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It was banquet season once again and Allison was actually excited for it this time around. The previous years had been so dull with no one even attempting to start a fight. Where was the drama? The spice? The flavor? If Allison had to hear one more muscled up exy player mansplain maneuvers for her own position one more time, she might be the one starting a fight. Though, she knew Coach and Abby wouldn’t be too happy about that. Neither would Renee.
Renee.
She was the reason Allison was so excited to go. It was the first year they’d officially be going as each other’s dates since they got together. No more bringing boring guys from her marketing class. And hopefully, with Renee on her arm, no one would try to hit on her anymore. A recipe for the perfect night.
Except that it wasn’t.
At first, Allison found it funny when people asked them if they came stag. That got old real fast. Even when she’d dated girls in the past, they’d never been dubbed “gal pals” by many people. Mainly because she went to an all girls school and most of her friend group was queer anyway, but still. By the time the third guy from some random team she couldn’t bother remembering the name of came up to them asking, “who’re the lucky fellas that got to bring you two here?” Allison was ready to lose it.
“Actually, I’m the lucky fella that got to bring her here,” she said. The small smile that appeared on Renee’s face almost made Allison forget all about why she was mad at all. If only the guy kept his mouth shut.
“Oh, so you’re, like, on a friend date? That’s cute.”
Allison shook her head in disbelief. “We’re girlfriends.”
The guy furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “Yeah, I know.”
“I really don’t think you do.”
Renee put a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “I think what she’s trying to get at is that you seem to think we’re just friends, but we’re actually together, like, romantically.”
Realization filled the guy’s eyes. He almost fell over himself apologizing. Allison would have laughed if she didn’t feel so annoyed. “I thought tonight was going to be fun,” she said dejectedly after the guy left.
Renee tucked a strand of hair behind Allison’s ear. “We’ve had fun. Dinner was fun, wasn’t it? Those Trojan’s really are funny, don’t you think?”
Allison gave a halfhearted laugh. “And Jean and Jeremy are so cute together. I never would’ve seen that coming in a million years.”
“Jean needed some sunlight and Jeremy had plenty to spare.”
“You speak so prettily sometimes, you know that?” Allison pulled Renee in for a kiss before she could answer. She felt Renee smile against her. When they broke apart, Allison knew that smile was mirrored on her face.
“You seem like you’re having fun now,” Renee said softly.
Allison hummed in agreement. She laced their fingers together, feeling the warmth of Renee’s hand against her cold one. She’d never felt as soft with a person as she was with her. She remembered when that used to scare her. In that moment, it seemed ridiculous that she was ever scared at all.
~
Unfortunately, the fun didn’t last. It was nice for a while. They mingled, they drank, Allison even convinced the Foxes to play volleyball with her, though Renee made her take off her heels and she had to promise Neil one extra practice session whenever he needed another player. It was kind of funny seeing the utter disdain on Neil’s face over something so menial. They brought out that volleyball net every year and every year, without fail, Neil would say the same thing.
“We’re literally on an exy court. Why are we not playing exy?”
They were all exhausted afterward, but in a good way. Dan and Matt dragged Neil off to meet some mutual friend of theirs. The others dispersed among the tables. Allison didn’t really care. She just wanted to sit down.
“Is this seat taken?” she asked Renee, who had already settled at a corner table.
Allison could tell she was holding back a smile. “That’s my lap.”
“I know what I said.”
The smile broke out in full force. “Then, I guess it isn’t.”
And that was about as much fun as the universe was willing to give them, apparently, because right after that, Guy Number Four walked up. He was the worst so far. He didn’t even ask them if they had dates, just went straight to making a pass at them. Well, making a pass at Allison. It was like Renee wasn’t even there, despite Allison being draped all over her.
“Walk away, buddy.”
Number Four let out a low, raspy chuckle. “You didn’t even hear me out yet.”
“I don’t have to hear you out. I’m trying to enjoy a nice evening with my girlfriend.”
“Maybe you just haven’t met the right guy yet.”
“I’m bi, you ignorant asshole. So, yes, I have met the right guy. That guy just doesn’t happen to be you. Now, leave.”
Number Four had been inching closer the entire time they were talking. He leaned against the table now, definitely invading Allison’s personal bubble. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I bothering you?” he asked, though there was no remorse in his voice.
“You very clearly are,” Renee said. “The night’s almost over. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to get back to your team again?”
He sent a look of disgust her way. “No one asked you.”
“Maybe you should listen to her,” Allison snapped.
“Feisty,” he said with a disgusting grin. “I like that.” His hand started making its way up to her face. She could have dealt with it herself. In fact, she was already getting to her feet, ready to kick him in the crotch with her six inch halo platform heels.
But before she could do any of that, Andrew Minyard had materialized in front of her. He twisted Four’s arm behind his back, letting him fall to the floor as he groaned in pain. Andrew kept him pinned down by planting one of his stompy boots on his chest.
“It’s not nice to touch people without permission,” he said. His tone was as bored as ever, but Allison swore she could hear an edge to it.
Four spat at him. “Fuck you.”
“Why don’t you run along before I tell your Coach what happened and get you kicked off your team.” He lifted his boot off the man’s chest and watched as Four tried not to break into a run while walking away.
Andrew took one look at Allison and Renee before starting to walk away too.
“Wait, where are you going?” Allison asked.
“To tell his Coach what happened,” he said without hesitating. “I won’t tell them your names, but he needs to know.”
“I thought you said you wouldn't.”
Andrew shrugged. “The best predictor of future behavior is past action,” he explained before leaving them alone in stunned silence. At least, Allison was stunned. Had Andrew Minyard really just protected her out of his own volition? The guy had started to grow on her after Neil kept lecturing them about calling him a monster. It seemed so simple to see him as part of the family after that, but even still, Allison never expected anything like this to happen.
She looked to her girlfriend to make sure they’d both just witnessed the same thing. Renee wore a knowing smile, like this was the least surprising thing of all.
~
Dan didn’t notice when Andrew had shown up. She guessed it was inevitable considering they’d been hogging Neil for so long. She expected him to just haul Neil away, but he didn’t. It did come as a bit of a surprise that Andrew was willingly spending time with them, even with Neil there as a buffer. Whenever they went out to Eden’s or had movie nights, the two usually left halfway through or went to hide from the rest of them until it was time to go.
But Andrew made no signs of leaving now.
Dan continued her conversation with Laila and Alvarez. Matt jumped in occasionally and they were good about pulling Neil into the conversation. They seemed to steer clear of Andrew though, offering nothing but a nod when he walked up. Dan tried to get him to talk once or twice only to be met with one word answers.
It was then that Kyle Ritman walked up to them. It took everything in Dan not to roll her eyes. She felt Matt’s hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer.
How could someone describe Kyle Ritman? He was the captain of one of their rival teams, always bragging about skill and drive and power despite never even making it to the semi-finals. Usually, Dan wouldn’t judge a team based on that qualification alone, considering that had been the Foxes up until Neil Josten showed up. It only became a factor when they put down others to bring themselves up.
Though, Dan supposed, that wasn’t fair to the rest of the team. They were actually really lovely people, with a few exceptions. Though, even those exceptions didn’t come close to Kyle Ritman’s particular brand of asshole.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the first female captain of a class I exy team,” he said as he made his way within earshot.
Dan tried to force a polite smile, but she was sure it came off as more of a grimace. “Ritman, what brings you here?”
“It’s an exy banquet, Dan. We’re sort of all invited,” he condescended.
“You know that’s not what she meant,” Alvarez retorted. Unlike Dan, she wasn’t so concerned about niceties. It was a bit of a relief to have someone say what Dan was already thinking. “What are you doing here , talking to us? ”
Ritman splayed his hands out in front of him. “Can’t a guy come say hello? I just wanted to congratulate Dan on her team’s win.”
Dan stayed silent, waiting for the blow.
“You did good,” he said. “For a woman.”
Dan raised an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
Ritman feigned confusion. “What? It’s basic biology that men are physically stronger than women.”
Matt started to move, but Dan held him back.
Ritman caught the movement and laughed. “Hey, it’s just a fact. Sorry if it hurts your feelings.”
“So what does that make you?” Andrew spoke up from the back of the group. Dan had almost forgotten he was there. “If you think women are weaker than men.”
Ritman scoffed. “I don’t think it, it’s just scientific fact.”
“Yeah, no, we all heard you say it the first time. I can also state facts. Do you know the percentage of wins your team has had against the Foxes since Dan has been captain? Zero. So,” Andrew took a step forward. Ritman took a step back. “If women are weaker than men, what does that make you?”
Alvarez let out a startled laugh. “Ooooh, Minyard called you out,” she said, a glint of excitement in her eyes.
Ritman glared at her. “That— that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Is that your only rebuttal? Pretty weak if you ask me,” Neil chimed in.
“I’m not weak,” Ritman bit back.
“The facts say otherwise,” Alvarez said, looking like she was having the time of her life. “Are women weak or are you strong because it can’t be both.” When Ritman said nothing, Alvarez just shrugged. “Facts don’t care about your feelings, babes. Now, shoo, you’re spoiling the mood.”
Ritman practically had smoke coming out of his ears as he stomped away, muttering obscenities under his breath. Dan laughed with the rest of them once he was far enough away that he couldn’t hear them. Or maybe he could hear them. Dan didn’t particularly care. When she looked around for Andrew to thank him, he and Neil had already managed to slip away.
~
If you’d have asked Andrew why he did what he did that day, he wouldn’t have had an answer. It wasn’t out of place to see him defending his small circle, but he’d never gone out of his way to defend the upperclassmen before, not even Renee.
He kept telling himself it was because they had defended him first. He was just paying back the favor so he didn’t have to feel like he owed them something. Now, he could go back to giving them the cold shoulder. Yeah, that was it. There was nothing more to it.
As they sat in a circle in one of their hotel rooms, the Foxes passed around a bottle of wine, filling up the plastic cups their room provided, and held them in the air.
“To surviving another banquet,” Dan said.
“And to Andrew,” Allison added quickly before the moment could pass.
Dan seconded the toast before anyone could say anything. Matt followed, then Renee, then Neil. The rest of the Foxes clumsily joined, and they downed their drinks.
No one tried to ask Andrew what had happened. He was sure the speculation would begin once they were all in their own rooms, however he still felt that uncomfortable curiosity whenever anyone looked at him. It wasn’t often that someone did, but he got up to go outside anyway. There wasn’t a point in staying any longer.
When the door opened behind him, he expected it to be Neil following him out as he so often did. Instead, Renee stood there. She shivered in the chill of the night, letting her gaze fall on the moon. Andrew appreciated the lack of eye contact.
“They’re really growing on you, aren’t they?” she said after a while.
Andrew didn’t answer.
“That’s a good thing,” she continued. “And they like you too. I can tell.”
“What else do you know, O Great Wise One.”
Renee huffed out a laugh. “I know it’s hard to feel that after everything that’s happened, but you’ll feel it eventually. In time.”
Andrew let out a breath, watching it float on the air in front of him. The door opened again. This time it was Neil coming out to find Andrew.
“How do you know?” Andrew asked her. Neil looked between the two of them as he made his way over to stand beside him. Renee headed in the opposite direction. She smiled at the picture the two of them made, the moon in the background, watching over them, protecting them with her light. Andrew felt Neil’s eyes on him. It didn’t feel uncomfortable like it did when the others watched him.
Renee put her back to the door, gently kicking it open with her foot. Her eyes were soft, grin still firmly in place.
“Because it’s happened before.”