“The Rebirth of River and Lyric” (54.4)

I don't think I'd ever assembled this many friends in one place before. I'd been to big hangouts but this was something I organized. I did feel a pang of longing that Zeta couldn't make it, but I remembered how many times she texted me to have fun that morning and tried to push the sad aside. With me was of course Kalei, Lillia, and Marmalade. Joining our party planning committee: The Matora sisters, Aira, Michi, and either someone invited the love trio or they just happened to be going to this at the same time and were standing close to us. Iris and Maia stayed home as we all predicted. Even with them and Zeta gone, it was quite the group we'd gathered.

"And you didn't forget the tickets?" Kalei asked.

"I have everything, right here..." I said smugly, patting my purse.

"You wanna say that a little louder so any purse snatchers know who to go for?" Kalei said.

"If anyone tried that, I'd smack em in the face with a vine," I said. "Then the rest of us would beat em up."

"I dunno if it's rude to say, but I have kind of been waiting for you to show off some secret fighting skills from Tesata since you told us about growing up there." Kalei said.

Anyone else joking about how growing up at Tesata went would probably end up on my 'avoid talking to this person' list but I knew where Kalei was coming from. "Yeah, well, I pretty much just got good at the vine thing. I dunno what my grades were in combat classes, but I'm pretty sure I failed most of them. And I avoided practicing whenever I could so I forgot a lot of it already."

"Luckily for you, I'm emitting a particular frequency with one of my devices to discourage anyone trying to mess with us." Roux said.

"I'm sure that's a real thing," Kalei said.

"I think you mean to say, 'you're welcome,'" Roux said. "I accept gratitude in Tyrant Rangers MMO bucks."

Berin got me way too many tickets which was so nice of him; he got really hyped up when I brought my ideas to him and we started brainstorming. We practically had a section to ourselves. I sat in a middle row, liking the space and being able to see the whole court. The Matora sisters rushed down to the side of the court with the plexiglass walls and started smacking them and trying to start chants with the crowd.

"Would you mind if I joined them?" Lillia asked.

"Really?" I said. "That seems..." I squinted at the packed in crowd of screaming fans led by the Matora sisters. "Not very much your scene."

"It could be a good learning experience," Lillia said.

"It could," I said. "I have no objections. I bet Ko will be really happy if you joined her."

Lillia smiled. "Thanks."

"Also, you don't need my permission to do anything!" I said.

"Yes, but having your support means a great deal to me," Lillia said.

"Dang," I said as Lillia headed down the stairs.

"She just dropped that one on you, huh?" Kalei said. "I feel like you've attained a level of respect with Lillia the rest of us could only dream of."

"You'll get there one day, I'm sure," I said. "Joining the play would help you earn points with her!"

"I'm good," Kalei said.

"Are you going to join them, too?" I asked.

"I just said I'm not joining the play." Kalei said.

"I mean them down yonder!" I said.

"Soon, yeah," Kalei said. "But it's tradition for me at a live game to enjoy some of the grub before I start really screaming." She proudly held up a hot dog covered with more toppings than I knew were possible.

"That sounds like a recipe for an upset tummy," I said.

"Wow." Marmalade said, who sat down beside Kalei.

"Yeah, wow." Kalei said.

"Can we maybe not shift into roast me mode immediately after I got everyone tickets to this game?" I asked.

"Fair, fair," Marmalade said.

"Needlessly wordy defense, but I'll echo Marmalade and say fair." Kalei said.

"And I'll, uh, roast Kalei, then." Marmalade said.

"Bring it." Kalei said, already having devoured the hot dog and had moved on to her fries.

"It seems like you're having a good time," Marmalade said. "Which is kinda funny after you were so dismissive when Oka showed you the tickets."

"Yeah, well, Kalei's a huge jerk," I said.

"I am a charming individual who has many friends," Kalei said. "It's safe to say that I am quite beloved."

"Care to refute Marmalade's roast in any way?" I asked.

"Nah, she's pretty accurate, I was kind of a jackass about the whole thing," Kalei said.

"Huh." I squinted. Usually, Kalei got really sensitive when anyone jabbed back at her. But Marmalade was able to roast her without hitting Kalei's sensitive nerve.

After Kalei wolfed down her food, she joined the others. Marmalade looked a bit pensive about going with, like she wanted to but also didn't want to be a bother.

I hadn't had a lot of one on one time with Marmalade yet, but this was perfect. We were all stinging from various things that had stung us, and I wanted to be there for all my friends, and I was riding a bit of a high from Zeta saying I'd make a good therapist, so circumstances had me trying out my help skills on Marmalade first on this evening.

"Do you like beam chasers?" I asked. "Kalei's probably asked you that a hundred times already."

"It's fine," Marmalade said. "I mean, I do like it. I signed up to join."

"Oh, wow! Congratulations!" I said. "I bet Kalei's gonna be so excited about that."

Marmalade poked her fries into her ketchup a bit forcefully.

"Are you...nervous about it?" I asked.

Marmalade shrugged. "I'm pretty hype. Just..." Her ketchup swirling had me thinking there was more she was feeling about this. "It's nothing, let's just enjoy the game." She laughed, which came out a bit like a laugh you do trying to reassure someone everything's fine.

"Oh..." My would be therapy training session sputtered out immediately. But if Marmalade didn't want to talk, I didn't want to force her.

"I should pay attention to the game, too," Marmalade said. "Might pick up some good strategies. Or something."

She said that, but I watched as her gaze was on the crowd, particularly on our group of friends. If she wasn't in the mood to open up, maybe I could at least get us down there. I wasn't sure how exactly I'd do that, though.