Cloverfield

6: The undiscovered

The next morning, Alison walked in school. In a way, everything felt different. After lashing out at Naomi and Riley, the usual stares became short and they were no longer hungry, they were distant. Good.

She spotted a pretty brunette by her locker and approached her. "Hi, Em."

"Hey, Ali. How are you?"

"Oh, fine-" Alison coughed for a beat too long. "Actually, like crap. Yesterday I caught up with some friends, it was cold and we smoked."

Emily looked horrified. "You smoked?"

"Yeah." Someone passed by the corner of her eye. Ali got next to Em. "She's Cassie, one of the friends."

Emily eyed her. Cassie had long blonde hair with blue strikes--did the school even allowed those?--and bronzed skin. She looked young and beaming, kind of like Ali. Only Ali was better. 

"Oh." She didn't know what to answer. She felt the sudden need to protect Alison from that world, but how? It would seem... weird. And now they were teenagers, aren't they supposed to try that world?

Momma Fields would yell at her if she could hear her thoughts. Her family really liked to stick to the book, to be as normal as possible. But so far, all Emily had learned from her friends was that acting normal was boring. Making mistakes was fun, that life alone was taking a risk.

Emily didn't realized Alison had moved to her own locker until the bell rang, tuning her out of her trance. She quickly grabbed her books and bolted to class.

x-x-x

A break later, Alison hit the ball and on the further end of the field, she caught Emily. She ran up to her. "What's up?"

"My teacher didn't come and there's no substitute so... I came over to see you play."

Ali smiled, her cheeks pink. "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint my public. Time to kick ass!" She ran back to the line as Emily watched her for a moment and then proceeded to sit on the bleachers.

Emily was aware of Cassie too, the girl Alison smoked with. There was something about her that annoyed her. Maybe it was the smile Ali gave her after her turn. Or the way they high-fived. Or the laughs they shared.

When the coach--who she recognized as Melissa's boyfriend--chose two students to make teams, she caught Ali's tired look, even though the team had only warmed up and done some cone drills. Easy peasy for the blonde. But well, she did say she needed to get back on the routine.

As the game took place, Emily was amazed by how great Ali was. She had seen her play before, but it didn't stop her from thinking it.

In mid-time, Alison grabbed her Gatorade--flavored fruit punch, her favorite--and gestured Em to come over.

Emily made her way to her friend, her brown eyes fixated on her blue. She thought about what she would tell Ali, Great score! But her gaze was broken when another person put her her arm around Ali's shoulders. "Great score, Als!" Cassie said.

Als, Emily mocked in her head with distaste.

"Thanks." Alison motioned at Em. "She's Emily, the one I told you about yesterday."

"Oh, hi, Emily!" Cassie greeted, not extending her hand towards her. "I'm Cassie."

How rude. Emily hated how nice Cassie sounded compared to her thoughts. "Hey, Cassie. Good... coaching."

Cassie's smile didn't leave her lips. "Thank you. Well, it was nice to finally meet you. I gotta go."

"Likewise," Emily lied.

As Cassie ran off to the field, Alison was giving her a funny look.

Emily laughed nervously. "W-what?"

"Your face the second she came over. What was up with that?"

"Nothing. I guess I just didn't expect her."

Alison raised an eyebrow. That tone was venomous, something not ever heard on Emily's sweet voice. "What's really up, Em?"

"I don't know, it bothers me. You and her. I just watched you guys act like besties, and she's pretty and you hanged out yesterday. Were you also together in Cape May?" Is that what you've been keeping from me?

"Em, calm down. We met a couple of years ago: We were on the varsity team together. I'm not replacing you, Em. You're irreplaceable. You're my bestest best friend. And for the record, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

Emily blushed, her insides warming. She didn't know what that feeling meant, but she wanted it to stay. Processing Ali's first sentence, she realized how ridiculous she had been. "I'm sorry. You don't think Cassie noticed...?"

"Nah. But I also gotta go out there, so cheer for me!" Ali finished enthusiastically. "After all, that score was for you."

Em giggled and blushed again after Ali gave her a wink and left. Yup, she definitely wanted that feeling to stay.