“I don’t think you have to worry that much about looking bad Steph, you always look good.”
The red-head sat in front of the mirror that the couple took turns sitting in front of each day when getting ready. Admittedly, the ‘shared’ time was mostly used by Steph, who often needed more than just a bit of mascara and ‘clumsy’ (as Avalyn would call it) eyeshadow.
It wasn’t as if Avalyn didn’t care about her appearance, she just felt that she looked better in that limited makeup, while Steph felt more comfortable with the rather more layered approach. Avalyn could pull off the more complex layered look just as well as Steph could, Aunt Bea made sure of that, but once they both graduated from the Hall, they quickly found the look that they were both most comfortable with.
Avalyn was strewn lazily on the bed that the couple also shared, a bed that took most of the room in their tiny one room, one bathroom flat. The flat that they had found near St. Almsworth was perhaps more fitting for one person than the two that had been advertised on the agency, but the two didn’t have many options for the budget available. Dorley were generous enough to offer their own lodgings, especially as Steph was technically in ‘employment’ with the place, but Avalyn insisted on having their own place that they had purchased with their own money.
They had to accept the one bedroom, that was also the living room, that was also the dining room. Thankfully not the bathroom, however, that was another room. It wasn’t a tip by any means, it was a nicely kept place in a good area, but perhaps the proximity to the party centre of Almsworth had decreased its value slightly. Besides, a ‘boarding house worker’ (as they called it on Steph’s official form) and a ‘part time’ stage hand were more than pleased with their living arrangements.
The smaller, brown-haired girl rolled onto her stomach, and let out a groan-like sound, muffled by the pillow that she was smooshing her face into. Steph knew her wife enough that this behaviour meant that Avalyn was ‘pouting’, and clearly trying to get Steph to hurry up. Unfortunately, Avalyn would have to be patient, as getting her hair just about perfect would take more work than Avalyn’s luscious locks. Steph almost envied her for the easiness at which her hair looked nice, but she got to admire and pat that hair every night, so it was to her own benefit.
“Mmmmm cmmm mmmm, wmmm gmmm be lmmmm” Avalyn was speaking into her pillow, doing everything her power to get Steph’s hair to magically get ready.
“We’re not going to be late, we live 5 minutes away walking, we arranged with the girls that we would meet up in literally 40 minutes.” Steph let out an annoyed sigh as she continued to battle with the stray hairs with the comb, before giving up and taking out a small can of hairspray and giving it a light spritz.
Avalyn lazily rolled over onto the bed, staring over at her wife, her face carried that signature cheeky smirk of hers.
“You didn’t factor in the 15 minutes that I wanted to spend admiring how nice you look today.”
“Even if I factored that in, we still have 25 minutes to spare silly.” Steph shook her head with a smile. “You were never that good at maths were you.”
“I specialise in two things: rocks and rock.”
The brown-haired girl sat up on the edge of the bed bowed down her head in smugness. She then smoothed out the black skater skirt that she loved wearing so much. She had found it not long after graduating from Dorley. It had that vinyl, leather like look, but unlike many skirts of the same material, it wasn’t ludicrously short or stiff to the touch. It was a skirt that felt freeing to wear, evidently so as she would wear that skirt at least twice a week after purchase, no matter the occasion (well apart from occasions related to Dorley, Avalyn didn’t have that little sense of formality).
“You’re such a dork.” Steph said, as she chuckled at Avalyn’s show of smug.
Steph finally managed to get her hair all straight and neat the way she wanted to before looking around for her phone. She finally locating the Dorley-funded device on her bed side table, out of reach. One of the few generous offerings that Dorley had for their graduates, not that Steph needed any ‘gifts’ following her life changing experience.
“Did we ever hear anything from Rhoda, Erin?”
Avalyn rolled her eyes, and Steph wasn’t sure if it was at the mention of the hermit of their intake or at her nickname, which Steph kept using after Avalyn ditched her first attempt at a girl name. It was probably too close to comfort for her and probably wouldn’t have been good opsec. Not to mention, in Steph’s opinion, Avalyn fit her better.
“I think it would be a miracle if she even had notifications on for our Consensus chat. And if she wanted to associate with us again, I have a feeling she would have done it by now.”
Avalyn had a point, even when they were ‘hanging out with the lads’ in the basement, the boy that became ‘Rhoda’ spent most of his time in the backrooms locked up on his own along with Ollie. Rhoda fortunately learnt enough at to not be a complete loss to the Orchi, as the same unfortunately couldn’t be said for Ollie, who washed out not long before the Orchi. It wasn’t the same as Declan, Steph could feel the sponsors at least had some expectation for Ollie to survive the process, but that faith perhaps had been misplaced.
“Yeah, you’re right. If by any small chance she does appear then we can all rejoice then immediately look towards the end of the universe.”
Steph stood up and did a spin in front of her wife. She was wearing a flowery long sleeve flowery dress that was asymmetrical in length, reaching her thighs on the left, but stretching all the way down to her ankles on the right. She paired it with several shimmering necklaces, it shimmering matched the sparkling jewel on her ring. She had brushed her hair to one side, liking it this way ever since trying it out for the first time when her hair had finally grown enough to reach the lower end of her back. She finished the look with a sun hat, that was perfectly appropriate for a nice weather day in October, a rarity in this end of England for this time of year.
“Tell me, how do I look? And use different words than you do all the time!” Steph’s words earned a shrug from the smaller woman.
“You look…very very nice, like you always do Steph, what else can I say? You could dress in a garbage bag and I think you’d look nice.”
“I’m not going to dress in a garbage bag, Ava. And if it helps, I think you look pretty dashing as well.”
That statement from Steph would earn a very light blush on Avalyn’s face, but she once again, looked more smug than anything.
“Oh you think so? I’m glad you like it, I chose it very selectively.”
“You wear something similar everyday, Avalyn, that's not really how this works.”
Aside from the skirt, Avalyn had picked a low cut white top, the wording on the front had long since faded. The hormones had been very kind to the shorter girl indeed, and she was well endowed, especially considering she decided not to get that BA surgery. She wore a leather jacket over the shirt that was cropped at the elbows. Avalyn preferred to wear a pair of fingerless gloves that allowed for a little bit of skin to show in her lower arm, and the look was finished with a pair of black block heels that Avalyn insisted weren’t ‘platformers’, but they certainly did help with her height issues (even if she was average height).
“Why fix something that ain’t broken?” Avalyn shrugged, before extending a ringed hand out to Steph with a smile. “May I take your hand ma’am?” Steph returned the gesture with a smile, and grabbed the hand back, moving her thumb over the diamond ring that she had saved for ages to buy.
“Lead the way ma’am.” Avalyn walked the pair over to the door, as Steph managed to grab her phone and chucked it into her purse. She was a little confused however, when Avalyn stopped at the door, before turning and looking at the red-head with a confused look on her face.
“Where exactly am I leading us too?”
“God you really can be an idiot sometimes.”
—--------------------------------
“I know I made a similar speech last year. But very little has changed about the company here. The food’s been great, the company has been wonderful as always, but in addition to the lovely people that had given me their time and help, you people have also been there with me through the ups and downs this year. Last year, I was feeling good. This year, I’m feeling free and happy. So. Ladies and others, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. For the first time, this is Avalyn.”
—---------------------------------
Letting her guard down for just a second, Alessia found herself on a heap on the floor after taking a strike to the chest. She rolled over onto her back and brushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes, as she took a few moments to catch her breath. This little punk had always had a lot of fight in her, but her technique and physicality was fast improving. She was able to actually land a hit on Alessia, which was quite something considering where Cora was just a few weeks ago.
The spunky small second-year let out of a tired chair, as Cora let out a laugh whilst sitting down on a bench to the side of the gym, a bench that Alessia insisted was not going to be a weapon, the boys weren’t going to be strong enough to wield it.
Sure, her demonstration that led to her eventually lifting the bench up onto her shoulders wasn’t exactly convincing to Aunt Bea, but her explanation that these muscle drained boys and girls wouldn’t even be able to move it was enough to convince her senior that it was a perfectly fine idea.
“I got ya, I FINALLY got ya. Are ya proud of me coach? I finally nailed yer annoyin’ fuckin’ face.”
“About time I’d say, you haven’t been able to lay a finger on me for weeks!”
Alessia finally got the grip of Cora’s Scouse drawl, and she had almost found a little bit of affection for the little gremlin. She had tried to keep her own emotional attachment to these developing girls to the side. What made her so good at her ‘part time job’ was a disdain for the ‘developing’ boys that emerged out of the basement into her ‘care’. A lot of them were pissed off and angry, and just wanted to arrive to beat the shit out of her (not that they could anyway). It was Alessia’s job to channel that anger into fixing the basement-induced atrophy in their bodies.
The tall blonde got to her feet, and cracked her knuckles and her neck. She had admittedly been going easy on the second year, but that was a guarantee with these girls and boys. If she went all out, she could really cause some damage. Admittedly, she had let Cora land a hit on here, but the spunky girl deserved it for the work that she had shown in the short amount of time since she requested Alessia look over her workouts.
“Well then Cora, how about you prove to me that you can get me again, to finish off our session?”
That earned a goblin-like grin from the tiny black haired punk, as she lept to her feet, and immediately took the boxing stance.
“I’ll lay ya down on the ground, let me at ya!”
“I won’t be going easy on you this time, I’ll make sure of that!”
—--------------------------
“When I attacked Maria, there was something about it that made me really want to beat the shit out of her, but something, a little something on the inside, that really made me want to hold back. I think I get it a little bit now Tabby. Hatred that drove my actions, but I really only cared too much about how it affected myself. But really, I realise now, the important bit is how it affects others. Hatred is unavoidable sometimes, but I want to use it in a way that would benefit others one day.”
—-------------------------
Cora didn’t manage to lay a finger on Alessia, in fact she didn’t even come close. Alessia was putting in more of an effort this time and managed to lay a few, gentle, gloved hits onto Cora’s midriff, before finishing by pushing off of Cora’s leg with her own, sending the tiny second year sprawling to the ground. The older blonde shrugged, as she grabbed her own towel to dry off the sweat that had emerged on her skin.
“Shame, I guess I thought you were getting better but really you weren’t even close.”
“But I did improve!” Cora sprung to her feet and ran over to her trainer. She was always fired up, but it didn’t carry the toxic anger that she had when she first came to Alessia. She seemed to harbour genuine feelings to harm Alessia at that time.That feeling of wanting to channel your anger into actually harming others as a way of escape was something that the elder woman had worked for years to get rid of. The goal of these sessions was to not only bulk these guys up and give them healthy bodies, but also to nudge them in the right direction mentally in channeling their anger. Much better to try to beat up the trainer that they couldn’t actually harm or some immobile piece of gym machinery.
“I’m only pulling your leg, Cora. You know that you’ve gotten better, and you know that I know that.” Alessia flashed a grin at the smaller girl, and gave her a headpat. “I’m honestly proud of how far you’ve come. The little shit that came up all ‘he’ and wanting to beat me up is a thing of the past.”
“Ye, and now I’m a she who still wants to beat ya the fuck up!”
Alessia let out a chuckle as she gave Cora a small bap on the top of the head. The taller woman turned to grab her hoodie, and slipped it over her head. It only reached down to just below her bust, and did little to hide her extremely toned waist and stomach, hugging the curves on her chest in a flattering way. The sleeves itself were short, and ended just where her fingerless gloves started (she blamed Avalyn for getting her into these fingerless gloves). The black hoodie matched the black exercise pants that she wore.
Sure, it seemed a little informal for a 10 year reunion, but Alessia didn’t care. She was never much of a dress or skirt girl, and everytime Bea would finish her inspection, she would rip off those and slip on the hoodie again. One could still be feminine in a hoodie and yoga pants, and in the end, after graduating, she could dress how she wanted. She could feel Aunt Bea go easy on her towards the end anyway, especially as she had done good work for the hall on the side.
“Well, I’ll see you next week Cora. I’ve got to head off and meet the other girls now. Take care of yourself, you little shit.”
“Thank ya Alessia! I’ll get ya next week!” With that, the black haired second year sped off, and Alessia soon jogged out of the room after her, heading towards the central atrium of Dorley. She was almost early, but she was fairly certain she wouldn’t be the first one there. It would be nice to see everyone again. It had been years after all.
—------------------------------------------
“I really think that, I know I’ve been resistant to giving up my name, Tabby. Like, the way I am, despite how much of an asshole I was, I still wanted to have my sense of identity even as I change. But everytime I think of that name now, Will, I just can’t react to that name with anything but disdain. I want to be myself, but I don’t want to be Will. Will represents everything bad about me and something that causes pain for everyone around me. I want you to help me find who is left after I get rid of Will. I need your help Tabby. Help me find her.”
—--------------------------------------
The entrance atrium of Dorley Hall had barely changed in the years since she had graduated, and Grace in particular found comfort in some of the sofas that framed the edges of the room. The sofas were all be placed in intervals under traditional looking paintings of unnamed women. Grace assumed that it was an attempt to keep up appearances. After all, this was meant to be a rather traditional, old boarding hall for women, so understandably the look had to draw as much attention away from the basement as possible.
Grace was sat cross legged on one of these sofas, typing away on her laptop while she waited for people to start showing up. Although it was a weekend, technically her job never really stopped even on ‘off days’. Her email would always pop up with emails from her colleagues or from students asking questions about her lectures and assignments, and other times, more unpleasant emails that she would rather someone else deal with, but she promised herself to not shy away from correcting these misguided attitudes. It was the most she could do after being misguided for so long herself.
It was partly why she studied so hard and was determined to scale the academic ladder at St Almsworth. While the rest of her intake were mostly willing to turn their backs on the academic side of the college they called ‘home’, Grace found the students in her religious studies classes particularly impressionable. They were in that sort of age where, with the right nudging, one could really start to convince them of a different sort of ideal, for better or worse. Grace would know after all, it was her falling down the wrong hole that led her to Dorley’s radar after all.
The typical three year religious studies course was a breeze for Grace. She hadn’t lost some of that ‘knowledge’ that had shoved into her brain in her early years, and she generally did well on most of her coursework and the few exams that had occurred. When she applied to do a masters with a view to doing a doctorate, the professors in the department were not particularly surprised. But they were surprised that this quiet, diminutive girl seemed eager to enter academia at the school. But, during the masters course, and eventually the PhD, they would discover the louder, more passionate, side of Grace, that led to being a popular teacher within the department.
Not so long after that, her path had grown substantially more clear, Grace was almost destined to be one of the new professors of the Religious Studies department at St Almsworth, and she proved to be a popular choice. She found it kind of funny that the students viewed her as a ‘beacon for discussion’, a classroom where people were able to speak their mind, because if someone had said something that seemed particularly wrong, in a morality sense, Grace would always be willing to speak up in a good way. But she understood that freeness to speak, especially in philosophical subjects, was growing increasingly more rare. Bottling in ideas was an unhealthy habit.
The less chance that anyone like Adam would appear under her watch, the better.
—-------------------------------------------
“I don’t want to have to explicitly tell you that you have to follow everything that holy texts say word by word or at all literally. But I don’t want you to use the Bible or any holy text as an excuse to hate. I knew a boy once who was repeatedly taught that idea, and all that brewed was hatred and frustration. There’s a reason you’re all here, and I want to help you avoid that frustration. I encourage this healthy discourse, but you need to open to responses as well.”
—----------------------------------------
“Hey, Grace. You in there? GRACE?!”
The smaller woman was startled a little, and jump where she sat, only just about catching her laptop before it slid off her lap and fell onto the floor. She looked up at who was speaking to her, and nervously ran her hand through her short neat pixie-like brown hair as she chuckled.
“Hey there Maria…sorry, I was just thinking…”
The taller long term sponsor let out a laugh in response, and sat down on the other end of the sofa, Grace moving her legs off the sofa to give Maria some room. It had been quite sometime since Grace had seen Maria, especially since she didn’t come to Dorley all that often. She didn’t really need to, unlike Alessia and Steph her skills weren’t really best adapted to rapidly changing boys.
“Sounds like the rest of you are late huh? I guess I should have guessed.”
“Ah, no not at all. I arrived early, we were planning to meet in like five minutes. I just wanted to get some work done before I got distracted…”
“Hard-working as always I see. Well keep going Grace. At least until recently we managed to Almsworth related bigots.”
“Well…I’m sure that’s not down to me at all, maybe people just got lucky…like those people still exist after all so…”
“I know I know, but we have bigger concerns at this time. A rapid spate of physically violent versions of toxic masculinity. Alessia had a hand in finding some of those for us.”
“Yeah I’ve heard…Alessia kind of makes me know about all of them so…I have to convince her sometimes that they’re not all worth basementing..”
Maria shrugged, and was about to open her mouth to say something when the presence of another warm body in the room caught her attention. A particularly curious, and slightly miffed athletic blonde had made her way down to the atrium, just in time to hear the discussion about her. Alessia’s appearance immediately perked Grace up, as she gave Alessia a warm smile and slowly stood up from where she sat.
“You know I don’t appreciate backtalk and gossip, I get enough of it already, but I take it you’re talking about my good work for this place so…you’re welcome.” Alessia walked her way over and gave Maria a quick nod as a greeting, before walking across to stand in front of Grace.
The height difference between the friends were stark, granted, anyone would look short compared to the 6’5 gym rat, but Grace was always on the smaller side for Dorley girls, matching Avalyn in her shortness at 5’6. Alessia bent down and gave Grace a hug, the customary greeting when she met with other Dorley girls. People seemed to like her hugs. Grace returned it warmly, still having to stand up taller on her toes to not be lifted off the ground by Alessia.
“Well, I’ll leave you two too it, it’s the hour now so the others should be getting here soon. And from the sounds of things, we’re only expecting five of you right?”
Alessia sighed, and pulled away from the hug, nodding. “Nothing from Rhoda as per always, I know Steph tries but it’s just not possible to draw her out of her shell.”
Maria shrugged again. “Shame, we’ll see in another five years again.” The older sponsor gave a wave and retreated away to another part of the room, letting the two intakers catch up.
Granted with Alessia and Grace, these two didn’t really need much catching up with. They still met regularly enough and chatted with together on the consensus server often. Alessia often needed someone to talk too after a bad day at the Sports Complex, and Grace sometimes felt the need to intervene to prevent actual murders from happening in there. On the flip side, Alessia helped Grace with the confidence she needed to teach, she was still a nervous girl at heart and found it hard to speak to a group of people, but Alessia certainly gave her to motivation to not sound a nervous wreck.
“So? How was Cora today?”
Alessia flopped down on the coach, being careful to not sit on the maxi skirt that Grace chose to wear together with a lowkey top and cardigan, a muted style that was rather atypical for an intake that often chose to loud and effervescent with their fashion.
“The usual, a little prick but in a good way, she actually managed to hit me for once. Which is nice.” Alessia quipped.
“Oh wow, an improvement, you were obviously going easy on her though so…”
Alessia brushed a hair out of her eyes, while letting out a quiet scoff. “Well yeah I have to go easy on these girls and guys, I would break them otherwise. Although I think that’s kind of the point.”
Grace let ouf a quiet giggle at that, nodding.
“I couldn’t really imagine what it would be like if we had someone like you in our time.”
Alessia raised an eyebrow. “Are you in a nostalgic mood Grace? You don’t tend to muse on our time here often.”
“That’s only natural with a reunion though right? Especially when it’s about our time here, the time that changed all our lives…”
“For the better I might add. We surprise ourselves sometimes.” Alessia shrugged.
“Kind of like my students. I feel like sometimes, they surprise themselves with how much they know and feel. Sometimes, what they feel can hurt others, but you know, we want to discourage that. Before…well…” Sensing the discomfort, Alessia reached over and ruffled Grace’s hair.
“You’re good, you always had a good head on your shoulder Grace.”
“I know you say that but I’m not convinced that’s entirely true…” Grace sighed quietly, shaking her head.
Alessia gave Grace a light bap on the head. “We can go through this cycle all day. We feel the same way of who we were. I for one am glad I left my old self in the trash.”
“I’m not as harsh as you on who I was I think. Adam had horrible ideas and horrible opinions but like, in a way I’m still that person, just, minus the gross bits…” The last bit earned a cringe from the quiet teacher.
“Well, without the gross bits, you’re a pretty damn good person. And that’s final.” Alessia removed the hand from Grace’s head, flashing the smaller girl a toothy smile.
Grace returned the smile warmly, and just at the point, the door to Dorley would swing open.
The reunion could finally get into full swing.
—-------------------------------
“I don’t want to break down in front of you again Will…it’s really embarrassing….you shouldn’t need to keep protecting me from them…they have more faith in Ollie than I will ever have faith in myself.”
“Don’t you put yourself down like that Grace. You are so much more than that shitbag, you at least show signs of ever being saved. You want to be saved. You are a good person, a much better person than I, and if you struggle to see that, then it’s my goal, as your friend, to help you see that. I may struggle with faith myself, but I certainly have faith that you will do the right thing Grace.”
—--------------------------------
The formal reunion of the girls hd proved to be rather more standoff-ish than any of them expected, mostly because they didn’t really know what to say first now that they were all in the same room for the first time in a very long time. It was probably during a christmas party, but they didn’t really talk all that much even then. The tense atmosphere was a little too much for Steph, who cleared her throat and decided to take it upon herself to kick start the conversation.
“So, are we just going to stand here and act like we’re strangers, and ignore that we see each other in a chatroom each day?”
Alessia managed a small eye-roll and folded her arms across her chest. “Well, that’s not really the same is it, as meeting face to face.”
Avalyn flashed a cheeky grin and pointed at Alessia with her left hand in the shape of a goofy finger gun. “On consensus I can’t have a discussion with your magical abs, Les’. It’s so much impactful in person. OW”
That exclamation of mostly surprise and a little bit of pain came as Steph delivered a hand chop to the centre of her wife’s head.
“You really are as horny in person as you are online aren’t you Avalyn, I just hope you’re channeling that into something healthy?” Grace did a little head tilt as she spoke.
“You bet!” Avalyn leaned over and gave Steph a quick kiss in the cheek. “She taught me the joys of lesbian sex. I highly recommend it.”
Alessia let out a laugh at that and shook her head in something close to mock disbelief. “You really are just as spunky as you were back then, plus the tits and arse.”
Steph bonked Avalyn in the head again, before turning to the pair of friends, gesturing to a pair of facing sofas. “Shall we sit down? Or we just going to reminisce in a standing circle?”
Before anyone else could say anything, Avalyn lept onto one of the sofas, nailing the landing with as much grace as a drugged sloth before crashing to the ground, landing on her arse. Alessia, ever the body conscious health instructor, let out a sigh.
“You know you really shouldn’t risk damaging your body like that. Especially with all the surgs we’ve been through, you don’t want something to go wrong on you.”
Avalyn picked herself up and sat down on the sofa, grinning once again. “I’ve taken much bigger falls and I’m still standing as far as I’m aware.”
Steph would take position sitting next to her wife, while Alessia and Grace took the other sofa. The other sofa was larger, and there was space for one more person if they were to show up. This was preferable, especially since the intake was expecting another one of their own to show up.
“Anyone heard from Maya?” Grace pulled out her phone to check as she spoke, shaking her head, almost to say she hadn’t heard from their fifth member. The other girls all in turn also checked their phones and shook their heads.
“She’s probably running late from work. She’s not exactly on the same schedule as us, it’s a miracle we managed to schedule this at all with how unpredictable Maya is.” Steph had a point, there was a reason this ‘anniversary’ didn’t fall anywhere close to the date of any actual significant dates for ths intake, because Maya would always be ‘doubtful’ or busy for that date.
“I think she would have told us already if she wasn’t going to show up, she isn’t like Rhoda after all.” Alessia grumbled.
“How about this?” Steph put a firm tone to her voice, a tone that she had perfected to use as a sponsor. “Rhoda is off limits as a discussion, we talk enough about her and complain about her enough in the consensus chat already. This is our moment to catch up and reminisce, not complain about Rhoda, got it?”
Needless to say, that attitude worked on the rest of the girls, who only quietly nodded in response. The tense silence that followed for a few more seconds occured as the girls worked out what to say to one another. The silence was shockingly broken by Grace, who cleared her throat before speaking.
“Um…Steph, I know you said that you don’t have anyone to sponsor this year but…how are they looking?”
Steph sighs as she lolls her head back where she sat in an act of exasperation. “You know how they are this time of year. A mix of boys too big for their boots and those broken enough that they just want to sit in the corner and have the world swallow them up. Nothing extreme yet though, and the egg radar is only very lightly flashing.”
Grace nodded at that. “Well, that’s a start at least. I know they didn’t want to give you someone to sponsor this year because, well, your plans with Avalyn…”
“Her plans with me? Damn right.” Avalyn’s goofy grin at returned as she gave a thumbs up. “You know babe we needed a holiday and well, what better time to do it than our grad year. Plus since we have pseudo sponsor over here, Steph essentially has a replacement.”
The pseudo sponsor name was something that Avalyn placed onto Alessia, and the blonde let out a huff and folded her arms. “I’m not a sponsor. I don’t want to be directly responsible in this type of shit.”
“But you do provide us with a good supply of intakes at this point Alessia. Who knew that a haven of testosterone would attract those that might be on the path to being society wash outs?” Steph had a point, ever since Alessia had graduated and taken charge of the Almsworth Sports Complex, she had a direct line to the sponsors whenever someone she deemed to be crossing the line, and often, her judgement was good, even if it was sometimes overeager.
“She still wants to basement everyone who looks at her the wrong way though….” Grace let out a tiny giggle, earning a soft glare from her taller friend.
“If it were up to me I’d kick all their arses. But then this university would very quickly run out of men and then people might start thinking what is up, opsec and all that.”
Steph sat back up in her chair and let out an exhale of breath. “You proved helpful this time Alessia. We had two people that you found really. You do have a good eye for this, and you always know that…”
“The offer is on the table if I want to have a more direct role, I know.” Alessia had heard this enough to finish the sentence. “But I’m happy enough just beating the crap out of weak boys and finding those who need throwing in the trash. You had that Suri fucker in this intake right. I had my eye on him from the moment he walked through the doors, he would always just fucking bore eyes into women’s tits, and then when he asked for a session with he couldn’t fucking shut up about his fantasies. The guy was an immense creep and I wanted to get rid of him at that time, I just wanted to fucking bust his face him at that point and drag him to Dorley mys-”
Alessia stopped as Grace placed a hand on her lap, her gentle smile causing the athletic blonde to quickly calm down. Grace often intervened when Alessia was in her angry rants about the men she faced at her gym, ending up with passionate walls of text popping up in their chat on Consensus. Grace kept Alessia grounded, and was another helper in filtering out those who really needed Dorley’s help, and those were ‘only’ assholes.
“I should ask Alessia…” Avalyn drew out the last syllable of the name as she tilted her head slightly. “How’s my little gremlin doing? I know you’re training her.”
“Oh Cora? She’s actually doing kind of great. She’s a little shit and she clearly wants to get better both physically and in the head.”
“Sounds like my little gremlin. Look, she’ll kick your ass one day. I’m sure of it.”
Alessia let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that, she still can’t open the jar.”
Grace shakes her head at that with a slight eyeroll. “No one can open the jar…”
“That’s the point. They aren’t supposed to be able to open it, I want them to have that vision of that goal where they can maybe one day do it.”
“Whatever you are doing it has been working Les.” Steph shrugged. “The second years are seeing results as always. Cora is ahead of schedule but you know we always have one ahead.”
“We woud know.” Avalyn smirked. “We had like four of us ahead of schedule. Apart from Les over there.”
Alessia frowned at that, but she wasn’t taking it that personally. “I had my own shit to work out.”
—---------------------------------------
“I’ve been at this for weeks, I can barely lift anything still. Fucking hell what have they done to me!”
“No one can hurt Grace now, Will. Ollie’s gone, Raph is broken. The only person left is you. No, I’m not going to hurt her, I’m not going to do it.”
“I have to get stronger, I have to. I’ll never be strong enough to…to…”
Crash
“FUCK! FUCK! I’m such a WEAK PIECE OF SHIT! How am I supposed to help the others like this, FUCKING HELL ALESSIA…..fuck fuck, I can’t. I’m not ready yet, I’m not her, not yet. I just need to help them, the other girls. They need someone…they don’t need a weak piece of shit….fuck, FUCK SAKE.”
—---------------------------------------
That was when the door to Dorley swung open, and one could hear the sound of stiletto heels against the hard floor the led into the atrium. The walking sounds would soon be revealed to belong to an extremely fashionable women, who was certainly vibrant in colour from head to toe. Her long brown hair ended with blonde highlights at the tip, and had that look that hair had after one went to the hairdressers very recently. She wore a half dark blue and half pink blazer, with the pink side matching with the a-line skirt she wore. The look was finished with a white blouse under the blazer, and a pair of white stiletto heels that was probably more expensive than the rest of the outfit combined.
The fashionable woman would catch the attention of the girls on the couch, as they met eye contact, falling into silence similar to the start of this reunion again. Avalyn especially looked confused, she’d never seen this girl before, or someone like her, maybe she was a new graduate. The others look similarly perplexed. Some graduates did rather go under the radar but this one was dressed rather loudly. The lack of recognition however was not shared by the stranger, who immediately let out a high pitch giggle, and moved her hands behind her back, almost striking a confidant pose.
“What’s with that look, ladies? Sorry I’m late, work was keeping me for a good bit!”
Avalyn’s eyes widened slightly at that, she may not have recognised the look, but she certainly recognised that perfectly practised tone from the voice chats that they sometimes had as a group on the consensus server.
“Maya?! Holy shit man….”
“In the flesh!” Maya strolled over and sat down in the free space next to Alessia, the tall blonde was chuckling at Avalyn’s bemused reaction.
“Ava thought you were going to come here in a depression hoodie or some shit.”
Maya let out a shocked gasp. “No waaaaaay, coming from the goth girl that is almost an insult.”
“B-but, moody Maya, that was like a whole thing!”
“The only actual thing here is you being wrong, so suck it lady.” Maya stuck out her tongue at Avalyn, who responded with a pout.
“Anyway!” Steph raised her voice a little to stop the internal bickering between the girls. “How have you been Maya? I know work has been hard but how have you been?”
“I’ve been good Steph, thanks for asking! Currently working on a sort of throwback noir show for London at the moment. Sending them off soon but I kind of want you all to see it before I do.” Maya reached into her purse and pulled out a little tablet, and started flicking through the photos. She was flicking through them rather fast, and the others were having a pretty hard time following it along, Avalyn just gave up after three pictures, fiddling with something in her own bag.
“I’m…” Alessia sighed and reached a hand to stop Maya. “Look we know your work is good, you don’t get where you are without being good. But we couldn’t see a damn thing because you scrolled so fast.”
“I saw like one top hat…then the rest was like, I don’t know…I didn’t see anything, sorry…” Grace had been mostly sitting in silence amidst the bickering, keeping a hand on Alessia’s stop to keep the blonde from exploding.
“Oh that’s a shame! Well if anyone cares I’ll send them on the consensus later!” Maya put her tablet back in the purse, and turned back to the group. “Enough about me, what’s been up with you all?”
“Who haven’t we heard from yet. You can talk to Alessia when we walk around elsewhere… That leaves, Grace or the gremlin.”
“Oi, I’m not that big of a gremlin, I’m kind of a small one though.”
“I mean to be fair…” Grace spoke up again. “My situation doesn’t really change, yours, yours changes all the time Avalyn. I’m not sure I even know what job you’re doing now…”
“Well well Gracey. Let me tell you my tragic backstory, from start to finish, what has lead me to be the epic wife of my cutey trans wife….Ow, can you stop bonking me I didn’t even say anything that bad that time!”
—-------------------------------------
“What is there to think about Ella? Really, every single of thought I have just makes me depressed at best and self destructive at worst. I’m trying to think like you are, I know you’re trying, but it’s not happening for me. Wouldn’t it be more useful if you just wash me out you know. Even if I ‘succeed’ I’d just be a failure freak that no one wants, which isn’t new to be fair. Which is why you’re different Ella, you haven’t given up on me yet. I’ll try not to give up on you either.”
—------------------------------------------
“Well what was the last job that I told you guys about?”
“I think you took a picture of yourself at like an M&S or something like that?” Grace raised an eyebrow slightly. “Which I thought was weird at the time…it doesn’t really scream a Holt job does it?”
“And youuuu would be right.” Avalyn gave Grace a wink, which earned a glare from Alessia. “Let’s see what else I have been since then. Well I’m currently a part time stage hand at the concert bar in town. I was also a hauler of books for Almsworth Library, paid like shit. There was I think….um….I think I worked a dog place once? The dogs hated me so it was never going to work out…apart from that…I’ve forgotten..”
Steph let out a bit of a laugh. “You really don’t remember like the three seperate stints you worked in Tesco?”
“Tesco, M&S same thing realy isn’t it.” That earned a head shake from Alessia. “Whatever, oh also, I have a full time job as a collector.”
Maya raised an eyebrow at that. “A collector of what?”
Alessia’s eyes widened as she raised her hand up frantically to stop Maya. “No, don’t do it Maya DON’T-”
“I’m glad you asked Maya! I am an avid collector offffffff…” Avalyn reached her to her bag, stood up and turned it upside down onto the sofa, dropping out at least seven different types of rocks of various indescribable types, a few of them even kicked up a bit of soil or dust that was on them. Steph quietly face palmed at that.
“I didn’t even see you pack these things Erin, where did you even get these rocks?”
Avalyn shrugged. “I lied to you when I said I was going to the bathroom. I went to collect some rocks. I like rocks.”
“Yes we know you like rocks.” Grace shook her head. “That’s why I had to mute the channel that you keep pinging us in.”
That earned a shocked look from Avalyn, who looked more offended than anything. “You’re telling me that no one looks at my pictures of my rocks?!”
Everyone shook their head.
“Well damn, I guess I’ll just take that personally then.” Avalyn continued to grumble incoherently as she slowly picked up each rock on the sofa and placed it back into her rock bag, semi annoyed that she had carried that heavy load all this way just to get ignored, she’ll get them next time.
“I’m not technically allowed to do this but uh…” Steph cleared her throat slightly as she turned to each of the girls. “We have a unique situation here with this intake. Each one of you, and yes, that includes you as well Avalyn, have some connection with one of the current intake here. And I know, in the past, we wouldn’t really allow this, but they’re still in their early stages. I actually had…some…permission for you, to have a little chat through the speakers with some of the guys. You know, no one’s really in right now, so, no one has to know.”
Grace raised an eyebrow at that. “That sounds…rather odd, who’s permission did you get to do that. Like, that seems like it could be a problem could it not?”
“The person I got the permission from is, me. I’m not going to be speaking to them myself. A lot of these guys are pretty angry as it is so, I kind of wanted you lot to pipe them down a bit. They’re all a bit arrogant at the moment. You have my permission, and if anything goes wrong, it’s on me.” Steph looked at each of the girls, to see what they would say in response to that.
The silence was particularly cutting as each of them considered the potential ramifications of this. They could in the end cause some disruption to the programme, and in the end, could cause someone to wash out that would perhaps be on the correct path. Seeing the hesitation, Steph cleared her throat, turning first to Grace.
“Marcus Smith. I take it you’re familiar with that name.”
Immediately, the red-head noticed the lecturer’s expression darken slightly, as she nodded. Grace didn’t say anything, letting Steph carry on.
“Picked up after a campus ‘social meeting’, again, something that I know you’re familiar with. He’s not had many interactions with any of the other boys, the only times he’s spoken his way into being an outcast. Somethings are just too gross even for these assholes I guess. A very hateful person, and very open about his hate. Just a thoroughful distateful man.”
Steph turned to Alessia, noting that Grace’s fist was clenching, and her right arm was shaking slightly. That hit the spot at least.
“Neil Gibbs. I know you’re aware that he’s here, you played a part in bringing him here after all. You’ve had some choice words for him at the time, but, there is more that you don’t really know. Not only is he a constant misogynist and repetitive creep within the gym, outside it, he is quite the violent guy. What tipped it over the line for us was an incident a few days before we picked him up for you. Campus club, drink spiking incident. Christine saw it on the closed circuit, for some reason, people let him get away it. I’m sure you won’t let him get away with it though.”
Alessia showed no visible reaction, but Steph knew her well enough that this was the tall blonde quietly seething. She turned next to the fashionable Maya.
“I’m sure there are quite a few of your superiors who you might have want to basement for blatant sexism and even transphobia, but unfortunately that’s a bit out of our reach. You may be wondering where this guy went. Liam Miles, ex-intern, recently fired for excessive drinking on the job, but really, he was fired because he was caught with cocaine and distributing it to a superior. Nothing to taint the ‘clean’ image of your work place, Maya. In a drug fueled rage, he nearly bloody killed his girlfriend. Maya, he nearly fucking took her head of with a vase. People could hear her scream from down the hall. Then he went off to the club like nothing had happened.”
Then she turned to Avalyn, who tilted her head slightly, she was confused where she came into this, she didn’t think she knew many assholes in line, but Steph did have a treat for you.
“You are a bit different from the rest, I’m sure you have no idea who this person is when I tell you his name. Nicholas Hammond. A pretty insignificant person, but naturally, he had a few screws loose, that comes from the five years he spent at St Edmonds.” That got the reaction intended as Avalyn very quickly tensed up at the name of her long disavowed private school that she had attended before arriving at St Almsworth.
“He’s showing signs of being on a potentially dangerous downward spiral, so we are taking very few chances. Also, I hazard this as a sort of guess, but he’s showing signs of being a particularly spikey egg as you might probably expect from your school.”
Steph took a moment to let each of the other girls take it in, and let out a sigh.
“I know this is a lot to spring on you at our graduation anniversary, but we have all come a hell of a long way since we first came together. You have all come a long way in your own way. And I know you have some feelings you may want to say to the people you once were. It’s hard to make peace, and there are some shitheads here who, at worst, will not give a shit about what you say, and at best, really think about it. But I know you all want to say something, and I encourage it. So, please do it…”
“I’ll do it.” Grace was the first to raise a hand. “You’re right, I do have a lot to say, and I do want to say it. I need him to hear it, he can’t keep doing this anymore.”
Alessia nodded and raised her hand. “This guy reminds me too much of Will. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.”
Maya nods in agreement. “I might as well have a word too, we all know the dangers of falling into that spiral, I can at least try to help, and if not, have a go at him a bit for being a dick.”
Avalyn sighed and nodded, raising a hand. “I’ve always wanted to leave St Edmonds behind, but in the end, our past is our past, it’s hard to change it. We can only change who we are now, and I think we all have, but I want to see if I can help with some change for once.”
Steph nods with a smile, standing up and starting to lead the way to that fabled door at the end of the corridor, a door that pretty much everyone bar herself hadn’t entered in a good many years.
It was time to confront the ghosts of the past.
—------------------------------------------------
“There’s a lot that you managed to achieve in a short space of time in our halls underneath Dorley Hall, but I must let you know that despite all that you have managed, there is still a lot of work to be done. I know some of you have come to terms with your situation, and some are a bit further behind, but that’s fine. You have a few more years to think through and learn from your situation. What better place to do that than a place with fellow sisters and family.”
—----------------------------------------------
On the monitor, the boy in the cell couldn’t look much less of a threat. He was a lithe and short boy, messy brown hair that hadn’t been showered or cut in a good amount of time, even beyond the amount of time that he had been in the basement. He was sitting down in the middle of the room cross-legged, fiddling with the floor. He seemed almost bored of being there, and for once, at least for Steph, Marcus Smith wasn’t rambling his head off about the need for a cleansing of the world, which was, a deeply unpleasant sentiment to say the least.
The microphone that sat in front of the room seemed to welcome someone to speak into it, as Steph turned to look at the religious studies teacher. Grace held a determined look on her face, but also, she seemed to be trying to hold herself together. Despite the years since, Grace still had a particularly sensitive side, that was what drove her into teaching, she found it easier to help with words rather than actions, and even then, she still struggled to truely express her feelings. There was no hatred in her eyes, or anger, but a deep sadness and pity for the boy in the monitor. Steph suspected because she saw a lot of Adam in him.
“He’s ready for you whenever you are Grace.”
The room seemed to stand still for a few seconds before Grace took a long deep breath, walked over to the microphone, and pressed the input button to activate the mic. In the room, Marcus Smith would hear a slight crackle, as the microphone activated, and he responded to that with a goblin like chortle. When he spoke, his voice sounded a little muffled but still clear through the singular microphone in the camera.
“Come back to try again bitches? Is this the only way the female race could hope to triumph someone like myself? You can’t hold me long, people will come to find me.”
Grace sighed lightly, not loud enough to be heard into the microphone and shook her head, before turning to the microphone.
“Hello Marcus, it’s me.”
Marcus looked a little confused at the voice for a second, seemingly trying to process the origin of the voice. He then stood up and looked directly into the camera.
“Is this some kind of joke? You bring that pipsqueak teacher of mine in to talk to me. Jeez the conspiracy runs deep.”
“If it were a joke Marcus, then I’m not laughing. No one laughs at your jokes. No one wants to listen to your jokes.”
“That’s where you are mistaken miss, everyone actually wants to listen, but they have to. It’s the way forward in the world.”
“The only way in the world you’re going the way you’re going is out into the metaphorical river of Dorley. It could even be literal if you want it to be.” Grace looked calm as can be, but in her voice, one could hear a sharp anger. It was almost scarier than if she was outwardly angry. She wielded that calm anger well.
“Are you threatening me? Just you wait until the school hears this.”
“The university has heard plenty from you, Mr. Smith. We know plenty about what you think about the ‘fucking faggots’ that run society, or the ‘brainwashed babies’ that run our political offices, or how your ‘perfect picture’ is being ruined by the presence of fucking Peru. Get a load of yourself, you spout out stupid bigoted ideas like you breath them. Do you have nothing better to do than yell into the air about your stupid shit?”
“You are a poof panderer miss. I should have known when you would have objected when-”
“If pandering to the right thing makes me a poof panderer then sign me up. I’d rather do that than be whatever this is. Did something happen to you that makes you this brainwashed about the world? Are your synapses that fried that they refuse to acknowledge reality? You are barely 20 and you think you fucking know everything about the world.”
“I do kn-”
“No, shut the fuck up. It’s time for me to speak my mind for once. It’ll be the first time you ever let anyone speak. I-”
“Blah blah bl-”
“We’re going to break your here Marcus Smith, whether you like it or not. We’re going to cut that stupid brain of yours wide open and…and…” Grace paused to compose herself, she was on the brink of tears, but held it together. “We’re going to get rid of all that toxicity. It’s not healthy for you. There’s something better for you on the other side. I understand coming from a place of ignorance, where you really think the world is the place presented to you by someone who didn’t have your best interests in mind. It may not seem like it here Marcus, but people here do want the best for you. But I do want to say, that doesn’t mean that you have to license to say whatever you want.”
With that, Grace cut the mic and sound, shutting off the camera to the cell, denying Marcus anyone to speak and rant to in that time. She managed a few more seconds, before she quietly started to sob. Alessia walked over and gently petted her on the back, before picking her up out of the chair and hugged her. The two embraced in silence for a few seconds, letting only the static off the active monitors ring quietly in the background.
—-----------------------------------------------
“Hello everyone…I’m, sorry, this is my first time so forgive my nervousness. I’m your new lecturer, I’m Grace and I will be looking after you this year, and hopefully beyond. While I will be talking to you most of the time, I want to encourage you all to talk and speak, but…I do want to ask, that you think about what you say before you do say it. Consider if you were in the shoes of the person you are talking about and truely think: is this something I want to hear? If there is even any doubt, do not say it. You may cause more harm than you think, trust me.”
—-----------------------------------------
Maya hovered over the microphone. Grace had moved to the corner, still being gently embraced by Alessia. The costume designer had her eyes closed as Steph looked over to her, her guy was ready for her whenever Maya was ready. The room was almost completely still as they waited for Maya to activate the microphone. The fashionable girl opened her eyes for a second, then looked over to Steph with a smile. She looked calm, but Steph recognised that look of someone who was deeply hurt inside, that look that Martin had way back when.
“Look I thank you Steph for this opportunity but, I don’t feel like I need this.” Maya ran her hand through her hair as she idly twirled it in her fingers. “While this guy was an asshole, I barely knew him, and the more I see him, the more I see that empty shell of a person that I once was. That isn’t me. Ella buried him all those years ago.”
“You could always have a try Maya. I can see it’s playing on your mind a little bit.”
“I know what it looks like. Just seeing the pathetic little guy it’s just, it’s so sad. I know a broken soul when I see one, someone truely lost for guidance. All that is going to happen when I talk to him is that I see a ghost in the camera. A ghost I had confronted long ago. For some people it may help to talk. But for me Steph, I just want to move on.”
She mouthed ‘thank you’ before she backed away from the microphone, moving back to one of the chairs in the back of the room and sat down. Maya remained composed as Steph prepared the next cell camera for her wife. Maya briefly looked sad as she looked down at the floor, but the expression soon returned to that of a neutral face.
Steph looked over to Avalyn, who had been stood in the corner, being rather silent, staring at her feet. Steph knew that talking about her old school made her nervous, especially as a blossoming trans girl, reflecting on the past of a boys school may not be particularly pleasing. But Steph also knew that the school had a big way of shaping who ‘Aaron’ became, and despite the sad look, she saw the determined look in her wife as well. She hadn’t seen that look in a while, not since Avalyn had returned from meeting her family after years and years of absence.
As Avalyn looked up and made eye contact with Steph, the redheaded nodded, a signal to the shorter brown haired girl that it was ready for her. As Avalyn made her way over, Steph leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“I know I told you my suspicions, but it’s not our place to crack eggs, we need to let it happen naturally…” Avalyn nodded as she took her position in front of the microphone, her eyes tracking over to the camera of the cell that she was going to communicate to.
The boy was loitering to the side. His brown hair came down over his eyes, and although she couldn’t see them, he had the air of someone who was looking around him, almost as if he was scared that something was going to pop out of the walls and get him. On the surface, he looked like a typical little posh guy that littered the private schools in England, but the way he carried himself was not the same. This was someone deeply troubled, Avalyn could tell. Without another moments notice, she pressed the input button to the microphone and tapped on it.
“Ayo ayo, testing testing, can you hear me down there?”
The surprised jump that showed on camera suggested that the boy could hear Avalyn, as she let herself have a tiny snicker, she at least looked like she was back to her usual gremlin ways.
“I don’t know you, you don’t know me, hi, I want to make some introductions. I’m Avalyn Haverford. What’s your name?”
“....Who’s asking?”
“I just said, my name is Avalyn Haverford, what’s your name?”
“...That’s not what I meant miss, I just want to know why you took me.”
“Oh I didn’t take anybody, I don’t even work here, I’m just here for a visit and chat with ya.”
“....Why me though? That’s what I don’t get.”
“I don’t really know all that much to be honest. I just know you went to a little school of St Edmonds. I’m quite familiar with that place.”
“...Did you know someone who went there?”
Avalyn let out a quiet sigh, the only sign of her losing her composure at this point. “I guess you can say that yeah. 13 years ago, a little idiot called Aaron Holt went to St Edmonds, and it poisoned his little rat brain. And I want to guess that it’s poisoning yours as well.”
“Wh..the school has nothing to do with this, I ain’t done nothing wrong anyway.”
“Yet. But according to my good friend over here.” She took a pause to look over at Steph. “You might do soon.”
“I’m not going to do anything to anyone, I just want to keep to myself you know.” His voice had barely ever been more than a whisper, and without the microphone in the camera, one could barely be able to hear him.
“That doesn’t mean much, a lot of assholes used to be introverts, a lot of them are introverts. Keeping to yourself isn’t gonna stop you from spiralling in that dense brain of yours is it? That’s what happened to Aaron Holt. Their little brain got fried and they decided that the best way forward was to show girls their little fried bits. Didn’t go well for anyone.”
“Why are you telling me this anyway? What is the point of this?”
“I don’t really know what the point of this is, I’m just speaking my thoughts to ya. Hey look I just don’t want to see the stink of Edmonds ruin everyone in sight, and the fact that you’re here means that they see something in you. Like they saw something in me all those years ago, despite all my misforgivings.”
The boy seemed confused at that statement for a second, before looking up at the camera.
“Wait a minute, are you…Aaron Holt? Is that why you’re telling me this?”
“I told you my name was Avalyn Haverford, I’ve always been Avalyn, but I guess you could say that my maiden name was indeed Holt yes.”
“...That’s not possible though is it?” Avalyn raised an eyebrow at that.
“What isn’t possible?”
“Like, for you to just move on from the past, become a girl you know. That ain’t really something you can do.”
“Well, we aren’t really becoming a girl, we’re just changing our bodies to match up with our minds. Medicine and shit like that has come a long way in a short amount of time you know.”
“But like, ain’t that bad? Like, men will always be men you know.” Avalyn sighed again, running a hand over her eyebrows.
“Well, now that’s just a false truth that idiots preach to you when you are like five years old or something. Even if it’s deep within your subconscious, your body knows what you really are. Like think about this way, just because you were born fat, does it mean you can’t work to lose it?”
“Fat isn’t the same as-”
“It may not be but the point remains the same here, lad. It is indeed possible. It’s a wide world out there outside your little brain, I guarantee that. I know you don’t really have a chance to explore it for the near future but, I encourage you to.”
“...........”
“Thinking about it? Yeah I thought as much. Oh well, looks like my time is up. I wish you good luck and don’t be too attached to your rocks!”
“Wait what, what do you m-”
Avalyn cut him off, turning the mic off and turning to Steph with a big exhale of breath.
“Yeah that was kind of fun. Not as spicy as I expected but you know. Can’t always be when someone’s so clearly stuck in their head.”
Steph rolled her eyes at that. “Honestly, that’s why you aren’t a sponsor Avalyn. You’re way too sarcastic and spunky to take this job seriously.”
“That’s why I exist outside this world and hang out with my rocks.” Avalyn smirked, walking out of the chair and sitting down next to Steph. “I wouldn’t ask for anything else though.”
—----------------------------------
“I’ve been thinking about names Steph. Like, I’ve had a few run through my head. I know Maria is trying to brainwash me into choosing Ariel but I’m not going to let it happen out of spite. I’ve run through a few in my head. I want to try saying it out loud, see how it feels. My name is Aurora…mmm, pretty, maybe…My name is Erin…No..too similar…my name is..hm…nah…my name is Avalyn…yeah, my name is Avalyn. Yeah, that..that feels right. Avalyn. Avalyn. Avalyn. Avalyn. That’s my name. Yes, that’s my name. It’s absolutely right….I got it.”
—----------------------------------
“You’re up Les.” Steph stood off to the side, and let the floor fall to the final girl who hadn’t had a chance to stand at the front. Alessia was an individual of raw emotions, and they were clearly threatening to bubble to the surface. She looked serious at the very least, and had her fists clenched. If she had something to hit in this room that wasn’t rock solid metal, there was a good chance she would have done it already. The first thing she did, however, was turn the camera off to the room.
“I don’t want to see his face. His smug expressions alone make me want to commit murder.”
Alessia bounced on her heels on the spot, seemingly trying to relieve some tension and anger in herself before confronting her own little pest. After a few seconds, she brought her hand down on the mic input button, and started at it.
“Hey there you fucking creep, remember me?”
“Alessia…you, you fucking bitch! Once I get my hands on your head you’re going to regret the day you cross me!”
“I look forward to the day you do it successfully moron, because it would mean I’ve done my fucking job properly. Even as a man you couldn’t beat me down, you have no fucking chance, absolutely zero stuck in that cage.”
“You’re just some pussy woman who thinks she’s better than us. Well you ain’t, you never will be, you exist to please me.”
“Yeah that split lip I gave you is pleasing you a lot isn’t it. Thank goodness the girls are standing guard or I’d go down there and split your other lip as well.”
“A-”
“I’m not fucking finished.” Alessia brought her fist down on an empty part of the console, causing some rattling in the machinery on the inside, any veiled attempt to conceal her anger quickly failed. “I’ve been dealing with your sore arse for two fucking years. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to see this happen to you? Ever since we met you were eying up my arse. Ever since the first session when I beat you to a pulp and you responded by trying to physically assault me. When you groped Eva because you couldn’t handle a ‘strong trainer’, or, let me rephrase that for you, the trainer was too strong for you to dominate sexually. “
“Well you aren’t dominating anyone, because you’re pathetic. You resort to violence because you’re an insecure little bitch. You resort to leering at women because most of them are ‘weaker’ than you. Well I am not, and you will never be stronger than me ever again. I hope you fucking fail at this program, but I also hope you succeed. Either way, you won’t be able to treat women or anyone like shit ever again. “
“I hope they take that pathetic skin of yours off and throw it in the trash. It’s better that way for people like you, because fuck you, that’s why. Fuck you and fuck the system at Almsworth that allowed you do all this shit so easily, and if it were up to me, you wouldn’t be alone from your stupid cronies of testosterone. Well say goodbye to both of those things you cocksucker.”
Alessia didn’t even press the button to end the mic input, evidently, the boy in the cage had also been stunned into silence. Alessia walked backwards and away towards Grace, petting the shorter girl in the head. She was evidently shaken by her little tirade, but she was smiling. Alessia had gotten a lot of anger out in that rant, and it had clearly gotten her some good.
Steph walked over and with a flick of the switch, shut the console down. She then turned to face the rest of the girls with a neutral expression.
“I hope that proved productive for you all, and who knows, it might have been productive for the rest of them too. None of you, all that time ag,o would have had the maturity or really, anything, to react the way you did. You may have been angry or sad, but it came from a good place in your heart. You’re all good people at heart, and honestly that showed. I for one am glad to have met you all, even if it wasn’t in the best circumstances, and the journey was rocky at times. But, the journey was worth it I believe.”
Steph let out a sigh, and extended her arms out. “Now come here you lot I want to hug you all.”
This proved to be a mistake, as she was tackle hugged by Avalyn, sending her crashing to the ground. This earned a laugh from the other girls, who would soon follow Avalyn over, and sitting on the ground, joined the group embrace. Because really, these girls deserved nothing more than to just sit down and enjoy the moment in each other’s company.
They deserved it indeed.
—---------------------------
“Stephanie Haverford
Avalyn Haverford
Grace Sanderson
Maya Lind
Alessia Adlington
Class of 2022”