STRANGERS ♱ yellowjackets

02. punching bag

LATER AT PRACTICE BUNNY CAN'T HELP BUT STARE AT TAISSA. She has a feeling that no matter what the girl would try to freeze Allie out of the game. Bunny decides to make it her mission to try and sabotage Tai if she tries to mess with the freshman. They are all warming up as Coach Scott blows the whistle.

"All right. Bring it in. Take a knee, ladies", he calls and the team sits down to one knee. Bunny glances over at Tai, who ignores the blonde girl. "What's up, state champs?" Coach Scott says and claps his hands together, earning a few cheers from the girls. "Okay, so. JV is gonna help us out with a little scrimmage today. Uh, Coach Martinez had to take care of a family thing so, JV, you're gonna grab a pinny from Misty, and let's get started!"

"Uh, excuse me, Coach Scott. Shouldn't we say a prayer first?", Laura-Lee asks. Bunny gives the girl a small smile, feeling bad as some of the teammates snort. "Uh, it's just a scrimmage, Laura-Lee", Coach Scott says, but then gives in, clearing his throat, "But, sure. Yeah, knock yourself out." Laura-Lee says a prayer that ends with some yelling a loud 'Amen' and clapping their hands together.

As the game starts Allie freezes with the ball. Coach Scott blows the game off and Taissa offers to switch sides. Bunny gives the tall girl a suspicious look but doesn't say anything. She decides to follow Allie, making sure Taissa won't mess with her too much. Taissa gives Allie a rough round, muttering something to Shauna about learning to play under pressure. Finally, Allie kicks the ball over to Shauna who kicks it to Bunny.

"Bunny!", Allie calls and the blonde girl runs closer to the girl. Bunny eyes the goal as she gets closer to Allie, ready to surrender the ball to the freshman before Taissa runs out from nowhere, tackling the freshman. Allie falls and tackles Bunny, punching out all the air from her. Bunny lets out a yelp as she hears something snap. Allie's scream fills her ears as Bunny starts to cough furiously, desperate for some air. She quickly crawls to the crying player, shock and fear spreading through her like a fever.

"Oh my God", Bunny yells and looks around for Coach Scott, who jogs to the girls. Everyone kind of stands and stares as shock spreads through them. Allie screams for help. Misty runs to the girl with a shirt and says, "We need to apply pressure to it!" She presses the bone down, only making Allie scream more. "Misty, stop!", Bunny screams and pushes the girl off of Allie. Bunny takes Allie's head and rests it on her lap, smoothing down her hair. "Allie, don't move!", she orders the freshman. Allie looks at the older girl in pure terror, a look Bunny will never forget.

The locker room is dead silent. Bunny's hands are in her hair, pulling her roots as her head hangs down. Her breathing is heavy as she tries to forget the haunting look on the younger girl's face.

"I know we're all really worried about Allie", Jackie starts, unsure of what to say. Bunny looks up at her friend, before letting her head fall back down. "But, it might not be as bad as it looks." Natalie snorts bitterly from the floor. "You could see her fucking bones, Jackie." Bunny glances over at the bleach-blond winger of the team. "Yeah," Bunny agrees, vocalizing her disappointment in the situation, "I'm pretty sure it's exactly as bad as it looks", she says and rubs her forehead. Natalie gives the girl a strange look she can't really read, and suddenly she wishes she hadn't stood up for the winger earlier.

"Oh God, I'm gonna throw up", Van says with an uneasy look on her face.

Nat gets up to open her locker, and Bunny's eyes follow the girl.

"Okay, but we're still a team", Jackie sounds unsure, "and we still have each other."

"And the Lord works in mysterious ways-"

Natalie bangs her locker shut, making everyone jump in their skin. "Nice work, Taissa", the winger mutters as she storms out of the room. Taissa buries her face into her hands and lets out a small breath. Bunny bites the inside of her cheek before taking off as well.

"Hey!", she calls after Natalie, but the girl doesn't stop. "Natalie, I'm talking to you!"

"What do you want?", Natalie's voice is harsh and angry, but Bunny isn't fazed by it. The unspoken truce that had taken place after winning the states was clearly history now. "I-", Bunny starts, crossing her arms, searching for the right words. What did she want? She wasn't sure about that herself.

"I just think that, right now what we need as a team is a lot fucking less of that attitude. Storming out of dressing rooms? We need to act like a team, remember? Isn't that what you were on about before? What we were both on about?", Bunny says, finding the words to vocalize her annoyance towards the whole situation. Even though she knew it was pointless to start a fight with Natalie, and the bleach-blonde girl was the last person whose fault this whole situation was, she didn't care. This was what their dynamic was all about. Taking things out on each other. Blaming their bad game after a match on each other, coming at each other's throats. It's who Natalie and Susann-Rose were; each other's punching bags.

"Are you fucking serious? You had every chance to block Taissa out on that field. It was as much as your fault as it was Tai's that Allie is now fucking crippled", the girl spits back, anger rising. They both needed this. They both needed to get the anger out of their systems.

Bunny takes a step closer to the girl her eyes narrowing as she pokes the girl's chest with her finger, but Natalie doesn't even budge. "I was doing my best trying to keep Allie on the game. Where the fuck were you? I didn't see you having any opinions when Taissa wanted to change sides to pick on Allie", she continues, anger dripping from her tongue like venom. Natalie rolls her eyes and slaps the girl's finger out of her face. Natalie clenches her jaw and shakes her head before taking a step back.

"Fuck you", Natalie spits and turns away. Bunny flips the girl off before turning in the other direction.