STRANGERS ♱ yellowjackets

01. freeze her out

1996, New Jersey

BUNNY WAS ON FIRE. The whole team was. As the game went on, the feeling dream they all had in their minds was turning into reality. They were going to win states.

As Taissa steals the ball from the opposite team's player, who took it from Allie, Bunny's breath speeds up. This was it. "Tai!", she yells, running closer to the other side of the field. Tai passes the ball to Bunny, who passes it to Shauna, who passes the ball back to Tai. The crowd is screaming as the girls get closer to the goal. Jackie sees her opportunity and lifts her hand up at Tai, yelling her name. Tai kicks the ball to Jackie who makes the goal.

The whistle blows and Bunny throws her hands in the air with a huge grin. She runs to Jackie in seconds, throwing her arms around the girl as does everyone else. She jumps up and down squealing excitedly as the crowd cheers for the girls. Lottie hugs Bunny and then Shauna hugs her. Van runs from the goal with her hands in the air. The girls jump together as they all chant "Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!"

"I mean did you see that? Her footwork was amazing", Bunny exclaims to her dad as she chugs from her water bottle. Phil has a proud and amused look on his face as he throws his arm around his daughter. "You were pretty amazing there too, young lady", he resorts and pokes the girl to her side. Bunny sequels, since she is extremely ticklish, she pushes her dad off with a laugh. "Yeah, but not as good as Lottie", she says and wipes her forehead. "PJ?", Bunny asks, knowing that the hope she carried was false hope. Still, she wished could be less dissapointed than she was when her father shakes his head. "He was busy", he says and Bunny nods. Her dad only smiles at the girl and for the love that the she carries for her teammates. "I'm gonna go shower. Wait for me?", Bunny asks as she begins to jog back to Coach Scott, where some of the girls are. Phil gives his daughter a thumbs up.

A few days later the girls are in their locker room, dancing around to Shoop by Salt-N-Pepa, hyping themselves up for the upcoming pep rally. Bunny giggles as Lottie pulls her up from the bench she is sitting on with Taissa, twirling her around before kissing her on the cheek and dancing away. Van does a gymnastic kick for a clever lyric and dances off to the bathroom. Even the usual tension between Bunny and Natalie seems to be gone after winning the states. The two jam off for a moment before Bunny follows Van into the bathroom.

Jackie is finishing the bee on Allie's cheek as Bunny arrives. She smiles at Jackie as she starts to fix the bows in her hair. "Allie", Jackie calls for the freshman. Bunny glances over at the two before focusing on her curls again. "You alright? It's just a pep rally."

"Honestly, I think the whole point is just to give freshmen something to jerk off to later", Jackie comforts the younger player. Bunny makes a face, "Gross, Jackie." Jackie only snorts at the girl's response. Lottie appears at the door.

"Jackie, coach wants to see you in his office", Lottie says as she hangs from the door frame. Allie looks back at Jackie before saying, "I'm not nervous."

As Jackie leaves Van takes over the painting duty. "I'm the only freshman who got asked, y'know", Allie says, heartbroken. "I know", Van says, focusing on the face paint. "It's so unfair. My dress was gonna be amazing", Allie sighs dramatically.

"Well, hey, at least you can wear it next year", Bunny tries to comfort the younger girl from her spot. Allie turns to look at her with a bitter expression as she says, "You don't get it, Bunny. You weren't even going in the first place." Bunny's expression changes as she scoffs and turns to look at herself in the mirror again. It's true, she wasn't going to go. She had been asked by four different people but turned all of them down. It was getting closer to the anniversary of her mother's death, and prom seemed like a stupid thing to worry about.