Baby May

High Stakes

The video in this chapter is what inspired the ice skating part of this story, it also contains mentions of depression struggles.

October 2001

"Hey losers!" Alyssia, Victoria and Zoe were just heading out of the school. They turn towards the voice belonging to none other than Eva Blake, "You miss me?"

"Didn't even think about you," Zoe bits back.

"What are you doing back?" Victoria gets straight to the point, "And what do you want?"

"I convinced daddy that I'd learnt my lesson. I'm just checking Lissy is ready for competition this weekend," Eva looks Alyssia up and down smirking, "How's the body holding up?"

"In better shape than it's ever been thanks to Katie," She won't let Eva get inside her brain again, "My body is in the condition it needs to be for competition so don't even try to tell me otherwise, I won't believe you."

"Good, you've sorted the body but how's the mind?" She backs Alyssia up to the wall behind them, this grabs Toby's attention as he was leaving the school, "Any of those psycho traits come loose yet?"

That makes Alyssia back down and Eva continues knowing she has her hook, "I'm just saying, you did well in Sectionals a few weeks ago, Lissy third and Vicky fourth so this weekend is Nationals, right? Your competition to be part of Team GB for the Winter Olympics in February, can your mind handle the pressure?"

Alyssia feels helpless struggling for a reply, physically she is in good shape and her mental state is far better than it was but she still has her days when she's very low in mood. They tend to be behind closed doors.

Toby has heard and seen enough, "What is your problem?"

Eva snaps her head to look at him, she hadn't expected anyone to butt in, "This is a private conversation, move along."

"No, I won't," Toby stands his ground. It's been a month and a half since he first spoke to Alyssia, he's not made any friends but every time he sees Alyssia, she always smiles and asks him how he is. Chemistry is a lot of fun with her as his lab partner.

Taking a moment to look him over, Eva tries to square up Toby, "Your Toby St James, right? The guy that blinded his little sister and caused his parents to get a divorce."

"That's none of your business," He stares her down, not phased at all on the outside, "Now leave before I make you leave."

Not wanting to take the risk Eva leaves, "Good luck on Saturday."

"Are you alright?" He checks concerned for Alyssia, she doesn't look unaffected by Eva's jabs.

Alyssia nods moving away from the wall, "Thank you for sticking up for me, you didn't have to."

"Your welcome. Good luck for the weekend," He smiles and heads home.

"You sure your okay?" Victoria checks, fearing that Eva's words will affect Alyssia.

"Yeah, I'm okay, come on," Alyssia leads them away from school.

"So that's Toby?" Zoe teases, "He's definitely cute, what did Eva mean about his sister though?"

She tells her friends what Toby had told her in the lesson, "Poor guy," Victoria feels for him, "His parents shouldn't blame him, it was an accident."

"That's what I told him," She changes the tone, "So do you girls approve of him?"

"What happened to just friends?" Zoe takes to opportunity to tease even more.

Honestly, the more Alyssia spends time with Toby, the more she likes him, "We are friends but I don't think I'd mind if it became something more."