[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/65Rp07W.png[/img][/center] [h3][center][color=b71d5d]Andy Lee Phillips[/color][/center][/h3] [hr] [color=b71d5d]When:[/color] October, 2018 [color=b71d5d]Where:[/color] Rochester, New York [hr] The days had started to get shorter and colder. To Andy’s memory, she had never seen snow. The closest she had ever been to snow had been at the school in Colorado. But she had run away, had made it onto a city bus, and from there to a Greyhound. She had stolen, but she didn’t care. Getting as far away from that hated school as fast as possible was all she had cared about. After the Greyhound...Well, she didn’t want to think about that either. Now she is in New York. Not New York City. Something inside her was afraid of that city. Instead, she had followed a pull to this town. The shelter that she stayed at required her to be eighteen. She’d be put back into the system if she were under that. Andy couldn’t stand the idea of that. The system had let her down. Every home had let her down. She was bundled up in an alley. Tonight, she didn’t plan to go back to the shelter. One of the people was starting to ask too many questions. Andy didn’t look eighteen. She was undersized for her age already, and at only fourteen, there was no way she could keep up the lie. A door slammed, and she startled, looking up. A man was throwing a bag into a dumpster. Their eyes met. “Oh, sorry for scaring you.” He had a soft Scottish or Irish accent; Andy didn’t know which. The man paused for a moment longer and then put the trash away. “How old are you?” [color=b71d5d]“Eighteen,”[/color] Andy said automatically. The man dusted his hands on his pants. “Liar. Try again.” It wasn’t accusatory or mad, just a gentle reprimand. Andy chewed her lip. [color=b71d5d]“Fourteen,”[/color] she said softly. The man nodded. “Better. When was the last time you ate something hot?” Andy shrugged in response. She wasn’t sure. “Come inside. I made a pot roast. We always have leftovers.” Andy didn’t move, but her stomach rumbled. The man sighed and went inside. A few minutes later, a woman came out carrying a plastic bowl. “I’m Ash, my husband, Jamie, said you were hungry. If he says something, I believe it.” The woman’s voice carried the same accent, a little softer. She held the bowl out for Andy, but she set it down next to her when she didn't take it. “I’ll be back in an hour for the bowl. I expect it to be empty.” Once she was gone, Andy didn’t wait a moment longer to eat the food. She had had a moment of fear that maybe they would poison her, but she didn’t dare let that stop her. The food was hot and smelled so good. She almost cried at how good it tasted. Her tongue was a little burned, but she didn’t care. Andy scraped that bowl clean. She decided it would be best not to be there when they came back out. If Jamie or Ash called the cops and used the food to keep her there until the cops came, she didn’t want to be arrested. Arrested meant so many scary things. So she left the bowl on the back step of the building and went to find a new spot to hide for the night. A few nights later, Andy had been chased from two spots and was back behind the Drummond’s Gym. She was almost asleep, and the door slamming startled her again. This time, Jamie was there. “Oh, good. I was worried you’d gotten into some trouble. You hungry, kid?” Andy gave a slight nod at his question. “Can I convince you to come inside?” She shook her head at this question. “Thought as much. Ash said you seemed like you’d been through a lot. I’ve seen people with that look in their eyes. People who have no control over anything take what they can. Lots of those people come here. It’s a good place to find that control. Stay put, I'll get you some dinner.” He disappeared back into the Gym. He returned with the same bowl and water bottle a few minutes later. “Tamales. Ash bought them from the lady at the store right out of the trunk of her car. She says that’s the best way to get your Tamales. Have you had them before?” Andy nods. She had lived in San Francisco and had lots of Mexican food. [color=b71d5d]“Ash is right. That’s the only way to get your tamales.”[/color] Jamie grins as Andy speaks to him for the first time. “She’ll love to hear you think that. Do you like hot sauce? I can bring you some Tapatio.” Andy nods. Jamie goes back inside, and she can hear some murmuring. He comes right back out with the bottle of Tapatio. For the first time, Andy takes it directly from him instead of him setting it down and her picking it up. “I’ll be back in an hour for the dishes.” He goes back inside. Andy eats the food and considers whether she should move on again. This is risky, but they seem nice. Her heart hurt. It ached from so many things. She didn’t want to let this hurt her, too. She left. But instead of going far away, she hid and watched. At the hour mark, Jamie comes out and looks around. His shoulders slump a little, and he picks up the dirty dish and sauce. He goes back inside. The next night, Ash came out with the dish. She walked close to Andy, but stopped short, just as Andy’s heart started to race, then took a step back. “I’m Ash Drummond. You don’t have to tell me your name, but it’d be nice to know.” She set the dish down and pushed it close to Andy and another bottle of water. It looked like potatoes and meat. Andy thought for a moment and then softly told Ash her name. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Andy. Tomorrow we have an open house for the Gym. Trying to bring in new people. If you come in around eleven, there will still be some snacks and juice, but the biggest rush of people will have passed until after lunch.” Ash stood up and went back inside. Andy didn’t hide this time when Ash came to collect the dish. [hr] The next day, Andy went inside the Gym through the front door. There were a few groups of people of various ages. A table with food and drinks was set up. She grabbed a muffin and some coffee. God, she loved coffee. She hadn’t had any in a long time, and this was hot. Jamie waved her over, and she shuffled over slowly. This Andy was not sure of herself. She was weak and could only trust that her touch could protect her; the lightning that lived inside her was her only power. “Andy, this is one of my employees, Kyle.” Jamie gestured to a tall black man. “He works with the teens that come through. I’ve asked him if he’d work with you.” [color=b71d5d]”Work with me?”[/color] Andy asked. Her throat was feeling dry, so she took a sip of coffee, hoping to clear it. “Yeah, I help first timers learn what styles they’d be good at.” Andy’s face apparently clearly posed her next question as Kyle smiled. “Martial arts styles. Like Judo, boxing, and so forth. You know those, right?” She nods a little. [color=b71d5d]”I played Mortal Kombat a few times. And I had this...I’ve seen some wrestling.”[/color] She told him. Cutting herself off from talking about a family that watched WWE together. “Exactly. I help assess what you might be good at, and once we get you started, the trainer that is best for that will take over.” [color=b71d5d]”I’ve never done any fighting before, except some scrapping school yard fights. Those don’t end well.”[/color] Kyle smiles easily and shakes his head. “Don’t worry. Experience is not necessary. I prefer people who have no experience.” [color=b71d5d]”Why?”[/color] “It is easier to assess someone with no experience fighting; if someone has too much of an idea in their head of what they can do, they focus on that, and not on all the possibilities.” [color=b71d5d]”I meant, why teach me?”[/color] Kyle looked at Jamie and waved him to answer. “The streets are not safe for anyone,” Jamie said softly. “I can see you’ve been through a lot, and you need to be sure of yourself and capable of protecting yourself. We can teach you. Ash and I have discussed it, and we want to offer you a job here. As payment, you’ll get room, board, and training.” [color=b71d5d]”What is the job?”[/color] Andy felt like a trap might be closing around her. Something dangerous, but Jamie exudes kindness. Kyle too. She didn’t trust easily, not anymore. But she was willing to work if it would get her something in return. “You’d be cleaning. We have a lot of equipment that needs to be kept clean. You’d help move equipment as needed. We also have a lot of little kids who sometimes need an eye kept on them while their families are busy. Do you have experience with any of that?” Andy gave a slight nod. [color=b71d5d]”I’m not great with kids, but I’ve been around them. Never been responsible for them.”[/color] “We’ll work up to that then. Start with cleaning and helping out. You can grab stuff and make sure everyone has water.” Andy chewed her lip, thinking. It wasn’t difficult. [color=b71d5d]”Where would I be staying?”[/color] “Our basement has a few unused rooms. Ash has cleaned one out and pulled an old mattress in there. She’s been pretty determined about it. I’ll let her show you. If you want.” He smiled, reassuring her. Andy looked over at Ash, who was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, half paying attention to some conversation with an adult and their teen. Her eyes were looking at their little trio. Ash smiled when she saw Andy looking at her. [color=b71d5d]”Are you sure,”[/color] She asked? A small bloom of hope, but fear of cops and worse kept her ready to run. She’d have to be careful. Be secretive and do not let it slip that she is a mutant. That was dangerous. But maybe she could get food and a bed for a while. There had been no promise of money. That was her biggest concern. If she couldn’t make money, she wouldn’t be ready to run again if she needed to. As if reading her mind, Jamie spoke again. “Of course, we are sure. We wouldn’t offer if we weren’t. And we will pay you a bit under the table. Just minimum wage for hours worked. Any time spent in the gym training won’t count.” Andy nodded. [color=b71d5d]”Alright. I’ll stay and work for you.”[/color] She agreed. Jamie threw up a thumbs-up for Ash to see. Ash extricated herself from the conversation she was having and came over. “I’ll show you around.” Andy let herself be led around.