine.  Violet was going to provide them
the opportunity to kick the popular girls’ butts and was happy knowing she would be there to share in their moment of glory!

Tess walked over to Violet and said, “Bring it!” Violet smiled, not even slightly intimidated, and said nothing.  She jogged over and huddled with her teammates telling them the only object to this game was to have fun. Then she told them if they kick a little popular tail in the process, then that is just an added bonus.  Violet’s charisma was infectious and all of the girls felt their hearts pumping with exhilaration.  Violet lifted them up and brought her warriors in training to battle.

Violet turned around leading her team to the floor when she noticed him watching her from across the gymnasium. It was Carter and he was transfixed on her every move.  He saw the strategy unfold with Violet’s team and was anxious to see how it played out.  Within minutes the entire boys’ gym class was beside Carter clapping and cheering for the girls from across the floor. 
Carter, standing as handsome as ever, held out his hands and shook his head, smiling.
  He had no idea what was happening but he was enjoying every minute of it.  Tess was furious at the attention Carter was showing her and was determined to win at any cost.   Suddenly Violet paused, feeling like she heard Carter’s voice in her head saying, “Game on!”  It was a strange, she thought, but she couldn’t stop to think about what she heard because the girls were in position and ready.  But what was apparent to Violet was even from across the gym she was so connected to Carter.  She could hear his voice speak to her.  She wondered what other surprises getting close to him would reveal to her.

Tess was serving first, no surprises there.  She launched the ball into the air and served it with a powerful driving force headed straight at Violet’s face. You could hear the onlookers gasp the second the ball was released. What Tess did not know is that Violet spent much of her time catching the deadly blades of the angel wings traveling at the speed of light with her bare hands. If the other Guardians were not a match for her, Tess didn’t’ have a prayer, literally.

Violet stopped the ball with a bump up to
Kade
and called out to her, “
Kade
, back to me.” 
Kade
set the ball back to her. Vie jumped up higher than any human being could and spiked the ball with such intensity you could feel the gymnasium floor vibrate as it headed straight for Tess. Her eyes were wide and in shock when she realized it was coming at her, like a missile that had targeted her.  She escaped its wrath by falling to the floor to avoid the direct hit by Violet.  The girls on team B were jumping up and down and hugging Violet.  It seemed as though they had found their hero and her name was Vie Thorne.  Carter watched in admiration, sending her a wink of approval as she skillfully triumphed over Tess and the others.

Bump after set after spike, the girls all worked together as a team with Vie managing to pull out a long overdue victory against Team A.  You could almost see the smoke coming out of Tess’s ears when Mrs. Corrigan announced the final score and congratulated Team B on a game well played.  They returned to the locker room, still pumped from their win as Tess approached Vie and
Kade
.

“Not bad Vie,” Tess said. “Did your doctor install some bionic parts in you during your surgery?” she said still in disbelief of their defeat.

“No Tess, I just figured out the secret to being a great athlete?” Vie said confidently.

“The secret?
Oh do tell Vie, we’d love to hear it?” Tess said snickering with her posse behind her.

“Your team was missing the key ingredient that my team happened to have in abundance.” Vie said knowing she would bite.

“Really, and what do you think my team was lacking, Vie?” she turned to the girls smiling snidely.

“To win, you’ve got to play with your heart and soul or it doesn’t work. I guess my girls just needed someone to help them see that.”  Vie said, daring her to reply. Actually her facial expression was as blank as her soul. Tess didn’t even seem to understand the concept of winning, so she didn’t bother to challenge
Vie’s
explanation.

“Anyways,” Tess said shaking it all off, “are you coming with us to the game tonight?” Tess totally blew
Vie’s
mind by going off topic.

“What game?” Vie inquired.

“Duh” she shouted, “the football game?  Well it is only a practice game but we are expected to be there to support our players. And there is a raging party at Bull’s house afterwards, so I can pick up at say, 5-ish?” she said leaving Vie speechless about the unexpected momentary truce she was clearly offering.

“Uh,
Kade
what do you think? Should we go?” Vie asked her.  Suddenly Tess jumped in and said
, ”
No, no Vie, it’s by invitation only and I don’t believe
Kade
is on the list?” Tess winked at Vie, clearly trying to get her to go along with her attempt to embarrass her friend
Kade
.  Violet looked her square in the eyes, trying to find the shred of goodness in her that Carter spoke about, but all she saw was an empty black hole where her soul should be.

“Hmm…well can I see my invitation?” Vie said holding out her hand.

“It’s a verbal one Vie, you know, word of mouth,” Tess said gritting her teeth and losing patience.

“Oh, I see.  Well then here are a few words from my mouth that I think you should hear. I don’t think
Kade
and I can make it tonight.  I just remembered we already have plans. 
Right
Kade
?”
Vie winked at her friend, mocking Tess.

“What?” Tess said raising her voice. “You’re not coming?” Tess was clearly shocked at
Vie’s
slap to her face in front of her girls.

“That’s right Tess!” Vie got up in her face and said, “My friend
Kade
and I have better things to do tonight.  I just thought I would verbally let you know!”
Kade
giggled under her breath.

“Fine,” Tess decided she would she would play along.  She couldn’t let the other girls see her being defeated twice in one day by Vie.  Her blood was boiling but she turned and walked away with her posse following right behind her.  Tess pulled open the locker room door with fury and charged right into Carter who was waiting outside the door.

“OMG Carter, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were waiting for me?” Tess always caught up with Carter after third period since they shared the same time slot for gym and their lockers were right beside each other. They usually walked from gym to their lockers before heading to lunch.

“Tess…
ummm
…uh…actually I was waiting for Vie.  Is she still in there?” he asked her politely.

“
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
!”
Tess yelled and stomped off to her locker. “I’m going to make Vivian Thorne sorry she was ever born!” Tess muffled to her friend Jasmine.

Vie came out of the locker room with
Kade
minutes later and saw Carter standing there waiting for her.

Kade
noticed the way Carter looked at her friend and suddenly felt like she needed to give them a minute. “I’ll just let you guys chat a minute,”
Kade
said feeling like she was interrupting something. They both just stood there grinning with their eyes gleaming as if they were the only two people in the school. “Vie?”
Kade
called her name so she could excuse herself, but got no response. “Ok, then I’ll catch you guys later.”
Kade
started to walk away when Vie noticed her leaving. “
Kade
, where are you going?’ Vie called out to her. “To class, I’ll call you later Vie…enjoy!” she said smiling, excited that her friend was clearly the object of Carter’s affection. “God, she’s a lucky girl!”
Kade
said to herself.  Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what happened between her and Jeremy?  She figured her friend would talk about it when she was ready.

“You looked pretty good out there today,” Carter said.

“Thanks,” Vie replied modestly.

“You know we are always scouting talent for the football team if you’d like to give it a go,” Carter said teasing Vie.