And She Sticks the Landing

[Ada Marie Hollys]

Ada could only be graceful in the air or on the ground, never both at the same time. When she'd intially gotten in to track and field, she'd wanted to do the pole vault or the hurdles. Big mistake. Huge mistake. Two black eyes and (somehow) a ripped off thumb nail kind of mistake. The coach still liked to tell horror stories of Ada's various injuries to the under classmen. she wasn't particularly a clumsy girl per se, but she was prone to injury in a big way. Any time both feet left the ground, she was almost certain to bend, bruise or break herself in the most unfortunate way possible.

It was the same thing when she had feathers on. To this day she still could not manage a graceful landing. Poor Mr Hawkins had tried and tried and tried. Boobies just weren't meant to be pretty on the ground. They weren't really meant to be pretty, period, but that was another story entirely.

So Ada learned to work around it. One should stick to what one was best suited to, and anyways running distance was a little more mindless and took less effort. She could make herself run for hours. It was really easy. Just one foot in front of the other and turn your brain off for a while. She imagine it was a lot like what being a boy was like. Only, she obviously had a preocupation with a different kind of Booby entirely.

She was more than happy to just shut down, stare straight ahead and-

Trip over a hurdle that hadn't been stowed away properly. There was an undignified sounding squawk as she went sprawling. Ah, what was that bit about keeping your eye on the ball? Yeah that, or something. Ada's brain scrambled to reboot enough to untangle herself.

"Well then, that was fun," she quipped as she surveyed a rather tetnus-y looking scrape across her left knee. Meh, if it started to fall off she'd go to the nurse later. Didn't look too bad for now. "OK, so who left the euipment out? You guys know I can't see but two feet in front of myself. Anything outside of the zone of awesome in just blackness."

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Asia stood to the side of the bleachers, leaning back against the chain link. She was in the shade, probably invisible to anyone on the track or field. She was thoroughly winded, having just finished a run with intermittent wind sprints. Lately she was working on improving her speed. She felt like she could run forever, but she needed to get faster in order to win. Today was not a run-for-fun day. Normally she just did whatever she felt like doing, and to hell with the track meets. Today, though, she was feeling especially responsible. She had already cleaned her dorm room, refolded all of her clothes (they tended to get scattered through the dresser in a jumble of fabric), and finished up all of her homework. Her roommate had looked at her strangely, but had already accepted the bursts of restlessness that came over her. Next the Junior had focused on exercise and come to the track. She hardly ever came here outside of practice, finding it incredibly boring and repetitive to run in a circle. Or... oval, I guess. All the same, there wasn't much to it.

Scrolling through the different songs on her iPod, Asia didn't notice right away when someone else walked onto the field. She certainly didn't hear anything, especially after she selected a particularly shouty song. Asia's taste in music was a little bizarre. Here was this laid-back, mellow, not-overly-emotional teenager listening to the most depressing, loud, cacophonous rock music she could find. Any kind of rock appealed to her, but she liked the pounding shouts to keep her running rhythmic. Motion caught the shifter's eye suddenly, causing her to look up. On the far side of the field she saw Ada running along the track. She smiled to herself as soon as she recognized her. Ada was fun. She was hilarious, and didn't mind laughing at herself. It was a welcome break from the temperamental, uber-serious crowd that populated their special little school.

She wasn't going to bother her, planning on slipping out one of the side gates, but when she spotted the hurdles on the track she froze. Ada was the captain of the track team, and she was incredibly good at distance running... but she wasn't so good at.... the other stuff. Paying attention to where she was going wasn't a strong point either. When the Senior launched over the hurdle and took a tumble, Asia took off across the field toward her. She hadn't heard the discordant sound of metal and wood hitting flesh and dirt, but she pulled out her ear buds in time to catch the follow-up commentary.

"Hey there Cap-ee-tan. Have a nice flight?" The Junior knelt beside Ada, looking over the scrape on her knee. The Senior didn't appear too concerned, but she should still give it a good rinse. Sitting back on her heels, Asia had to grin. "I swear to God, it wasn't me. You know I don't do hurdles."

[Ada Marie Hollys]

"Oh well, you know I'm so good at it with my blue socks on," Ada stretched the offended knee out for observation. Nah, she'd live. Ada's face screwed up into an approximate expression of perplexion. "Do we even have anyone who does hurdles? Must be a new fish. Oh god I hope we really do get some fish this year."

Already Ada's mind was turning over a number of horrendous puns. Shifting into a pirhana might just be the only thing worse than shifting into a blue-footed booby. Course there was that one fainting girl. That might possibly be worse as well. Not that things were really in terms of what was worse. Ada had that slightly distracted look that meant internal ramblings had taken over again. She shook her head wildly to disperse the distraction.

As Ada popped back up to her feet she raised an eyebrow skyward. "Jebus, I can hear your thrasher metal from here," she quipped. Ada had always been a fan of that dichotomy. She'd once tried to vote Asia as 'Most likely to not panic and have a towel' - no body got the joke. It was a damn shame really.

"Seriously. you're gonna break those little doggy ears," she teased. "Can you imagine? Just try to think of a basset hound with a hearing aid. Com'on help me drag this lump out of the way. " Ada hefted her side easily. Well it wasn't heavy, just ungangly. Had she been unfortunate to drag it back herself she'd have likely slung it across her shoulders like a yolk. As it was, she was still scanning the field left and right. If she were a betting woman, she would've put her money on the football players. In typical jock machismo, they had a nasty habit of leaving epuiptment laying about or booby trapping the locker rooms.

Heh, booby trap. She'd have to remember that.

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

OOC:: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I love you, Larsi.

BIC:: Asia's expression morphed into one of mock distaste. "Please, no fish. Unless they have total control over their shifts. The last thing we need is someone getting overexcited and flopping all over the field. Chaos would ensue." She fell to thinking about how inconvenient a fish shift would be. Band concerts, cheerleading pyramids, debates... 'You are a fish. Your points are therefore moot.' Pretty much the only time it would be convenient is if you were on the swim team. Wait, chlorine... No. It would pretty much suck.

The Junior was brought back to the present by Ada's sudden head shaking. She was acting normally... for Ada, so there must not have been any fall-related trauma. Asia got to her feet smoothly, watching Ada for some sign of buckling. It was unlikely, though. Ada was a trooper, deceptively tough. Asia shot her a glare as she bent to lift the other end of the toppled hurdle. Not breaking her pointed stare, she reached down to her hip, where the MP3 player was clipped, and paused the song. "I have to release all of this repressed aggression somehow. Would you rather I suffer a psychotic break and gun down the entire student body?" She lifted the hurdle and headed toward the storage room. She did crack a smile at the mental image of a Basset with a hearing aid, but doubted that her massive, rounded wild dog ears would be affected. And really, little doggy ears? Had Ada even seen her shift? NASA's satellite dishes couldn't pick up what those ears could.

"I think there's some peroxide in a first aid kit in there. You really should clean the dirt out of that scrape." Asia jerked her chin toward the storage room they were approaching. After the door was opened and the hurdle stowed, she stepped back and surveyed the rows and stacks of gear. She, too, suspected the ever thoughtless football team for the equipment being left out. She understood that sharing a field with them was perfectly reasonable in terms of space, but it could be a pain. Assuming that Ada's thoughts were running parallel to her own, she said, "We should puncture all of their balls. Footballs, I mean." What an incredibly juvenile suggestion. Still, the Junior couldn't help but laugh quietly. She reached in and snagged the first aid kit. She dug out the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and held it out to the Senior. "Please?" Her brows drew together with concern. Sure, it stung like a bitch, but it was still standard procedure. Scanning the pristine green turf, the Junior began thinking of other ways to cow the football team into a respectful and considerate group. Easier said than done.

[Ada Marie Hollys]

"Ah, don't worry about it. Bet you'll look cute with one of those big ear horns. You could bring them back like JT did with sexy."The storage room, par usual, was an unruly mess. Teachers never entered if they could help it and the students sure as hell weren't going to clean up after themselves. Janitors probably figured it was a lost cause. The Janitors were probably right. "Just remember, when you start shooting everyone, they I gave you a candy bar that one time on that one trip with the bus and stuff."

Actually Ada brought candy every time. She had a sweet tooth and an addiction to sharing. Really it was just that she liked to get the team as hyper as possible on the ride back. Four hour bus rides were a lot better with teenagers bouncing off the walls.

"Tis but a fleshwound! A gross, sticky, probably tetnus-ripe fleshwound. But I guess I can't run with one leg," Ada kicked the offending hurdle into its place with her uninjured leg. She stuck her injured leg out precariously and covered her eyes. "I can't look. Give it to me straight doc, am I gonna get a lollypop afterwards? No but seriously, get it over with. Stuff stings like hell."

Ada was already cringing. There were some things she could deal wtih without so much as a blink, but medical stuff was always just so.... icky. Needles, antiseptics, pills, tongue depressers - all of it was just unnerving. More than anything it was the notion that she could be unhealthy enough to need medical treatment that through her off kilter. Speaking of off-kilter...

"See, that's a good idea. I was just gonna rig up the lockerroom with rotten fruit, but its not like they'll be able to smell the difference. Oh, know what we should do? I mean besides rendering their balls flaccid and useless, we should duct tape their shoes." Ada was grinning like wild again. Payback on the football team was going to be her new favorite things. Normally she wasn't the type to go out and pull a prank - that took more time and effort than she was usually willing to give - but this was a special occasion. Or she had a bad case of senoritis.

"Think they make shots for senoritis?"

OOC: bleeeh its all short but my brain didn't want to work with me ><

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Asia's expression changed to one of amusement. "Of course I remember. You gave me the Snickers bar that Sydney couldn't eat because she has a peanut allergy. And then the person I was sitting next to threw up because he can't handle too much sugar. Oh yes. I remember well." Her eyes narrowed, but they were alive with silent laughter. Asia could never act. When she was in a good mood, it showed. Loud and clear.

Asia looked at the Senior in mock exasperation and grabbed Ada's outstretched foot. Propping it on a stray hurdle protruding out of the storage room, the Junior leaned forward and looked over the scrape. She unscrewed the cap of the bottle and poured it over the entirety of the wound. She pursed her lips in a very non-teenager-like manner as the liquid foamed. She dug around the first aid kit for some cotton pads to soak up the excess moisture, then took out some antiseptic cream and spread it on liberally. Asia stepped back, satisfied with her quick and efficient handiwork. "I should be a doctor. I do a damn fine job." She packed all of the stuff back into the kit, then looked around the room for a garbage can. It was all in vain though, since obviously neither team believed in a conveniently placed waste disposal system. Feeling a touch guilty for contributing to the problem, she stuffed the garbage into an empty plastic bag and left it on a shelf.

Listening to Ada's suggestions brought a wicked grin to Asia's face. "We could duct tape everything." It was probably the easiest, cheapest and one of the most annoying things they could do. How much did a few rolls of duct tape cost? The payoff would be priceless, so it didn't even matter.

Glancing at Ada, she said, "Don't think so. Still having trouble manifesting your destiny?"

[Ada Marie Hollys]

"Destiny is for people who fall ass backwards into something and manage to make the most of it. sounds like something I might do but then," Ada gave a shrug and tested out her knee, swinging it back and forth. The whole thing felt gooey and a little crinkly. Ada being a woman of impeccable pedigre, but mostly just really anal, plucked up the plastic bag. She'd watched way too many episodes of Captain Planet in her early years to litter now. She'd leave dirty laundry out before she left so much as a scrap of paper laying about.

"As far as I'm concerned, right now my destiny has everything to do with a roll of duct tape. We should wait till the next away game I think, do it right after they leave. We'll come in, all catsuits and duct tape, well, weverything. Shower heads, shoes, bags, anything they left behind. Booby trap the whole dang place, just like that templ in Indian Jones. Hell, we may even leave a trample hat behind just to confuse them," oh Ada was liking this idea. She was already planning a trtip into town to get the tape. She was willing to bet that if she said pretty, pretty please she could even get one of the teachers to take her. And if not? Half the team were distance runners. A jaunt in to town would be nothing. she'd call it extra training and right the whole ordeal off.

She swung the door wide open again with a bang. "Ladies first," she noted, sweeping her arm in a gentlemanly fashion. Asia was much more a lady anyways, all refined and a bit reserved. That just wasn't for Ada. She couldn't hold back like that. Kudos to Asia and all, but Ada believed in the absolute freedom that came through truth and living out loud.

"Hey, maybe it'll be good exercise for you, blow off a little pent up aggression. I'll even find us some trasher mental."

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

"Which is why you're supposed to manifest it for yourself. Don't get pigeon-holed into something because of some supposed hidden power controlling the events of your life." Asia only had a vague notion of what she wanted to do. Go somewhere and study something so that you can become someone. That was about the extent of the advice she had thus far received. She was interested in math and science, and would likely pursue a career in that direction, but there wasn't a lot of detail to fill out her plan yet. Not that any of that was important at the moment. For now she had to focus on the matter at hand.

Asia laughed out loud, her thoughts happily planning out this entire escapade. Waiting for the team to be out was definitely a good idea. They had to be untraceable in this. The Junior had gone her entire high school career without a single bad note on her record, and she planned to keep it that way. Her record wasn't so much a testament to her personal conduct as it was her ability to not get caught. She maintained a sort of disdain for superfluous regulations. Her thinking was that if no one got hurt then there was, by definition, no harm in it. Making the football team's locker room into a durable, silver vault would hurt absolutely nobody. Even if the track team members were suspected, there shouldn't be any evidence to make a definite case.

Waltzing lightly out of the storage room, it occurred to Asia that she was perhaps a little too excited to carry out this plan. If she did have any pent up aggression she knew that light-hearted pranks were not the way she'd vent, though, so she was off the hook. She pictured the locker room in her mind, thinking of unique ways to use the magical tape. "We're going to need a lot of duct tape. We'll have to be low-key about buying it, burn the receipts, all that." She sat down cross-legged on the grass, still scanning the field. "Alarm clocks. We set them to a time just after their practice, and then stow them in air vents. Then duct tape the vent shut."

[Ada Marie Hollys]

"Eeeee I love it," Ada clapped her hands together rapidly. "Alright so here's what we'll do first. First we'll get all the LDs together and make an extra curricular practice schedule. Coach can't know, she'll pitch a fit. so we'll get the Long Distances together and two or three times a week jog into town. Every time w'ell pick up some different supplies. A clock here, some tape there, the occasional pack of granny panties. We could, in theory, even wait for the last away game of the season - cut down on their room for retaliation. Oh we are going to need soooo many implements of destruction."

Asia could waltz all she liked, but Ada was more of the skipping type. She was still hopping about in circles around Asia as she plotted. Over all the day was a success so far. She'd gotten a good run in and even managed to get Asia to crack a smile or two. Take, that teenage angst.

"Its a shame we don't have any other fliers on the team. I'm not exactly inconspicious. Where's a Seagull shifter when you need one? Come to think of it, there's no one really inconspicious on the team. In a school of freaks, we are the freakiest." At long last Ada flopped down next to Asia, her eyes nearly glinting yellow with excitement. "This, i have decided, is my destiny then."

Destiny, or drive, or whatever else, could be damned in Ada's book. Life was too short to get all anxious about the future. She knew the counselors would tear her ear off for such a blasphemy. It wasn't as though she were trying to slack off and ignore her potential - there were just other, much less regemented things, she'd rather do with her life. Things like fill all the football lockers with tampons.

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Asia nodded thoughtfully. "Stagger the purchases, that's a good idea. I can store the stuff in my room, if necessary. I know my roommate won't breath a word of it to anyone. She's conspiratorial like that." Asia shifted position slightly so that she was leaning back on the heels of her hands. Her eyes followed the skipping Senior when she passed, then flickered to the horizon again. With a dismissive snort, she said, "I'm not afraid of anything they throw at us. We can just counter with something more impressive until we break their spirit. We will win this." Her eyes flashed with intensity that mirrored her tone. Her mind was already planning out counterattacks and preventative measures. The sheer enjoyment she got from simply planning this was worth whatever she'd have to deal with later.

She turned to look at Ada as she settled next to her, grinning at her enthusiasm. "I have too many ideas to cram into one prank. And I'd hate for them to go to waste." Her grey-blue eyes turned pleading momentarily. When she turned away to look pensively into middle-distance again they returned to normal. What she said was true. There wasn't a one of them who could move inconspicuously in their shift forms. Not through an urban environment, anyway. "Take heart, Captain. It's only a couple miles to the nearest hardware store. We are superior athletes. We'll make it there easily. And if it's during practice then no time will be lost."

Some kind of common bird would make things easier, but it wouldn't be much of a setback to make the treks on foot. Besides, if they had just one team member who could pass for a local animal then they would have to be saddled with all of the responsibility. Who they entrusted with that responsibility could make or break them in this blooming battle.

Now that she was in a strategic mindset, she had to think of heir enemy. She knew quite a few of the players on the team, was friends with a few of them. She knew the coach was also a counselor, but he wasn't her counselor so she didn't have much information on him. A thought occurred to her suddenly. "Wouldn't Coach would find out if they decide to retaliate? How are we supposed to put "They stared it" into mature terms?"

[Ada Marie Hollys]

"We're teen-agers and don't have to be mature. Besides, one can only hope the footballers can be subtle. Well, they probably can't. I know their coach won't get involved at least. As far as Coach Winsted goes, we'll just have to fly as far below the radar as possible and hope she chooses to over look it." Truth be told, Ada tried to fly on a low radar where Coach Winsted was concerned anyways. She needed to get a track scholarship, and Coach Winsted would be one of her best ways of getting one. Besides, she'd probably given the woman enough gray hairs to cut her at least a little slack on occasion. More than anything, Ada appreciated someone who could be blunt and honest. It was only when people started putting on pretenses that Ada got particualrly wound up and out of hand.

"I say, we should Booby Trap the hell out of them. BOOBY TRAPS GALORE!" She pointed at random to a petite freshman girl, who'd been caught cleaning up after the cheerleaders. "YOU THERE, FEAR THE TRAP OF BOOBY."

The younger girl shot them a confused, almsot hurt looking expression. Ada just shook her head. Kids these days. She blamed the cartoons. How was anyone suposed to grow up with any kind of appreciation for humor in the world around them when they were fed a steady diet of Sponge Bob and Hannah Montana? Where were the Animaniacs when you really needed them?

"Oh! Idea! Know how they do weight training once a week? We'll rig up their stereo system to play childrens song the entire time." Ada herself had just the cache they'd need, Captain Planet, a whole score of songs from the Animaniacs, the theme from Pokemon. The jocks were about to get a good healthy dose of inner child.

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Asia rolled her shoulders as if she was preparing for battle. "I wonder if any of the runners have walkie talkies. Do you have any? I just want to be able to say 'Operation Booby Trap is go.' Then I can die happy." She ginned, closing her eyes at the blissful thought. Even if walkie talkies added added an extra level of difficulty, Asia believed in getting the maximum amount of enjoyment out of any situation. If she needed a practical reason... well, the extra help in coordination and communication would help them keep Coach in blissful ignorance. She hated to cause undue stress on the woman... on any person, really.

Her gaze followed the pointing finger, coming to a halt when they reached the freshman. She gave her a cheerful wave, but whether that served to simply confuse her further or reassure her was left unknown. Still grinning, Asia thought back to something Ada had said earlier. "If you can make this into a career, I will abandon whatever plans I have come up with by that time and be your first employee." And she would, too. Who would want to work for Ada?

The mention of children's songs got her thinking about other theme music from her favorite shows from when she was a kid. And that she occasionally still watched. No, there was no shame in it. Darkwing Duck, Courage the Cowardly Dog, other mildly unnerving yet fiercely fantastic and beloved shows. "We have enough ammo to keep this up all season. Teabags in the shower heads, seran wrap over the doorways, human-sized Scotch tape spider web, superglued legos all over the floor, anything jello- or whipped cream-related..." And those were just what she could come up with on the spot. She could only imagine the brilliant ideas that would spring forth once they go the team together and collaborated.

"I vote we go with a rapid-fire assault, then take a break and make them sweat. Stay unpredictable." Her devilish smile was shiftless. The Junior was clearly enjoying planning psychological torture. Perhaps it was a tad unnerving to be possessed with so many fiendish ideas when you were an only child and had a clean high school record. But, really, what was better than a light-hearted rivalry between teams that had to share the same space?

[Ada Marie Hollys]

There was a maniacal giggle. "I love it, let's do it. We can nab some tea from the kitchens tonight and get them in early tomorrow morning. I'm usually up before the jocks anyways." There was another round of gleeful clapping. "Sides if I mess up my hair and strap 'em down a little I can get in and out of the boys locker room with little suspicion."

It was true, she'd done it before. Not to sneak a peek or be naughty or anything. she'd just been bored and wondered if she could get by or not. That was her sophomore year. A half naked senior thought she was a freshman and had tried to send her to fetch him a snack. Ada took the pocket change and ran off yelling she was a naughty Booby. True story.

"Com'on, the kitchens should be gearing up for dinner. If we go now we should be able to get in and out without causing too much of a ruckus. Or are we? Can we? Whatever the hell, you know what I mean." Ada flapped a hand about dismissively as she hopped to her feet, swinging the bandaged knee about experimentally again. "Anyways you know what they say about early birds and worms and also garlic powder in your shampoo."

There was a wide, wild grin on her face. "Come Pinky, tonight we take over the world!"

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Spurred by the laughter, Asia put on her best villainous smirk and got to her feet. She had to pause for a second, because in some ways she considered herself a jock, what with her affinity for sports in general. It wasn't that easy to shove Asia into a clique, though, because she also had nerdy study habits and loved to party with the best of them. Probably the only groups she didn't identify with were the druggies and the loners. Because Asia hated to be alone for long. She wasn't a fan of drugs, either. However, because their target was a very specific group of jocks she relaxed. She had to rearrange her system of sorting people for a second, but once she had a clear picture of Track vs. Football it was all systems go. "Muahahaha." She hadn't practiced her evil laugh in a while, but she had the fiendish hand rubbing down.

"It has to be black tea. The darker the better. Give me a couple of days and I'll have an entire list written up." She ran through her current mental list, then focused on the task at hand. "We're going to need a screwdriver. Any idea if they're Phillips or standard? I guess we can bring both. There's an entire shelf of maintenance supplies in the janitor's closet across from the library." Scratch doctor, she should be a tactician. Picturing herself as a military strategist, in full uniform, brought a different kind of smile to her face. More amused than villainous.

What a way to start the school year. This would definitely keep her occupied in her downtime. She cast Ada an appreciative look as they set out toward the gate and ultimately, the kitchens.