AR - Endgame Part 4

“Is it just me or are we just doing all your fantasies when we come over here?” you ask Jessica over breakfast.

“Oh,” she replies, **** on a bite of a waffle as she tries not to laugh. You’re all cleaned up, dressed, and respectable except for Stef, who is even more of a neanderthal than Adella around the house. Her robe is open and her hair is a mess. She sips coffee blearily. “You noticed that, huh?” Jessica asks.

“America isn’t complaining,” Adella says.

“Fair’s fair. Got any MILF fantasies?” Jessica asks you, eyes sparkling.

“I know I do,” Stef grunts, and Jessica kicks her under the table.

“I never thought about it,” you admit.

“Really? Mom like yours?” Stef asks. Jessica kicks her again, harder this time. Stef winces.

“Really,” you say, giving her a look.

“Watch out for reporters,” Stef warns, sobering up a little. “It’s probably about time for Ellen to try some gotcha shit if she’s going to.”

“Will she?” Adella asks.

Stef takes a long, deep breath. “I don’t know,” she says finally. “Ellen is…”

“What?” you press.

“She’s complicated.”

“She’s a grade-A bitch,” you retort. “Her whole platform is regressive and trampling women’s rights.”

Jessica sighs, holding up a piece of waffle on her fork and focusing on you.

“It’s not that simple, Riley. What do you think would happen if Ellen ran with different politics?”

You blink. “Well, she’d lose.”

“Exactly. She didn’t choose this approach because she liked it. She chose it because it was the only way,” Stef explains. She stares into space for a moment, then shakes her head. “It’s my fault. All of it.”

“That’s not true,” Jessica says, scowling at her. “You don’t control Ellen. She made her own decisions. She’s still making them now. She could change any time she wanted.”

“She’s in pretty deep,” Stef replies, unconvinced.

Later, after practice, you and Adella sit with Valeria, who is waiting for her ride home. Her mom texted you a minute ago to let you know that she got stuck.

As always, Valeria is a difficult read. She’s closed off. Shyness explains some of it, although you sense that there’s a showoff insider who wants out. She always acts serious, but by now you have spent enough time with her to know that at least sometimes it really is an act. She has a playful side, but seems nervous about letting it show. You aren’t sure what’s up with that.

“How do I score on that girl?” she asks abruptly, kicking her feet. She has a phone, but she’s not looking at it like all the other kids do when they wait. She’s a weird kid.

She’s talking about the goalie on the other team, who you and Adella are convinced is a petite high school student. She lacks size and reach, but she has infinitely more experience than all these little kids, so she’s extremely effective.

You and Adella have pulled back a little on your training because the whole point of targeting that coach was to take the pressure off these girls. You want them to be comfortable in their casual mindset.

But Valeria doesn’t have a casual mindset. You see that now.

You and Adella exchange a look.

Valeria peers back and forth between you suspiciously.

“You guys aren’t being serious, are you?” she asks.