Making Moves

Anna walked down the path towards a small gazebo perched on the side of the lake. The noon sun blazed down from directly overhead and the sands sparkled blindingly.

All three other women had shown up and waited for her in the gazebo's shade. That was good. Anna hadn't been sure who would be here. She'd tried to invite Kaya, but any attempt to start a conversation with her roommate had ended in disaster. That girl sure could hold a grudge. She just wished she knew what had really set her off.

Anna made it to the gazebo and took a seat opposite the others, who looked at her expectantly. She waited for someone to ask.

"So," Chloe said. "What's this about?"

Hanna sat next to the young girl but her mother, Aaliyah, was seated farther away.

"I'm glad you asked," Anna replied. "The thing is, we have a problem."

"And that problem is?" Chloe prompted.

Anna looked around at the women she'd gathered. "The problem, is that there are two types of girls on this show. And we're the wrong type."

"If you keep making us ask questions," Aaliyah said, "then I am just going to leave."

Anna sighed. "Let me spell it out for you. This show gives us victory points when we make Trevor happy right? Except, how are we supposed to do that when we're competing against the people who are closest to him.

"Take Natalie for example. Those two are like, creepy close. If we knock her out of a competition or something Trevor is _not _going to be happy, and if we're not in his good graces then we're hosed.

"It's not just her though. Riley is his best friend, and Paige is Riley's girlfriend. They're basically untouchable. Meanwhile, us four have no protection at all. They can do whatever they want to knock us down a peg and we'll just have to suck it up."

"Huh," Hanna said.

"What?" Anna asked.

"We were not expecting you to make such a good point," Aaliyah clarified.

"What's that mean?" Anna asked with a little bit of an edge to her voice.

"It doesn't matter," Chloe jumped in. "But you're right. I hadn't thought about it like that, but there is sort of an inner circle isn't there."

"I don't know," Hanna said. "Trevor seems like a smart guy. Would he really blame us just for playing the game?"

"If it hurt his sister?" Anna replied. "Definitely. We're playing with one hand tied behind our backs."

Aaliyah nodded. "Have you seen? Every vote he goes straight over to her. The boy will play favorites."

"What exactly are we talking about here?" Chloe asked.

Anna took a breath. This was why she had brought them together. "We're the underdogs. Hell, other than Chloe, even the audience seems to hate us. If we want a fair chance then we need to stick together."

"An alliance," Chloe finished for her.

"Yeah," Anna said. "An alliance."

Aaliyah furrowed her brow. "What would the terms of this alliance be?"

"I asked Violet, and each round a person is able to get 1000 bonus points transferred over to them," Anna explained. "So we could pool our resources a little. If you read the list of stuff we can spend it on, some of it's pretty good."

"We don't really need an alliance to do that though," Hanna said.

"It's more than just that," Anna continued. "During contests we could, like, have each other's backs. Take the last one for example. We could have had an agreement not to call bullshit on each other unless we were the last ones left."

That got their attention.

"Would Violet allow that?" Chloe asked.

Aaliyah scoffed.

"There's nothing in the rules against it," Anna answered. While they thought it over Anna added one more piece of bait. "There's safety in numbers. Trust me, with Trevor helping them out, his friends are going to do a lot better than the rest of us. We're going to need to fight back at some point, and if the blame is spread out then maybe it won't hurt so bad."

"You know what," Chloe said. "I'm in."

Anna's heart soared.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Chloe continued, "but I don't want to be under Trevor's thumb."

Aaliyah made a sound of agreement. "I'm not going to let them push me around. This is a good idea."

Yes. It was all coming together.

"We're not, like, gunning for anyone in particular though are we?" Hanna asked.

Ugh. "No, it's not like that," Anna told her. "But we need to make sure someone is looking out for us. So we look out for each other."

Hanna worried at her lip. What did she need to hear to understand that this was the best choice?

"Look, Hanna," Chloe said, "this is the right call. You seem like a nice girl, but...the Master...will eat you alive if you let him. You need people you can turn to."

"He doesn't seem that bad," Hanna mumbled.

"I dated the guy," Anna said. "He means well. That's why I stayed with him. But Trevor doesn't like it when he doesn't get his way. Trust me on that."

"This just feels needlessly divisive," Hanna said.

Chloe shook her head. "It isn't divisive. It's the opposite. We're banding together."

Hanna sighed. "It makes sense, I guess."

Oh hell yes. Anna smiled. This was exactly what she needed. For reasons she couldn't understand the audience had decided that she was going to lose. It was a rigged game. Well Anna wasn't going to go down so easy.

"Whats the plan then?" Chloe asked.

"Not sure," Anna said. "Any ideas?"

Hanna furrowed her brow. "I don't think we need to do anything right now. We should probably just wait."

"We find out what the next contest is on the last day of the round," Chloe said. "We should meet up then and discuss strategy. Until that though I think Hanna's right. We don't need to do anything just yet."

The others nodded along. Well, you couldn't get everything you wanted Anna figured. She'd have preferred to strike out against Natalie or somebody immediately. Probably shouldn't press her luck though. This had gone really well so far.

"Alright," she said. "Then it's decided. We'll hold off and meet in, what, six days? Let's say we'll meet here, same time."

Everyone stood up to leave. Hanna and Aaliyah began to walk down the path back to the main thoroughfare, but Chloe hung around.

"I appreciate you bringing us together," Chloe said.

"Of course," Anna told her, "It's just good sense."

"Right. Look, I just wanted to say, I'm not going to let anyone just have their way with me. I'm going to fight. Aaliyah seems a little checked out of all this, and Hanna might not have the stomach for it. Me though? I'm in it."

Oh yeah, this was exactly what Anna had been looking for. "I'm happy to hear it. A piece of advice? Trevor can come off as a nice guy, it's because he wants to be, just don't try and argue with him. If you can, sidestep the issues."

Chloe nodded and looked thoughtful. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Until next time." Chloe set off down the trail after the Jalal girls.

Anna turned her back on them and stared out towards the lake, feeling like a queen. Not bad for a day's work.

***

As she walked away from the gazebo, Hanna mulled over what she had just agreed to. The alliance made sense. Allies would be helpful in the contests and, as much as she might not like it, if somebody pulled too far ahead then sabotage might be necessary. Hanna wasn't willing to just let somebody win if she stood a chance of winning herself. The stakes were too high.

Still though, something about this sat wrong with her. Chloe and Anna both seemed to deeply distrust Trevor and his friends. Was she missing something? He really didn't seem that bad. Did they know something she didn't? Anna had dated him, and Chloe had been a student of his or something, so it was definitely possible that they did.

At the end of the day though, joining the alliance made practical sense. So she'd agreed. But she'd have to keep an eye on it. If it grew too spiteful then it would be time to reassess.

Hanna walked a few paces in front of her mother. The gazebo was almost all the way on the far side of the lake. It was a long walk back, but they were quiet the entire way. Neither had acknowledged the fight they'd had the night before. Hanna couldn't believe her mother had blown up like that in front of Trevor.

Hanna wasn't as hysterical as she'd been the other night, not least of all because the weight of their negative points was off her shoulders, but she hadn't forgiven her mother. The same things were true now as were true back then. Her mom had abandoned her, and her words still stung. There hadn't been an apology for any of that, of course.

Hanna had managed, despite her mother's best efforts, to earn them some points but one problem was replaced by another. Hanna had spent the entire day keeping her guilt at bay. Todd had been on her mind. They'd only been dating for four months, but it had been going pretty well. He was cute and sweet and treated her well. He even thought he wanted to meet her parents.

What she'd been planning on doing last night would have been a complete and utter betrayal of him. There were exigent circumstances; clinging to fidelity would have just been stupid. It would still have been a betrayal. Trevor's idea of trying out just a kiss had been brilliant. It solved the problem entirely.

Why did she still feel guilty then?

You know why, whispered a voice in the back of her mind.

Hanna shut the voice out. It may not have been as bad as going further, but kissing another guy was still cheating. She regretted having to do it, and had no intentions of ever letting Todd know that it had happened. She may not even have the chance. Violet's ominous words about having a 'life outside the harem' going poorly for them bounced around inside her head. Would she still be able to date him? She hoped so.

As her and her mother neared the end of their walk Hanna cleared her head. She had a more pressing matter to attend to.

She reached a crossroads in the path. Their suite was to the left, but Hanna planned on going right. She stopped and waited for her mom. Her hands shook.

"Mom, I have something to tell you."

Her mother caught her breath, looking at her curiously. "Yes, and?"

Hanna took a deep breath. "I'm not going back to the suite with you."

"You are going to go into town?"

"No. I'm...I'm moving out."

"I don't understand."

"I talked to Natalie, Trevor's sister, earlier this morning. She agreed to let me share her room with Laura. Before we came here I packed some clothes up. Natalie stopped by while we were gone and took them over to her suite."

"You're leaving?" her mom asked, apparently confused. "But...why?"

"Come on mom,"

"Because of last night? Hanna, I said I was sorry for yelling at you."

"It's more than that mom. I just...I can't do it anymore."

"Do what? Hanna, you aren't making sense."

"I can't do this. I don't trust you anymore."

Her mom was silent for a long time.

"Mom, say something."

"You do not trust me? I have given you my life. All for you. And you do not trust me? Fine," she spat. "If you do not trust me then go run away. Let's see if you trust this Natalie any more. See if she will do more for you than your own mother."

Hanna shook her head. There was just no arguing with a woman like that. "Whatever. You're right. You're always right."

Hanna walked away, her mother glaring at her back the entire time.