Rising Shards

I sat on a bench in the locker room at Crystal Caves High, a school that really annoyingly didn't have enough crystals or caves in spite of its name. I had just showered and changed out of my gear after the first meet of the season.

At least beam chasers was still normal. With all our treks around, the excess energy I had in my Downside form was burnt out, so I didn't play any different. I'd be pissed if that gave me an advantage on the court, and it'd probably be something I could get in trouble for. I was putting a lot at risk for this Downside thing for reasons I couldn't fully understand, but I really didn't want to lose beam chasers.

While it stung to lose in a real close game, I was really just happy to play again. Even if it was my least favorite kind of meet, the weekend mid-morning one that required us to be up way too early to get on a bus. The plus side was we were done halfway through the day, and just had to bus home. The school was doing some shopping event for prom afterwards, I figured we'd see if we were up for it when we got back. And by 'we,' I meant myself and the girl who asked me to the prom, Marmalade, who was just getting back herself, wiping her face with her shirt. I almost made a comment about how good her abs were looking, but restrained myself.

"You know, a towel works better for wiping sweat," I said.

"No, it's not," Marmalade laughed. "You're gonna think it's really stupid, but my forehead is itchy and sometimes a shirt is the right texture for scratching you know?"

"Well, that's not what I expected you to say, but I respect it," I said, grabbing at my own shirt. "I guess I can see that being the case sometimes."

"It is! Like right now! That shower dried out my skin, I picked the wrong stall," Marmalade said.

"Well, get some moisturizer or something," I said. "Also, great work out there? You kicked ass."

If I had to say who was the MVP of that game, it definitely wasn't me, it was probably Marms, who was relentless on the court, which I bet frustrated the hell out of the other team.

"Heh, thanks!" Marmalade said. "You were..."

"You don't have to say it, I just did fine," I said. "I'm still getting back into the groove, I think."

"I was gonna say you looked badass out there, so maybe wait til I finish a compliment before you reject it," Marmalade said.

"Pft, fine, fine," I said, getting weirdly pumped up from hearing that.

I wasn't sure about Marms, but I napped the entire bus ride back so I was feeling ready to do this shopping spree game. I hadn't picked my tux out yet for the dance, and Ma was on my case about it, so maybe this could take care of that.

As if she sensed me thinking about her, just about the moment we got off the bus my mom was waiting for me, which made me feel super cool to have my mommy waiting for me after my game. Luckily, nobody snickered or anything as she cornered me, but I wouldn't blame them if they did.

"Greetings, daughter," Mom said.

"Salutations, Mother, talking weird, are we?" I asked.

"I suppose," Mom said. "You're going to that thing tonight, correct?"

"Sure am," I said. "I wish I had a mom that asked how my game was instead of nagging me about clothes."

"I saw how the game went, I watched the stream!" Mom said. "Check the replay, I was cheering wildly for you in that chat."

"Well, that's a sign I'm never watching this game again," I said.

"Oh shush, you were fine," Mom said. 

"I mean more about you screaming in caps lock by yourself in chat," I said.

"You gotta watch your steps between the corner curve beams, but I was suitably proud of you." Mom said, ignoring what I said entirely. She squinted behind me, visibly calculating something. Marms approached sheepishly, I was impressed with her bravery in even a cautious approach toward my mom in nagging mode. They'd met before, but I don't think they'd talked much.

"And she's...?" Ma said, agonizingly making me fill in the blank.

"Yes, this is Marmalade, who I am going to the dance with," I said. "Marms, my mom's in a mood, I won't blame you if you run away now."

"Oh, come on, I'm not so bad," Mom said. "Marmalade, did you ask Kalei to the dance, or did she ask you?"

"You don't have to answer that," I said. "There's still time to run, Marms!"

Marmalade didn't run though, she seemed to enjoy the banter.

"I asked her, yeah," Marmalade grinned, eyes shut.

"Interesting!" Mom said.

"Satisfied?" I asked.

"Yes, but I still have more questions," Mom said as I groaned. "Nothing embarrassing, I promise! Are you going to this shopping dealie later too?"

"Yeah, I think so," Marmalade said. "I haven't picked a dress yet, so..."

"Terrific," Mom said. "I'll be chaperoning, so if they cheap out on the dresses and tuxedos and whatnot that are available, tell me and I'll help you out."

"What, like bully the staff into giving us better ones?" I asked.

"No, like chipping in on rentals so you can get ones you'll be happy with," Mom said. "But if the ones at this are good take them, got it? I'll be judging to make sure you get good ones." Mom held her hand by her mouth like she was covering up something to whisper to Marmalade, but just said it loud enough for me to hear anyways. "Don't let her pick a tuxedo t-shirt, she's so annoying about that bit."

I pushed Ma. "How can I be annoying about a bit I've never done?"

Mom didn't react to my shoving. "In junior high, she saw Toxic Sludge Prom, and she thought the tuxedo t-shirt in that was the pinnacle of comedy. It's not, but it warmed her little heart."

"Kay, that's enough Mom time, talk to you later," I said, grabbing Marms by her wrist and leaving.

Once we were out of her range, I apologized.

"So freaking annoying having a Mom that works here," I said. My mom had only recently started working at Rising Shards, but I was already feeling the pains of her new job. "Feels like everyone's got a parent that works at this stupid school now."

"I dunno, your mom's cool," Marmalade said. "But if my parents worked here...yeah, that'd suck. I get it."

Marms didn't talk about her family much. I didn't want to pry, but she said a lot with her downtrodden tone there.

"Hey, we got some time to kill before the thing, you wanna hang out, or do you need some alone time post game?" I asked.

"I'm fine with whatever," Marmalade said, giving me that eyes shut grin again. "Any time with you is good, though."

"Awesome, we're hanging out then," I said, deciding immediately that we had to do something as soon as I saw that grin.

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