Starcorp 1: Escape from Sol
Winner Takes All

Sawyer had just walked out of the locker-room and down the hall that lead to them when he saw Sharon, much to his surprise. What he noted in her presence there that was a surprise was the absence of her entourage of friends. Sawyer knew that Joseph had already dressed and left in a huff several minutes earlier. At first, he could not imagine what was keeping her there, all alone. An instant later he noted that she was looking at him. A second after this, she started to walk towards him with a mischievous smile on her face. She stopped inches away from him while holding this expression, and then she said her first word.

“Congratulations,” Sharon whispered into Sawyer’s face.

“Thanks,” Sawyer returned from behind a bashful shrug.

Sawyer won the RG01 adolescent male singles tennis tournament championship an hour earlier. He emerged from the locker-room newly showered and dressed in street clothes. His tennis bag was gripped in one hand and his championship trophy cup was in the other.

“That was a great game,” Sharon gushed. “I didn’t know you were such a gifted tennis player.”

Sawyer frantically searched his mind for a response before fumbling out a haphazardly contrived, “ah, I-I’m okay.”

“And modest,” Sharon countered with a large smile.

Sawyer could think of no immediate response for this. Sharon’s close proximity to him and the intimacy that was suggestive in her manner kept him too discombobulated in his thinking to produce a retort.

“That’s okay, I like modest men,” Sharon professed with an amused expression.

This too was something that Sawyer did not know how to respond to. His only reaction was to give a modest smile and nod in the affirmative. At the end of this, he said the only the thing he thought appropriate for this situation.

“Joseph left about ten minutes-ago. You probably just missed…”

“I already saw him,” Sharon interjected with a smile. “He was really in a bad mood. I didn’t know he was such a bad loser.”

Sharon took on a shocked expression as she spoke the next words.

“Do you know he broke up with me?”

“Oh, I didn’t know,” Sawyer confessed with a slightly stunned look.

Sharon gave no thought to the remark and continued with the topic with a slightly exasperated demeanor.

“He’s going to feel sorry about that tomorrow. He always does. And then he’s going to offer to make up, but I don’t know if I will this time.” She then took on a stunned expression as she spoke the last remark, “You know, I never thought he would be such a bad loser.”

Sawyer had a mixed reaction to this report. The fact that Sharon was no longer in a relation with Joseph excited him. He could not help but entertain thoughts about him and her. At the same time, he was experiencing a sensation of fear. He did not know how he should proceed. He did not know what he should say or how he should react. In the end, he said the only thing he thought was an appropriate response to Sharon’s revelation.

“I’m sorry,” Sawyer whispered with a slight shake of his head.

“Oh, that’s alright,” Sharon returned with an upbeat demeanor. “Besides, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s not like we were going to get married someday.”

Sharon’s manner transitioned to coquettish. She inched in a little closer and broadened her smile as she spoke her next remark.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll find someone new that I like.”

Sawyer was flushed by this new familiarity towards him from Sharon. His breath caught in his throat as he pondered what response he should give. In the end, he chose to ask a question.

“So, you’re not here to see Joseph?”

“I’m here to see you,” Sharon reported with a tilt of her head and with the beginnings of a grin on her face.

“You wanted to see me?” Sawyer questioned with a surprised inflection.

“I wanted to congratulate you,” Sharon declared flirtatiously. “You were brilliant out there. I was so impressed.”

Sawyer had no immediate response to this. His mind was too befuddled by the fact that Sharon was there to see him. While his mind was pondering what he should say, Sharon introduced a new topic of converse.

“So, are you going to the banquet?”

“The banquet?” Sawyer spoke with a questioning inflection.

In most starcorps, two championship tournament seasons were scheduled annually. They were carried out during four-week periods. All organized sporting events scheduled their regular seasons to culminate into one of these tournament periods. The sports that were most common throughout the starcorp community were soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, golf, volleyball, bowling, cricket and table tennis. The championship games for these sports would be divided between these two tournament seasons. The winners of these tournaments were given a banquet and heralded throughout the starcorp.

Sawyer gave little thought to this bi-annual banquet for the recent tournament winners. He understood this ceremony to be, essentially, a dinner given by the Executive Heads of the starcorp. The audience consisted of high-ranking officials, VIP’s and tournament winners. Admission was by invitation only. The winners had the option of being accompanied by a date and/or their family. Virtually all starcorp members thought of these banquets as gala affairs. The banquets were always combined with theatrical and musical performances from the local entertainment community.

In some ways, these banquets were events for the entertainers more so than the athletes. It was their opportunity to showcase their talents before an illustrious live audience and to have their performances televised throughout the starcorp. To be invited to perform before this assembly was a victory for them. This entertainment portion of the banquet was a common practice in all starcorps.

It was customary for the winners of these sports to attend these ceremonial banquets, and it was uncommon for one to forgo it. The event was being staged in their behalf. A ranking official of the starcorp would hand out engraved plaques to the Champions to commemorate their wins. Sawyer had, up until then, given no thought to the banquet. He simply saw it as a consequence of winning.

“Yes, the banquet,” Sharon enthusiastically retorted. “You have to go. It’s great. You’ll love it.”

“Oh yeah, I haven’t really thought about that,” Sawyer confessed with a slight shake of his head.

“Well, if you do go take someone with you. You’ll enjoy it that much more,” Sharon advised with a pleasant smile.

Sawyer considered this suggestion for a second before giving his response.

“Well, if I go it’ll probably be with my parents.”

“Oh no,” Sharon exclaimed with a look of shock on her face. “You have to take a date, silly.”

Sawyer gave this a moment of thought with a perplexed expression and a slight shake of his head. At the end of this, he mumbled out the thought that was causing this reflection.

“I don’t know who I would take.”

“You’re a tennis champion,” Sharon returned with near to a grin on her face. “And you’re good looking,” she continued. “You’re very good looking,” Sharon emphasized in a softer tone. “All you have to do is ask someone. I’m sure she would be happy to go with you,” she finished with an affectionate stare.

At that moment, Sawyer had little doubt that Sharon was fishing for an invite, but this did not diminish his desire for her. The only thing having any effect on his thinking at that moment was his desperate need to please her.

“Would you go with me?” Sawyer uttered with nearly no thought behind the question.

“Me,” Sharon retorted with a smile and a pretense of surprise. “You want me to go with you to the banquet?”

“Yes,” Sawyer whispered back with a slight nod of his head.

“Sure,” Sharon returned with feigned sincerity. “I would love to go to the banquet with you, Sawyer.”

Sharon blushed and giggled for another three minutes as she exchanged communication addresses with Sawyer. She thanked him with excessive gratitude. She complimented him and professed that she had never been more touched by an invite. She then hurried off for home while flagging waves and flashing smiles behind her.

Sawyer emerged from the arena amidst cheers, applause and congratulations from family and friends. Wendy rushed to embrace him. Daniel followed in turn. Oscar, Martin, and Anthony crowded about after this and offered him handshakes and pats on the back as they congratulated him. Rebecca and CC stood behind the boys and added their congratulations to the mix. It took nearly two minutes for the celebratory excitement to die down enough for any meaningful converse to take place.

“We have to celebrate this,” Daniel announced joyfully. “I reserved a couple of tables at Donovan’s. Everybody is welcome.”

All present agreed to this and promptly set off for Donovan’s Restaurant. The Becks, minus Adam and accompanied by Benjamin, Oscar, Anthony, Rebecca, Martin, and CC, took up seats around two six position tables that were positioned together, end to end. Over the next hour they ate, laughed and enjoyed themselves near to excess. At the end of this time, Daphne brought up a subject that had been, up until then, overlooked.

“So, do you know what you’re going to wear to the banquet, Mom?”

Wendy had given no thought to the banquet and was promptly frightened by the idea that she might get an invite.

“Oh, I’m not going to the banquet,” Wendy insisted with a slight shake of her head. “That’s for Sawyer.”

“Yes you are, Mom,” Daphne insisted with a large grin. “Sawyer is an adolescent. Parents always get invites to these things.”

Benjamin was quick to agree with Daphne by nodding his head and exclaiming, “That’s automatic.”

“You’re going, Dad, aren’t you?” Daphne questioned with a large smile.

“Not without your mother,” Daniel retorted with a look that said he was not going to contradict Wendy.

“You see, Mom, you have to go,” Daphne asserted excitedly.

Wendy examined Daniel as he gave his answer and then blushed away from it. After a moment of thought, she looked to Sawyer with a smile on her face.

“What do you say? Do you think we should go?”

“Yes, I suppose,” Sawyer responded hesitantly.

“Are you sure we wouldn’t be crowding you and your—date?” Wendy countered with a sly smile and a furtive glance towards CC.

Oscar supported this thinking with a resounding, “Yeah.”

Rebecca supported it with a look towards CC and a smile.

Daphne had no knowledge of what the others were thinking and reacted to her mother’s excuse for not going with a decidedly snide contradiction.

“What date? Sawyer doesn’t have a girlfriend. Who are you going to crowd?”

Wendy ignored the cynicism in her daughter’s question and gave her no attention as she spoke her response.

“Sawyer can always ask someone,” Wendy sweetly suggested with a smile towards her son. “Maybe even someone at this table,” she finished with a look towards CC.

Oscar, Anthony, Rebecca, Martin and CC became close acquaintances of the Becks shortly after their arrival aboard the Amaterasu. Led by Oscar’s and Anthony’s effervescent personalities they were frequently in and out of the Beck family home. This familiarity was not an unwelcome to Daniel and Wendy. They took delight from the fact that their son had established a close friendship with kids that they had taken a liking to. This casual affinity they had for Sawyer’s friends was equally true for all except CC. Wendy took a special liking for the cute young girl with the cheerful disposition. CC’s personality played some part in this extra affinity, but it was her clear infatuation with Sawyer that raised her high in Wendy’s regard.

Wendy and Rebecca were the only two people that managed to peel away CC’s disguise of indifference towards Sawyer and note the depth of her feelings for him. Rebecca supported this by matching the two of them together whenever possible. Wendy had always been inclined to allow their relationship to steer its own course. She had her suspicion that there was another girl, unknown to her, that dominated her son’s attention. This was the only explanation she had for her son’s inattention to sweet CC. Her reason for pushing them together now was due to the fact that her son needed a date.

“Yeah dude,” Anthony spoke up enthusiastically. “I’m sure CC would be happy to be your date. Won’t you CC?”

CC feigned indifference to the idea with a slightly perceptible upward tilt of her head. She then responded to the query with an indifferent expression.

“I suppose, but I have to be asked first.”

At the end of this response, all eyes turned to Sawyer and for a brief time his person froze. Internally his mind was engaged in a rapid search for an artful way of negotiating this situation. He needed no one to tell him that CC would likely accept his request that she attend the banquet with him. He had little doubt of this while he was submitting his offer to Sharon. Sawyer’s affinity for CC made him reluctant to hurt her, but his desire for Sharon gave him no way to avoid it.

“Sawyer…?” Wendy spoke up into the silence that had descended over the table.

Sawyer turned his attention towards his mother before speaking the words he needed to say.

“I’ve already asked someone,” Sawyer reported in a cheerless voice.

This news took everyone by surprise. No one considered the possibility that he might ask someone else let alone have the time to do it. Except for Oscar, all were shocked into silence.

“Way to go, Dude,” Oscar blurted out. “Who did you ask?”

Sawyer displayed some reluctance to answer this question. He knew that Sharon was disliked by both CC and Rebecca, and he was loath to incur their displeasure. Despite this feeling, he took note that all were waiting for his answer, and he forced himself to give it.

“I asked Sharon,” Sawyer announced softly. “And she said yes.”

“Sharon Stewart?” Anthony queried with unchecked excitement.

“Way to go, Sawyer,” Oscar announced supportively. “Joseph is really going to be angry when he finds out about that.”

“Who is Sharon Stewart?” Wendy questioned to anyone with an answer.

“She’s the most popular girl in school,” Anthony responded with a large smile on his face.

“She’s hot,” Oscar, emphasized an instant behind.

“Yeah, she’s really good looking,” Martin endorsed with a look towards Wendy.

Daniel took some pleasure in hearing about his son’s apparent popularity among members of the opposite sex. He held a constrained smile as he looked proudly at him. Wendy, however, did not share her husband’s approval of this. She could not help but note Rebecca’s cool reaction and CC’s barely restrained expression of dejection. She suspected that their opinion of Sharon was quite different then their male friends and that they were both reluctant to say this aloud.

“I’m sorry, CC,” Sawyer expressed with a stare. “I would have asked you if I hadn’t already asked Sharon.”

CC was quick to deflect this as if it was neither here nor there.

“Oh fine, this saves me from the trouble of having to bail you out.”

This response generated chuckles from around the conjoined tables. No sooner had this mirth died down did CC jump up and announce that she had to leave. Rebecca offered to go with her, but CC declined the company. She insisted that her parents were expecting her. One minute after this declaration she was out of the restaurant and on her way home, choking back tears as she went. No one at the table misunderstood the emotion that prompted her sudden exit, but only Rebecca comprehended its extent.

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