Chapter Text
Lottie didn’t really like Jackie. At least, not in the way everyone else did. But she knew Jackie both held influence and was very easily influenced, making her extremely useful. Especially for what Lottie had planned. Everyone was getting bored and restless, as well as teetering on the edge of depression, so she wanted to help. If she herself benefited from that help, well… no harm in that, right?
The first part was easy. They were soccer players who had nothing to do, yet had open space and a soccer ball. It was surprising they hadn’t played sooner. The second half would be harder to convince everyone of, but then again, maybe everyone was as desperate as Lottie after so long out here with little comfort. Selling Jackie on it was the first step.
“So whichever team wins, the losers have to do whatever they say?”
“That’s the idea,” Lottie told her.
“How do we choose the teams?”
“You and Tai choose. She’s vice captain, after all.”
Jackie thought about it for a moment. She didn’t necessarily like Lottie, not the way everyone did, but this was a good idea.
“Okay,” Jackie said brightly. “I’m in!”
It wasn’t really the result Lottie was hoping for. She’d said yes too eagerly - perhaps she didn’t really understand what she was agreeing to.
“Jackie, you do get the stakes of the game I’m proposing, right?”
“Sure. My team kicks their butt, and I don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning or any of that junk.”
‘You barely have to worry about it now,’ Lottie thought.
But instead, she said, “I wasn’t just thinking about chores, Jackie. You could make the other team do anything. You could make, say, Shauna do anything…?”
“What? Ohhhhhh?,” Jackie said, blushing a little. “Wait. What does that mean about Shauna?”
“I’m just saying, if we all agreed, we could say the rules were almost limitless. We do all need to blow of steam.”
“I guess…”
“So you’ll do it?” Lottie asked.
Jackie considered for a moment, then gave a swift nod.
Next step was explaining it to the rest of the team. Lottie convinced Travis, Javi, and Ben to go fishing for some male bonding, and Travis was surprisingly taken by the idea. She only hoped the rest of the team would be as easy to convince.
“Wouldn’t a soccer game waste energy? We don’t exactly have an abundance of food,” Crystal said.
“Don’t be such a lamewad,” Mari told her. “We haven’t played soccer in months, I miss it.”
“You can always sit and watch,” Van laughed. “You’re always on the bench anyway.”
“Can I play?” Misty asked.
Lottie weighed up the question. On the one hand, she’d seen Misty at tryouts, or in the background at practice. She was comically bad. But she was also one of the more likely to go along with-
“Sure you can!” Jackie said. “The more the merrier.”
Well, that answered that.
Misty joined the circle, no longer standing on the outside of it, and shared a giggle with Crystal. But if this was to work, people didn’t just need to want to play, they needed to understand the stakes.
“So, everybody’s in,” Lottie said. “Just remember, whoever loses has to do whatever the winners say.”
“No more chores for a week!” Laura Lee cheered.
Oh, if only she knew.
“Wait,” Van said. “I thought you meant like, anything anything.”
“I did,” Lottie smirked.
“What do you mean anything anything?” Akilah asked.
“She means the winners get to fuck the losers,” Tai explained.
“Oh!” Akilah yelped.
There was a collective murmur from the group, a creeping doubt. Lottie needed to stamp it out.
“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” Mari said.
“You just called me a lamewad for not wanting to play,” Crystal reminded her.
“Okay but I’d rather be a lamewad than a gaywad. Jax, did you know about this?”
“I don’t know,” Jackie blushed. “I mean it could be fun. Fooling around with each other. It wouldn’t mean anything.”
Jackie flicked a glance at Shauna before they both turned away.
Lottie needed to keep everyone together.
“We’re just having fun. It’s just another form of team bonding.”
“Getting your pussy eaten is a little different than a pizza party,” Gen said.
There was a silence for a moment. Hearing Gen describe it all so coarsely seemed to shock them all. Then they started to laugh like the spell was broken.
“Maybe we’d have won even more games if we had something better than a pizza party waiting for us,” Van chuckled.
This time Jackie flicked a glance at Lottie, grinning. It was now or never, talking about it was no good.
“Okay Yellowjackets, let’s vote. Hands up, who’s in?”
Jackie and Lottie raised their hands, quickly followed by Van, Taissa, Melissa, and Misty. Shyly, Robin’s went up too. Enough to make a game of it, but Lottie had her eye on a couple of holdouts.
“We didn’t make it to Nationals, but we qualified for the Pussy Eat Off of ‘96,” Van said.
“That makes it sounds like both sides are going to eat… you know,” Jackie said.
“Pussy, Jackie,” Tai told her. “You can say it. You’re voting for it. And it’s whatever the winners are into. Some people are generous lovers.”
Mari screwed up her face and made to walk away.
“Gross. You guys can stay here and lezz out, just leave me out of it. C’mon, Gen,” she said.
“Actually… I think I might stay and play, Mari.”
“Fine. Akilah?”
“Me too.”
Finally, desperately, she turned to Crystal.
“I’m gonna stay as well, bestie,” Crystal said with a dorky smile at Misty.
During this time, Britt also raised her hand - not that anyone really noticed, and fewer people cared.
That left just four pla-
“Fine. If you all want to be weird then I guess I’ll play. I do miss soccer. Maybe I can make you losers give me a foot rub or whatever.”
Okay. That left just three players, but they were the ones Lottie wanted most of all.
“So that’s Natalie, Shauna, and Laura Lee who don’t want to play?” Misty said.
Her lack of social awareness, bluntly pointing it out like that, might have turned into an advantage.
“Didn’t take you for a square, Nat,” Taissa said with a smirk.
“Whatever. My team’s gonna win anyway.”
“So you’ll play?” Melissa asked.
“Why not?” she shrugged.
Two to go.
“What about you, Shipman?” Jackie asked.
The whole team held its breath. There were rumours about Jackie and Shauna, but no one was sure what was actually true. As Shauna mumbled something and looked down, shy and annoyed, it seemed like no one was more aware of them than her.
“I don’t know, Jax…”
“Yeah, right,” Mari muttered.
“You know we’re just having fun, right? None of us are actually gay,” Jackie said.
Tai cleared her throat pointedly.
“Most of us aren’t actually gay. You’re not gonna be a stick in the mud again, are you?”
“I’m not a stick-”
“Great! Shauna’s in everybody!” Jackie told them.
Lottie watched Shauna open her mouth as if to protest, then close it again. Jackie was proving very valuable.
“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to, Laura Lee,” Crystal said.
“Maybe I could watch? Or referee?”
“No one likes a ref, dude,” Van said.
“Teams are even right now. I’d upset the balance,” Laura Lee said.
“Pffft, Quigley doesn’t count,” Mari giggled.
“I’m not judging any of you,” Laura Lee said.
“That would be a first,” Gen muttered.
“I just don’t like girls that way.”
She blushed and turned away after she said it, in a way that made Lottie think perhaps the lady doth protest too much. And she was so close now.
“Oh Laura Lee,” Lottie smiled. “None of us like girls that way.”
Tai cleared her throat even more pointedly.
“Most of us don’t like girls that way. That’s what makes it interesting - we always played our best back home when there was something on the line. If you win, you’re absolutely able to just make people do your chores. The stakes are what I might make you do for me.”
“What would you make me do, Lottie?” she asked.
It came out breathy and needy, part of a desperate sigh as Laura Lee rushed through fantasies of Lottie in her head. Her brain was like a motor overheating, the evidence shown on her beetroot red face.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Lottie winked.
Everyone tried to act like they didn’t hear the whimpering whine Laura Lee let out at that moment, before they all broke out into giggles again.
“Okay, now that we’re all in, let’s pick teams.”
Jackie and Tai stood facing the squad. As captain and vice captain, they were the natural choices to lead each team. They’d do it old school, picking players one by one until all the girls had been assigned. After a quick toss of a coin Nat rummaged for in the depths of her pockets, Jackie had first pick.
“Natalie,” she said, and Nat nodded and walked over.
To the rest of the group, it made sense. Nat was probably the best player on the team, at least after Taissa, so choosing her was sensible. But Shauna was hurt, even if she didn’t like to show it. Shauna was a very good player too, and more than that, was Jackie’s best friend. Shouldn’t Jackie have chosen her just because?
Jackie had considered that, but opted against it. After all, if the reward was using the losers however they wanted, it made perfect sense not to pick Shauna. Win, and she’d have Shauna at her mercy with the perfect excuse that everyone was doing it. Lose, and she’d be Shauna’s slave, and that would be just awful…
“I’ll take Van,” Tai said, with a high five as Van strolled over.
Another obvious choice - Van was a significantly better goalie than Robin, and it had slowly become obvious that there was something between Tai and Van out here. It did however mean that Jackie needed to make another pick that wasn’t Shauna.
“Lottie,” Jackie said.
Again, there was some logic. Lottie was definitely going to be an enthusiastic teammate, and provided a defensive balance to the attacking prowess of Jackie and Nat. Still, this time Shauna actually let out a huffing sigh at being overlooked by Jackie.
She just couldn’t believe it. Did Jackie think so little of her abilities, Shauna wondered. Shouldn’t she just be choosing her anyway? Shauna knew if she was captain, she’d pick Jackie first every time. That thought annoyed her too, admitting her own neediness, her own one sided infatuation. It seemed so pathetic, especially as Jackie smirked and giggled with Natalie and Lottie. Finally, Tai put her out of her misery.
“I’ll take Shauna.”
Shauna could not help side eying Nat and Lottie as she walked over. Had Jackie really chosen two people in front of her? It just felt so insulting. It didn’t help that Jackie immediately gathered her two new teammates in a huddle to collaborate.
“Okay guys, since they have Van we’ll need to take Robin, but we should leave her for last.”
“Agreed,” Nat said. “Maybe Laura Lee? Best offense is a good defence or whatever?”
“No,” Lottie said quickly.
Nat looked at her puzzled, but Jackie sensed Lottie’s thoughts with Laura Lee were similar to her own with Shauna.
“The saying,” Jackie corrected, “is the best defence is a good offense. If we take Mari, we’d have our first choice front three with me and you, Nat.”
“Good plan,” Lottie nodded.
So Mari was picked, with Tai opting for defensive stability again and taking Laura Lee. Seeing an opportunity to remove all of the attacking players from Tai’s pool, Jackie chose Crystal, her own usual alternate, going against Mari’s suggestion to pick Gen.
When Tai picked Gen, Mari clicked her tongue, as if proven right by Tai’s choice.
“Okay, at least go for Akilah,” Mari said.
“We’ve never even seen her play,” Nat said.
“Yeah, but we’ve seen who’s left. Duh.”
Mari had a point. They were down to the dregs a little. But they lacked a central midfield player, and if Akilah was an Allie replacement, she likely played wide.
“What about Melissa?” Jackie offered, giving this logic.
“Yeah. Whatever you think, Jax,” Mari nodded, glad to have been asked, even if her advice was ignored.
Jackie called Melissa over, and Tai snapped up Akilah. With just three players left, one being the so-so Britt and the other being the no chance in Hell Misty, Jackie finally added a goalie to her ranks with Robin. Tai, with the bottom of the barrel remaining, chose Britt. That just left Misty.
“She’s all yours, Jackie,” Tai said.
Jackie didn’t want to be mean, but Misty was probably more of a hinderance than a help. And while Shauna having control over her was exciting, the prospect of being made to sweep the floor for Laura Lee was less enticing.
“We had first pick,” Jackie said.
“Exactly.”
“That means you get the extra player,” Jackie smiled.
“No, it means it’s your turn,” Van said. “Quiggle over to Jackie, Misty.”
“Really, I insist. It wouldn’t be fair,” Jackie said, trying to make a joke of it.
Misty felt humiliated. She knew she wasn’t good, but they were actively fighting not to have her. Better to not make a scene, though. They could easily ban her from playing.
“Coin toss,” Natalie said to end it all.
“Heads,” Jackie said.
Heads it was.
“Okay, you get Misty,” Tai said.
“No we won, so you get her,” Jackie said.
“How does that work?” Van laughed.
“Oh my god, are we not making it clear that we don’t want the dork on our team?” Mari butted in.
“You have Crystal and the hat girl,” Shauna said. “I think that ship has sailed.”
Misty just stood between them, not moving.
“Guys, let’s just pick her,” Laura Lee said. “Where’s your team spirit?”
“Fine, whatever,” Tai relented, drawing a ‘wtf?!’ face from Van.
Misty happily skipped over, eager to impress her new team.
As the teams lined up, it was decided that as reward for taking Misty, Tai’s team could kick off. Misty tried not to take it personally.
Tai’s team set up with Van in goal, Britt, Laura Lee, and Misty in front as the defence, Shauna, Akilah, and a gap for Taissa as the midfield, and Gen, usually a wide midfielder, as their makeshift forward. Jackie’s more attacking team had a very different formation. Robin in goal was covered by Lottie as the sole defender, with Melissa expected to do a lot of thankless work in midfield. Nat and Mari then played as wingers, with Jackie and Crystal as strikers. They’d overpower Tai’s team going forward, but probably be left exposed at the back.
“Wait, how do we decide a winner?” Jackie asked.
“Most goals, usually!” Van answered helpfully.
“Very funny. I mean, we don’t have a ref or a timer or anything.”
“First to five?” Melissa offered.
They all nodded. That worked. First to five it was.
Tai rolled the ball back to Akilah, eager to get the newbie into the game early. Even in a match like this, Tai was always focused on what the team needed most. Akilah played it forward to Gen, but her loose touch was collected by Lottie. She looked up for a pass, but-
“OOF!”
“Shauna, what the fuck man?” Natalie shouted.
Shauna sneered as she stood over Lottie, having just barged into her and knocked her clean off her feet. Nat was due plenty of rough tackles like that too, Shauna knew. That’s what they get for Jackie picking them over her.
“You can have the foul,” Tai conceded. “Come on, Shauna.”
“Whatever.”
As Lottie gathered her breath on the floor, her skin was hot all over. Shauna was strong… powerful… she took what she wanted…
Ever the angel, Laura Lee jogged over to help Lottie up, even though they were on opposite teams.
“Are you okay Lottie?”
As Lottie’s warm hand took Laura Lee’s cool skin and was pulled up into a hug, she was more than okay. This was exactly what she dreamed of.
“Jeez, Shipman. Chill out,” Jackie said as Robin lined up to take the defensive free kick.
“What, can’t handle a little bit of competition?” Shauna asked.
She meant for it to come out menacing, but as Jackie winked at her, she felt herself unable to stop smiling. Jackie laughed, and that rage built again. Was Jackie laughing at her?
As the ball was floated up by Robin, it was perfectly positioned for Natalie to take it down on her chest and turn. Unfortunately, Natalie was perfectly positioned for Shauna to leap into her and flatten her.
“Jesus Shitman, you asshole!” Mari yelled.
Amongst the gasps from the other players, no one heard Lottie laughing.
“What the fuck?” Natalie asked on the ground, kicking out at Shauna. “You cold cocked me! Little bitch!”
“I thought you’d be able to handle it, being so perfect at soccer.”
“Are you jealous I was picked first? You’re pathetic!”
Natalie went to shove Shauna as she got up, only for Shauna to slap her hand away, and they both fell back down.
Suddenly Tai and Jackie were standing over them.
“So not cool, guys,” Jackie said.
“Your little puppy started it,” Nat spat. “Call her off.”
“Me? That was a fair challenge! You kicked me!”
“Stop whining, both of you!” Tai shouted. “Time out. Five minutes.”
“We’re not babies,” Nat said.
“I’m not kidding. You guys want to fight like hockey players you get sin binned like hockey players. Five minutes. Both of you.”
They both looked to Jackie, the way kids check with the fun parent after the mean one says you have to clean your room.
“You heard her!” Jackie said.
They both trudged off to the side, muttering insults at each other, as Melissa lined up the ball for the free kick. Lottie was still laughing to herself. It was going even better than she’d hoped.