Memories

XL

THAT MAN

'I'm in a little bit of trouble
And I'm in real deep
From the beginning to the end
He was no more than a friend to me'

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A few days before the Christmas banquet, Kevin knocked on the girl's dorm room door. Allison answered it and called to Thalia in the bedroom. "Your boyfriend's here!" she yelled. Thalia stood and pushed Allison out of the way.

"We're not dating, Allison." Thalia grumbled and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. She could hear Allison's chuckles through the wall. Her face softened and Thalia smiled when she looked at Kevin, who had a small blush forming on his cheeks. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Christmas banquet as my date." he said, looking anywhere but Thalia's face. She smiled wider and forced him to look at her. Kevin's eyes were full of uncertainty, but Thalia leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"I'd love to," she said. 

Thalia went shopping with the other girls that afternoon, as they'd already planned to. To Allison's relief and Thalia's discomfort, she picked a dress. It was a dark maroon shade, made of a silk like material and had long sleeves. It fit Neil's need to cover her tattoo, and Thalia's own standards of concealing her scars.

Dan picked a tight black dress with mesh sleeves, Allison chose a short sparkly dress with spaghetti straps, and Renee went with a two piece sequined shirt and shorts. "This is cute," Allison said as she paid for all the dresses. 

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It took seven hours to get to Breckenridge, and Thalia slept most of the drive with her head on Kevin's shoulder. He was asleep too, slouched so far down in his seat that Thalia could manage her position. 

When they were awoken, it was to Neil's voice. Thalia opened her eyes and looked around, before nudging Kevin and stirring him gently awake. He stretched and stood up, helping Thalia do the same.

She looked out the window and couldn't see the Ravens bus this time. Thalia took the small flask she'd brought with her and unscrewed the lid. Before she could take a sip, though, Kevin stole it out of her hand and downed the whole thing. She frowned. "Hey, that was for the whole night."

"Coach didn't bring any for me this time, so you must suffer." Kevin said before handing it back and walking away. Thalia rolled her eyes before leaving it on the seat and following the rest of the team off the bus.

When they were off the bus, Wymack locked it and turned to Kevin. He snapped his fingers in front of Kevin's face and made him look at Wymack. "Look at me," he said. Then he pointed to Neil and Matt. "You see these two? If I look in your direction and you're not within five feet of at least one of them, you're not playing a single game this spring. They're your shields. Use them. Use me, if you have to. Now give me a 'Yes coach'."

"Mm,"

"Don't worry," Matt said, always the optimist. "He can't do anything with this many people around."

"You underestimate Riko Moriyama's power," Thalia mumbled and reached for the pack of cigarettes she'd brought. She didn't have time to light one, though, because coach took them out of her hands and put it in his own pocket before turning her around and shoving them all towards the stadium.

"You'll be okay." she said to Kevin as she looped her arm in his. It was clear he was shaking, but as he pried her fingers off his arm, Kevin's hands were as steady as ever. Thalia stopped and looked up at him.

"It would probably be best if you didn't do that tonight," he said with an uncertain scowl on his face. "If Riko finds out about us, there's no telling what he'll do to stop it."

"Okay," Thalia said, then pointed at him. "But remember, you're the one who asked me to be your date tonight. So I'm going to do date like things. I'm used to this sort of thing." Kevin winced at that last part, and Thalia realised she probably shouldn't have added it, but it was said, and she couldn't take it back. 

Luckily, the Foxes were sat away from the Ravens this time, and Thalia ended up next to Kevin, with Neil on his other side. Kevin linked their pinkies under the table and Thalia's lips curved the slightest bit. "I thought we weren't supposed to do that sort of thing." she whispered in French. Kevin didn't reply, making Thalia's smile grow.

When every team had arrived, Tetsuji stood on a makeshift stage in front of a microphone. "This season's rankings have been decided." he began. "The following four teams have been chosen to represent the southeastern district in spring championship games. I will list them in order of ranking, first to fourth. Edgar Allan, Palmetto State, Breckenridge, Belmonte." Thalia grinned, knowing they had come second to the highest ranking team in the district. Next time the Foxes played the Ravens, they would beat them.

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When dinner was over, Aaron and Katelyn left the table swiftly, followed by a reluctant Nicky and his date. Allison dragged Renee with her to the floor, and Dan and Matt stuck to the outside of the court where they could watch the remaining Foxes. Thalia hung on to Kevin's arm, not caring about what he'd said before. They weren't necessarily dating, but they'd come together, as had Neil and Renee.

Wymack didn't force the three of them to socialise, so they stayed by the sides of the court, like Matt and Dan were doing. "I want a drink, come on." Thalia said, taking the boys over to the drinks table. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't any alcohol, but Thalia would make do with juice or punch for the night. She turned back around and kept her eye out for Riko the entire time.

He did come, about half an hour later, with Jean in tow. Thalia felt bad for Jean. Kevin hadn't told her much about him, but she knew that the first few days of his stay with them was terrible. Thalia had left the night before he arrived, and Riko had been angry at her disappearance, taking it out on his new 'plaything'. 

Neil stepped between the two groups, and Thalia tried to stop Kevin from shaking. Riko smiled harshly at Neil's act of defensiveness. "Your lack of survival instincts is supremely distressing. Take that look off your face before I carve it off." Thalia couldn't see the face Neil was making at Riko, but figured it was something he found offensive. 

"I would love to see you try," Neil shot back. "You think I'm afraid of your knives? I'm the Butcher's son. It says so on my back." Riko hummed.

"And your sister's." he said. "Yes, I know. The meat cleaver is a very interesting mark. You two have many other marks from your father though, don't you?"

"I'm pretty sure I have a few that aren't from my father," Thalia said, gaining Riko's attention. He smiled wider at her. "They might be from you, do you want to tell me which ones?" She was being sarcastic and rhetorical, but that was only because she was also terrified of Riko, and was trying not to shake and stop Kevin from shaking at the same time.