A/N: I'm sorry. I'm very, very, very sorry. It's been, what, four months? School got crazy. Everything got crazy. On top of that, I had a crisis with the story, I really didn't know where I was going with the rest of this. I've figured it out. The only thing stopping me now is finding the time and inspiration to finish this.

As If It Was A Battle Cry

Chapter 14

Kelly had hot wings.

When Piper and Ally walked in the door Kelly directed them to the kitchen, giving Piper a mission: eat as much as possible. So Piper walked into the kitchen, expecting chips, dip, maybe burgers; all usual game-day foods. Piper walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. Kelly had hot wings.

“Oh my god.” She said. Mel, already in the kitchen was halfway through with one of the wings and looked as if she had already had more than a few.

Mel raised the wing she was currently eating and smiled in greeting. “Man, Kelly thinks of everything.”

Piper looked to Ally to see her girlfriend rolling her eyes. Kelly responded to Mel in a somewhat modest manner: “You wouldn’t let me leave the store until I got some, idiot.”

So Mel had gone shopping with Kelly. Piper briefly wondered if the two had spent the entire day together before the party and then decided that it really didn’t matter.

“Now you ruined it,” Mel continued the banter, playfully exasperated. “I was trying to give you the credit. Anyway, at least we won’t have an incident like we did last year.”

The year before, the four (then juniors) plus a few seniors had a similar gathering at Ally’s house. Everyone was starving, and the snacks Ally provided were strictly vegetarian – mostly fruit and vegetable dishes.

Less than an hour into the game, the girls’ interest in soccer took a backseat to their stomachs and everyone hopped into either Piper’s or Kelly’s car and went to the grocery store down the street, intent on buying hot wings. It was raining, and Piper hydroplaned and nearly hit a telephone pole. Once at the store, they somehow got themselves kicked out before they bought anything and by the time they got back to Ally’s, McDonald’s bags in hand, the game was over.

“Hot wings.” Piper murmured, giving in to her desire and taking one from the plate.

“You know you want one, Ally,” Mel motioned her towards the plate.

“Nooo I don’t.” Ally walked in the opposite direction. Mel shook her head in disgust.

There was a knock on the front door and a few seconds later Kelly Junior walked into the kitchen. “Ooh, hot wings.” Piper and Mel high fived, and then decided not to do that anymore because their hands were a sticky mess.

“The game’s starting,” Kelly grabbed the television remote and turned on the TV. A really convenient feature of Kelly’s house was the way her kitchen did not have a wall separating it from the living room, just a bar, so the group could watch the game while eating food.

“Damn there’s a lot of food here,” Piper noticed after she had decided to take a break on the wings.

“There’s more people coming,” Kelly called from the couch in the living room.

“Oh.” Over the next fifteen minutes or so more girls trickled in. A good majority of the Camden team was there and so was a handful of the Cross team. Most of them played for the local soccer club. Piper sort of expected some guys to have been invited, what with all the girls, but no guys came. After realizing this, Piper decided that she was not too surprised.

The Galaxy scored a goal early in the half but their opponents, DC United, scored just before halftime. Most of the girls were either diehard Galaxy fans or neutral, but some cheered for DC just to get the Galaxy fans irritated. After the DC goal celebration Piper left her seat by Ally to get more food. When she stood up she noticed Mel’s arm around Kelly. Piper did not care either way.

Piper stood in the kitchen eating a hot wing as she watched the game break for halftime. Most of the girls stayed in the living room to watch the halftime report. Ally came into the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

Piper quickly wiped her mouth of excess sauce from the hot wings, but she could still feel the sharp tang on her tongue. Ally smirked as she walked closer to Piper. Her hands reached underneath Piper’s button-down to rest on Piper’s hipbones. Piper, her hands sticky from the wings, had to resist touching Ally and grant her control of the situation.

Ally leaned in and kissed Piper. The touch of her lips burned. “Mmm,” Ally said when she broke contact. “Hot wings aren’t so bad.”

“We really don’t want to hear that,” someone called from the living room. Others catcalled. Piper and Ally pulled away from each other. Neither liked being a spectacle.

When they sat down again the game was back on, but talk centered on Camden’s soccer club. There had been rumors that the club was going to disband the lower level high school team because it always lost its games. “We won one game last season,” Mel protested.

“You’re just too lazy to be on the good team.” Piper laughed.

“So?” Mel pushed her bangs from in front of her eyes. She really did need a haircut; then again, the shaggy rocker thing seemed to be working for her.

“You’re going to be playing this spring, aren’t you?” Ally turned to Piper and asked.

Piper shrugged. “Yeah. There’s no reason not to.”

“Well I might try out this year,” Ally told her.

Piper smiled. “That’s really cool. We haven’t played together in years. What about track?”

“I can balance my time. It’s not like school is going to be really stressful in the spring.”

“You’re right,” Piper realized. The fall semester was winding down. The varsity season must be nearly finished. That meant Mel would be leaving soon. “I guess Mel won’t be playing with us.”

“That’s really sad,” Ally’s smile vanished. “Let’s not talk about it.”

“Okay.” Ally leaned onto Piper’s arm as they watched the rest of the game.

The second half was kind of boring. Neither team scored, although they did have some good attempts. Piper spent most of the time thinking about school, Ally, or the upcoming club season. When the game ended – at a tie – Piper was discussing college with the some nearby Cross girls.

“I got my acceptance to VCU,” Ally revealed in the middle of this conversation. VCU was Virginia Commonwealth University, one of Ally’s top choices.

“Wow, that’s really early. Don’t they usually wait until spring?” One of Ally’s teammates asked.

“Yeah. I applied for the early acceptance program.” Ally tried to chip away some of the polish on one of her toenails.

“So you’re set, then,” Piper frowned. Ally was set. Mel was set. Piper was not.

As Piper was getting into her car to leave Kelly’s house, she saw that Mel ran into Sam outside Kelly’s front door. Piper watched the two begin an awkward conversation, then she turned around so she could back out of the driveway. Like Mel’s relationship with Kelly, Piper had decided that Mel’s relationship with Sam was of no concern to her.

“I wonder what’s happening there,” Ally said to Piper as Piper backed out. She had noticed the exchange as well.

“I figure Mel’s got it handled,” Piper replied.

“But a few weeks ago you said Mel was stupid and didn’t know what she was doing,” Ally pointed out. “What changed your mind?”

“Well, Mel’s leaving soon,” Piper tried to explain. “Whatever she does, it doesn’t really matter.”

“Yes it does,” Ally paused for a minute, gathering her thoughts. “Piper, she’s leaving for college, not outer space. Just because she’s going to the west coast doesn’t mean she’s never coming back. Whatever she does matters, because she’s still connected to all of us. She’ll still be our friend. Your best friend. At least until you guys started pushing each other away.”

Piper had finished backing out. She shifted from reverse to drive but didn’t start moving again; she kept the car motionless as what Ally said sunk in. A year ago, Piper and Mel were best friends. They hung out all the time, especially during track season when Ally was busy at practice. Piper liked to label their friendship as that of “best buds”: they drove around, blasting music; they tried to pick up girls; they drank (occasionally, until Ally got mad); they were basically reckless teenagers. Now they hardly saw each other at all.

Piper pushed the gas pedal and the car started moving. “You’re right.”

“Mel’s leaving in like, three weeks. I’m not as close to Mel as you are, but I see her every day. Every single day.” Ally emphasized the last three words. “And you never see her.”

Piper dropped Ally off at her house, waiting until Ally was safely inside before leaving. By the time Piper got home it was ten at night. She sat down at her computer, churned out an essay about friendship and growing up, printed it out, and stuck it in an envelope with the rest of her application to VMI.

“What are you doing, honey?” Piper’s mom asked as Piper marched into the kitchen, envelope in hand.

Piper rifled through the drawers for stamps. “I’m sending this application,” she answered her mom. After putting enough stamps on the envelope, Piper walked outside to put the envelope in the mailbox. She stuck the little flag on the mailbox up, then walked to her front porch and sat down.

It was dark outside. The sky was clear, and Piper could see the stars.