Memories

XLVIII

POMPEII

'I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above'

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A few days before the season started again Coach Rheman and Jeremy travelled from California to South Carolina to speak with Jean about the finalities of his contract. That afternoon, Jean left with them. He wouldn't play with the Trojans until next season, but staying there and getting used to the entirely new environment that he probably hadn't experienced since his life back in Marseille would be good for Jean. He needed time to adjust, and Neil figured Jeremy 'Sunshine in a human form' Knox would be much different to what Jean was used to.

Neil didn't meet Jeremy or Rheman, but Kevin insisted he be there. "It's because he's in love with Knox," Nicky told Neil, though he knew it was a joke. It was blatantly obvious to Neil that Kevin loved the Trojans, though he claimed it was because they were such good players, and Neil didn't doubt that. The Trojans swapped places with another of the 'Big Three' every year for second and third place.

They were flying to Austin for their first game of the season, and Neil couldn't help but notice Andrew hadn't moved when Wymack said they had time to spare. He made his way over to him and saw that Andrew was watching the planes on the runway.

"When you said you were afraid of heights, you were joking, right?" Neil asked, nervous that Andrew would throw up on the plane. "You can't be, what were you doing on the roof?"

"Feeling."

"Trying to remember fear, or trying to remember anything at all?" 

"What was his name?" Andrew asked, taking his finger of his fast pulse. Neil stopped dead in his tracks, the words he was about to speak catching in his throat. "Your father. What was his name?"

Neil didn't want to answer. Didn't want that foul name between them. But it was Andrew's turn in their secrets game, and Neil stepped closer after making sure no other Foxes were in earshot.

"Nathan. His name was Nathan."

"You don't look like a Nathan."

"I'm not." Neil said. "I'm Nathaniel. And Thalia isn't Thalia." he added, figuring he could trust Andrew with the information. Andrew glanced at him with an odd, passive look. "She's Nathalia."

"She's your sister?" he asked. Neil nodded. Andrew didn't say anything else, and Neil backed away, heading towards Nicky's beckoning. It was out there, and he couldn't take back what he'd said. If Andrew did his research, he could find out who both Neil and Thalia really were, but Neil doubted he would. 

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"We're not supposed to smoke," Thalia looked to her left, where a boy stood, unsure and looking anywhere but her face. "It compromises our ability to play."

Thalia tensed, recognising the voice. "Come here, Roberts." she said. He didn't move for a moment before moving closer, into the light. Thalia wasn't on very good terms with any of the Ravens, but Dean Roberts was probably the closest thing to a friend Thalia could say she had in the Nest. 

She held out her cigarette to him, and he refused. She pushed it into his hands. "Go on," Thalia said, motioning for him to take a drag. Roberts looked at her before putting the cigarette to his lips and sucking in. He sputtered afterwards and Thalia took the stick back with a hoarse laugh. 

"I've been smoking longer than I've been playing, Dean. I know my limits." she said. "Besides, I haven't had a cancer stick in weeks. Since before I came to this hellhole of a place." Roberts laughed. "Tell me about you, Roberts." He looked confused. Thalia sighed and took another drag before gesturing her question and repeating it. "What's your family like? Do you have siblings, friends? Where are you from?"

"Well, I have a sister." he said. Thalia hummed. "She's sixteen. And my best friend and boyfriend are here - Gracie and Dan." she hummed again and stomped out the cigarette under her shoe. "My parents never really spent time with me. My dad's a professor at Yale and my mom is always away on business trips." he put quotation marks around the 'business trips' and then sighed. "I can guess how those go."

"Can I give you some advice?" Thalia asked. Roberts nodded. "Well, first of all, do you want to paly exy professionally? You must do, right? or you wouldn't have gotten into the Ravens. They wouldn't have let you. So, my advice to you is this; don't waste your time on something you don't really care about in the long run. Sure, you may always love exy, but once you retire, that's it. You won't have anything to fall back on."

"What's your plan B, then?" he asked, taking in the information she'd just given him. Thalia sighed and leaned her head on the cold wall behind her. 

"Art. Painting. I want to open a gallery when I retire - if I ever get to that age." she said and rolled her head to look at Dean. He was a lot taller than she was, but it wasn't intimidating. "I want to show the people my art. Whether or not they want to see it and read the stories it portrays is up to them, but even if there's only one other person who ever looks at my work, that would satisfy me."

She sat down on the grass and Dean followed her. "Do you know any constellations, Roberts?" he said yes and pointed them out in the sky. He only knew a few, the most common ones, but it took Thalia's mind off her troubles for a while. "What other talents do you have? Know any languages?"

"Well, Jean taught me a bit of French when he was teaching Kevin." Dean replied. Thalia hummed, forming a plan to use that on the court. She'd watched Ravens' old games, gauging her competition's level of play, and had noticed that Jean had often used the language with Kevin. Dean and Kevin never would have been on the court at the same time, and though Jean had taught Roberts some of his native language, it was highly unlikely in Thalia's mind that they would have spoken it on the court. 

Riko was training Thalia to be an offensive dealer, and while she hadn't played the position in years, her three years worth of training in the position when she was younger was slowly coming back to her. He would punish her if she ever dared use her left hand, and had even gone as far as threatening to break it like he had with Kevin's, so Thalia only played right-handed. It wasn't hard, she was used to it, and had only played left-handed when it was absolutely necessary before then anyway.

When she got back to her room later that night, Thalia found that some of her things seemed to have been moved or removed. All of the drawings she'd made of the Foxes had been burned and were a pile of ash in her rubbish bin with a note on her desk reading 'don't do this again or I will take away all means of expressing yourself.' It was no surprise to Thalia that the neat handwriting was Riko's, and she was fuming. She couldn't get back at him for this, or anything else he'd done or would do, but she could silently plot his inevitable death, and that alone was enough to calm Thalia's anger, if only slightly.