Trojan Horse

7 - A Damn Good Fight

Minna took the hair elastic from Cat and tied off the end of her braid. The other two were done already — and when Minna looked on the mirror, she felt like she looked like a princess — or more likely, the handmaiden.

"Ready?" Cat asked with a grin.

Minna nodded and grabbed her racquet off the rack and jogged out to meet her teammates.

"We're ending practice early today!" Jeremy called over the chatter. "Classes start tomorrow, so get some rest and don't be late! Got it?"

"Yes, captain!" twenty-seven college athletes called back to him.

"Give it your all today, please. I know most of you have been holding back lately, but today I want you to go all in. Minna, that means you don't hold back. Laila, lock down your goal. Kayla, as fast as you can. Everyone else, you know what you have to do."

"Yes, captain!"

Minna couldn't stop the amused smile that spread across her face at the simultaneous shout.

Robin, one of the starting dealers, flashed Minna a grin as she set herself on the court. "This is fun, right?" he asked. "Playing with us?"

"At least you guys get along," Minna said.

Robin laughed. "Why? The Foxes fight a lot?"

"Yes. A lot of infighting, a lot of Dan being uncharacteristically rude."

"Ah. They have no vice captain, right?"

"Currently," Minna agreed. "Quite chaotic."

The dealer laughed and turned around as the strikers stopped talking in front of them. Jeremy held up his hand in the dealer spot across the court. "Starting!"

Minna readied her heavy racquet. She'd been switching between the two, trying to decide which one she liked best. She had settled on the heavier one, and she knew it was for the best when Kayla came darting at her. Minna checked their racquets and hit her shoulder as Kayla was forced to release the ball.

"Robin!" Minna called.

The dealer caught the ball as it came flying toward him and he sent it toward Toni. The upperclassman ran with the ball, then passed it to Rosa, who made it score on the goal, only for Adam to block. The brunet's eyes narrowed and he passed the ball to Jeremy. Minna tracked the ball across the court, and moved in to intercept Kayla as she got the ball. She checked their racquets and ran with the ball to Caiden. The backliner took the pass and overhand passed to Robin, who was further up the court than expected. The ball rolled to a stop a couple feet away. Robin lunged and missed the ball by an inch as Alden took hold and started to run for goal. Minna covered Kayla, watching Caiden struggle to catch up to Alden. He took a shot... and missed. Laila batted the ball away, and it shot right into Robin's racquet's net.

Minna held Kayla, pinning her with racquet checks and quick maneuvers to stop her from running out to join the fight for the ball.

Halfway through, Minna switched with her sub. She sat on the bench with Laila, wiping sweat off her face.

"Kayla get you?" Laila teased.

"She's fast," Minna said. "I was surprised — Cat had had her down all week and I've got Raven speed on my side."

"Cat is more about brute force," Laila said.

"I heard my name twice," Cat said with a grin. "Got anything to say to my face?"

"Just admiring your skill to keep Kayla down," Minna said with a slight grin. "She's almost as fast as a Raven. Take it from me — I used to be one."

Laila laughed and wrapped an arm around Minna's shoulders. "This is gonna be great."

"This year?"

"Oh yeah. We're gonna get to beat up some Ravens."

"Laila, they're southeast."

The goalkeeper made a face. "Well, at least during the spring."

"They'll win."

"And? It's still a chance for you to show them that you're better than they thought."

Minna shrugged. "Riko can outpace me. He's faster, stronger, older, and he grew up playing to get attention. Me? I played because I had to."

"Minna..." Alvarez said slowly. "Whenever you're ready..."

"I'll tell you," Minna sighed. "I can't right now. Okay?" 

"Yeah," Laila agreed. The three girls turned to watch the rest of the scrimmage.

Their joy that evening was subdued. Minna felt slightly guilty, but Jeremy carried on like he sensed no change in the atmosphere. He came over with a six pack of beer and offered one to Minna. They chatted about the scrimmages — "I can't believe he scored on you!" "Shut up." — and classes — "You chose to be a double major? That's so much work." — and argued over different plays and movies and theatre productions.

"Minna," Jeremy said when she started to leave. The girl looked back at him, confusion evident on her face. "Have a good night."

Minna smiled weakly. "Will do, Cap."

He smiled and Minna went to sort out her school things. Book were put into her bag, her laptop, pens, pencils, and notebooks settled in for the next day. Minna wound her charger and stuffed it in an almost too small compartment.

She grabbed pajamas and changed, not showering. She combed out her hair, still wavy from her three Dutch braids, and she wound her long hair into a bun for sleep. Minna sat down on the edge of her bed and stared out the window, trying to muster up the energy to crawl under the covers and turn out the lights.

It seemed like only seconds later when she was picked up and then laid down and tucked in. She opened one eye and Laila patted her hair until she fell back to sleep.

•|⚜️|•

Man, I am so tired. Just me? Okay.