#bergen_county

And the woman in the scarf bids the coach good day and leaves

Sylvi beams smugly.

"Okay" Lupe says "What was that about, Davidson?" As the class winnds down

A clap on Jessie's shoulder before Sam jogs over to catch up with her friends. "Hey."

Jessie smiles

She's grinning like the proverbial post-canary-luncheon cat. "You guys rocked that. Didja see the lady? Talking with coach?"

"Yeah" Lupe says "What about her?"

"Totally a college scout! I've got it on excellent authority!" She's barely restraining a squeeeee! "She got ALL your names in her notebook!"

"Coach was talking you up, too!"

May's eyes widen "Oh"

Blink.

"...A scout?"

"Huh, thanks Sylvi" Lupe braces May "The three of us are gonna need a bit to process this . uhm.. thanks"

"In class?"

"...You think BCC has scholarships?"

"Probably.. come on" Lupe says "We need to change. " Also she doesn't want to freak ou where Sylvi can see her

"Listen, don't be mad, but I knew if I told you, you might freeze."

"Mad ?" May says "I'm nnot mad I'm... wow"

"Good!" A deep, satisfied sigh. "You guys were great." And she heads off to change.

"...a scout?"

Sam follows to shower and change, right.

That's how this works.

Once it's the three of them, Lupe can safely freak "holy shit, a scout!"

She chews on a hangnail.

"Hey? hey" May puts a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder "It's okay. We did great"

Lupe swallows "Yup. Great."

"I mean, yeah..."

"But... a scout? Here?"

"It's a big school" Lupe admits "But I didn' expect one DURING class"

"Me neither. I guess... I dunno, I hadn't thought about it?"

"College just seemed... far."

"Well we ARE Seniors" May points out "Holy shit, we're seniors"

Suddenly that old school clock on the wall seems a bit more noticable. Each tick closer to the end of High School, and the begining of..what?

"....Shit."

Lupe huffs "Well, I'm not going to be a pussy about this. If one of us gets a shot at a scholaship, we should damn well go for it. We ARE good. We deserve it"

"College is crazy expensive."

"I looked it up. BCC is, like, 7500 a SEMESTER."

"Geezus" May says "I can't expect my parents to swing that"

"And that's community college!"

"All the more reason for us to try to get a full ride" Lupe says stubbornly "Not a free ride, a full ride. We're gonna bust our asses for this"

"I dunno..."

"What don't you know?" May asks

"There's lots of jobs you don't need college at all for..."

"I could work in Dad's store..."

"Come on, Sam," Lupe says "No shame in what your dad does, but you know he'd want better for you"

"You should see if you can follow your dreams" May agrees "Because, in the end, Dreams are what make life worth living. Even if we don't get them, they light our way, fill us up with hope."

Chimerical sunlight fills tthe room as the Dreamer talks

"I... maybe.."

"We are amazons" Lupe nods "And we will face the challenges of the future with fangs..eer teeth bared"

"I like that. Wish I had fangs" May says