Lightning was in her bedroom doing a homework assignment when her phone rang. She picked it up, it was Indigo Zap. She never called unless she wanted something.

“Hey, Zap-”

“Lightning, you are not going to believe this,” Indigo said, sounding panicked. “I’m not going to be playing in this weekend’s game.”

“What- why not?” Lightning asked.

“I did something and I’m in big trouble,” Indigo replied quietly. “I can’t talk for very long. My parents are gonna be taking my phone. I am so mad about this.”

“But we need you Zap,” Lightning told her. There was no way Indigo was leaving her with the rest of the girls on the team, they had no hope of winning the game now.

“I’ve tried telling them that but nobody lis- hey! No, you can’t take-” Indigo’s voice cut off as the call was disconnected. Lightning tried calling her back, but she never answered. Well, she would find out in school the next day.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Lightning walked through the hallway as fast as she could without actually running, determined to find out what was going on. She finally spotted Indigo and called to her.

“Zap! Indigo Zap!” she got her attention. “Hey, what is going on with you?”

“Hey,” Indigo sighed. Her make-up was messed up, and she was rubbing her eyes.

“Have you been…crying?” Lightning questioned her.

“What- no!” Indigo denied. “It’s just allergies.”

“What did you do?” Lightning asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Indigo replied, walking over to her locker.

“Yeah, it does!” Lightning followed her. “You’re the one who made a big deal about not getting caught. What could you have done that would make them bench you from tomorrow’s game?”

Indigo glanced around, then lowered her voice. “There’s this girl who was helping me, okay? She was helping me do my homework since I’ve got a lot going on right now, and she reported me! I thought we were getting along great, and then she betrays me. Anyway, she sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it. About tomorrow, they’ve still got you, okay? And you’re awesome! You guys can still win this.”

“Yeah, I know I can do it,” Lightning agreed. “But the other girls are just…they’re not like you.”

“I know,” Indigo said. The bell rang, and Indigo gasped, grabbing her things from the locker. “I’ve gotta go to class, can’t be in any more trouble.” She walked away, waving back to Lightning. “See you!”

~.~.~.~.~.~

Saturday evening, Lightning and her dad arrived at the school entrance. She was ready for the game, hoping the other girls didn’t mess up too badly.

“Good luck, Lightning,” her dad said as they got out of the car. He approached her. “I’m proud of you no matter how you do. Just remember that.”

“It’s out of the question,” Lightning replied. “I’m gonna do great. The others, not so much.”

~.~.~.~.~.~

The game was going alright…well, not really. The Crystal Prep Shadowbolts were in the lead, but the other team was catching up. Indigo and her parents were there watching, and to say she was anxious was an understatement. It was painful for her to watch. Crystal Prep would regret not letting her play.

Lightning was doing her best, but it was a team sport. As the other team was about to overtake them, she decided she’d had enough. Just as one of their opponents was about to make a shot, Lightning didn’t think twice, running up and tripping the girl. Indigo gasped from the audience, knowing everyone would have seen it.

The girl fell to the ground, clearly in a lot of pain. Immediately, her teammates stopped to check on her, and the other Shadowbolts glared at Lightning, before going to see if the girl was okay. Lightning looked up to where her dad was, and caught sight of him shaking his head, looking extremely disappointed. She stood off to the side of the court, watching the scene. The girl must have been seriously hurt, because she couldn’t get up.

Lightning glanced around before quietly making her way to the door, and slipping out, hoping no one had noticed. She wasn’t so lucky, though. As she walked out towards the car, she heard her dad calling after her.

“Lightning, we need to have a serious talk!”

She spun around to look at him. “Oh, whatever!”

“Don’t say that!” he shouted. “Everyone saw what happened, and that poor girl got seriously hurt. Because of you! I know I taught you better than to cheat. What’s been going on with you lately?”

“This is just who I am, alright?” Lightning argued. “It doesn’t matter, let’s go.” She started towards the car again.

“It does matter,” her dad continued. “You got your entire team disqualified.”

Lightning stopped in her tracks, thinking for a moment, then turning back to him. “Well, I feel crappy enough about it already, but thanks!”

He softened his tone a little, walking closer to her. “What I mean is cheating and hurting others won’t get you anywhere. In fact, it’ll only make things worse. I wanted you to join the team so you would make more friends, not so you would cause trouble.”

“Lightning Dust!” Indigo Zap yelled to her as she ran over, her parents following behind. “What the heck was that?!”

“Just leave me alone everyone!” Lightning shouted, running in the opposite direction. She knew what she did, and she didn’t need everyone reminding her.

“Lightning, wait!” her dad called. “Where are you going?” he started after her, but realized he would never catch up. He looked over to Indigo. “You must be-”

“Indigo Zap,” Indigo replied. “Has she mentioned me?”

“Yes, very much,” he said.

“Indigo!” Indigo’s mom called to her, standing by their car. “It’s time to go home, come on!”

“I’ve gotta go,” Indigo laughed, waving to Lightning’s dad. “Good luck with her.”

“I could use some luck,” he said to himself as he waited for her to come back.

After a few minutes, she returned to the parking lot, and all she got on the drive home was another lecture about running off into the city alone at night. She didn’t argue anymore, as he wasn’t going to change his mind…but she wasn’t either, of course. She realized she probably shouldn’t have tripped that girl when so many people were looking, but in her view, she was trying to help her team. And no one was going to convince her otherwise.

~.~.~.~.~.~

It was Monday afternoon, and Indigo Zap was leaving school as fast as she could, hoping not to talk to a certain light green, golden-haired classmate of hers who she was still mad at. She exited the school and only got a few steps down the sidewalk before she heard that familiar voice and sighed.

“Zap!” Lightning called. She had been looking for Indigo all day, but Indigo must have taken a different route to class every time to avoid her. “Hey, Zap!” this time she knew Indigo had heard her well, because Indigo just kept walking faster. Oh, she wanted to play that way, did she?

Lightning ran ahead, easily catching up to Indigo. Before Indigo could even turn to see where she was, Lightning had tackled her, both girls landing in the grass by the sidewalk. Lightning pinned Indigo to the ground, determined to talk to her.

“You forget that I’m faster than you, huh?” Lightning laughed at Indigo’s efforts to fight her. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I don’t even know what to say to you,” Indigo said. “You ruined everything!”

“You’re still on that?” Lightning asked. “That was 2 days ago, and you cannot tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“No, I wouldn’t!” Indigo argued. “Because I think before I act! Everyone was looking, why would I do something so stupid? We weren’t even behind by that much.”

“Okay, maybe it wasn’t my best idea but what do you want me to do about it now?” Lightning asked her.

“Nothing, just don’t do it again!” Indigo said, as Lightning finally let her up. They stood for a minute, Indigo brushing her clothes off.

“Well, you know what?” Lightning continued. “It isn’t like you’re a perfect girl either, Zap. You weren’t even allowed to play.”

“Okay, okay, enough about this,” Indigo said. “You in trouble?”

“Yeah,” Lightning started. “I’m off the basketball team, but I don’t really care honestly. I’ve had it with that team anyway. My dad was the one who wanted me to join in the first place. Oh, and he lectured me for like 2 hours when we got home that day, but that’s it.”

“Geeze, I wish my parents were that nice,” Indigo commented. “Well, I guess we’ve all got to make mistakes to learn. I forgive you.” They smiled at each other, then Indigo extended one arm out awkwardly. Lightning laughed and gave her a high-five. They definitely weren’t the type to hug, even if Lightning didn’t hate hugs already. She assumed Indigo felt the same way.

The girls didn’t have basketball practice, so they settled on going to the adventure park downtown. Of course, they competed in everything there was, but they had a great time. If Lightning Dust ever had a best friend, it would have to be Indigo Zap.

⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐

Author's Note

This book is so fun to write ahaha, I think the girls may be starting to grow up and learn what friendship is. 😊