What Matters More (Super Cancel)

"It's raining," Skyler complained. She was standing inside of her school, staring out of the gymnasium doors with a few members of her team. None of the girls looked amused of pleased at the sudden change of weather as the scowls painted on their faces only grew as a bolt of lightening flashed across the sky. Skyler's blue eyes narrowed and she shook her fist at the sky. "Dammit, Thor! We had a deal!" The blond beside her chuckled before she turned her aggravated friend away by her shoulders. "I told him this morning to make it nice!" she continued to complain, moving as Carly nudged her further into the gym. Her entire team knew about Skyler's relationship with the weather; it was a mutual hate.

"Hun, stop talking," the blond requested, patting Skyler's shoulder. "You're embarrassing yourself." She stepped away and glanced around the gym, eyeing the dark green mats on the opposite ends of the large room. "Guess that means we're having practice inside." A few of the girls groaned, but didn't make any sign of movement. It was the third day in a row they had been stuck indoors and with the opening of the season quickly approaching, none of them could spare the field time. Carly took a seat beside one of the other teammates, a small Asian girl, who was sheepishly watching the rest of the team. There were quite a few new members on the team, most of which were freshmen, and they all knew practice was needed. Lucky for them, their entire team had a long soccer-playing background.

Since Skyler could remember, her life had been about soccer. She started in elementary school as soon as she could be signed up and was still playing years later. The sport had never grown boring to her, thanks to switching teammates each year. In her early years, Skyler was flip-flopped between teams as her family moved around with her father's military career. While her father was working, her elder twin siblings had the task of packing, driving and settling the family into each new house. Thankfully, Skyler had soccer to go back to, and it kept her sane. It was the same in every city, and even across the sea in the year she was there. Now that her family had settled with her father's new job, the teenager had a solid team and support group. She was the happiest she had been in her whole life with this group. And she showed it with how awkward and strange she acted.

The team began their routine stretches while they waited for the coach to come out of her office. "Think we could play in the mud?" one of the taller girls suggested, bouncing the ball off her head to another teammate. Skyler simply laughed. "Oh! You'd enjoy that one, wouldn't you, Taylor." The tall girl tossed the ball in Skyler's direction, hitting her square in the back. "Shut up, will you? Coach doesn't know about me yet!"

“Man, that weather is looking pretty rough. Let's get those windows closed—you know how our adviser is about that sort of thing.” A young man said, green eyes scanning the room, tails of a plaid shirt whipping about as the wind rustled papers and threatened to knock down a trio of books sitting on a nearby table.

“But the wind blowing through the room would really help set the mood for a murky, confusing piece don't you think Travis?” A young man said, gripping a set of brushes in either hand so tightly that they should have snapped into splinters.

“Really Holland? Do you even listen to the things that come out of that mouth of yours?” Travis shook his head, as a pair of students carried bundles under either arm.

“Sometimes I make recordings of our conversations together and listen to them when I paint...” He said, and while Travis was sure he was just joking, Holland's ability to blush on cue was very disturbing.

“Okay then! Anyone else want to share inappropriate details about their personal lives before we go? No?” The young man looked over the dozen or so students that were in the room, and watched as one student slowly began to raise her hand. “Good, let's roll people!” Travis whirled his index finger in a circle and pointed to the door.

“B-but, I--” The young woman stammered, switching a set of easels to her right shoulder for comfort and support.

“Nope. Not hearing anyone else, which is a shame really. Oh, and Sasha?” He called to a towering youth who carried a duffel bag full of extra supplies.

“What is it Chief?” He said, his voice rather mellow and bit chipper even. Travis popped a set of keys into the air.

“You're on supply duty today. No one is to get extra supplies today—we don't need another dry cement incident.” Travis mentioned, as Sasha caught the keys and offered a silent nod. Dry cement and human skin are not to mix people.” Last time this happened, they had to rub mineral oil on someone's face in order to break up the bond. Never has something so thoroughly ruined sensual massage as a materials mishap. “In any case, today isn't much different than our other days, as we'll be working on perspective and drawing from life until we actually settle on a major project—still taking proposals I might add.” He saw about half of the group suddenly take an interest in the conversation and he crosses his hands and threw them to the side. “Love, Space, and Fireflies is still off of the table—it's too much work and it isn't even a real project as it stands.

“No way! It's feasible! You're just oppressing our collective vision!” A dark haired student piped up, carrying a back pack full of cans and stencils, along with a pair or respirators. He felt the eyes of his peers, and for a moment he was confused as to what they wanted until it clicked. “Oh right!” He coughed, as if preparing to give a speech. “Maaaaaannnnn!” He drew out the word, and drove his tone deep into the basement of condescension and parody. The group had a good laugh as they entered the gym, and while their laughter reverberated throughout the spacious building for a moment, it stopped as they saw that the space was in use. “Girls' soccer is in here today? I'm, conflicted.” The young man said, while a young woman behind him rolled his eyes.

“Justinian is worthless, MacKenzie, show us some leadership.” A young woman with bronzed skin and blonde hair pinned to one side scolded, clearly in a bad mood now that they didn't have a work space.

“Look, it's probably just because of the rain or something. I'll talk to their captain, and we'll see where it goes from there. Everyone, just have a seat on the stands and get out those sketch books. Annie, establish a prompt for the gang, would you?

“What? Why does it have to be me?” She balked, as the young man offered her a smile as he held her wrist in passing.

“It's a pain, but I'm relying on you Francesca.” He noted, only pausing for a moment.

“Fine.” She said as she turned to the group and started barking orders, a regular task master. The young man flipped his hand through his hair, a shock dyed a shade of red as he wandered into the middle of the practice.

“Sorry, but who's in charge here? We didn't think that the soccer team would be inside today.” He knew that it was raining outside, but he didn't think they would have stuck around to hold an indoor session. “Maybe we can work something out?” He said, walking a bit closer to the “visitors” side of the gym, while the Fine Arts Club had set up base camp on the “home” side. There was something to be said about that, but it probably wouldn't have helped the young man's case.

Every single head in the gym turned when the art students entered. It dropped into silence before the new group laughed, but the team didn't join them in their joy. The girls eyes remained on the invaders, silently questioning why they were bothering to unpack their things. Two of the more buff members of the team, who also happened to be on the butt-kicking lacrosse team, stood up from the floor to meet Travis as he approached.

"Coach isn't out of the office yet," one of the girls told him, crossing her arms across her chest. "What do you lot want?" They certainly weren't pleased at the invasion of the gym and they made it quite clear with their body language.

Skyler and Carly approached the invisible line between the two groups and the brunette raised a thin eyebrow. She didn't speak and simply let Carly do it for her.

"Don't you have a class room to use?" the blond asked, leaning forward at the waist, forcing her upper body closer without moving her feet across the mark. "Gyms belong to the sports teams after school." She took a second to examine the teen in front of her, giving him the quick glance up and down his body. It was obvious, as most women over exaggerated the action to give it some sort of impact on the other person.

Skyler's eyes ran over the group of students at the stands before she glanced back at one of the new members of the team. "Becky! Get the balls, will you?" The small girl nodded and ran into the store room connected to the main gym, pulling out a canvas container attached to a frame and a solid set of wheels. Skyler watched as she did so and nodded to a few other members who all began to take balls out of the bag, tossing them lightly into the air while eyeing the art club, almost as if they were targeting them.

"Coach won't be pleased," one of the larger girls continued, holding her ground against the art student.

“It's not about what we want so much as what we need...” He was trying to be nice, as dealing with a few amazons was nothing compared to the bundle of chaos and spontaneity that were his peers in the Fine Arts Club. Under other circumstances, he wouldn't have tolerated that tone from anyone; student or teacher, it didn't matter. They were obviously not liking how they were setting up shop, even if it was as out of the way as they could manage.

“Well, that's the thing, we have a room to use, but it just isn't adequate for the size of our club or the sorts of projects we like to work on, and we can't get a second room—something about perceived fairness to the other clubs.” He addressed the blonds concerns, while looking over to the two players from before, seeing that they were only a little shorter than he was, which still meant two girls who hovered near six feet tall. He noticed that the brunette hadn't said anything until she ordered her own people to go ahead with their practice, while one of the larger girls mentioned their coach again.

“Long story short, the gym is pretty much the only place that gives use enough space to actually get our work done.” He looked to the four young woman and took a deep breath, as he felt like he was facing some kind of tribunal for a crime he didn't commit. “Just to be clear, I'm not asking for your permission to use the gym, we've got as much right to schedule time here as anyone else.” He looked over to his group, as Annie separated the club members into groups of three, having two study a third student who acted as a model. “We'll stick to the stands and keep out of your way for now, you guys were here first so fair is fair, but this can't continue to be a thing.” He said, looking to each of them, as he still wanted to play the good guy for the time being. The sound of a person clapping distracted him from the conversation, as a woman with black hair cropped short approached the group, wearing a red track suit and a very calm expression.

“You've got some chops on you kiddo, but I hope you can work this out, 'cause my girls are going to need this space about twice a week.” The woman turned to the four girls, an arm of her glasses perched between her teeth as she spoke. “Now, I've just received word that we can't use the field on Saturdays—which throws a hell-of-a wrench in our practice regimen.” She removed her glasses and perched them on top of her head. “You'll be in the gym twice a week, and that doesn't even account for out scheduling conflicts with fall and winter sports.” She turned to the young man, clearly giving him a once over.

“I'd like to see you try out for something, basketball maybe...no, swimming might be a good fit.” She said, gripping his shoulder and applying downward pressure to his spine.

“What the hell--” The young man objected, while the woman continued unabated.

“Quiet. Oh, excellent poise and posture! Don't see that often.” She noted, circling back to the center of the standoff between Travis and the four young woman. “Anyway, I'll be in contact with your adviser, but I can't make any promises. Wilhelmina Lancaster is wise and powerful, but even she has limits.” She made light of the situation, looking out to the rest of the team.

“So, you're saying to just deal with it, basically?” Travis adjusted his collar, feeling incredibly self-conscious about his entire existence thanks to that examination.

“Bingo. Do whatever you kids have to do, just don't burn the place down.” She said, lingering about the opposite end of the gymnasium, as she was sure that her girls would have questions.

The entire team gave some sort of laugh as they watched Lancaster straighten Travis's posture and give him a quick examination. They all knew she was known for doing such a thing with many of her teams, but to outsiders, it certainly was a strange action. But the topic quickly changed when she came to rejoin them.

"I hate the gym!" Skyler complained, kicking a ball quite firmly at the top of the stands, just above the art club's heads. She shot a glare towards Travis, as if it was his fault they were stuck in the gym. Of course, it wasn't, but part of it was the team was expecting her, as a voice in the team, to make some sort of point against the new club. As the ball rolled back to her, she knocked it behind her to another member of her team, giving the group on the stands a final look before turning back to her team, entering 'their' side of the gym once again.

"We're going to hit them," the Asian told their coach, her soft voice just barely coming out over the sound of their movement. "Is it really okay they're up there?"

"Lancaster!" A sharp voice echoed through the room, bringing attention to the teacher standing at the door. Blair Levy, voted most fun teacher three years in a row, leader of both the art and Pride clubs, which he insisted there was no connection, had entered the gym. Thanks to years of drama productions, he could project his voice with little effort. "I beg you, stop molesting my students." It has difficult to tell if he was joking or dead serious about what he was saying. Either way, he continued. "And keep your balls on that side of the gym!" He pointed towards the team. "I don't need more injuries!"

The brunette that he assumed was their captain rocketed a ball towards the stands, spooking most of the members of the art club, with Annie giving Travis a look from across the gym that was laden with disapproval. He looked over to the young woman, though talking to her now probably wasn't going to yield anything productive. The entrance of their adviser, Blair Levy, was always something to behold. The man oozed confidence, but was generally a very entertaining person to be around.

“If you're still upset about the time we tried to create installation art out of desk chairs and step ladders, I can promise you that we won't do it in the library because the ceiling is so high.” The young man immediately reassured the teacher, as while he was generally very fun to work with, he could also be difficult and demanding at times. Still, he wished he could push people to excel in the way that he did. He wasn't his idol or anything, but he had a respect for what he could accomplish. Travis would have liked to speak with the teacher, but between that girl's display and some of the puerile laughter coming from a few of the young men, he had to reestablish control.

“I'm going to hit Levy if he keeps the theatrics up.” The coach said to the young Asian player as she walked towards the man—as he was never the sort to come when called in her experience. Even now, he was fashionably late. “Where were you half-an-hour ago? Walk with me, we've plenty enough to discuss without appealing to your crowd-seeking nature.” She made the matter sound more serious than she herself believed, as the whole thing was rather silly no matter how she looked at it. “Administration is making changes, but what else is new?” She confided in the man, as he was as aware as anyone of how asinine some decisions really were.

As for Travis, some of the club members were shaken by the near-miss from the brunette, some to the point of wanting to take action.

“You're just going to let them get away with that? What's Mister Levy even doing?” Annie complained, while Sasha stood guard over the duffel bag as a dutiful quartermaster.

“What happened over there, Chief?” Sasha asked, while a few club members nodded, clearly interested. Travis cleared his throat, as they weren't going to like it.

“They really don't want us here, and they'll be using the gym on a regular basis due to some issues within the athletic department, so they're even more upset than usual. Mister Levy is doing his best, but there's no guarantees that this situation is going to work itself out.

“So, where's that leave us?” Justinian asked, taking himself away from his sketch book for the moment.

“Right where we are now. If some of you are uncomfortable, we still have use of the art room, so you can elect to work on some self-study there, or with a small group. For now, let's discuss some ideas for things that we would like to work towards going forward.” The young man directed the group, and though they didn't like it, they accepted it for the time being.

Blair ignored the chair comment in favour of taking care of the more urgent business at hand. "Theatrics is what I do, sweet-cheeks," he told the coach, turning to walk with her. "Travis, you're in charge again." That was the final direction the gave his club and turned his full attention back to the conversation at hand. "I heard about the new situation. It's ridiculous. We need the space just as much as you lot. And when it comes time for prom, we can't have soccer balls hitting our decorations!" What the art club didn't know yet was that they would be in charge of following the prom committee's directions and make up all of the much needed decorations for the large event. "We need to work something out on days like this."

Across the gym, Skyler stood ready, eyeing the teachers for a minute before turning to her team. "Alright, we stretched. Let's go warm ups." She tossed a ball across the gym and kicked a second, watching them hit the wall and roll to a stop a foot away from it. "Into teams. Relay to the ball and back, tag, and send the next person."

The team did as told, splitting themselves into two teams, which would later be used for the large practice, and stood behind the coloured lines of the basketball court.

"Careful of slipping," the captain warned, setting her fingers against her lips. "On the whistle." She waited another few seconds before sending a short pulse of air between her fingers, letting the loud whistle sound through the room. The first two at the line broke into a run, sliding around the ball at the end of the lap and tagging their teammate, sending them into the same run to repeat the action. It was simple, but it got them moving. Being more used to it on the field, the gym floor caused a few problems, but eventually they all got a solid grip on the floor and performed their task without sliding.

'What? Aren't you blending functions of your student's clubs? Well, it isn't any of my business, but be careful that you aren't creating a more volatile mixture than you already have.” She noted, as while she couldn't say that the man had an eye for fairness, he was very good at keeping his students involved and constantly active. “I do think it's best to let the students work this out themselves, try as we might, we can't force them to get along—they're teenagers in case you've forgotten.” She mentioned, taking a moment to pause as she looked out of a nearby window. “The weather has just been awful...” She noted, shaking her head in disappointment before donning her glasses. “I'll see what I can do, maybe fold in the stands to give everyone some more room.”

“That just looks like a lot of work...” Travis said, as interested in the soccer team's activities as those of his group. The rest of the club was focuses on familiarizing themselves further with pencil and pen, as Travis didn't want waste any expensive materials on practice. They would invariably have to study other subjects before a major project anyway, assuming that they were on a generous schedule. The advantage to having Mister Levy as an adviser was that they often received first dibs on anything that required the touch and eye of an artist, and if they pooled their talents, they could manage at least that. “Alright, stop working.” He clapped a few times to get the club's attention. “Time for some group critique, pass your work forward so we can tear down each others self-esteem.” He said, sounding much too happy about the prospect.

Given time, they went over each piece, pointing out areas that were in need of improvement and how to actually go about doing so—something that Travis himself had found lacking in most critiques sessions. “As a note for the future, we'll continue to use the art class for honing technique with a proper nib, since those tables are the best working surfaces I've seen.” He said, as everyone started to pack up for the day. “Also, in the future, prompts should not have titles like 'I hate those people' or 'I wish Travis wasn't such a loser'. Its just mean-spirited. Dismissed!” He waved to the group, who began the march back to the classroom. The young man held back, waiting for the soccer ream to wrap things up on their end.

The male teacher didn't seem impressed by her 'solution'. The only thing that would do was give the soccer team a better shot to his group. "Keep them out, for now," he told her. "Last thing I need is a ball hitting any one or thing." He waved over towards the team, who was still performing their laps and beginning exercises. "We'll talk to the administration soon and work this out." That was his final word and after a short nod, wiping the foul look off his face, he turned back to his students, as happy and cheerful as ever. He continued to let Travis lead the club, but tossed in his comments and 'professional opinion' when it was needed. Between the two, he and Travis gave hints and negative feedback on what the members of the club were working on.

While the art club was verbally abusing each other, Skyler's soccer team was doing it physically. Some of the girls were on multiple teams and often times they would forget which practice had which rules. Skyler hit the mats more times then she could count, which was far more painful then landing on the ground during a game. She sprang up, just as always, and continued, spiking balls across the gym with all her limps, getting revenge on each hit and entertaining others with her playful, even showy ways.

At the end of practice, Skyler called them all back in, tossing the ball they had been using into the proper bin before they all turned their attention back towards the coach, who would close the practice with a few words before sending them back into the locker rooms. During her closing remarks, Skyler's eyes fell on Travis, who was by now, giving his own ending speech. She had never paid attention to art clubs in the past, or any activity other then soccer for that matter, but now that she had a chance to at least half see what the group was doing, she was curious.

“Giving you what you want isn't exactly great for my girls either.” She said, truly becoming irritated with her coworkers attitude and demands. She had a fairly decent working relationship with the man, and she didn't want to jeopardize that for something a petty as this. Best to table the issue for another day, as she returned to her girls reminding some of them that the sport they were playing was called football elsewhere, it lacked the full contact aspect of the American variety. She didn't need injuries, not this early in the season. The girls needed the experience in order to continue their development as players, not to mention that sitting on the sidelines was not what she would describe as an enjoyable experience. Practice came to a close, and Wilhelmina offered the team a few words for them to consider. “Excellent practice in spite of the accommodations, but keep in mind that this is a shared space for the time being.” She looked to Skyler in particular for a moment before moving forward with her wrap up of practice. “Also, keep in mind that while this is a team sport, you all need to think as individuals as well. Skyler, I'd like you to set up small scrimmage games in order to emphasize this and to develop everyone's one-to-one abilities, as there will be times where strategy will not be enough to carry the team through a match. That's all you'll here out of me, take it easy girls.” She closed out her speech and returned to her office, as she wasn't driving home in a track suit.

Travis, for his part in things, had stayed behind, but he also fielded some questions for a few of the stragglers from the club. He was looking over a young man's sketch-pad, nodding in understanding. “Well, you have a better eye than I do for this sort of thing, but your technique needs some work. Try going home tonight and work on line weight—don't just look at it, but try to do it, commit it to muscle memory. That goes for pretty much any problem you'll encounter really.” He waved the students on, as he was always uncomfortable with giving advice to people he thought were much better artists. The young man caught sight of the young woman from before. “You can come over if you want, I'm mostly harmless.” He joked, waving in her direction. She hadn't said much, though he knew that she had something she wanted to say about this whole mess.

Skyler gave a half-ass salute to the coach, giving the sign that she understood her new command. That would be her project once she got home and she already had a few ideas of who to put together for the matches. Skyler slapped a few of the girls on the back as they started back to the locker room, signalling there was a plot in mind, before her attention was grabbed by the man across the room.

The soccer player took a second, almost unsure if it was a good idea, but decided on it anyway, crossing the gym to Travis. She tipped her head slightly, taking a look of what he had still laid out in front of him. She remained silent for a few seconds before choosing to speak to the other. "So how much space will your club need?" she asked, trying to spark up some sort of conversation. She didn't know much of anything about art, so this seemed to be a good enough place to begin.

The young man had gathered a small stack of in-house sketch books, as he liked to review them or shop them around to other teachers and people that he knew in order to provide a more robust and individualized critique for each of the club members. He saw that the young woman was taking a look, though she didn't offer any comments of her own. The silence seemed to speak volumes, but she finally asked the question that he hoped she would ask.

“It's hard to say, as right now we don't need much space at all, but once we actually receive a project to work on, we may need as much as half of the gym in order to really get a grasp on the work before us.” He didn't mention anything about how Mister Levy was with projects, as while he enjoyed the teacher's company as much as the next person, there was always something being booked or double-booked with that man. “Sometimes we help out with decorations for school events, or even help out with set and costume design for the drama club—and then there's what the club members actually want to do...” He wanted to share the proposed details of some of the projects, but nothing was really solid at this stage. “You could say that my responsibilities are more like those of sheep dog than a shepard. How about you and your team? We saw that sometimes balls fly over the cross bar, so I'm a little worried about space myself.” He mentioned that shot at the fine arts club, but didn't want to throw any accusations our directly.

“Oh, name's Travis MacKenzie by the by. I hope we can figure this thing out, it's already so stressful...” He sighed, as while he always tried his best to get along, he rarely attempted to mask his feelings.

"Skyler Cole," she told him with a casual nod. "We'll need a good bit of the gym when we're stuck inside," she told him, rubbing her upper arm where she was slammed into some time during the practice. "I mean, we're all hoping that we won't be inside all that often, but when we are, we'll need a good bit of space." Casually, she reached down and picked up one of the books, flipping through it as she thought. The two clubs would have to work something out if they wanted to get anything done. It would be impossible for them to be constantly fighting over space, certainly not when they both had work to do. "Hopefully, we won't have to be inside much. We need time outside more then we do inside."

She paused at one of the pages, looking over it before flipping to the next one. "Is this yours?" she asked, raising one of her eyebrows as she studied the pictures. She wasn't trained on what sort of medium was used for the picture, but she knew that it was well done and quite beautiful. Her eyes travelled to Travis, eyeing him carefully.

"Could you do your larger projects while we're outside?" she questioned, coming up with the thought. "Gives us both what we want in that case. Unless our coaches can come up with something else."

“Right, this place doesn't really match up to the field outside. I'll see if I can do something about those hot heads on my side of the fence, as I don't want to lose any members if I can help it.” He said, sliding his thumbs into his belt loops. “Yeah, I'm hoping that we can get approval for the larger art room—someplace where those guys can really shine.” He hadn't noticed it, but Skylar had picked up his sketchbook, one that he generally used to practice along with the group.“Oh, that? Well, I've had to work at it, since I don't really have that much of a talent for it like some of the other students—I just happen to finish what I start more often than not.” The young man admitted, taking it back from the young woman when she was done with it.

“We can certainly try, though it may become an issue if we have a deadline. I'll keep you informed, in fact—and don't think badly of me for this—but let's exchange numbers.” He wanted to remain jovial, since she was taking the time to come and speak to him one-to-one.

The teen handed the sketchbook back with a smile. "Looks pretty good," she told him, crossing her arms across her stomach. "I'll cool down some of my own as well," she added, agreeing to whatever they had come up with so far. Calming their own 'sides' was going to be an important part of this whole deal. If any of the soccer players got upset, Skyler could bet money that they would and could crush the art club with little to no trouble. But some of the art members could put up a good fight, she could tell by just spending the few hours around them. There was no question there. Either way, she didn't want a problem with either club, as that risked one or both of them being shut down in quite a rude fashion.

Skyler eyed a few of the other sketch books, but hadn't had a chance to look through them when Travis asked for her number. "Just to discuss this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. It was a bit entertaining to her that he had asked, but she wasn't against the idea. Even if that was all they did, it would be good to have someone like him in her phone anyway. Just to say she had someone as... good looking as him in her list. "Sure. My phone's in the locker room, so I'll give you mine then you can send me a message with yours." She smiled and shifted her weight to her other leg.

“Thanks, that means a lot coming from someone who has to tear their body apart just to get stronger—that is how muscles work, right?” Travis looked off to the side, as while he appreciated the human body as much as anyone should, he wasn't an expert on how any of its processes worked. If he were, he would concern himself with other matters that are more important to adolescent minds other than how the specific mechanisms of muscle growth actually work. As for the young woman's number, she made light of the matter, though whether is was a gesture of goof faith or a measure of pragmatism was up for debate. They were sort of stuck with each other, at least on days like today.

“Ha, and to think it only took the near meltdown of two faculty members and the threat of violence among more than two dozen students for me to get someone's number--” He laughed, retrieving a phone from his back pocket and taking down the young woman's number. “I have to get going, but we'll work this out—probably.” He said, waving to the young woman. “Glad we could talk like this, and good luck!” He added, taking the remaining books and extra supplies back to the art classroom they were currently using as a staging area. Sasha was hanging back, as was Annie—forming the unofficial triumvirate that ran the club.

“Making nice with the enemy MacKenzie? Figures...” Annie began, “You're being too nice, whatever it is that you have planned. Some people just don't respond to anything other than force, its naïve to think otherwise.” She explained, as the larger young man motioned for her to calm down.

“Easy, I'm sure that Travis was trying to keep the peace—our adviser certainly wasn't going to do that much.” Sasha sighed, as Annie immediately wheeled around an brought her attention to bear.

“Mister Levy cares about the Fine Arts Club! That's why he's so passionate! You two could learn a thing or two from him, maybe some of that bravado will rub off finally?” The young woman offered her criticisms as Travis walked past the pair to put the sketch pads and other things in order.

“Is that so? Well, I'll keep that in mind. Sasha, take care of the keys for now. See you two tomorrow.” He said, slinking away from the pair and going about his business for the remainder of the day.

Sometime later, he found himself at the end of his his shift at the local hardware store, lingering behind near the paint and painting accessories. He removed his phone and sent off a quick text:

“Just sending you my info, sorry it's late—been a long day for me.”

He sent the message on its way as he finished up his duties and headed home, collapsing on his bed and drifting off to sleep. The next meeting day, most of the students were in the art room, working on personal projects as the young man sat in one corner of the room, head buried in his arms. They wouldn't need the gym today, though he also hadn't touched base with Mister Levy about any upcoming projects.

Skyler shrugged her shoulders. She had never actually gone into the study of what happens to her muscles when she trains, as more likely then not, she wouldn't want to touch her exercise after she read about it. She imagined that Travis had done more work then she had, being that he's an artist and had to study at least the outline and look of human muscles to her the form of their body right. She laughed when Travis mentioned the way he got her number.

"Traditional isn't my style," she joked. "That pretty much fits perfectly then." To the side of the room, she could feel the two other members of the club staring her down. It made her a bit uncomfortable but luckily Travis decided to pull away and let Skyler into the locker room. She shot the teen a wink and a quick point of her finger, clicking her tongue along with it. She didn't doubt that they'd work it out, but it would take a lot of talking to get even have the slightest bit of progress.

She went into the locker room and after jumping in the shower and goofing off with several of the team members, she headed home. Her normal clothes were now applied, a pair of skinny jeans, high top converse and a light t-shirt. She had her trusty pearl blue motorized scooter as her transport home and got there in a record time.

Skyler wasn't surprised to find out her father wasn't home but she had dinner with her three other siblings before heading to her room to hit the books.

Her phone buzzed on the desk behind her and she swiftly picked it up, looking at the message. She smirked. 'Nah, all good. Day's crazy' she responded and set her phone back to finish her homework. And soon after that, it was time for bed.

The next day was just as crazy as it was the day before. This time though, she was assured they would be outside, as there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She smiled to herself in the locker room and sent a short text to Travis.

'You get the gym today. Congrats to you'.

The young man found the tapping of ink nibs and the scrape of pencils to be just the sort of thing he needed to drift off to sleep. A lullaby that seemed to be tailor-made for the young man judging by how effective it was, and what was more, he felt great whenever he arose from his slumber. His phone happened to be near his face when it lit up, disturbing him as the screen flickered on and off. The young man slid his hand across and checked to see if it was anything important—there had been a few times when his father demanded that he come home immediately, and it usually wasn't to tell him what a good son he had been.

“That's good news. Have fun playing in the grass.”

He sent a quick message to the young woman, as he saw a shadow looming over him, intensifying the back lighting of his screen.

“Something the matter Justin?” The young man addressed his peer, always shortening in his name for the sake of convenience.

“Nah man, I was going to give you a scare or something, but I didn't want to interrupt your love letter.” He said, as Travis gave the young man a strange look.

“Nothing like that, and I'm no good at that stuff anyway...” He said, sliding the phone into his front pocket. “Anyway, go talk to Annie and Sasha, the gym is free, but there isn't much we need to do for the moment. Just get some measurements for different areas, just in case we need to finish something but can't work on-site.” He said, as while he didn't mention his conversation with Skyler, he did make it clear that the gym was not their personal workspace.

“Sure, sure. I'll meet you down there.” Justinian said, slapping Travis on the back leaving him to do as he was asked. Travis soon linked up with the other three members of the club, tape measures and ladders in hand.

“Good to see that we actually have use of the gym today—a day where we don't even need it.” Annie mentioned, ever willing to play the pessimist.

“Yes, well, this is how things go sometime. Now, let's get a measurement of the north wall over there, Sasha is on recording duty.” Travis delegated tasks as he set up one of the ladders. “I also wish to know if we can mount anything on the walls up here.” He mentioned, as Justinian and Annie measured the total length of the base of the wall.

Meanwhile, Wilhelmina was out observing the girls, monitoring their progress on the field when she found an opportunity to flag Skyler down.

“Cole! Come here for a minute!” She shouted, waiting patiently for the young woman before continuing. “I'd like you to take few of the girls aside and see which ones would work best as offensive forwards, I'd like to give the team some dedicated wings, since other teams in our league don't use them so much. Maybe organize an extra practice session using the gym, since they'll need more work and attention than they will get on the field.” She mentioned, whistle resting on a chain around her neck.

Skyler smirked at the message and let it go, leaving the locker room and heading out onto the field. Her team came out with her and after their normal outdoor warm-ups, they started on the skirmish plans she had set up. That didn't last very long and soon enough they slowed to a halt and the typical practice started. There was nothing special about this practice, until Skyler was called by her coach. She slowed down before jogging over to the woman. "Yes?"

Again, Skyler saluted her coach. "Got it," she agreed happily. She turned on her heal and watched for just a second before she began shouting out names. Using the voice her 'military commander' voice that she grew up responding to, it was easy for her words to carry over the commotion on the field. "Carly! Sarah! Nikki!" The girls attention was grabbed and they all came over to join their captain. She explained to them that they would all be going inside for some special training and they quickly nodded, happy to get out of the heat. "Practice is yours, coach," she said with a smile before heading inside with the select few.

As soon as they got to the door they stopped. "Oops," Skyler muttered as she took the ball from Nikki and set it on the ground. "Heads up!" she called before spiking it right next to Travis's head, into the wall and back, watching as it bounced right under the ladder and back to their attacker. "Morning, sweet cheeks!" She approached the art club and her teammates followed. "We need the gym."

“Hmm, good...” The coach said, taking her whistle in hand and belting out a shrill cry as she motioned to individual players and pointed towards where she wanted them to play. Inside, Travis and the other three students were taking measurements and discussing just how lame it would be working under the authority of some other club or organization within the school, as while they had a ton of idea of their own, they were all subject to approval before actually being carried out, unless they were willing to fund the endeavor with their own money—something that any administrator just loved to hear.

“Let's see, we could probably get by with squares of adhesive, but if we could rig up something more complex...” Travis said, more to himself than anything as a ball rocketed past him and under the ladder, bouncing back out and back to the young woman that was quickly becoming the most visible subject for the fine arts club to focus their ire upon.

“This is going to be a thing for us, isn't it?” Travis shook his head and sighed. While his interactions with Skyler ran towards the pleasant end of things, she really wasn't helping her team's case with her rather unique greetings.

“Honestly! Who does she think she is?” Annie sniffed, while Justinian whispered to Sasha.

“I think she's some kind of cyborg...some dudes can't even launch a ball like that, let alone with such precision.” The largest of the young men nodded silently as he finished his notes, though he kept an eye on Travis and the young woman, as she and her teammates approached.

“We need about fifteen minutes to finish up here, what's on the schedule for you guys today?” Travis asked, while the other three art students stopped what they were doing and rallied around the young man.

"I can do it again," Skyler teased the other club members, eyeing them carefully. She certainly wasn't a cyborg, or if she was, she was a damn good one. But their reactions were completely worth it. "It may be," she added to Travis with a shrug. "It catches your attention, doesn't it?" She stopped a few feet away from the art students, her teammates right behind her and holding steady in their own sporty, muscular ways. "We get to do individual training," she told him with a smile.

"Sure you need all the fifteen minutes?" Sarah questioned, raising one of her eyebrows and looking past Travis to the other members of his club. "Our practice is pretty important, if you haven't noticed."

Nikki silently agreed, nodding once while Carly didn't bother to continue what was going on. Nikki and Sarah could do it on their own and if needed, Skyler would join up. Between even just the two back girls, they had beaten up more then half the school at some point in their lives. And Skyler, well she had a record of making her own mischief.

"Sarah," Skyler softly warned, glancing back. "They can have their fifteen minutes if they need it."

Sarah didn't like that plan and inched forward with a scowl. "What could they possibly need it any longer for. They aren't even doing anything here."

“Yeah, I guess that is true...” He looked to the ceiling, stroking his cheeks with his right hand as the other three students hung back, allowing their leader to do the talking. One of the girls spoke up, and if memory served, it wasn't the one who had been vocal the first time they had an issue. Travis shifted his weight and looked to the muscular young woman, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

“I guess you'll just have to take me at my word then, won't you?” He didn't appreciate how dismissive the young woman was of their activities, as while their practice was important to them, he knew he would get tired of hearing it sometime soon. The other girls were silent, though he was sure that there was a sense of solidarity of purpose among the girls. Plus, he knew the other girls by reputation, as they were the sort to get upset and then do whatever they liked even if someone wouldn't let them. While Skyler was acting as the adult-in-the-room for her teammates, Sarah didn't seem to like her decision one bit.

“Hey, it isn't our fault that you can't understand what's going on after having it explained to you.” Annie spoke up, pushing ahead of the other two young men and standing next to Travis, who simply looked on, eyebrows arched in surprise and interest. “Still, it isn't like you can make us leave. We're not afraid of you.” She said, while Justinian clenched his teeth and raised his hand.

“Actually, I'm afraid of girls, they're scary man...” He said, an attempt to break the tension if Travis had ever seen such a thing.

“Enough you two, none of this is helping.” He said, while Annie whipped her head around and leaned towards the young man.

“So it's okay if some girl-jocks just say and do whatever they like? No. Way.” She said as the young put up his hands and motioned for everyone to stay calm.

“Okay! Okay...” He said, an edge to his voice that normally wasn't present, even when he was under stress. “You three, stay on task and keep your comments to yourselves.” He spoke to the other members of the fine arts club before returning his attention to the girls from the soccer team. “I'm going to ask that you guys try to work it out as best as you can and leave us alone. Can you manage that?” He asked, his patience was starting to wear thin.

Sarah stepped forward. "Excuse me?" she barked, although the conversation continued around her. They kept talking and Sarah simply got angrier. The other girls didn't seem to mind, in fact Skyler turned to the side and began to wave them in a direction, giving them soft instructions while the art club bickered to themselves. But when the attention turned back to her group, she looked back as well and cracked a smile.

It faded when Travis seemed agitated with them. "I think we can," she told him, an edge of annoyance in her own voice.

"Unless one of you would like to instruct us properly," Sarah mocked, which earned her a quick smack to the head from Nikki. She took Sarah to the side and Carly almost skipped behind them. She seemed rather light on her feet as she walked and was softly humming to herself.

Skyler watched them for a second before looking back to Travis. "We'll keep it on our side as much as we can," she assured him and turned away to join the rest of her team.

"Awesome..." The young man said, knowing that this wasn't fun for Skyler either, as she too had a responsibility to her teammates. He returned to supervising their taking of measurements, taking over for Sasha as he instructed the young man to move one of the ladders. Travis, along with the other three members of the fine arts club were not having a good time of things, as the worked in relative silence until they were close to wrapping things up, ladders ready to be carried out as they reviewed the measurements. "We can just hang up banners, though I think we would be better suited to creating something closer to a tapestry or mural--maybe even create an actual woven cloth if we can find someone who can print or embroider the design, something that's ten by twenty if we really wanted to get fancy." He mentioned, while the other members of the club didn't seem as willing to contribute.

"Who cares? Honestly, it isn't like we'll be doing anything that we want to do anyway; I'm willing to bet that we'll get roped into handling prom or something like that." Annie mentioned, her arms folded and her mood ever sour.

"Yeah, but rumor has it that Mister Blair is the one pulling the strings on that one, and while he hasn't told us, I've heard other students talking about it." Justinian mentioned, while the young woman shot him a look.

"Why are you always blaming our adviser for every little thing? He at least cares enough about our club to keep us involved, so I guess it isn't too bad if we are asked to help out." She said, while the other young man rolled his eyes.

"Man, why don't you marry the guy already? You defend him like he's your boyfriend or something..." Justinian groaned, while he Annie clammed up, her ears turning red.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! You're just jealous that he's outgoing and actually get's things done--unlike us." She mentioned, while Sasha stepped in, wanting to calm everyone down.

"Hey, this is something we can talk about later, right? I'm tired of carrying this thing." He said, motioning towards the door. "You coming Chief?" He asked, as Travis nodded, not bothering to offer his take on the situation.

"Yeah, I'll lock up, I'm going to sort through this for a bit here, take a few notes and the like." He said, clicking his pen as the other three left the gym. He climbed into the stands, and looked around the gym, jotting down some ideas and even sketching out areas of interest and what they would have to do in order to turn the blank canvas of the gymnasium into a vibrant landscape.

The girls didn't seem to do much talking outside of practising what they were told to do. It didn't take them long, or more like the team came back in before they could work on it very long. Skyler tossed the ball towards a member of her team and the whole group of them started into the locker room to get changed and rejoin the world outside of soccer. Skyler hesitated, looking between the locker room door and the man on the bleachers. She paused before starting towards the bleachers and climbing to the top, taking a seat next to Travis. Her eyes travelled to the designs on paper and she raised her right eyebrow.

"Designs for something?" she asked, instantly recognizing the gymnasium she was always used to. "Are you seriously drawing in pen?" She couldn't even draw in pencil, she couldn't even believe there were people out there that used pen like it was nothing.