Episode 19-3: MVP

The sun is high in the sky with moderate heat, the cool breeze counters warm rays in a complimenting temperature. Clyde and I arrived at the scheduled time and have seen a much bigger crowd in the fields than yesterday. He's part of the javelin throw team, ergo has abandoned me to my relay team to pursue his piece of the information gathering. I watch him across the field with his new mates, his smile shines even from this far. On the other hand, I'm here watching the relay team do their simulation drills while we runner-ups do some stretching on the side. I've already figured out who stole my spot through birthright, Monica Holdridge's cousin, Isaac Holdridge.

"You okay there, Spitfire?" a young boy next to me asks. It's only then that I realize I'm grinding my teeth while staring at Isaac.

"No! I shouldn't be a runner-up, that guy stole my spot."

He looks where my eyes aim. "Who, Isaac? Yeah, as soon as I heard Monica was competing again this year, most folks knew that also included her cousin." He's nearly doing a full split on the ground as he switches legs and stretches some more, "Don't get me wrong, he's a great athlete, but Sasha sometimes leaves her records on her desk, hard not to look, yeah? So I take a little peek, Ms. Hue seems to be quite the quick one, I assume that's you?"

I scoff, feeling the anger of someone knowing and still being pushed to the back burner. "Yeah, that's me. What a rigged system."

"If you ask me," he switches legs again, back to the first one, "you should consider yourself lucky. With a time like yours, you'd be a definite target for the curse to get you."

I take my eyes off Isaac's slow pace to match the boy's. "The curse? You're talking about how some of this town's athletes go missing every few years?"

"I am. Are you from here? I don't think I've ever seen you around town before. You seem to know what I'm talking about though. Every few years during the time of our local tournaments, the MVPs of the teams seem to go missing mysteriously."

"How do people know that they just didn't get a great offer from somewhere outside the city?"

"Because gossip is quick, quicker than you, Ms. Hue. Personally, I think that maybe aliens are abducting us, specifically the ones that seem the most physically impressive. They probe them, dissect them, tell them really bad jokes to see if they'll laugh out of pure pity, scary stuff like that."

I roll my eyes at this useless encounter with a local. "Aliens? You think the missing people are being abducted by aliens?"

He smiles a charming, boyish smile. "Don't believe me? That's fine, I was kinda joking anyway, maybe half joking. Got your mind off of being cheated though, right?"

I chuckle. "Right, thanks."

Sasha rallies up the relay team and the runner-ups together and explains that it's time for a break. She implies that everyone can go their separate ways, but she pushes for people to take it together in hopes of raising team spirit. The bait works as everyone gathers around and heads inside the track's lone building just outside of the gates. Inside I see that food was already prepared, everybody self-serves and finds a table big enough for their little cliques, Isaac sitting with the other three main runners. I sit alone, but not a minute passes before the same boy claims the empty chair across from me.

"You're not planning something sinister, are you?" he asks, stuffing a fork of diced pineapple into his mouth.

I'm taken by surprise. "What? What are you talking about?"

He chuckles. "Relax, I'm just joking. Although you seem to have a guilty conscience already. I do notice your glaring eyes aimed at Isaac, but you look like a smart girl, so I know that you would never try and force a happy ending for yourself."

"You talk as if you're a poet, it's tiresome, and you don't know me at all, that means you have no idea what I look like when I feel guilty or if I'm planning something." What am I saying? It's just making me look suspicious. "You're right though, I just don't wanna talk about it." I raise the crisp lettuce into my maw and enjoy the crunch of it between my teeth. "It's not fair that you know my name and I don't know yours."

He rests his head on his hand. "What do I look like?"

I swallow. "A human? Am I wrong?" This time I get him to smile.

"No, I mean what does my name look like it would be?"

"Hmm... Jebadiah?"

"Ha! No, but I wonder why you went straight for an old, biblical name. You see goodness in me?" He extends his hand for a shake, "Levi, nice to meet you."

I shake his hand. "Michelle Hue. So is Leh-Vee short for something?"

He pulls away and looks to his plate in embarrassment. "Yeah, for Leviticus, but this is the one and only time I'm telling you this. Levi from here on out."

I laugh loudly and have some heads swivel in my direction. "Sorry, just never heard that one before. Were your parents some sort of aristocrats or something?"

His cheeks are red, but they turn back gradually. "Or something. They gave a normal name to my brother, and he coasted through school without ever getting bullied."

I put my hands together in fake sympathy. "Aw, now I feel bad."

"Good, that story was meant to." We both laugh again and take more bites of our athletically approved meal.

"Can I call you Lee-Viy?"

"It's Leh-Vee, I'm not a pants brand. Are the rules set on my name now, can we move on? Great, glad that's over."

"So, who are you runner-up for?"

He shrugs. "Ah just position 3, nothing big or dramatic like you. That'll be Cora Frary right now, she's shy and very much to herself, but she's got a big heart."

"Don't they all?"

"Abraham is number 1, he'll get it all started, and it'll be up to him to give us a big lead ahead of the other teams. I don't want his type of pressure, nor yours if I'm being honest. First and last are always where the crowd screams the loudest."

"I can imagine why. Too bad it's not me out there, but I guess the supervisor knows best."

"Hardly. Monica and Isaac Holdridge are in positions 2 and 4 respectively," he scratches his chin, "and if I'm being honest, they're not really all that bad, they just have... repulsive personalities. Sure, they're really good athletes, but they blow their status out of proportion. I'm betting Isaac will probably say something condescending to you even though you got a better time than him."

I glare back at Isaac's stupid face with his big, floppy ears and protruding snout. "Does he know that he's slower than me?"

"Who knows? I feel like maybe his ego is like that because people keep patting him on the head. If that's true, then it's really not his fault. He does, after all, come from a family of successful people through fame, fortune, good relations, all that stuff, he's got his own problems to deal with."

"Sounds like you feel sorry for him. Either that or you got a schoolboy crush."

Once again, his blush comes back to ruin his rosy complexion. "Maybe. I don't really know if Isaac would go for a guy like me, or if he even likes guys. Besides, do you really picture my 5'6" ass with a rich and popular kangaroo like him? People already don't like humans and anthros dating, imagine that on top of a gay couple."

"You'd win the Minorities of the Year award."

He covers his mouth as he begins to smile sheepishly. "Shaddup, you're not helping, but that was very witty." I flick my wrist in surrender to drop the topic. Although interesting and slightly immature, all these details are not getting me closer to a lead on what's going on here. Hopefully, Clyde is having better luck on his end, wherever he is. My gut tells me that somebody has to be scouting the athletes right now during tryouts and training. Sure, they are reported to be taken after the tournaments, but whoever takes them has never been seen doing it. This makes me believe that they study timelessly and tediously, and not just nabbing the gold medalist on the day of competition. No, they're here; watching and studying everybody, pretending to be part of the team, or maybe from afar.

Breaktime is over, everyone fans out of the building and passes by the other teams heading inside, but the javelin throw team still needs to wait their turn. Everyone gets back to their original spots and repeats their routine once more. All but the frontline team, who have switched to strength training with weights. Sasha remained in the building to oversee the other teams, leaving us unattended. I stay next to Levi as we both do sit-ups in synchronization.

I sit up, and Levi follows. "Hey Levi, not saying anything incriminating, but what would something like the famous Isaac Holdridge want in exchange for his position?" For the first time today, Amy Quine's line rings to life as she switches to my channel to talk to me from HQ.

"Troy, what are you doing? You already know the position you hold is exactly what we need."

Levi goes back down. "Are you kidding, girl? You said you weren't planning anything."

I sit back up. "Relax, it's just a hypothetical. I thought we were getting along so well."

"Which means you should know that I'm stupid, but not that stupid. I know your type, very determined, persistent, and scary when trying to achieve results."

"Oh please, you got all that from talking to me for thirty minutes?"

He goes back down, and I follow. "It's more like an hour, and you must know the things coming out of your mouth. You're used to success, to people adoring you, and things falling in place according to your plans." Strange to think he is one hundred percent accurate, but I'd never admit that out loud. "Not saying that's not admirable, but you can't bullshit your way over my head with 'hypothetical' questions."

I should try charm. "Wow, that's a very deep dossier you've got in your pocket. Didn't know you were so psychologically ahead of the curve as well as athletic. You read people with ease in such a small amount of time, very impressive."

Amy includes herself once more. "Stop it, Troy! It's not fair to use charm on a non-target, that's meddling with civilian life." Perhaps Levi may be into the same sex, and I very well cannot blow my disguise, but maybe I can get on a subconscious level. I go back down from my sit-up, but this time I stay down and breathe deep. My hands behind my head raise a little more to show a less stressed position, and I dawn a new smile as if I'm in a commercial.

"Just between us, Levi, I've got a crush on someone here too. Big, grey dog on the javelin throw team." I lower one of my raised knees down to the floor in a straight position and turn my head slightly towards him. "I wonder what it'll take to get his attention." Levi continues to do his sit-ups, but he's distracted now, glancing my way with his eyes only as he keeps his head straight. It's subtle, but my influence is affecting him.

"Uh...I think I know a few tricks about crawling into people's subconscious," he says. Oh, the irony.

Amy huffs into her microphone, "Fine, but you better know what you're doing, Troy!"