A Second Chance

1

Ball after ball hit the wall with a loud slam as Sara fired them at a rapid pace. It was 11:00 pm and she couldn't sleep so she had dragged her racket and some balls out to the court to practice.

Everything she felt was eating her up and she couldn't keep it inside, so she took it out the only way she knew how. However, she was unaware of the two people standing on the side watching her.

Neil and Kevin watched her with confusion and slight awe because every ball she fired hit the exact same spot over and over. Even Kevin couldn't hit the same spot all the time and he had never seen her play like this during practice.

The next ball she fired, her racket slammed against the wall and sent vibrations all up her arm. She cried out and Neil and Kevin pushed the door to the court open and rushed to her. She fell to her knees when they reached her, holding her arm.

"What are you doing?! You could shatter your arm!" Kevin yelled.
Neil stood at his side looking down at Sara.
Sara was breathing hard and could barely speak, "I know. I'm just—angry."
"At what? You don't seem to have anything to be angry about," Kevin's tone was condescending.
Sara abruptly stood up, "What do you know about me?!"

Neil held Kevin back from going to Sara and let her walk off the court.
.......
The next day at morning practice Sara was there and Kevin now looked at her within a new light. He put all of his attention on her that day, but everytime he threw a complicated shot at her she never reacted. Dan started to notice that Kevin was going hard on only one of their new recruits.

"Kevin!" she called. "What are you doing?"
"Practicing," he replied.
"She's new, Kevin she doesn't know how to respond to those shots yet."
"Yes, she does."

Dan shook her head at him and Kevin was trying to find a way to prove his point. He knew the decision he made would have consequences but he did it anyway.

Sara was standing next to Renee and Kevin knew Renee wouldn't be fast enough to react but Sara would. He loaded his racket and threw the ball. Sara saw it the moment it left the racket and she swung hers up and brought it back down in a twist, she stared at Kevin in shock.

Everyone else saw what happened and Dan immediately scolded Kevin but Renee was fine and the rest of the team was looking at Sara with wide eyes.

"How did you do that?" Matt asked.

Before Sara could respond Kevin spoke, "Everyone off the court."

The entire team looked at him, Andrew had a stony expression but in the way he glanced at Sara, he was intrigued. After a moment they left the court and stood from the sides to watch.
Kevin faced Sara and fiercely said, "Play."

And she did, back and forth Kevin and Sara passed and played with a ferocity that they had only seen in the Ravens. The whole team watched in awe and wondered how she kept up with someone like Kevin. Neil was watching her closely and her footwork and some of the moves she used were Raven drills he recognized, he wondered where she learned them.