As soon as the four cheerleaders confirmed they were all still alive and didn't have any bullet holes in them, they drove straight to Caitlin's to stash their ill-gotten gains. Their reasoning for choosing this hiding place was that Caitlin's mom was the least likely to be home at two in the morning. Indeed, she walked in at around two thirty, looking exhausted. She didn't appear shocked or irritated to find the small gaggle of girls in her apartment. Instead, she just seemed happy to see Caitlin, wrapping her up in a hug and telling her she missed her. This weighed heavily on Caitlin's mind the next day.

“She only gets all clingy and desperate for affection like that when something dangerous is going on at work,” she told them, while Alicia tinkered with the hay bale. It was morning, long before any of their classes started. As planned, there were few kids at school at this hour, and Caitlin's mom was still sleeping, so they successfully made the transfer from Caitlin's closet to the gymnasium without anyone seeing them and asking them where they got it.

Alicia was kneeling on the polished hardwood floor, turning their decorating coup de grace a little to the left, and then a little to the right. She pulled out a few fistfuls of hay and scattered them around, just to give the scene an extra level of authenticity. “I'm sure whatever it is, she'll be fine!” said Alicia confidently. “She's a professional, she knows what she's doing!”

“Yeah, Cait mom look strong,” agreed Chase. “Good fight, top kill.”

Alicia stood up, brushed some hay off her knees, and stepped back. She looked at the bale, hands resting proudly on her hips. “Well? What do you guys think? Did we do it or did we do it?”

“We did it!” confirmed Caitlin, looking at the positioning of the hay bale first, then around at the whole gym. “It sure looks like harvest in here now. Man, that was a lot of work, but it turned out great.”

Chase tried to imagine what it would look like in two days' time, on the night of the dance. She had a vague idea. Apparently, it was going to be very dark. Most of her high school classmates would be in attendance, making the place very crowded. Music would be played, and there would be some of this so-called “dancing,” hence why it was called a dance. Despite all she knew about the process, she still didn't really know why this event was supposed to be exciting or fun. She supposed that, like kissing, it was just something you had to experience. On Friday night, she'd understand. “So us can dance here now? Me and Tor?” she asked, uncertain.

“Yep, that's right!” cheered Alicia. “Ohh, you're gonna have so much fun, Chase! You're gonna remember this night for the rest of your life!”

“Heck, we all are!” Caitlin chimed in. “Let's make some great memories, you guys!”

Alicia and Chase concurred with pep. “What do you think, Lindsey? You're being awful quiet over there,” asked Alicia.

Lindsey looked up from her phone. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just sending Running Back Jerry a breakup text.”

All three of them gasped. Caitlin raised a stunned hand to her mouth. “Then...does that mean...?”

The blonde gave an enthusiastic nod. “You got it! I have made my decision! Lacrosse Captain Hugh will be my running mate for Lord and Lady of the Harvest!”

“You mean, your date?” asked Caitlin, annoyed.

Lindsey waved a hand dismissively as she looked back down at her phone. “Sure, sure, whatever.” Her fingers were flying. “I'm calling him now, ooh, he's gonna be so excited!”

“Put him on speakerphone! I wanna hear!” suggested Alicia. Lindsey happily complied.

The phone rang a couple times, and Lindsey signaled for everyone to be quiet, especially Chase, who probably didn't know how speakerphone worked. After the third ring, a male voice was heard. “Oh, hey, Lindsey.”

“Heyyy baabe,” she flirted. “Guess what? I decided which boy I want to take to Harvest...and it's YOU! Surprise!”

“Whoa! Cool!” he replied. “I mean, I'm already going with someone else, but sweet! I won!”

Lindsey's smile vanished. She looked at the phone, stunned. “E...excuse me? What do you mean, you're going with someone else?”

“Oh, I'm going with Rachael Dennis.”

“Rachael Dennis?! RACHAEL DENNIS?! But, but you already asked ME!”

“Well, you were taking forever to make your decision, and, uh...I dunno, you already had like a zillion other guys to choose from, so I figured you wouldn't miss one. Welp, catch ya later! See ya at the dance!” He hung up.

“Hugh?! HUGH?! Don't hang up on me!” she shouted at the phone.

“Wow,” said Caitlin.

At some point during the call, Alicia's hand had risen to cover her mouth and had not moved since. “Oh my gosh. Lindsey, I'm so sorry...”

Lindsey quickly recovered. “Hah! No big deal! Chump doesn't even know what he's missing! I'll just send Jerry a 'that breakup text was merely an elaborate hoax' text!”

“Good luck,” said Alicia, knowing she'd need it.

Lindsey shot off the text. Running Back Jerry's reply took only a few seconds to arrive. They all crowded around to read it.

“I didn't even know he knew these kinds of words,” said Caitlin.

“I not know I knew those kinds of words,” added Chase.

“No no no...neither of them want to go with me?” asked Lindsey in disbelief. “Wh-what the heck is happening?”

“Poetic justice?” guessed Caitlin.

Lindsey started going through her contacts list, a bit of desperation on her face now. “N-no problem, I'll just get in touch with one of the other guys I cut! I'm sure one of them will be thrilled to know that my first pick couldn't make it, and that I have an unexpected vacancy!”

The rest of Lindsey's day consisted of contacting these young men, and the rest of Caitlin's, Chase's, and Alicia's day consisted of watching her become increasingly panicky and lost as one by one, they refused her. Whether it was because they were already going with somebody else or because they were simply mad at her, they all turned her down, and by the end of the day she was left with no further options.

“I can't believe this! I talked to everybody, but n-n-none of them want to go with me!” cried Lindsey, as they were walking home from school. She was going frantically through her contacts list, as though there might be a boy she'd forgotten about, tucked away in a corner somewhere. “It's so weird! The first time I agreed to go with them, all of them were super happy! What changed?”

“Gee, I wonder,” said Caitlin.

A look of horrified realization seared itself across Lindsey's face, as the obvious truth of the situation finally sank in. “God...this means...you guys, this means I don't have a date to Harvest. Me! Lindsey! How the hell did this happen? Just a few days ago, I was on top of the world! Fourteen boys at my beck and call! How did I go from all those dates to zero?!”

“Well, uh...” said Alicia, not sure what she could say to make her feel better. “I hope you learned your lesson?”

They came to a crosswalk. A car stopped, allowing them to pass. Chase switched her backpack from one shoulder to the other. “Why not ask more boy?” she asked. “That what I do, how I bag Tor.”

Lindsey looked shocked. “No offense, Chase, that might work for you, but I follow the rules when it comes to these things.”

“Which is why you were willing to bring fourteen different guys with you,” added Caitlin.

“I tend to follow certain rules when it comes to these things,” corrected Lindsey.

Caitlin sighed. “Well, I guess you could just wait and hope some guy asks you. But it's kind of late in the game for that. Harvest is two days away. Not a lot of people are still looking for dates. And I'm not trying to flatter you here, but most people are gonna assume a beautiful, popular cheerleader surely must be going with somebody by now.”

Lindsey rubbed her chin. “Hmm, you're definitely right about that,” she said, being very pragmatic. Then she flashed a rejuvenated smile. “Well, looks I'm just gonna have to do what we told Alicia, and just subtly get a guy to ask me! Turn on my charm, work some of my voodoo! Let the whole world know I'm VERY available! What am I worried about? Pretty soon I'll have a whole drove of dates!”

“L-let's just aim for one this time, okay?” asked Alicia, exasperated.

As they entered the suburbs, trees started appearing along the sidewalk, their leaves the colors of autumn. With the sun out and with no breeze, the afternoon was actually kind of warm, with a light crispness to the air that let them know this was going to be one of the last good days of the year.

“It kinda sucks we didn't have practice today, I wanna do something outside,” commented Caitlin. “Wanna go to the park?”

“Yeah, alright!” complied Alicia.

“I'm down,” said Lindsey.

Chase was down as well, but was quickly rendered unable to say so. A loud whoosh from behind her was all she had in the way of warning. She felt hands firmly grab her under her arms, and the next second she was rising quickly in the air.

“Aaaah!” shouted Caitlin, looking up at her with wide, terrified eyes. She, Alicia, and Lindsey were still down on the sidewalk, getting smaller and smaller. Chase's eyes darted to her feet and saw them swinging free in the September air.

Urgently, she turned her head up and looked over her shoulder. There, she identified the owner of the hands: Melissa C., flying with some sort of jetpack that had sprouted from her back.

“Afternoon, Chase!” she called, over the rush of wind. “Bet you weren't expecting me to do something like this!”

Chase tried to get an arm free, and began wildly kicking her legs. Melissa C. just laughed. “Whoa there, take it easy! Best not to struggle, Chase! It'd be a real shame if I dropped you, you know?” Alicia, Caitlin and Lindsey were three little dots on the ground now, chasing after them. “Don't get me wrong, I think you'd look great as a red splotch on the street, but wouldn't you rather have some fun first? I mean, come on, you're flying! Just enjoy it!”

“No joy from this! You no joy, too, when I punch and kick you!” Chase stubbornly replied.

Melissa C. was not scared. “Oh, Chase, trying to be threatening? Don't make me laugh!” She smiled deviously, then lifted Chase up so she could speak in a low voice, directly into the cannibal's ear. “Seriously, don't. If I laugh...well, that would be very distracting. My grip could weaken. Just for a moment, of course. But that's all it would take.”

Chase looked down at the ground. They seemed to be flying away from the park. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. These two hands, the two hands of her worst enemy, were the only things keeping her from plunging hundreds of feet to the ground below. She was raised to be a resourceful girl; there weren't many perilous situations that she couldn't find a way of wriggling out of. But all her years of experience as a hunter in the wilderness would be useless to save her from something like that.

“Sort of funny, if you think about it,” toyed the cyborg. “Ha.” Her grip loosened a little, and Chase's entire body stiffened in terror. “Ha.” Chase felt herself slip further, and began scrambling to find a handhold on her captor.

Melissa C.'s eyes widened excitedly. Should she do it? Should she just go ahead and do it? Just kill her right now? Or should she play with her a little more? To take it slow, to savor it...that would be excellent...but wasn't that what Chase would be expecting? Wouldn't the look of surprise on her face be glorious if she just dropped her now? A tough decision, a tough decision. She felt her fingers trembling with excitement, her temples pounding, her brain overloaded with a sheer sensation of power.

“HA!”

And then, Chase was falling. Plummeting through the sky, the already howling wind became a scream, biting at her face and clawing at her clothes. She twisted in the air, trying to position herself so she'd land on her back, but overcompensated. She found herself tumbling out of control, feet over head over feet over head.

Her life had started flashing before her eyes when her descent stopped with an abrupt yank. Hands gripped her ankles. Hanging upside down, she looked up. Melissa C. had caught her.

Now, Melissa C. was laughing for real. A whirling, cavorting sound, a mindless ejaculation, a pure release of emotion and dark exhilaration. Melissa C. was barely aware she was doing it, but she would later realize it was the most real and honest laugh she had ever made.

“Sorry about that, Chase!” she wildly shouted to the helplessly dangling girl. “Arms got tired!”