Just Picture It

Chapter 17- A Side Spin Shot?!?

Saturday, January 28th

Lincoln High School Tennis Courts, 3:30PM

Ivan joined Korbin at the fence and said, "Interesting," as they watched Jamie and Henry hit the ball back and forth.

Korbin didn't know what Ivan found so interesting, but since he found everything about Jamie fascinating, he agreed, "Yeah."

What was surprising him was that she was taking it so easy on Henry. From what she said earlier, she enjoyed more of a challenge. Sure, destroying a younger player wasn't much fun, but he was sure she wouldn't be willing to lose on purpose. Korbin glanced around at those watching before he called out, "You ready to head back soon, Jamie? We have stuff to do before supper." Then he leaned back to see if she would step it up a notch.

"Sure Korbin, just give me a second," Jamie called back. She waited for Henry to send the ball her way, and returned it with a side spin shot that whipped past Henry before he could react.

"I have to go now Henry. Thanks for playing. It was fun," Jamie said as she headed to the side. She edged around the group toward her backpack as she asked, "Do we have to pick up?"

"No, we set up. Someone else can put things away."

Jamie turned back long enough to say, "Nice meeting you all," but quickly headed through the gate.

Korbin was right behind her, but he waited until they were a good distance away to ask, "Did you really like meeting them?"

Jamie nodded before added, "Sure. They seem nice, but I will admit that that they are much easier to like from a distance." She sighed and continued, "I guess I'm not cured yet."

Korbin rolled his eye before reminding her, "We just started working on it this morning. You can't expect miracles."

Jamie stopped frowning and admitted, "I handled Bandit sitting next to me and ruffling my hair, and I even gave Sondra a quick hug back when she hugged me instead of shoving her away."

"See?" Korbin pointed out, "You are getting better, but when did you see Bandit? Is this about you thinking someone was following you?"

Jamie chuckled and explained what had happened earlier, and never realized that she was the topic of discussion back at the tennis courts.

"Did you see that?" asked Moe in awe.

Danica and Sondra smiled at each other before Danica said, "Yeah, she was great. I hope she joins our team."

"What was that shot?" asked Henry.

"It was a side spin shot like Korbin does," Ivan answered.

"She has a side spin shot, and we played for that long?" said Henry in a happy voice.

"She was holding back most of the time," Ivan continued his analysis and missed when Henry's happy grin turned into a disappointed frown.

"Do you think she will come back again?" asked Samuel.

"She'll be back with Korbin," answered Moe with a sing-song voice and a smirk.

"Korbin's got a girlfriend," Finn sang as he smiled at Moe.

Samuel looked at Finn and asked, "What are you, five? Don't tease him."

Ivan added, Yeah, and you don't want to push them too far. We don't know how they might react."

Finn smiled confidently and said, "Maybe I shouldn't, but I'm still faster than he is."

Moe snorted and argued, "Only in the short distances. He is building up his stamina."

Samuel shook his head as he added, "You should worry about her more than him."

Everyone turned to look at Samuel in surprise.

Moe was rolling his eyes when he saw Danica and Sondra nod in agreement. He asked Samuel, "What do you mean?"

"She moved like my sensei from when I took karate, but even if she doesn't know any martial arts, she has some awesome endurance." When Moe just looked at him blankly, he continued, "Didn't you notice that she was working out the whole time we practiced. Then she ran all those laps with us, before playing against Henry. When she went to leave she wasn't tired at all."

Moe looked after Jamie and Korbin, and said thoughtfully,"There is something strange about how she acted when I talked to her."

Danica snorted and said, "You're just saying that because she likes Korbin instead of you."

Sondra added, "You shouldn't flirt with her so much. Korbin won't like it."

Moe shook his head and said confidently, "He knows I don't mean anything by it, and I still think that something is off."

Ivan spoke up from near the bulletin board, "I'd say that Samuel is correct. All the clues back it up. She works in a dojo."

"How do you know?" gasped Danica.

"I read the sign she put up," Ivan answered dryly as he pointed at the advertisement.

They all came over, and saw that it said she would be the main trainer of martial arts classes.

"Want to check out the new dojo?" asked Moe of Finn with a quick grin.

Eventually, the whole team decided to pay a visit to the Seymour Dojo and Fitness Center the next afternoon.

What do you think of Korbin's team?  Looking forward to them coming to the dojo?  There's some more that needs to happen before then.  Keep reading and find out what.  Thanks for reading this far.  I love to hear what you have to say.  Please let me know through comments, but vote and following are always good too.  Thanks for reading.