In A Rush (Open)

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex was late.  Not her usual form of late, she was actually late, as in, the time in which she was supposed to be in the gym for practice had already passed.  Alex was a surprisingly adept procrastinator.  She had her routine down to a precise, mathematical science.  So much effort had been put into not expending energy until absolutely necessary that Alex knew, down to the minute, how long it would take her to get ready and reach class, make it to cheer practice, or a track meet.  And she took advantage of this by squeezing every last second of lazy she could out of every single day.

This afternoon, however, the world seemed to conspire to have her procrastination bite her in the rear. All it took was a few unforeseen delays and she suddenly found herself running the risk of drawing the ire of the blonde girl who acted like the cheer captain.  Alex didn't think the sarcastic, almost cold girl was actually the one in charge but that didn't stop her from screaming and brow beating the other cheerleaders when any of them allegedly stepped out of line.  This, alone, had Alex in a near panic.

She scrambled to tear her black and gold jacket out of the closet and begin to slip her arms into the sleeves.  As she nearly tumbled out of the dorm room, Alex zipped the jacket up over the tight, gray tank top she wore and exploded down the hallway in a dead sprint.  Yes.  The girl was that intent on not angering the cranky blonde cheerleader.  By the time she hit the first corner, her white sneakers pounding the carpeted floor, Alex had been relieved of any caution. She careened around the corner recklessly and crashed into someone on the other side in almost a full sprint.

A linebacker sized person, Alex was not.  The last time she was weighed she barely broke triple digits and had to stretch to break the 5' plateau.  She didn't stand a chance and bounced almost comically off the poor soul she'd crashed into.  She tumbled to the floor with a strained gasp of surprise, a short yelp escaping as she landed on her bottom with a thud.  She was going to have to figure something out.  This 'falling down' thing was becoming a seriously bad habit.

[Selina Taylor]

    God, it’s been such a long day. Selina knew it was only early afternoon, but her body told her rest was necessary unless she wanted to pass out on the side walk. She trudged slowly back through the campus towards the dorms in a sleepy daze, uncaring about the people who were routinely forced to dodge her blundering gait. They clearly had the energy to move, so she should have the right of way. Selina shook her head trying to force herself to think a little more clearly, but the effort was futile and she soon stopped trying to get her tired brain to make any sense.


    Selina smiled as she finally entered her dorm building and had decided it was long past time to take a nice two hour nap... when she was slammed into by a small semi-truck, or at least, that’s how it felt. Selina staggered slightly, her muscular training and constant athletic practice helping her to maintain her balance quite well. She was taller than the moving being by a good five or six inches and she found it slightly amusing, and painful, that the person’s head had hit her boob before they’d fallen to the ground. Selina couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her features as she finally processed the information that it was another student that she’d plodded into. She then reached out a hand to help the girl up.


    “You alright?” she asked with a lazy smirk. The girl was certainly cute enough to warrant a certain amount of flirting, but Selina would hold back until she got a better feel for what the girl was comfortable with. She distractedly noted how amazed she was at how something as simple as meeting a cute girl made her sleepiness vanish into thin air… of course the fact that she was almost knocked over by said girl had certainly jolted some life back into her aching bones, that was for damn sure. A few bruises would probably be added to her already accomplished repertoire, but she didn’t really mind. She was more than accustomed to minor injuries at this point.

Alexandra Lawson

[Alexandra Lawson]

"I think I broke my ass." Alex whimpered as she looked up to the girl she'd ran into. The simple sentence was one she seemed to utter a lot these days. At least she was starting to get used to it. She paused as she tried to count the number of time she'd found herself falling to the ground or floor in a heap in the past couple weeks and only sighed as she came up with a number that, if said out loud, would make anyone think she had a serious problem.

"I mean, I'm okay." She said, finally getting out of her own head and actually seeing the other girl. Alex just sat there for a moment, legs splayed out in front of her, looking up to the marvelously stunning example of a girl standing there. "Oh... uh..." And the first words out of her lips were 'I think I broke my ass' of all things. Alex's eyes squeezed shut and she gave a resigned sigh. And hadn't she also ran headfirst into the other girl's boobs? Alex distinctly remembered smacking her face against something that was surprisingly soft. This all proceeded in causing a flush of crimson to rush into her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." She said with a shake of her head. "Are you okay?" Alex had been the one careening around the hallways. She hadn't been the victim here even if she had gotten the worst of the exchange. Her eyes opened and turned upward to the girl. "I was late, and I didn't want Ellen to get pissed because even though she's not in charge, she still bitches at everyone and the last time she did I sorta wanted to cry because I was having a bad day and she just said some really mean things and..." Alex trailed off, blowing air out of her lungs with a huff. "Is it too late to just crawl away into a corner and die from embarrassment?" She asked, with a resigned shrug.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina laughed gently at the girl’s statement and merely shook her head, “I highly doubt it. I didn’t hear anything break, and besides, you’d probably be in a hell of a lot more pain.” Selina had never personally broken her tailbone, but she’d had an… acquaintance who did and she could still hear the screams echoing in her head… though the guy had been known for his extreme dramatics, but still.


    Selina met the girl’s lovely brown eyes as she looked up and claimed she was ok. Selina smiled warmly in response, “Glad to hear it,” she replied. Selina found the girl’s stuttering somewhat alarming and absently wondered if she truly appeared to be so intimidating. As she was about to assure the girl that she wasn’t dangerous, the girl’s cheeks turned a rather pretty shade of pink, and understanding dawned. Selina’s smile widened slightly at the knowledge before she answered the girl’s apology, “Don’t worry about it, I was hardly watching where I was going. So, I’m sorry as well,” she responded sincerely before grinning once more, “And yes, I’m perfectly fine,” Selina assured her. She’d gotten far worse from her more intense aikido classes. As the girl started babbling, Selina let out a quiet huff of amusement and waited patiently for her to finish her rant, making an absent note to watch out for this “Ellen” girl in the future.


    Although Selina had managed to maintain a straight face while the girl was rambling, she couldn’t quite help but smirk a little at the girl’s question, “I suppose you still could if you really wanted to… however, something tells me that ditching that shitty class and getting a cup of coffee with me would be a far better option for the both of us. I avoid having to deal with the guilt of having played a part in your death, and you get free coffee while avoiding McBitcherton. What do you say?” she asked with a wry grin. The caffeine would help her to stay awake, and ditching her other afternoon classes wasn’t something that she’d done yet this semester, so she could definitely afford a break. There was no way she was going to be able to focus enough to learn anything further today regardless, so might as well.


    “By the way, my name’s Selina,” she added while offering the girl her hand once more to help her stand.

[Alexandra Lawson]

At least the other girl made it out of the collision in better shape than Alex. Selina wasn't exceptionally larger than Alex, but she moved with a sort of grace and precision that the smaller girl often lacked. Alex wasn't a clutz and she was active in her own athletic pursuits but she often was a little reckless when she got flustered, as evident by her careening around the corners of the hallways like a scared rabbit.

Peering up to the girl, Alex nodded as she spoke. Slowly, as she realized what Selina was proposing, as grin spread across the girl's face. She was already late and would incur the wrath of the unbearably demanding blonde regardless. It wasn't even an official practice, more like a meeting to sort things out for the upcoming athletic season. Alex didn't need to be there. She knew her role on the squad. She was little and flexible. This meant another round of being thrown into the air and hoping she wasn't dropped onto her face. Nope. Alex wasn't okay with skipping it altogether for coffee.

"That sounds great! I'm Alex." She said accepting the hand and using it to pull herself up to her feet. She uttered a low thanks before rubbing lightly at her sore butt cheek one more time and giving a bit of a huff. "You know, this is becoming a habit." She sighed through a soft chuckle. "Seem like every week I end up falling on my ass." At least she got a moment to zip up the light jacket she was toting around before they headed off toward the exit. "And you totally don't have to. I ran into you, I figure, at least, I owe you coffee."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina’s eyes followed Alex’s hand to her ass and couldn’t help the slight smirk that crossed her features… but hey, who could blame her? Selina lifted her gaze back up to Alex’s face as she started speaking again, “Such a shame. But at least you have a lovely ass to fall on,” she responded with a slightly more suggestive than usual smirk. “Don’t worry about the coffee. I’m not the one who fell to the floor,” she added in a kinder tone. Selina had a lot more mass to her than most girls her size due to the added muscular weight, so she was relatively hard to move and she felt bad about causing another girl to fall.


    Her exhaustion was creeping back to the forefront and she knew that if she didn’t get some caffeine quick, she’d probably end up falling asleep while standing. It wouldn’t be the first time. Selina turned and started walking back out of the dorm, “So other than running into people and falling down, do you have any other hobbies?” Selina asked lightly as she held open the door for Alex. Being polite had been thoroughly beaten into Selina by her mother, though only in regards to her elders and other Latinas. On the rare occasion however, habit kicked in regardless of the recipient of her efforts.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex's response was little more than a couple stuttered words followed by a sheepish smile. the petite brunette had always been very self aware when it came to how others looked at her. She was used to the usual comments about her being 'cute' or 'adorable', the latter of which would get someone absolutely nowhere with her, but rare was the compliment that centered around the shape (or lack thereof) of her body. Alex knew damn well that Meghan Trainor didn't have girls like her in mind when she sung of the merits of bass over treble but that didn't mean she wasn't able to take a compliment. "Yeah, well, then I'll get you next time." She countered, glad the conversation didn't remain focused upon her various body parts. "My pride won't let me accept anything less than that." And she gave a curt nod for emphasis.

"Me?" She asked, glancing to the taller girl as if Selina could possibly have been talking to someone else. The question was one that always confused Alex, in a way. Much like many of her peers, Alex skirted the lines between social cliques and sub-cultures. Unlike so many of her peers, the cliques and cultures she skirted happened to be polar opposites. She only knew of one other cheerleader who enjoyed terrible 80's slasher movies, and her penchant for yelling at 12 year olds over a headset while destroying them in Call of Duty was commonly derided by her more 'jock' friends on the track team.

Alex eyed Selina curiously for a moment as she pondered which side was the best to open with. "I'm just a fat geek." She nearly blurted the words out. Go big or go home, right? It wasn't as if the jacket she wore that proudly stated her to be a member of the Bellefonte Cheerleading squad didn't already indicate she had at least somewhat of an athletic side. "Movies, games, books, whatever." A hand waved about for emphasis. "I try to stay open to just about anything. Except Sundays." She said, furrowed her brow in thought. "My Sundays in the fall are never open." Her eyes shifted to peer up to the other girl. "Sundays are for football." She announced with a curt nod.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina had to remind herself that not everyone was as comfortable about openly discussing the feminine body as the women she’d grown up with. Commentary on breasts, hips, asses, or whatever had been a common thing in her household when she was younger. Then again, not everybody’s mother was an exotic dancer whose friends often happened to be in the same line of work either. Selina reminded herself to be much more cautious in the future as Alex stuttered a response. The last thing Selina ever wanted was to make another woman uncomfortable... unless they’d pissed her off, but Alex certainly didn't fit in that category. Selina laughed lightly at Alex mentioning her pride and catching her, “I’ll look forward to it,” she promised with a teasing grin.


    Selina smiled at Alex when she talked about being a geek. It wasn’t a word she really understood yet, as many Americanisms were still foreign to her, but she waited for the girl to continue hoping for more clarification. Liking movies, games, and books seemed fairly normal to Selina, so she wasn’t sure she was fully understanding what Alex was saying. “Sorry, but what does ‘geek’ mean?” she asked with a slight frown of concentration.


    When Alex mentioned football, Selina perked up, “Real football or American football?” she asked in curiosity. Selina had loved playing and watching football in Chile. Her mom had even taken to see a professional game once when she was seventeen and it had been one of the best times of her life, but she hadn’t seen any American football games yet. Selina loved most sports, so she was open to trying something new and different and she’d heard about American football quite a bit since she'd come here. She would be interested in finding out what the game was like if that’s what Alex had been talking about. 

[Alexandra Lawson]

Good. Alex gave a curt nod as the terms for future repayment were agreed upon. Like many people her age, Alex was prideful. She never liked asking for things or having people do things for her. It was bad enough her height made things like top shelves the bane of her existence. The last thing Alex wished was to come off as helpless and annoying. She could stand on her own... she just didn't reach very high without a step stool.

It was a fair question presented by Selina seeing as how even those who considered themselves part of 'geek culture' often couldn't agree on the actual meaning. To Alex it always felt like a state of mind. As if it was some sort of unspoken way of looking at the world that allowed one to move about it with an analytical eye. But that was far too vague a concept to get into. Alex frowned a little as she pondered her answer. "I don't know, really." She said honestly. "It's just sort of someone who gets really into things a lot of people either don't like or have never heard of." Because that totally made sense. "It's hard to explain." She then waved a hand dismissively. "There are probably a few YouTube videos I could show you that explain it better." Because the geek vs. nerd battle was one that didn't seem close to ending any time soon.

Alex then smiled broadly and gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yes." She said proudly. "American football." She'd been brought into the sport at a young age by her father who was a diehard fan. Her brother hadn't caught on to athletics like Alex so Sundays and Monday nights (along with the occasional Thursday and Saturday) had become father/daughter bonding time. Naturally, as curious as Alex had always been, she asked questions. So many questions. By the time she was 15 and left for the Academy, Alex could out talk most guys on the sport. She considered that to be quite the feather in her cap. "It's great. It looks barbaric at first but once you figure out what's going on it becomes more like violent chess."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina smiled at Alex’s mention of Youtube videos, “Maybe after coffee? I’ll likely be awake by then and my brain will function marginally better with caffeine in my system,” Selina said with a grin. She could still feel her exhaustion on the edges of her consciousness, but she would be fine after some sugary caffeinated goodness. And maybe some food. Yup, food sounded really good.


    Selina nodded, feeling excitement build in her about learning a new sport. “I’d love to see a few games… Do they have a women’s league? Does Bellefonte have an American football team?” she asked as she made her way to the cafeteria. She’d watched lots of women’s football… No she should refer to it as soccer now. She’d seen many women’s soccer games in Chile, and wouldn’t it be fun to go back home and tell her mom that she’d seen women’s American football games too? Selina had often played soccer as well, since unofficial pickup games weren’t unusual and it had been so much fun to casually compete with her friends and neighbors.


    Maybe Bellefonte had something like that? She hadn’t checked yet, as martial training had been all she was focused on when she started. Now that she’d gotten more used to living here while attending classes, she wanted to branch out and try new things. American football and soccer. She’d look up both once she got back to her dorm and see what Bellefonte had to offer. It would definitely be a way to meet new people, and her mom would be glad to hear that Selina was getting involved in the school.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex nodded hastily. If Selina was so interested in defining the term 'geek' and how it fit in with US pop culture then the internet would certainly be the place to go. Alex often found herself becoming repetitive when tasked with describing such complicated things. "Well, there's no rush, I mean, it's the internet." She reasoned with a an idle shrug. "It'll still be there whenever."

"There's is a women's league." Alex answered, shifting her gaze for just a moment to glance up to the taller girl. "But it's a joke." She frowned at that. Truth of the matter was there simply wasn't much of an audience for a legitimate women's American football league. Not with the juggernaut that was the NFL lingering over every North American sports league. "But we do have one here and we're really good." There was a bit of pride that came with that. Bellefonte was certainly not a typical high school or college but that didn't mean its students couldn't feel a little pride in their academic institution. "I'm a cheerleader so we kind of hang out with the football team a lot." She explained. "I was headed to practice when I, uh, ran into you." Although Alex figured the shorts paired with the jacket that proudly stated 'Bellefonte Academy Spirit Squad"' had already given that little bit of information away. "Hey, if you're interested in getting an idea of what it's like, the practices for the football team are open. I can explain what's going on if you wanted to check it out sometime."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded to Alex and paused, “By the way, do you want to head down to Cool Beans, or is there someplace else you prefer?” she asked. Selina also wondered if this girl was used to public transportation, as Selina didn’t have a car to drive her anywhere. They could always walk too, if Alex was feeling particularly energetic, but Selina was still struggling to stay awake and she found herself much more attracted to the idea of taking a bus.


    Selina frowned at Alex’s response, but remained silent. There wasn’t much that she could do to change it, and she wasn’t going to focus her attention on something depressing right now. Cheerleading was interesting though. It took quite a bit of athleticism and talent from what she’d seen of it. “Wow, that’s impressive,” she offered with a smile. Selina hadn’t been entirely sure what the jacket and shorts were for, but now that she knew, it was easy to connect the dots. “I’ve been wanting to see a game for a while now anyways, and now I’m even more interested,” she said with a grin.


    At Alex’s offer to explain how things worked at a practice, Selina smiled, “I’d love that. Sports have always fascinated me, and I’ve heard so much about American football since I’ve come here that it’d be nice to know what’s going on,” she offered with laugh. She could talk most people into oblivion regarding soccer, but football was completely new to her and that made it exciting.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex had to put zero thought into her answer. "Cool Beans." She blurted out almost before Selina had finished the question. Alex wanted nothing to do with the Academy campus for the next hour or so. It was a voluntary practice, not essential for anything, though the blonde haired terror would certainly be on the warpath once she realized who had been missing. Alex had no idea what that girl had against her. "I am nota fan of the coffee here." It was far too bitter and lacked all the ridiculous amounts of sugar and sweeteners like at real coffee shops.

"It's a lot harder than most people think." Alex replied with a nod. "They see the pom-poms, the skirts, the oddly sexual dance moves..." She had to pause at that one and issue a frown. It wasn't as if the reputation cheerleaders got didn't have any sort of basis. "But they see all that and think it's just a bunch of stupid girls shaking their asses. Which isn't too far from the truth, but that ass shaking involves a lot of practice and training." She said with a grin.

"Oh, it's awesome." Another hasty nod came with the assertion. Football was on the list of things Alex loved the most. Right up there alongside dumb cartoons, food that wasn't good for her and sleeping until noon. "Strategy and scheme are so important even the coaches get paid a lost." Alex's steps came with a little bit of a bounce to them now as she spoke. The quickest way to the petite girl's heart was through her interests. "I've got a couple books about football if you want to borrow them." She offered, glancing up to Selina as they moved along. "And I can point you toward some really cool documentaries."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded to Alex, “You mind if we take the bus?” she asked as she made her way towards the stop. Some kids were weird here about public transport and she had no idea why. Sure, it wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was cheaper than owning a car and paying for gas and insurance… and yeah sometimes there were random creepers who asked how much they had to pay you for sex or for a ménage à trois, but mostly it was just as good as any other way of getting from place to place.


    Selina raised a brow at the ‘stupid girls’ part, as the gymnastics involved in cheerleading could be pretty advanced and complex from what she’d seen, not to mention dangerous with how far up in the air some of those girls got. In Selina’s mind it was just as competitive a sport as any other, but she stayed quiet. This girl was the actual cheerleader after all. Surely she knew better than Selina what she was talking about. “Do you have any cheerleading competitions here?” Selina asked, as she wouldn’t mind going to see Alex and her team perform.


    Selina perked up at the talk of strategy, as she always loved sports that involved intelligence as much as physical ability. “I’ve heard it’s a bit like rugby, only less… brutal,” she offered. Some of the girls she’d watched growing up would play through broken bones and open cuts just to get a chance at scoring. One of the main reasons she was surprised there weren’t any good female football leagues in the U.S. was because she’d seen so many good rugby games with women’s sevens, so she’d just assumed it would be a natural thing. Although Brazil was too consistent of a winner to allow Chile much hope of truly competing, it was still fun to watch.
"Sure, I'd love to read up on it, and documentaries are good too."

[Alexandra Lawson]

"That works." Alex said with a nod. She never minded public transportation. She may have wished she was a bit more covered up to be going out into town, though she figured the tiny practice shorts she wore were no worse than prancing around in front of a bunch of leering, hormone addled teenagers in a skirt that tended to bring focus to certain bits whenever she moved.

"Nah, they don't let us out much." Alex replied with a wave of her hand. Although she didn't doubt the squad would have a solid chance at excelling in formal competition the risk factors of sending a bunch of super powered teen girls around the country wasn't one many people (including those who ran the Academy) cared to take. "But that's fine, really." She said with a light laugh. "It take up enough time as is. And my god, I could only imagine what Ellen would be like if we did this, you know, for a trophy or something. She'd probably have an aneurysm at the thought." She shrugged as she continued. "We do exhibitions and follow the basketball and football teams around." It wasn't much, but it kept the girls busy. "We do pep rallies and some school events."

"Oh, man, I'm just rambling now." Alex threw her hands up in mock exasperation. She had a habit of getting talkative and going on tangents, especially when questioned about her interests. On occasion she had to remind herself that conversations were two way endeavors. "What about you?" She turned her head upward toward the taller girl curiously. "What do you do when not getting ran into by spastic cheerleaders?"