"This is bullshit. I would do literally anything to get back on the team. Surely there is some way." Toni was furious but did not think that lashing out would help her case.
She had decided to wait a week before talking to her basketball coach about being kicked off the team, giving the events of the past few days a minute to blow over. Honestly, she had been waiting for the inevitable fallout from Carol but nothing happened. In fact, things were good at home. They weren't braiding each others hair but she wasn't in significant fear for her life.
Coach Peterson raised her eyebrows at Toni's plea. "Look, Toni, you are a good player. A great player. The team will suffer without you but from what Principal Evans told me, you need to clean up your act."
"But this is your team, so it's your decision, right?"
"Partly, yeah. I agree with him. By the sounds of it, you're acting like how you were when you first joined the team. It's not..." The coach sighed, "You're too old for this nonsense now. You were too old to throw your piss at competitors in Freshman year; you're a junior now-"
Toni interrupted defensively, "I would never- I- That was a mistake, I was stupid-"
"You are completely missing the point Toni." Coach Peterson stood up at her desk, towering over the other still seated girl. Toni felt the urge to stand but resisted, she would have a better chance if she stayed subordinate. "I don't think you're going to do that again, but you are a loose cannon at the moment. It is kind of similar to how acted when Mrs Conners died-" The coach immediately cut herself off and sat down, sensing that she had overstepped.
"Don't talk about-" Toni began to snap but sighed and started again, "I swear it's not like that. I'm different; I just lost my temper that once. Everything is great at home. Please just give me another chance." She paused to look her coach in the eye and whispered desperately, "I need this."
Coach Peterson sighed, "Okay." A smile started to spread across Toni's face but her Coach raised her hand. "You are not off the hook though. You have to prove yourself. Principal Evans says your grades are dropping in science. What science elective are you taking this year?"
"Physics, but-"
"Great, if you can show me a set of straight A's in Physics before Christmas then you're back on the team."
"Coach, that's crazy, at least make it B's or something."
Coach Peterson stood and opened the door, ready to show Toni out and said, "That would be way too easy for you Toni."
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It was not ideal but at least she had a way back onto the team. This meant that she would have to suffer just under 2 months without basketball, which in turn meant more time spend at Carol's instead of after school practice. Unless she didn't tell Carol. That would give her around 2 whole hours of free time without Carol freaking out about where she was. This could actually work in her favour; if she played her cards right.
Despite feeling pretty good about the situation, Toni was surprised to hear that her grades were dropping. She had no idea. And why just that class?
The rest of the day went on without drama. Science with Shelby was the same as it had been for the past week. Passive aggressive energy came off the blonde girl in waves. She practically rolled her eyes every time Toni breathed. Toni just had to clench her jaw and sit through the aggravated production that the Shelby was putting on beside her for the sake of being accepted back onto the team.
The bell finally rang with Mr Winters rattling off the homework. Toni listened intently while everyone else practically ran out of the room. As she left, a hand touched her waist. She flinched but played it off as surprise when she turned to see Regan.
"Hey, too bad we weren't paired together for this class," she said awkwardly, looking guilty for startling Toni.
"You're telling me, I think my desk partner would be pretty pleased if I drank from one of the test tubes left over from chemistry class," Toni joked.
"I could actually sense that from were I sat. Any idea what crawled up her ass?"
Toni remembered her cruel words about Andrew from last week. Whatever, she deserved it. She refused to feel guilty for it. That being said, she wasn't proud.
"Not a clue, probably that shitty boyfriend of hers."
"Toni!" Regan laughed.
Toni blushed fiercely. "Not like that! God, get your mind out of the gutter." She opted to change the subject. "Do you have this lunch period?"
They reached the cafeteria. "No, I don't. But wait, give me your number, lets hang out one of these days after school."
When she handed her phone over Regan whistled, "Damn, someone named Carol seems pretty pissed at you."
Toni's heart sank. She snatched the phone back and barked, "What are- Why did you read that?"
Regan looked taken aback. "I'm sorry it just came up on the screen when I was putting my number in. Is something wrong?"
Toni read the text before answering.
Carol: Time to have serious words about last week. Home straight after school. No 'studying' with friends tonight.
Luckily for Toni, the second half of the message did not fit in the notification box so Regan didn't see that. She pushed down her terror and saw that the girl before her looked distraught. She had shouted at this amazing girl. Caused her the same kind of hurt that she had experienced her whole life.
"Regan..." Toni trailed off, trying to find the words. "I'm so sorry for biting your head off. I'm a super private person and I just- I didn't react right." It was a weak apology but it was the best she could do with thoughts of Carol's message floating through her mind, taking up too much space in her head.
Regan cleared her throat, "Yeah sure, it's okay." She sucked her teeth and looked anywhere but in Toni's eyes. "I better get to class then. See you around."
"I'm sorry. See you-" Toni started but Regan was already gone. "Tomorrow," She whispered.
Her friends were clearly worried about her. She sat at the table while her friends chatted, lost in thought until she registered someone tapping her shoulder from behind. It was Regan. "Hey, aren't you meant to be in class right now?"
The other girl tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah but it's just Spanish, I already speak the language." She looked around at all of Toni's friends listening intently to the conversation. "Can we speak privately somewhere?"
Toni heard Fatin give a small whoop. Ignoring her obnoxious friend she got up and led Regan away from the table. "Have fun girl." She heard one of the girls chuckle behind her back.
They made their way to an empty classroom. As soon as the door closed behind them Toni started talking. More like rambling, "Regan, I'm so sorry I was such a dick. I hope I haven't fucked this up with you. I really like you; I'm so messed up, my life is just crazy at the moment and-"
Toni was suddenly cut off when Regan surged forward and kissed her. Before Toni could even close her eyes and reciprocate the other girl pulled away her fleeting confidence turning into insecurity. "Whats wrong?" Toni asked.
"Nothing, I just really like you too." Regan replied, smiling slightly before leaning forward to press her lips against Toni's again.
Relieved that the girl didn't pull away this time, Toni moved one hand to Regan's waist and the other to her face, deepening the kiss. For that moment Toni let herself believe that her life was one where scandalous classroom rendezvous, movie dates and meeting the parents were a possibility.
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AN: Hey, I gather if you're reading this your a pretty big fan of the wilds (I guess this note contains spoilers so if you haven't seen the show....). There is a scene, I think it is episode 8 (whichever one it is where Shelby gets really drunk), that I'm literally so confused about. So it's where Shelby is accusing Toni of telling Martha about the kiss and she goes like, "I know exactly who I am and I can't wait to get back to her." Can't wait to get back to who? The only person that could be, that we know of, is dead.
So is she talking about someone else? Is she just hammered? Is she talking about wanting to die and find her in heaven or something? Did Becca fake her death? So confused. If anyone thinks they know please tell me haha!