Chapter 13: Fighting Madison

The green couch and the red chair were in the same place in the student lounge, but Madison and her friends had taken them over. She sat in the chair – of course – and her friends sat opposite. They were laughing, chatting, and passing around snacks.

I heard the dean chewing her lunch and listening to very bad music, I guess coming from a cheap radio. I shut it out.

I felt a hand against my back. I turned, and it was Hannah with Kathy in tow.

"Yeah, they took our seats," Hannah said.

"Have you seen Chloe anywhere?" I asked.

"No."

"I'd like to have her with us before I tangle with them."

"We could sit somewhere else."

"Yes, we could, but we won't. Let's find her. Oh, and Kathy, did you speak to Shelly?"

"Yeah. She wants to come back, but she has to convince her parents that things will be better."

"They will."

Kathy let out a small laugh, "But I don't think she can tell her parents that a badass, lesbian-fairy-princess is going to kick all the other girl's asses."

Hannah let out a little laugh too. I said, "Let's find Chloe."

We found her on the green looking for us.

"We have a place in the student lounge," I said.

"Yeah, I know about that place, but I though Madison had taken it over."

I gave her a look. She smiled and said, "I understand." We went back to the student lounge.

"Do we have a plan?" Chloe asked as we entered.

"Yes. I kick Madison out of my chair."

I walked directly up to her, right in front of her. I felt Chloe at my shoulder, but when I glanced, Hannah and Kathy were still lingering by the door.

The dean shut off her radio. I heard soft clicking sounds. I ignored them.

"This is our place, Madison," I said.

She glanced back and forth between us, and then over to her friends. "Watch my back," I whispered to Chloe, and I sensed her step off at an angle. I peeked at the couch. Madison's friends were sitting as meek as kittens. I looked back at Madison.

"You don't have the guts," she said, but she stayed seated, and her eyes darted around and didn't settle.

"Just give me the seat. You know what happens if we fight."

The dean's voice caught my attention. "Fucking Tyballa!" she shouted.

"What?" I heard a woman ask.

"I just got an email from the board of governors."

"Oh? About Tyballa?"

"Yes, they won't let me move forward on an expulsion, even after all that girl has done."

"Earth to Tyballa!"

It was Madison yelling. I was standing before her with a blank look.

I held up my finger. "Just a second." I stepped away from the chair.

"So, what will you do?" the woman asked.

"Not sure. I have half a mind to call that law firm directly and let them know exactly what their precious Tyballa has been up to ... Actually, I just got an idea."

"What?"

She was quiet for a second. I looked around the room, and everyone was looking at me with opened mouths. "Are you okay?" Hannah asked. She'd entered the room and come up to me.

"Yes. Just give me a second."

She touched me.

"This had better not get back to the board," the dean said, "But her first day here she was spinning some tale about being the daughter of royalty, or some bizarre story."

"Really? You believe her?"

"Not sure, but what if it's true? If we could figure out who she is, we could – you know – privately – threaten to go to the press. Then I could get word to that law firm, secretly, without even telling them who I am – just that they'd better pull Tyballa out of here."

"So, how do you find out?"

"Hmm. I wonder if Woodhouse knows. That bugger knows a lot he isn't saying. I'm going to call him."

I heard her pick up the phone and dial. I looked at my friends. "We'll fight for the chairs tomorrow," I said. I went and sat in a different chair, a small, tattered one. Hannah plopped down next to me and squeezed close to me. She looked concerned.

Mr. Woodhouse answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Mr. Woodhouse, Cynthia Gilbert again."

"Hello, Ms. Gilbert."

"No more fucking around, do you know this Tyballa's background? She says she's some kind of royal, is that true?"

"Ms. Gilbert, I'm not sure if –"

"Can it, Woodhouse! We're on the same side here, I think. We both want what's worse for Tyballa. Am I right?"

"It's not that simple."

"I'm making it that simple. I want her out of this school, but her keepers over in London keep throwing money at my board, and they're nothing if not for sale. So, I need to know her background, and I think you know what it is."

"Very well, then, Ms. Gilbert. I do know a bit, but I warn you, you may not like what you hear."

"Out with it."

"Tyballa is the youngest daughter of King Haugen of Thuul."

There was a pause. I squeezed Hannah's hand.

"Huh?" the dean said.

"Yes. He tried to make a strategic marriage between her and the Summer Queen's son, but the queen betrayed the deal and invaded the King's lands."

"Thuul? The Summer Queen?"

"So, Tyballa supported her mother-in-law over her family, and her lands were conquered and destroyed."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Quiet! Listen! That was over a hundred years ago, Cynthia. We know little else of Tyballa since then – but I suppose you could ask her – anyhow, until quite recently. The prince, her husband, was killed, and Tyballa was blamed – I suppose she'd fallen out of favor at court – or perhaps she's actually guilty – in any case, she was banished here, to Earth, in the form of a teenage girl. Tyballa is indeed royalty. She is a princess of Faery."

"Have you gone mad?"

"Indeed no, Ms. Gilbert."

They got quiet. The phone clicked.

"Well, fuck me," the dean said.

I looked up. My friends were around me, looking at me. "Flake out much?" Chloe asked.

I smiled. "I had a good reason. I'll explain later."

Lunch ended. The girls began filtering out, heading to class.

"Madison," I said, "We get the chairs tomorrow."

"Whatever."

Whatever, indeed. The dean couldn't punish me. I had carte blanche. I did wonder, however, who was this law firm? And how were they related to the queen's spell?

We said goodbye to Chloe. Hannah, Kathy, and I went to art class where we painted with water colors. Kathy spent most of the class trying to mix up the perfect blue for the sky. Hannah and I didn't care about the blue. So we got our paintings done, even if our skies didn't quite look like a real sky. When class ended, Kathy frowned at her half complete canvas. It too had an imperfect sky.

April was there. She ignored us.

When class was dismissed, I got up to leave. "Bye, I'll see you at practice," I said.

"Okay," Hannah said, "Uh – you should know ... we haven't really been on the team since you left."

"What? Why not?"

"Well – without Renee, coach made April the team captain, and – she wasn't nice to us."

"I see. Well, we're all going today, alright."

"Yeah. Definitely."

I went to music class alone.

Our lockers, Hannah's and mine, were by April's. Hannah wasn't there yet, but April was. I walked directly up to her while she changed.

"We're all playing. Will you be alright with that?"

She looked off into space and adjusted her skirt and socks. "I guess."

Hannah arrived and began stripping down.

"Hi April," she said.

April harrumphed. She grabbed her stick and headed out of the room. I looked at Hannah and shrugged.

"Did you talk to the coach about her?" I asked.

"No."

"You should have."

"I guess." She pulled on her skirt.

After we changed, we headed over to Kathy's locker and she was just finishing up. She gave me a nervous smile.

"Please stay with me," she said.

"Of course."

We walked out toward the field.

I saw Coach coming out of the building. "Coach! Can I talk to you?" I shouted.

She nodded and waited for me. I jogged over.

"Hey Tyballa, I heard that you were back. I'm glad – we can really use you."

"Yes. Look – Hannah and Kathy will be back today also."

"Okay. Good. I've missed them, but given all the – uh – recent trouble, I didn't want to make a big deal about their missing practice."

"Right. Look – the reason they've been missing practice is April."

"What?"

"They've been missing practice because of April."

"Right, I heard you. I mean – I thought they were friends."

"They were."

"Oh –"

"Coach, you know what we are, right?"

She gave me a long look. "Tyballa, sweetie, I'm the gym coach at an all girls school. What do you think?"

I wasn't sure what that meant, but I saw a little twinkle in her eye, and I thought I might guess. Still, I shrugged.

"Really? You had a pretty sheltered upbringing, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Well – I mean – it's hardly a secret anymore, really, after your little kissing spree, and all the rumors since, but still – yes, I know what you are. It was pretty obvious with Hannah and Kathy, anyhow."

"Alright. So, April split from us, and has been treating Hannah and Kathy really badly."

"Oh? I wasn't aware. I – well – I've heard all kinds of rumors, but I didn't know it was bad."

"It got really bad."

"I see."

"So ... can you just make sure that April gives them a fair break. In fact, I'd like to work with them in the drills and stuff."

"That'll be fine. Actually, I'd rather you worked with April and the better girls. The team took a huge hit with Renee gone, and it's pretty obvious that you're a natural athlete. Still, you can work with them. I get it."

"Thanks, Coach."

"Tyballa, I don't expect you to trust me" – she paused – "but you can trust me."

She smiled. I ran ahead of her and caught up with Hannah and Kathy as they reached the field. Some of the girls gave us dark looks. I returned those looks even darker.

We did passing drills again. I made sure that it was fun. The sun shined down, and Hannah and Kathy got sweaty. They glistened, and they were wonderful. We kicked up grass and got dirty knees. I wanted to lick them.

After hockey practice and our showers, we found Chloe and we went to hang out in my room. The door was still broken, so I put the chair in front of it.

"Is that safe?" Chloe asked.

"Probably not. I should get someone to fix it tomorrow."

I plopped down on my bed and lay back. Kathy plopped next to me. Chloe shuffled in, looked around nervously, then went and sat on the edge of Renee's bed. Hannah got just within the door. She glanced around.

"Hannah," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you go sit by Chloe."

Chloe gulped. Very tentatively, Hannah went and sat, and the girls gave each other awkward smiles. I lay back with my arms behind my head. Kathy cuddled against me and gave me kisses.

I returned her kisses. Then I squeezed her bottom and wrapped my legs around hers. Then I raised her skirt, just the tiniest bit. She did the same to me. And I'd been right about her. She was a delightful lover. She knew which things to do, and she wanted to do those things very much.

It didn't take the others long. Soon I heard mutters, sighs, and the sounds of wet kisses. I looked over. Hannah had dropped to her knees. Chloe's panties had just slipped past her ankles.

I broke from Kathy to watch Chloe's face. We both did, and she was beautiful.

"She's pretty hot," Kathy said.

"Indeed."

Chloe lifted her legs and curled her toes. She grabbed Hannah's hair. I smiled and returned to Kathy.