Chasing Butterflies Chapter 50: Group Dynamics (Patreon)

Everyone stood in stunned silence. A long moment passed before Shelly laughed. "Ha, ha. Very funny, Trish. You're not serious."

Trisha's smile didn't budge. "I'm not?"

"Obviously. You wouldn't seriously pick that nobody and her weirdo friend over me." Shelly flapped a hand in their direction.

"That 'nobody' is my friend." Trisha responded coolly. "And besides. You seem to have a real problem with our new teammates. I figured you'd be leaping at the chance to group with someone else."

"Yeah, by getting rid of them and bringing on someone else."

Trisha made a show of looking around the gym. "Hmm... Oh! I see one other loner we could grab. Your goth friend."

Shelly's scowl deepened. "Don't you dare."

The blonde cheerleader just smiled. "Well. If you're going to be so picky, you'd better hurry. There's not many options left."

Shelly and Trisha stared each other down, the former's growing outrage finding no purchase against the latter's cool demeanor. Olivia felt Luna's distinct unease beside her. She reached out and rested a reassuring hand on the flute's shoulder. Luna jumped slightly, looking over with wide eyes before settling down slightly.

"One minute!" Mr. Wolfe barked nearby.

“We have our team,” Trisha spoke up. “Us five.”

She gestured to the group, excluding Shelly. The PE teacher glanced over and shrugged, simply noting the names down. Either he was oblivious to the brewing drama or actively choosing to ignore it—probably the latter.

Olivia blinked at the sheer gall of the move. Her eyes flicked between Trisha’s other two teammates, Clara and Julie. The former simply looked on with cool impassivity while the latter shifted slightly.

Trisha turned back to Shelly, her eyebrows raising. “You’re still here? Are you waiting for Wolfe to pick a team for you?”

Shelly's face reddened. Her eyes flicked toward Olivia's one last time, the hatred clear within.

"Fine. See if I care. Come on, Julie."

The brunette spun and stomped away, making toward one of the other groups. When she realized that no one was following, she stopped. Slowly, she turned back toward Trisha's group. "Julie?"

The threat in her tone was obvious. Olivia saw the pink-nailed Julie look between Shelly and the still-smiling Trisha. But instead of throwing her lot in with Shelly as she had before, she stayed in place.

"I don't..." Julie started, then faltered under Shelly's withering glare. “We already…”

Trisha stepped up beside the pink-nailed girl.

"C'mon, Shelly. Look around. There's only two groups of four left. Even if Julie did go with, you guys would end up splitting. Duh. Unless... you're just looking to steal her spot?"

Shelly's eyes flashed dangerously. She stared at Julie in disbelief, causing the other girl to avert her eyes.

"Fine." Shelly spat. "I see how it is. See if I care."

With that, she stomped off.

Olivia felt an audible sigh of relief go out of the group once Shelly was gone. Not just from Luna, either. From everyone.

Yikes. Take notes, Alyssa. That's how you isolate someone from a group.

It wasn’t the sheer prejudice with which Trisha had dismissed the other girl. That, while absolutely galling, wasn't the impressive part. It was the fact that she could do it without so much as an inch of pushback, even from Shelly's previous ally.

That was no accident. It was a testament to the work Trisha had put in over the past few weeks, subtly undermining Shelly's position and driving a wedge between her and the others. Efforts that Olivia had only caught in passing, as brief snippets of conversation during English class and glimpses of the steadily degrading group dynamic during PE. Individually, she hadn't thought much of them. But now...

"I-I..." Luna's fidgeting intensified once again. "I'm sorr---"

"Don't be." Olivia cut her off. "That wasn't your fault. I promise."

Of that, she was certain. Trisha had been building up to this for a long time. They'd just given her a perfect excuse to pull the trigger.

Trisha nodded in agreement. "Right. Honestly. What was she thinking, being so snippy?"

"I know, right?" Clara---a sharp-eyed redhead---sighed. "She's been insufferable lately."

Julie remained silent, the pink-nailed girl casting furtive glances in Shelly's direction. She didn't make any move to defend her former ally. Apparently, she didn't want to end up on the wrong side of another catfight. Olivia wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Well!" Trisha clapped her hands cheerfully, setting the unpleasant encounter aside. "Now that we've got our team, let's get moving!"

They headed back toward Mr. Wolfe. Soon, Olivia's newly-dubbed Team Three meandered out the gym doors and headed for the basketball courts alongside the rest of the crowd. Olivia and Luna initially hung back behind the rest of the group, only to find their efforts thwarted as Trisha slowed her steps to match.

"So!" She started, fixing her gaze on Luna. "You're in band too, huh?"

Luna froze like a deer in headlights. Olivia had to nudge her forward slightly to keep her moving. Only then did her thoughts kick back into gear. "Uh... R-right."

"Nice. What do you play?"

"...Flute?"

"Flute? Same as Olivia?" Trisha's eyes flicked toward her. "Oh! That makes sense! Clara here used to play piano when she was little."

"Barely." Clara snorted. "I hated that thing. What five-year-old wants to play Ceethoven?"

Trisha chuckled. "How long have you been playing flute for?"

Trisha continued chatting with the considerably less social blonde, willfully ignoring her discomfort to engage her in conversation. She was so overwhelmed by the attention that she didn't seem to notice as Trisha maneuvered her forward, pulling her away from where she'd been practically hiding behind Olivia.

The cheerleader shot Olivia a subtle wink over her shoulder. Without missing a beat, she turned back to her conversation with Clara and Luna.

Well, that's one way to get her out of her shell... We'll see how it pans out for her.

Glancing to the side, Olivia saw the last member of their little team lagging behind even further. Julie, formerly known as pink nails. The girl cast a furtive glance back in Shelly's direction, seemingly set adrift in the wake of the latest clash.

Olivia sidled up next to her. If they were going to be teammates, then the least she could do was get to know the girl a bit better. And besides, if Trisha was working to integrate Luna into their ranks, then the least she could do was make sure Julie didn't have any lingering animosity toward her.

"Hey. I like your nails."

Julie blinked in surprise and looked down. "Huh? Oh. Thanks."

"Did you do them yourself?"

"I... did, yeah." Julie straightened slightly, splaying her hands to better show them off. "I've got a manicure set and everything."

"Really? That's impressive." Olivia nodded sagely. "The shaping you did is really good. Looks professional. The color, too. At first I thought they were press-ons because I've never seen a gradient that nice done with polish alone."

"Thanks." Julie said again, more confidently this time. "I mean, it's not that hard."

Olivia chuckled. "For you. Maybe I'll be able to practice more once mine get a bit longer."

She looked down at her own nails. They didn't have nearly the length of the other girl's, as they were still recovering from her past self's nasty habit of biting them down to nubs. Thankfully, that was a habit she'd managed to eventually kick. Seeing George start to emulate her behavior finally did the trick. That, and the sheer preponderance of baby slobber and mess that worked as another excellent deterrent.

"Have you ever considered using rhinestones?" Olivia asked curiously. "Not big ones, of course. Just tiny ones for accent."

Julia tilted her head. "No. That's a thing?"

"It could be, if you make it one."

The girls chatted as they walked, Olivia learning a bit more about Julia on the way down. The pink-nailed girl's initial unease faded slightly with every step, and by the time they reached the courts Olivia felt like the initial tension between them had all but faded. A few glances toward Luna also revealed progress on that front, albeit not quite as much. The other flute simply looked overwhelmed by the fact that pretty, popular Trisha continued to talk to her like a real person.

Olivia smiled at the sight. Things had just gotten a lot more promising for all of them.

They got down to the courts and found one for themselves. Olivia caught the orange ball tossed to her team and bounced it against the asphalt experimentally.

At least I’m coordinated enough to dribble in place. That's an improvement from what I remember last time around...

Hesitantly, she tried to walk forward while dribbling, finding it a bit easier than she’d feared. Until the ball hit a small rock on the ground and bounced unexpectedly.

A desperate lunge to snatch the ball caught nothing but air. Olivia dashed forward, but came up short as a white-sneakered foot entered her vision and stopped the ball in its tracks.

Olivia shook her head and bent down. "Thanks, Trish."

Trisha gave her an amused smile. "Don't tire yourself out yet. We haven't even started, Livi!"

"That's not what I mean." She met the cheerleader's eyes. "You didn't have to do all of that back there."

"Oh, that." Trisha waved as though the conflict had been utterly inconsequential. "Don't worry about it. Shelly needed to get knocked down a peg or two. She really was being insufferable, you know. You just gave me a perfect excuse to snub her, and get first dibs on the hottest commodity in the school, y'know?"

Olivia stared. "The what?"

Trisha shot a meaningful look at the athletic Candace and lowered her voice. "Come on. You really think she just liked you for your volleyball skills? Pssh. I told you you were gonna blow up."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief. "You're not serious. I'm not 'blowing up'. The party was just this weekend, not nearly enough time for public perception of my image to change that much. Candace wasn't even there!"

"Sure, whatever. Just take it from someone who does know how rumors and people work."

Olivia rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Either way... thank you. Really."

Trisha beamed. "Don't say I never do anything for you."

"Yeah, right. If you do much more, I'll have to start making you full-on Renaissance-style paintings to pay you back."

Trisha flashed her a grin. "Careful. I might take you up on that."

Wolfe's whistle screeched again, sending the teams scuttling toward their courts. As they moved, Olivia cast a quick glance toward one of the courts. Specifically, toward the stubborn goth girl standing at its edge like a newly planted tree.

...It can't be helped.

Despite the girl's thorny attitude, Olivia couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret at leaving her behind. Then again, the only time Miranda had seemed even remotely friendly was when she'd stuck up for her against Shelly. And that particular event was probably due less to Miranda liking Olivia and more to her hating Shelly. Her demeanor hadn't thawed even slightly in the following weeks, nor had there been any repeats of that particular display.

...Still. At least I feel like we know how to coexist peacefully. I can't say the same for others.

Shaking her head, she turned back toward her own court. Despite everything, she found herself honestly looking forward to basketball a bit. If nothing else, at least she had a few friends to hang out with.