//------------------------------// // 33. Different Goals // Story: It's The End Of The World As We Know It // by Samey90 //------------------------------// The lunch break at Canterlot High had just started. Bulk walked to his table, where he was joined by Sandalwood, Flash, and Muffins. He noticed that for some reason, Sandalwood was frowning all the time. It wasn’t only a fault of the vegan option on the menu, which was notoriously lacking. “Congratulations,” Sandalwood muttered to Bulk after they all sat at the table. “Your ex just tried to drown herself.” “What?” Bulk asked. “Indigo? No way she’d–” “Seems to be the season.” Flash turned to Bulk. “Didn’t you say that you had to go and explain Ruby’s drunk mother that her daughter was at the hospital?” “Yeah…” Bulk’s eyes widened. “But what about Indigo?” “She’s fine,” Muffins said, aiming her fork at Sandalwood. “And how do you even know that?” “Applejack told me,” Sandalwood replied. “And she saw the ambulance from her farm and recognised Indigo–” “Applejack doesn’t talk to you because of Fluttershy.” Muffins smirked. Sandalwood sighed, piercing Muffins with his glare. “Okay, Vinyl told me that Big Mac told her that he saw that from the farm. Prove me wrong.” “I’ve been there,” Muffins replied. “We pulled Ruby out of the river and then Indigo passed out. As far as I know, they hydrated her and took a blood sample which revealed that she has an alien brain parasite–” “What?!” Flash winced, giving his food a look. “Or maybe it was anemia.” Muffins shrugged. “Something with not enough red blood cells and iron. The doctor asked her about her periods and she said that they’re a highly irregular bitch…” She looked at Sandalwood, Bulk, and Flash. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that…” “Yeah, I didn’t really need that knowledge,” Flash muttered. “Related: do you want my food?” “Sure.” Muffins grabbed Flash’s plate. “I’ll call her later,” Bulk said. “Establishing peaceful relations, huh?” Sandalwood shrugged. “This may work.” Bulk poked Sandalwood. “Oh, shut up…” Lemon Zest gave Indigo a worried look. They were sitting on the bench at the soccer pitch, watching the rest of the team training free throws. Indigo showed the coach a doctor’s note excusing her from training, but still decided to stay with the team. Now, however, she grabbed a large sandwich with beef and pickles and took a bite, making Lemon wince. “Hungry?” Lemon asked. She wasn’t a vegetarian, but she wasn’t a fan of beef either. “Yeah,” Indigo muttered. “The doctor gave me some pills with iron, but I threw up after them, so I switched to natural iron sources.” Lemon shrugged. “Ah, okay then. But do you have to eat it now?” “You don’t have to watch.” Indigo smirked. “Besides, I must be in top form as soon as possible. What is it, a week until the match? And there’s still room for improvements, I’d say.” “Do tell.” Lemon looked at the pitch and groaned. To neutralise Canterlot High’s midfield consisting of five players, coach Sombra made some changes. Indigo became an attacking midfielder, along with Lemon, again putting Frosty Orange on the bench. In front of them, Varsity Trim was the sole striker; most of the attacks were supposed to go down the sides of the pitch, where Canterlot High’s wingers had no support from the defence. Varsity’s task was to intercept crosses and either try to score herself or pass the ball to Indigo or Lemon. In theory, it should work, but, as the coach soon found out, the team had several personal problems. He tried to fix the gap on the left wing caused by Sunny Flare’s absence by putting Frosty Orange there, but it turned out that Frosty, being right-footed, preferred to cut into the middle to try to shoot herself; while surprising, it turned out that her aim was well off. Frosty was sent off for a target practice, replaced by surprisingly fast and left-footed Zephyr. It soon turned out that no one in the team, coach Sombra included, really miss Suri Polomare. Alizarin Bubblegum was slightly taller and while her technical skills were seriously lacking, they were still better than what Suri presented. Indigo thought that she was too nice for the opponents and her tackling lacked aggressiveness, but it was apparently enough for the coach. Defence was the only formation that managed to get unscathed through all the hardships since the first match between the two Canterlot City’s schools. Fleur, Upper Crust, Ginger Owlseye, Melon Mint, and Sugarcoat were working in ideal sync, no matter what Fleur’s biggest detractor, Diwata Aino, was saying. Indigo was just watching Frosty Orange tackling Zephyr far harder than it was necessary, when she heard her phone ringing. She looked at the screen and her eyes widened. For a moment she considered not picking the phone, but then she slowly swiped her finger towards the green receiver. “Hi,” Bulk said. “What’s up?” “Fine,” Indigo muttered. “Just watching the girls training.” “Are you okay?” Bulk asked. “Muffins told me–” “Don’t worry, I’ll live,” Indigo replied. “Lemon already told me that I may have cancer and Sugarcoat gladly informed me that anemia is not unusual among HIV-positive adults.” Bulk’s voice trembled. “Wait… Since when–” “I’m not.” Indigo chuckled. “Sugarcoat later said that there are many positive things about me, but HIV isn’t one. I guess she meant it as a compliment.” “Most likely,” Bulk said. “We went through this with Sandalwood.” “I fear to wonder what else you went through with him…” Indigo sighed. “It’d be cool to meet one day, don’t you think?” “Yeah,” Bulk replied. “Maybe after the match?” “Sure,” Indigo said. “Guess you’ll need some comforting after we own your team.” Bulk laughed. “We’ll see…” For Indigo, any sport was a serious matter, although this still meant that she considered anyone who was even more serious about sport than her to be a freak. This also happened soon before the match when she walked with the crowd gathered in Crystal Prep’s parking lot, heading towards the stadium. The short-haired woman looked pretty young, although she was probably in her forties. Indigo thought she must’ve been Rainbow Dash’s mom – she’d have guessed that even if she wasn’t wearing a t-shirt with her daughter’s likeness on it. Or if she wasn’t accompanied by a muscular man with rainbow-coloured hair. It was just her skin tone and the fact that she was rather loud in her support of Canterlot High’s team. “It seems that everyone’s family showed up today,” Sugarcoat muttered, approaching Indigo and pointing at the crowd. Indigo saw Scootaloo with some two women and Muffins talking with a large, blonde guy looking like a viking. To her surprise, she also spotted her old nemesis, Cloudy Kicks, accompanied by her twin sister—if Indigo recalled correctly, her name was Lavender Lace—and some noisy, excited kid. “Alula, would you kindly be quiet for a moment?” Cloudy rubbed her temples when Indigo and Sugarcoat passed by her, heading to the changing room. “Did you feed her pixy stix again, Lavender?” Indigo chuckled, joining the rest of the team. They put on their soccer outfits and waited for the coach to bring them the latest news about the opponent team. “Just as we expected, Cloudy Kicks starts on the bench today,” Sombra said, entering the changing room. “We learned the hard way how good Octavia Melody is on the right wing, so Ginger and Melon have to watch out today. Same goes for you Zephyr. Remember to switch sides with Orange Sherbette from time to time and attack down the right side of the pitch whenever possible. Heartstrings is a weaker defender.” “Fuck this,” Frosty Orange whispered when the team walked towards the pitch. “What’s wrong?” Indigo asked. Unlike Frosty, who was wearing a tracksuit, she already had her soccer outfit on, ready to start a warm-up. “So, now Zephyr can switch sides with Orange Sherbette and cut to the middle?” Frosty sighed. “The goth princess can’t even kick the ball straight and while I keep this team from falling apart–” “Yeah, it looks like the coach doesn’t want to put you in the starting line-up for some reason,” Indigo said. Frosty rolled her eyes. “You have no idea, do you?” “No, not really,” Indigo replied. “Guess it’s working then.” Frosty shook her head. “What is–” Indigo couldn’t hear her own voice. They just walked on the pitch, greeted with a deafening roar of the audience. Canterlot High’s team joined them soon after – as Indigo knew, their line-up and formation remained the same as in their previous match. She trembled, hoping that it had nothing to do with her health. The iron pills were still occasionally make her throw up, although at least she didn’t feel like passing out from exhaustion after a training. Fifteen minutes later, the warm-up was over. The audience took their seats; Indigo shook Rainbow Dash’s hand, listening to Neon Lights reading Crystal Prep’s line-up. “Number one, Fleur dis Lee… Defense, number two – Upper Crust, three – Ginger Owlseye, four – Sugarcoat, five –  Melon Mint. As defensive midfielder, number seventeen, Alizarin Bubblegum. On the right, number seven – Orange Sherbette. On the left, number nineteen, Zephyr. In the middle, number ten – Lemon Zest and number eleven – Indigo Zap.” Indigo waved at the crowd. She spotted Alizarin doing the same, although she noticed that Alizarin mostly looked at her boyfriend, Celery Stalk, who sat in the first row. “And of course, number twenty, Varsity Trim!” Varsity bowed. She’d finally found shoes in her size and unlike contacts-wearing Sugarcoat, she decided to switch her glasses for goggles. She took her position in the middle of the pitch, waiting with Indigo for the first whistle. The match started. Just before it, Indigo spotted Vinyl Scratch in the audience, staring at Neon Lights, as well as Octavia glaring at them angrily. Thus, as soon as Varsity passed the ball to her, Indigo kicked it to Zephyr. The dark-haired girl ran past Octavia, speeding towards the penalty area. Diamond Tiara ran towards her, but Zephyr managed to make a short pass to Indigo before meeting her. Indigo looked around. Bon Bon was rushing towards her and she was pretty sure that either Applejack or Rarity would soon attack her from behind. Seeing Varsity Trim in the penalty area, she chipped the ball towards her. Muffins ran out of the goal and jumped, grabbing the ball above Varsity’s head. Varsity tried to avoid her, but they still crashed and fell on the ground, Muffins still holding the ball. “You okay there?” Muffins asked, getting up. “Sure,” Varsity replied, running off to take the position. Muffins threw the ball to Applejack, who passed it to Sunset Shimmer. Sunset tried to outmaneuver Alizarin Bubblegum, but when it turned out that Alizarin would rather bite off her knees than let her do that, she passed the ball wide, towards Lyra. Upper Crust run to her, snapping the ball and kicking it towards the bleachers. “Don’t panic,” Indigo muttered, walking towards the penalty area when Lyra took the ball to throw the ball in. She stood far from the pitch, smirking at the other players. “What the fuck is she doing?” Melon Mint asked when Lyra ran forward. About halfway towards the pitch, she made a proper front flip with the ball in her hands, using its energy to launch the ball far and high above anyone’s head. Melon Mint ran towards Scootaloo, trying to assess the path of the ball. It landed by Octavia’s feet though; she cut to the middle, preparing for a long-distance shot. “Not this again,” Indigo muttered, throwing herself in the way of the ball. It bounced off her leg and went straight up. Indigo stood up immediately, but she had no chance to win a header against Applejack, who passed to Rainbow Dash. The ball landed on Rainbow Dash’s chest. She spun swiftly in the penalty area, avoiding Sugarcoat’s tackle, and let the ball fall before kicking it between Fleur’s legs and towards the goal. “Don’t just stand there!” Coach Sombra’s shout was louder than cheering of the crowd. “More movement in the attack, I told you that already!” The team rushed in search of an equaliser. A few minutes later, Orange Sherbette managed to cross the ball to Varsity Trim, who passed to Indigo. Muffins dived, saving Indigo’s shot – a corner kick was all that Crystal Prep got, but it got squandered when Zephyr kicked the ball too low and Paisley cleared it with ease. For the next fifteen minutes, the game was mostly stuck in the middle of the pitch – a natural consequence of both teams playing with five midfielders. Indigo could barely get past a bigger and stronger Applejack and even though Rarity often had trouble with Lemon Zest, Sunset Shimmer would always get back in time to help her. Varsity Trim was just wandering aimlessly around Canterlot High’s penalty area, receiving no passes. The wings, however, were a place where Crystal Prep’s advantage began to show. After a few raids along the pitch, it seemed that Octavia was a bit short of breath, barely managing to hold her own against Zephyr and Ginger Owlseye. On the other side of the pitch, Orange Sherbette ran towards Lyra only to make a quick pass to Upper Crust, who was running behind her. Upper kicked the ball to Lemon Zest who was unmarked in the penalty area. “Oh, come on!” Lemon shouted when her shot hit the bar. She charged blindly and pushed the ball into the goal, only to hear a whistle. “What did I do wrong now?” “I don’t know, that was a pretty good elbow to the face,” Muffins muttered, standing up and moving her jaw. “Ouch…” She dropped on the  grass again, rubbing her face. Eventually, Lemon ended up with a yellow card while a doctor spent a while to determine whether Muffins could continue to play. After she repeated several times that she still had all her teeth, the doctor finally believed her and the game was restarted. Muffins kicked the ball across the whole field. It bounced in front of Alizarin Bubblegum, but before she could clear it, Scootaloo appeared out of nowhere, running past Alizarin and shooting. The ball arced slightly and landed in the net, just above Fleur’s hands. The crowd cheered when Scootaloo ended up in Rainbow Dash’s embrace. Indigo made sure the referee wasn’t around her before she cursed. She noticed that Fleur and Alizarin were still arguing in the penalty area, so she ran to them. “You couldn’t see her?” Fleur shouted. She was much taller than Indigo and Alizarin, but now she seemed even taller, towering above Alizarin. “She was there all the time, just waiting for you to fuck up!” She turned to Melon Mint. “And where were you for that matter?” “Shut up, Fleur,” Indigo said. “I’d like to remind you that so far you didn’t save anything harder than a missed pass. Focus and get back to the game.” Fleur rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because you’re so effective today…” “We’ll score, sooner or later,” Indigo replied. “But you’d better start saving, or nothing will save you after the match.” “Oh, go fu–” Fleur was interrupted by the referee whistling, urging them to take position before the next kick-off. With fifteen minutes until the break, Indigo and her teammates rushed to attack. Muffins managed to save two more shots; even more of them went wide or were blocked by the trio of Canterlot High’s defenders. It soon turned out that Bon Bon, while shorter than Varsity Trim, could always find the way to push herself between her and the ball in exactly the right moment. Indigo couldn’t really help her; as she found out, Diamond Tiara somehow knew exactly what would be her next move. It was even more annoying since, as Indigo knew, Diamond Tiara was only sixteen and slightly curvier than an average player. “How do you do that, kid?” Indigo muttered after Diamond Tiara tackled her again and passed to Octavia. Diamond Tiara smirked. “My friend spent two nights drinking coffee and watching all your games from the first half of the season. Every single one.” She waved at the grey-skinned girl with glasses, who was sitting on the bench next to Canterlot High’s coach, vice-principal Luna. Indigo didn’t listen to her. Ginger Owlseye just stole the ball from Octavia and made a long pass towards her. Taking advantage of Diamond Tiara’s distraction, Indigo ran into the penalty area. She saw Lemon on the other side of it and decided to wait for Muffins to run to her and then pass, leaving Lemon a clean shot into an empty net. Suddenly, she saw, a bit late, Muffins diving under her feet. She jumped, trying to avoid her, but she still tripped over her and fell. Muffins screamed, but did let go off the ball until the referee whistled. “Ugh…” Indigo shook her head and blinked. Her vision blurred for a moment before focusing again. “You okay there?” “Yeah…” Muffins muttered, pulling the waistband of her shorts to reveal a couple of bleeding wounds on her hip, matching studs on Indigo’s shoe. “Wait, not really.” Indigo stood up and looked at the referee, who showed her a yellow card. “Hey, that wasn’t intentional!” She pointed at Muffins, who was having her hip bandaged. “That’s why it’s not a red card,” the referee replied. Indigo groaned and walked back, waiting for Muffins to get up and restart the game. Again, it was a long kick across the field. Sunset Shimmer intercepted the pass and kicked the ball to Applejack, who immediately tried to surprise Fleur with a long shot. The grass was slightly wet, making the ball slippery but this time, Fleur didn’t fail. She caught the ball and threw it to Sugarcoat. “Come on!” Sugarcoat shouted, passing to Alizarin Bubblegum. Alizarin ran forward, dribbling the ball past Sunset and kicked it to Zephyr, who’d swapped places with Orange Sherbette and was now at the right wing. She cut to the middle of the pitch and shot. It went wide over the bar and landed on the bleachers. More exactly, hitting Cloudy Kicks’ youngest sister in the face. “Sorry!” Zephyr exclaimed when the kid started crying. “Can this get any worse?” Indigo asked, rolling her eyes. At the same moment, Muffins passed the ball to Lyra Heartstrings who ran down the line before Zephyr could get to her. She kicked the ball between Upper Crust’s legs and passed to Rarity, who ran into the penalty area and passed it along the goal line to Applejack. “Oh, no shit…” Indigo muttered, watching as Sugarcoat decided to intercept the pass with a sliding tackle and, as it was often the case with such plays, managed to push the ball into her own goal, surprising Fleur completely. The first half ended just a minute later. The first few minutes of the break passed in tense silence, interrupted only by coach Sombra’s pacing around the changing room. Finally, he turned to Indigo and Lemon, taking a deep breath. “Zap and Zest,” he muttered. “What the hell are you two doing? You have the best situations from the whole team and you both decide to kick the goalkeeper instead of the ball. The girl’s gonna look like she came out of a warzone after this match! Next thing, Alizarin. If you chased the ball as fast as you chase Celery Stalk, we wouldn’t lose the second goal. Fleur, what are you thinking about, I have no idea, because it’s most definitely not the game.” He turned to Sugarcoat. For a moment, he seemed to be looking for the right words, but eventually waved his hand and sighed. “I’d wait with substitutions, but since Alizarin decided to be pretty much useless, Garden Grove will start the second half as the right striker. Indigo, you’ll go forward as the left striker, with Varsity in the middle.” After the coach was done, Diwata Aino stood up and walked to Fleur. “What the hell is going on?” she asked. “Too proud to play with us?” “Shut up,” Fleur muttered. “Yeah, shut up,” Indigo said. “You won’t help by stirring shit up, Diwata.” “Funny you mention that.” Frosty Orange approached Indigo and pushed her away from Diwata. “Because you happen to play shit today.” “Oh, really?” Indigo smirked. “Then what do you play, if the coach prefers Zephyr, even though the only thing she managed to hit was some kid in the audience?” Frosty charged at her, but before she could reach her, Lemon and Ginger Owlseye grabbed her and pulled her back, kicking and thrashing. “Chill out,” Indigo said. “This can wait until we win this match. Or until you calm down, whichever comes first.” “Fuck you,” Frosty muttered. Indigo only shrugged and left the changing room with Fleur and a few more girls to take a few shots on goal and warm up before the second half. Frosty, released from Lemon and Ginger’s grasp, followed them, dragging her feet. Just before the beginning of the second half it turned out that Lyra Heartstrings got tired of running from attack to defence and back like a swinging pendulum and, just like Alizarin Bubblegum, she was substituted. Octavia went to the left side of the pitch while Cloudy Kicks stepped on the grass in front of Zephyr. Indigo observed her from a safe distance. Cloudy squinted, a faint smirk appearing on her face. When the referee blew the whistle, she got a pass from Rainbow Dash. Immediately, she rushed forward, kicking the ball between Zephyr’s legs and running down the right wing. “Watch out!” Indigo exclaimed when Cloudy Kicks spun with the ball, avoiding Ginger Owlseye. She lost her balance for a moment, however, and it was enough for Sugarcoat to steal the ball from her and kick it towards Lemon Zest. Lemon looked around. Sunset Shimmer and Rarity ran to her, but she passed the ball to Orange Sherbette, who passed by Octavia with a quick feint and chipped the ball to Garden Grove. Garden, chased by Bon Bon and Octavia, ran to the corner of the pitch, turned, and crossed the ball into the penalty area. The ball bounced off Varsity Trim’s chest and fell under her feet. Indigo gritted her teeth; Varsity was the best when having the ball in the air. With thin, bony legs and poor coordination due to her height, she was easily outsmarted by even the most dim-witted defenders. This was, however, not the case. Since Paisley was a bit late to reach her and Muffins was running towards her, Varsity just closed her eyes and kicked the ball as hard as she could. It missed Muffins’ fingers by an inch or so and landed in the net just under the crossbar. “Yeah!” Indigo exclaimed, running to Varsity. They high-fived, but there was no time for a long celebration; they were still two goals behind. The game was soon restarted. Applejack flicked the ball to Sunset Shimmer who quickly lost it when Sugarcoat managed to see through her feints. She passed the ball to the left, where Zephyr was waiting. Indigo heard the crowd’s collective sigh before she noticed what happened. She saw Zephyr lying on the turf and holding her leg, wincing. Cloudy Kicks was sitting next to her with the ball, watching the team’s doctor rushing to Zephyr. Crystal Prep’s team crowded around Cloudy Kicks who stood up, backed by several players from her own team. “You did that on purpose!” Upper Crust exclaimed, facing Cloudy. “And you’ve seen that from the other side of the pitch?” Bon Bon asked. Upper Crust rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen more than you!” “It’s because she hit your sister, isn’t it?” Indigo asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Cloudy Kicks shrugged. “That’d be an amazing coincidence…” Indigo gritted her teeth, but before she could do anything more, the referee stood between them. Behind them, the doctor gestured a few paramedics to Zephyr. Together, they put her on the stretcher and carried her out of the pitch. The referee looked at Cloudy and showed her a yellow card. “Hey, what the hell?!” Indigo exclaimed, running to the referee and pointing at Cloudy. “She intentionally broke Zephyr’s leg!” “She attacked the ball first,” the referee replied. “It wasn’t a vicious foul.” “Not a vicious foul?” Indigo rolled her eyes, ignoring Lemon, who was poking her. “Well, I think that’s bullshit!” “Congratulations, you’re an idiot,” Sugarcoat muttered in the ensuing silence. “Why?” Indigo asked, turning to the referee, only to see a yellow card. Which was soon swapped for a red one. “What the fuck?!” “Zap!” Coach Sombra shouted from the sidelines. “Shut your big mouth up and get off the pitch! Do you want to get yourself banned for the rest of the season?!” “Oh, come on!” Indigo rolled her eyes and took off her armband before looking at the other players, unsure who was supposed to be the captain in her absence. Eventually, she just shoved it in Lemon’s hands and walked off the pitch. She entered the changing room and kicked the trash can, causing it to fly across the room and hit the wall on the other side. Then she banged her hand against the locker and sat on the bench, covering her face with her hands. A few deep breaths later, Indigo decided to take a shower and leave the school unnoticed before the end of the match. Everything went as planned. Ten minutes later, she climbed over the fence surrounding the school and walked down the street, trying not to listen to the crowd cheering coming from the stadium. She pulled the hood over her head and walked to the bus stop. For a while, Indigo was sitting on the bench, wondering what to do. At first, she thought of going home, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. Her parents would probably soon leave the bleachers and go back home too, and she didn’t feel like talking to them. Only when she saw the incoming bus, she got the idea. Indigo barely remembered where the town’s bus lines were going, but she recalled that this particular one was going near the hospital. The visiting hours probably weren’t over yet; there were no lights on the school’s pitch, so the games were played early at this time of the year. Indigo jumped into the bus and sat on one of the empty seats, soon leaving the school behind. Only a couple of stops later, she started to think about what she was doing. The coach would probably be pretty angry, not seeing her at the debriefing. Which, as she expected, would be rather quiet. She looked at her phone to check how the match was going. To her surprise, she found out that Frosty Orange scored, bringing hope back into Crystal Prep’s team. Indigo shrugged and, seeing that her stop was nearby, stood up and walked to the bus door. Walking into the hospital, she began to question herself on why she came there. However, as she walked down the corridors, she figured out the answer. She just needed to talk to a friend and since her friends were playing the match, she went to the only one that was available. “Good afternoon,” she said to the nurse sitting at the door to the ward. “I wanted to visit a friend. Her name’s Sour Sweet.” The nurse shot her a glare, wincing at her Crystal Prep tracksuit. “Another one? You don’t happen to have any of the items on this list?” Indigo looked at the list hanging on the wall. Some of the things, like razors, glass items, or drugs were obvious. Others, like bar soap, stuffed animals, or chemical hair removers were not. “I don’t have any.” Indigo shrugged. “Too bad. I’m out of cigarettes,” the nurse replied, opening the door. “I’ll go to the meeting room with you. Sour Sweet will be there shortly.” Soon, Indigo sat at the table in the room with pastel-coloured walls. Few other patients were there, talking with their friends or families. Again, Indigo started to wonder what exactly she was doing. According to her phone, the match just ended; if Crystal Prep had any hopes of getting at least a draw, they were crushed by Applejack in the final minutes of the game. Several commenters argued that 4:2 wasn’t as bad an outcome for the pretty lackluster team. Indigo raised her head and saw Sour Sweet walking into the room. Her sleeping gown was hanging pretty loosely, revealing more of her pink pajamas than Indigo wanted to see, although Sour Sweet wrapped it tighter once she saw her visitor. She had no make-up and her hair was hanging loose, but aside from that, she looked just like Indigo remembered her. “Are you crazy?” Sour Sweet asked, sitting at the table. “Maybe,” Indigo replied. “Hope you have a spare bed. We could live here together.” “Don’t make me smack you.” Sour sighed. “I have great plans, like getting out of here and starting a family. I keep talking with the doctor about them. Not to mention that Sweet Leaf–” Indigo looked at Sour’s sleeping gown, now neatly covering her body. “Well, I kinda noticed that you were expecting someone else.” “Yeah, and you shouldn’t bother about that.” Sour Sweet smiled. “Also, shouldn’t you be at the match?” Indigo sighed. “I got a red card and we lost.” “Shame. I still like our school.” “I’m not sure the school still likes you,” Indigo said. “Training papercutting on a fellow student’s face is usually frowned upon.” Sour Sweet lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ve seen this bitch around. She’s still bandaged. Maybe they’re trying to put her back together.” She chuckled. Indigo nodded. “So, you’re saying that you’re getting better, huh?” “I got better, but that doesn’t make Suri any less of a bitch.” Sour shrugged. “Like, I don’t think they’re letting me out anytime soon, but I sorta figured it out.” “Figured what out?” Indigo asked. “The more time I spend without my family, the clearer I think,” Sour Sweet replied. “Seriously, once I’m getting out of here, I tell my parents to kiss my ass goodbye and go with Sweet Leaf to build houses for the poor in townships of Cape Town. We have everything planned.” “Cape Town?” Indigo asked. “Like, the one in South Africa? Well, that does sound like a plan, though I kinda doubt that Sweet Leaf–” “Everybody doubts it,” Sour Sweet said. “Sunny only laughed at her. Guess Lemon wouldn’t want to go either. But us? I’m here and her naked pics are still on the internet. We have nothing to lose.” Indigo looked at Sour and sighed. “I still think that’s crazy, but… good for you, I guess?” “Yeah.” Sour smirked. Before Indigo could add anything, she heard the first guitar riffs of her ringtone. She grabbed the phone and looked at the screen. “Shit, I forgot I was supposed to meet Bulk!” Frowning, she picked up the phone. “Hi, I kinda ran away from the stadium and now I’m with Sour Sweet in the hospital…” “Ah, there you are,” Bulk replied. “We were kinda worried about you.” “We?” Indigo asked. “Me, your parents, your friends… Everyone, in fact.” “Sorry, I just needed to think,” Indigo said. “Don’t worry, we can still make it up. Just pick me up at the hospital.” She turned to Sour. “That’s not a problem, right?” “Nah, I just love sitting here messing with my roommates,” Sour replied with a sigh. “You’re free to go.” “Okay then,” Indigo said, focusing back on the phone. “See you in fifteen minutes.” She put the phone down and looked at Sour. “Keep your fingers crossed.” “So you get laid?” Sour asked. “Fix my relationship,” Indigo replied. “At least I hope so.” Sour nodded slowly. “That’s what they call it now, huh?”