sparks fly [toni shalifoe, the wilds]

players' gonna play

Toni dumped her bag next to the stairs and walked up slowly, preoccupied by her phone. She'd had a pretty bad day since Grace rejected her, but she hadn't given up hope. She was just going to focus on other things. Other things like sport.

"Sarah, I'm going to the park!" She shouted absentmindedly, kicking her school shoes off and she went upstairs to change.

Her houseparent was a stark contrast to what she was used to back in Minnesota. Her mom was in and out of rehab like it was a White Castle, and fuck knew where her absent Dad was. Sometimes she'd draw pictures of him - a superstar basketball player who could come home and welcome a girlfriend with open arms. Her foster parents ripped the drawings up and she grew wiser.

Her foster parents in Minnesota weren't rich, and if they were then the money wouldn't be going in her direction. Toni had worked for everything in her life through countless mundane jobs, most of which she got fired from because of her 'temper'. Maybe if they tried having a shitty upbringing in a group home and then an even shittier time in a foster situation, they'd understand. 

But Sarah was nice enough. She seemed too overbearing and protective for someone who was getting paid to look after her and the other exchange students, but then again, she wouldn't know a Mother figure if it slapped her in the face.

The group home itself was actually pretty swanky - in her opinion, anyway. Her and Rachel shared a room, seeing as she was the only other girl she knew from her school. There was about six other students from her school too, a mix of girls and boys. Her school was huge though, so she was grateful that she had a friend, even if that friend was Rachel.

"Where are you going?" Rachel quipped as soon as Toni stomped through the door of their room. Toni secretly loved their bedroom, and she didn't mind sharing as she'd never had a room of her own anyway. It was pretty big, and had a vast bay window at the back of the room which overlooked the rest of the small city. In the distance, she could even seen the boring private school she'd just trudged home from.

"Park. I'm going to shoot some hoops, seeing as there's no fucking basketball programme at this school. I can't believe they offer Latin and Church studies but yet they won't splash out on a hoop and some balls." Toni grumbled, kissing her teeth. Rachel simply nodded, knowing her retort would just add to her bad mood. 

After heading to the bathroom to change quickly, she checked herself out in the bathroom mirror. She touched her own abs delicately, tracing her fingers in between each crevice of her skin. How she longed to be touched. 

Toni promised to be home in time for 'tea' and she jogged down to the park near her house. The December air stung slightly and so she was wearing her school hoodie. There was three houses at her new school - kind of like hogwarts. She was in Stafford, the athletic house. She was pretty pumped that the Stafford captains had chosen her but she couldn't say she was surprised. There was also Clare, the creative house and Lincoln, the smart house. 

The basketball court was empty at this time, so she plugged in the earphones on her crappy iPod and played 'X Gon' Give It to Ya', one of her favourite songs. And she just shot some hoops, nimbly leaping around the court like her coach had taught her. At her old school, she was captain of the basketball team and so that was probably why she'd won the scholarship and been picked to take part in the exchange programme.

"Toni?" An unfamiliar voice called out from the path near the court. Toni's head jerked to see a tall blonde girl changing path to come towards her. She was wearing a blue jogging outfit and had her hair tied up in a ponytail. She wasn't Toni's type though, she'd sort of gone off blondes entirely.

"Oh my days, hi! Oh, you don't know me, I know you. Small school, you know?" The blonde blubbered, waving her expensive phone around animatedly. "I'm Spencer, hockey team captain."

"Oh fuck, hi," Toni burst out, suddenly realising she had to get this girl on her good side. "Um, yeah, look I'm sorry I missed practise on my first day I was erm.. preoccupied."

Spencer nodded slowly, clearly sceptical. "Okay, first of all Toni, you have to watch your mouth. You might be in sixth form, but you know." 

Toni raised her eyebrow, annoyed that every single British person seemed to have an issue with her language. Until Tristan burst out laughing.

"Oh, Lord, you should've seen your face," She grinned, before regaining her authority stance. "Right, you need to get to practise on time, I'll make you an exception because it's fair enough. You're American, it's your first day blah blah blah, but you'll risk being kicked off. Plenty of girls in your year who are begging me daily to take your place. Clear?"

Toni nodded, knowing that she had to stay on the hockey team no matter what. That was the term of her scholarship, to be on the hockey team - and to be fucking good at it too. Without the scholarship, she couldn't afford a day at the school. She bit her tongue about the jab about her nationality too. Is this what British people thought Americans were like? Way to give a shitty country an even shittier rep, she mused to herself.

"What I did say at practice though," Spencer hammered on, flicking through the apps on her phone, "God, this is why we need to show up for practise!" she joked through gritted teeth, the swipes getting more violent. Toni just gulped, picking at her nails awkwardly. 

"Mmmh, yeah! Give me your number, I'm gonna forward an e-vite to our Christmas hockey dinner to you." Spencer concluded, beckoning at Toni to get her phone out. 

Toni cursed under her breath as Spencer handed her the phone - which she was terrified to drop, by the way - and inputted Rachel's phone number. Toni noted to save up for a phone when she found a job. 

"Okay, sent. Just make sure you have a date, I'm sure you'll find a cute rich boy somewhere around school." Spencer smiled, putting her phone in her pocket. Toni was about to make a lesbian joke, but seeing as that fell pretty flat with Grace (even if it was Grace, who was 100% gay too), she decided against it. That was pretty out of character for Toni, who usually stood up for herself regardless of the circumstance. She supposed her morals were changing now that she was vulnerable and a crumpet away from becoming a full on Brit.

"I'm sure I will" Toni simply replied through gritted teeth. 

"Yeah, you have three weeks. I'm sure a pretty girl like you will have all the lads lining up for you," Spencer complimented, before checking the time on her watch. "My Dad's picking me up, bye Toni!"

As she jogged away, cogs began to whirl inside Toni's head. Three weeks. Anything could be possible in three weeks. She smirked, and picked up the basketball once more.