The Hive

14

The Pile Drivers were a small team. They also lived in a dormitory with several floors built more like an apartment building than any dorm she'd ever seen. Concrete stairs led to doorways, four on every floor. Each floor was labeled as well, Seek was the third one up with Tennis and Soccer beneath it.

"Ah! You're the Hor-new girls! I'm Ashton Arthur, your captain. I believe you met my sister?" Wally looked at the doors, she forgot what it was like to be above ground, outside of bus rides, for so long. The sun felt good. "Sleep." She said quietly, "I want to sleep."

He nodded quickly and looked back at the tower where a girl Wally remembered Natalia elbowing and a boy she'd never seen before leaned over the railing, watching them.

"Yes I understand you must be tired. You've been through a lot I hear. The boys are the two dorms on the left, the girls the two on the right. The one of the far right is empty and sleeps four um," he looked at the five of them, "unless you count uh, the couch I suppose. But Darcy and uh.." he trailed off as Laila exited the room, an ex-Hornet, prior to it's shut down. Wally looked at her and tapped her fists together silently and Laila retreated. "Uh, sorry, what was I saying? Oh! Darcy and Laila have two open bunks."

As expected, Wally, Alina, Natalia, and Joan took the far dorm and Sasha took an extra bunk in Darcy and Laila's room. With the addition of the girls, they climbed back up to their ten player minimum, likely one of the only reason they took them in anyway. With the departing seniors, they had Laila and Darcy and five boys, they had seven, just enough to fill the court. With the addition of the ex-Hornets, a word Wally already hated, they had twelve, allowing for subs for injuries or just general absences.

For now, Wally made her bed, unpacking her suitcase into the dresser stacked on top of Joan's on the bunk on the far wall. She found she didn't own much. In fact none of them did. Alina and Natalia did sure, but they weren't allowed to take it because it was "evidence."

She tried to focus on the positives. There were none. They hadn't gotten transferred to Mississippi until the school year ended. Now they had a month before summer practices began. Wally found herself with free time. She also found herself with sunshine. Restlessness filled her body and she wished to run upstairs to the court to practice. But the court was a ten minute drive away across campus, a poor design choice in her opinion.

She found Laila leaning over the edge of the railing and her first instinct was to push her. Instead she spat out a quick, "Traitor." Laila was older than her, a junior this year, but that didn't mean Wally hadn't cut her to pieces at Coach's word.

"You don't have to be mean here." She said quietly, "You miss comes or trip up and they, they cheer you on for improvement. Wally I know you-" Wally lifer her shirt to reveal to thin scars on her sides. She reached for the knife on her leg and watch her flinch. "I hate you but I won't hurt you." Sasha opened the door, as if the word hate had summoned her. "Her on the other hand." She sent the knife flying, grazing her cheek before it lodged itself in the door. "Stay out of my fucking sight." Sasha rolled her eyes and looked at Ashton who'd witnessed it. He quickly avoided his gaze. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten your teammates, Wally." Wally rolled her eyes but holstered her knife and looked up at Laila.

"You'll See Wally. Maybe we can go to a restaurant other than Telly's. Unsupervised. And we can drink- well some of us," She laughed at her own joke before glancing at Darcy who only stared at the new dent in the door. She looked between it and the scars on Laila's sides and then Wally. "This is her right? The knife gremlin?" Laila sighed as Darcy extended her hand, Wally stared at it. She frowned, "You have something on your-" she poked her chest and as soon as she looked down she brought her hand up to flick her nose as she laughed. "Seriously though, we don't do that knife shit around here. Touch my girl Laila and we'll have real problems. You may look five, but there comes a point you have to beat up a five year old for the greater good." She turned to Laila, "Ready to go?"

Wally punched the shower wall until her hands shook. Her knuckles were raw as Joan walked in, standing on the other side of the shower. "Wally...?" She asked quietly, "Sasha said she heard banging on the walls and asked if everything was okay.... is it?"

Wally turned off the water, watching the blood drip from her hands a moment before she stepped out and washed her hands before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself. "It's going to be slow. She's going to suffer and I'm going to like it." Joan shook her head, "We don't have the cushion of the Hive anymore, if you get caught..." "If. I won't."

She'd been away from the Hive since May. Almost a month.

She waited for Laila and Darcy to leave and the shower to start up in their room before she entered, picking the lock and closing the door behind her before she made her way to the bathroom and sat on the counter with her knives on her lap. Sasha hummed as she showered, Wally ignored it, waiting impatiently for the water to shut off.

It did fifteen minutes later. She pulled back the curtain and screamed, falling backward and slipping into the tub. "Get up." Wally snapped, she stared at her, Wally rolled her eyes and threw her a towel. She took it and climbed out of the tub.

"What are you doing Wally?" She asked, an edge of fear in her voice. Wally smiled, gripping the knives harder despite the pain in her wrapped knuckles. "You took everything from me. You could've run away and been known as a coward and I would've hated you anyway but no." "I had to save you." She whispered, Wally shoved her against the wall, holding the knife to her chest. "I didn't need fucking saving! I was happy, Sasha. I wish Natalia never fucking recruited you!" Sasha grabbed the knife carefully, locking eyes with her. Wally could feel her throat closing but she wouldn't cry. Not in front of Sasha.

"You picked me up after Coach beat me to the brink of death. I could see your kindness, even if you couldn't-"

"It wasn't kindness it was pity you-"

"Whatever it was, I could see you didn't belong there. Didn't deserve to be treated like that. No one does. And besides, you promised to help me."

Wally loosened her grip on the knife before she threw them into the tub and moved her hands to her throat. "I should never have promised you anything." She looked at the tattoo on her cheek and covered it with her thumb, "You don't deserve that ring." "I never wanted it in the first place." Wally punched her and smeared the blood from her nose across her face, "I want you to know one thing, I regret everything I ever did to help you. Every time our lips touched. Every time I let you touch me was a mistake and I will never forgive you."

Sasha shook her head, tears streaming down her face now. Wally could feel her own well up in her eyes. "You don't mean that," she croaked. Wally tightened the grip on her throat, "Oh but I do." Sasha shook her head again, hands moving up to grip Wally's face as the first tear broke the dam.

"Someday soon you'll see. Life is better here." Wally let her hands fall from her throat and Sasha pulled her in as she sobbed, "I fucking hate you." She said between sobs, unsure if it was truth or if she was trying to convince herself it was. "I know." Was all she said and it only made her sob harder.