Alkalians (65 page)

Her bold statement seems to reach Lyn,
who snarls before demorphing. The fire in her eyes fiercer when
they are paler, she remarks, “So, not only does that bastard cheat
on me with my own ally, but he sends his roommate bitch out to
defend him. Is he going to come out for what’s coming to him, or do
I have to deal with you, first?”

Rose says nothing, again immune to
Lyn’s intimidation, before she steps forward and sends gasps
through the crowd when she swiftly slaps Lyn hard across the face,
almost knocking her over. As Lyn staggers, feeling her bruising
cheek, Rose says, “How dare you react to Matt, like
this.”

Still stunned from the
slap, Lyn starts, “How dare I? How dare
he
! He and I were together,
and…”

“
No, you were not.”
Stepping forward again, causing Lyn to step back, the crowd watches
in awe as Rose proclaims, “There was nothing between you, and you
were the one too oblivious from your own expectations to see it.
You were the one making the moves on him, but you never noticed the
way Matt would shrug you off, did you? I did, back at that little
dinner you had for us. And if I could see that one time, what does
that make you, when you’ve probably done it more times
since?”

Flabbergasted, Lyn tries, “But, but,
last night, he and I, we were going to, to do it, but
he…”

“
He rejected you, didn’t
he?” The look on Lyn’s face proof enough, Rose goes on, circling
her like a cruel interrogator. “If that wasn’t a clear enough sign
to you then, you really are blind or just plain arrogant, Lyn. Do
you know why he rejected you? Because he’s been doing it with
Amelia. Am I right?” Lyn meekly nods, and the crowd murmurs with
intrigue. “That’s why he rejected you, Lyn. He was having affairs
with another, and he wasn’t going to cheat on her, with you. He was
the one being honest, and you were the one tempting him to do
wrong. You know what that makes you?” As Lyn is close to tears,
Rose gets in close, harshly spitting, “
You
are the faithless one here, not
Amelia, not Matt.”

“
I, I, I thought…I just
wanted…”

“
Wanted?
Wanted
?” Rose shakes her
head in disgust. “You conceited bitch. You, and Cain, and Irene,
and so many other seniors. You all make me sick. You all think you
should have whatever you want, just because you’re seniors. You
think, just because you’re the highest class on this campus, you
can do whatever you want, you can take from everyone else, force
them to bend to your every whim. Well, the truth is, Lyn, you
can’t. You can’t always have what you want, and just like Cain,
you’ve gone and tried to make an innocent man’s life hell because
he unintentionally crossed you. Just like Cain, you are a
two-faced, selfish, and corrupt boss student.” As Lyn falls to her
knees, breaking down into sobbing, Rose turns away, ignoring her
and the impressed crowd, and stomps back into the cabin, the door
slapping shut behind her.

Having watched from
peeking past the door, Matt and Sean step back from Rose, both
amazed at what she did. Sean puts it into words when he says, “Wow.
Now
that
was
history being made. Never have I seen a freshman not only speak
down a senior, but also make her cry. Wow. How, Rose, did you do
that?”

“
Simple, Sean.” Giving a
look to Matt, she says, “I spoke the truth.”

The look, and the word, pumping shame
into him, Matt cringes while trying to find a reply. “Rose, I, I
don’t, I don’t know what…”

“
I do. You have to make a
choice, Matt. You have to choose between Amelia, or me. You can’t
have us both.” Without another word, Rose turns and marches up the
stairs to her bedroom.

A moment after her bedroom door
closed, Sean steps up behind Matt, glancing between him and
upstairs, before asking, “So, how long have you been doing it with
Rose?”

Palming his forehead with a sigh, Matt
has to explain, “Sean, I have not had intercourse with Rose. We’ve
only been showering together, that’s all.”

“
Oh? Hmm. Well, that’s
pretty close to the whole deal, isn’t it?” Only shaking his head,
Matt doesn’t reply as he trudges up the stairs to his room. Sean
asks after him, “Isn’t it!?” before he hears Matt’s door close.
Scratching his head, he looks back to the cabin door and the hole
left in it. “I guess I have to be the one to go get someone to fix
that.” Sighing, he goes to the door and out of the
cabin.

***

Night comes, and Matt is still in his
bedroom, brooding over his guilt. He is changed into his
nightclothes, but his thoughts are still whirling like a maelstrom
over what he has done, why he did them, and his feelings towards
Lyn, Amelia, and Rose. He doesn’t understand how the women,
excluding Amelia, are so quick to be mad about his sexual
encounters with her. He also wonders how sex, which is a relieving
and enjoyable exercise, is such a bad thing to consider or mention
in the first place. The wonder doesn’t matter, though, as Rose’s
ultimatum comes back to him, and he knows she’s right. Letting out
a tired breath, he reaches for his prescription to put himself to
sleep when a soft knocking on the door pauses him. “Matt? Are you
still awake?”

“
Yeah. You can come
in.”

The door opens, and Rose steps into
his bedroom, garbed in her green nightgown. She closes the door,
crosses the room to Matt’s bed, and sits down beside him. A moment
of silence passes with her staring ahead to the floor and Matt
looking to the ceiling before she says, “I’m sorry, Matt, for my
anger at you earlier.”

Matt nods, shaking the pills in their
bottle before setting them down. “It’s fine, Rose. You had every
right to be mad at me. I, uh, thank you, Rose. Thank you for
confronting Lyn, for me.”

Rose nods. “Yeah. I shouldn’t have,
but, I knew you were the victim, you had gotten yourself into the
mess unintentionally. And besides, I didn’t want Lyn to tear down
our cabin, just to get at you.” Matt smiles a little at the
afterthought, but he frowns again before she continues, turning to
him. “Listen, Matt. Normally, I wouldn’t be speaking to you so soon
about this, but tomorrow is the Royale Project final, which we’re
partners in. If we’re going to have a chance in winning that fight,
we have to be able to work together, with nothing between us. Do
you understand?”

“
Yeah. I understand.” He
manages to look back to her, hesitant from the sincerity in her
bright green eyes. “Rose, the reason I was, uh, with Amelia, was so
that I wouldn’t wind up doing it with you. I didn’t want that to
come between us, to disrupt what we had going.” He sighs, looking
away. “And yet, it still did come between us, just
indirectly.”

Rose wonders at his
reasoning before asking him, “So, you were having sex with Amelia,
to
not
have sex
with me?”

“
Well, that was the
intention, yeah. I mean, we’re just supposed to be friends, you
know, and, I didn’t want my physical desires to tempt me to go
beyond that, with you. I fulfilled those desires, then, with
Amelia, but the one time became a second time, and then a third,
and, yeah. I got carried away with her.”

“
Uh huh. But, Matt, what
if I had physical desires for you? What if I made a move on
you?”

Matt considers the circumstance,
trying to put himself mentally through it, before he shrugs and
says, “Well, I guess we would have done it, if that was what you
wanted, too. Right?”

“
No, Matt. That’s not
right.” She puts a hand on his shoulder, gripping firmly, and
explains, “If we are not fully committed to each other, no matter
who makes the move, the other should be the one responsible to
remain abstinent. Therefore, if I made the move, you should stop
me. And if you made the move, I should stop you.”

“
Ah. Um, Rose? Do you mean
should, or would?”

“
Huh?”

“
I mean, hypothetically,
if you did make the move,
would
I stop you? Or if I made the move,
would
you stop me? Sean
mentioned earlier, what we were doing, is awfully close to crossing
into intercourse itself. It wouldn’t take much for one of us to
cross over, thus dragging us both into it.”

Rose considers that, rethinking the
circumstance for herself, and her grip on Matt’s shoulder tightens.
“Well, I guess. I can’t really say, then, if we would stop
ourselves. But, out of our circumstance, I have no intention of
losing my chastity here, in school, with someone I haven’t known
long enough.” She looks back to Matt. “We should stop bathing
together.”

Matt had been afraid to accept that
before, but after their discussion he accepts it. “Yeah, I agree.
If you yet don’t want it, then we shouldn’t risk it. But, oh well.
It was good while it lasted.”

“
Yeah. It was. And
besides, we could always share a hot tub at the casino. It wouldn’t
be a problem, there.”

“
Heh, really? You mean no
one would mind us feeling and holding each other in the
pool?”

“
Well, uh, no, I mean…”
Rose comes up short, realizing what the problem is. She reminds
Matt, “It wouldn’t, if I was the only one you’re holding. That’s
it, Matt, that’s the only problem left between us. You have to make
a choice, here and now. Do you want Amelia, or do you want
me?”

Matt pauses, not ready to decide it so
soon, but he shakes his head and forces himself to. The matter has
to be resolved if they are going to be comfortable fighting
together the next day. He closes his eyes, and he weighs his
options, his values, and his commitments.

On the one hand, Amelia was gorgeous,
she was kind, and she had enlightened him in sexual affairs, thus
giving him confidence around women. On the other hand, though,
there was Rose. She was the woman he had seen completely nude,
first. She was the one he had bathed with, first. And she was the
one who had fought him, almost killed him, and recovered from the
ordeal with him. He had been through more with Rose, he had felt
more emotionally with her, and he owed more to her, especially
after her standing up for him against Lyn. His choice is clear.
Matt opens his eyes and looks into Rose’s. “You, Rose. I choose
you.”

Rose shows no reaction at first,
gazing back into his eyes, before nodding. “Alright. That’s all I
needed to know, Matt.” She glances down, hesitates, and then
embraces Matt, surprising him before he hugs her back. They hold
the other for a moment before she pulls back and they exchange
small smiles. She hesitates again, though, and brings up,
“Actually, there’s one more thing, Matt.”

“
What?”

“
Well, I just, need proof
that you’re choosing me.” Before Matt can ask what kind of proof,
she gives him a look, and he understands before she leans in and
they kiss. The kiss is long, deep, and binding, but no more than
that when they end it and their eyes open. “Thank you, Matt.” After
he nods, she stands up, recomposing herself. “Okay, then. I’ll see
you tomorrow.”

“
Yeah. See you in the
morning.” Rose nods with a smile before turning away and leaving
the room. After she was gone, Matt sighs, then in relief, and
proceeds to take his medicine and sleep, his conscience finally
clear for a good night’s rest.

Chapter 18

Champion’s Fall

***

The next morning arrives, and with it
the moment the entire college has been waiting for. School is out
for the day, and in the evening the students flock to the far,
sunset side of the primary college building. A towering section of
stadium stands, aligned with the college, is filled with not only
students and staff but also reporters, cameramen, and eager
vacationers who have come from all corners of the country. Flags
bearing names of the competitors and banners of the five
confederate states are posed among numerous fans, waiting for the
chance to sway in the wind. The college residents, and most of the
nation itself, brace themselves as the Alkalian College
Championship Match, the conclusion to the earlier battle royale and
preliminary tournament, is about to begin.

Stretching out before the stands is a
long and wide field of open terrain that spans toward the horizon,
where clouds occasionally hide the falling sun. Some hundred yards
away from the ever-increasing audience are the three pairs of
finalists, positioned to start from colored circles representing
the three teams and the points of an equilateral triangle. Dante
and Cynthia are in the green circle, Sean and Buster stand in the
blue, and the red circle is occupied by Matt and Rose. The circles
are spaced to be an even twenty yards apart from each other, and
there are no objects of scenery anywhere close by to hide
behind.

The rules of engagement have been
explained, both privately to the competitors and broadcasted over
the far stands. It will be a free-for-all battle between teams, and
the last team standing with one or both members are the winners and
official Alkalian College Champions. The competitors will fight
until forced to demorph, and they could not endanger the audience.
Once they’ve demorphed, they are out of the battle and can no
longer be attacked, and they can’t remorph for the rest of the
match. Otherwise, in terms of tactics, anything goes.