The Spirit of Summer | The Andersons: Book 1

Chapter One

November 11th
Friday

It was happening again.

And this time, it couldn't possibly have chosen a worse moment to do so- when the ball was in my hands.

Oh crap.

A thundering applause snapped me out of my reverie, and my feeling of disorientation vanished only slightly. Students and parents were seated in bleachers all around me, pumping fists and foam fingers high up into the air. Cheerleaders chanted their jovial mantras repetitively as they bounced and stretched- and all those sounds were sending my nervous system into a tailspin. It was like someone had thrown a bunch of noise into a blending machine and pressed the on button.

My breathing became heavy and staccato, and I felt large droplets of cold sweat trickle down my neck. It was only a matter of time and a few short breaths before I would end up on the ground, like what had happened before.

That was when I remembered something...

"Don't worry, Heather, " Leo had said as he patted my head, messing my already untidy hair in the process. "If at any point during the match you feel like you're about to lose your lunch in front of everyone, just remember your favourite person the whole wide world: me."

Unexpectedly, my breathing slowed and a small smile spread across my face, just when I was brought back to reality when I heard someone cry out, "Heather, hurry! Pass the ball!"

Everything started to come back to me all at once, and the second I threw the ball at my open teammate, Ariana, the bleachers erupted in wild applause.

"Yeah!" I cheered as she expertly side-stepped an opposing player and threw the ball to Mai, all without making a single footing mistake.

Despite Mai's tiny stature, and the fact that her defender was easily the tallest person on the court, she captured the ball in her hands and tossed it over everyone's heads to Krysy in the goal circle, who caught it with no hassle, a huge grin spread wide across her face.

We all waited as she focused on the net high above her, her grip on the ball tighter than the silence that had fallen over the entire venue.

"Come on, Krysy, you got this!" Ariana exclaimed, clapping her hands supportively, yet a bit impatiently as well.

Krysy took a deep breath before throwing the ball in the net's direction, and the crowd exploded when it fell through.

I stole a quick glimpse at the electronic scoreboard, and a rush of excitement coursed through my veins.

Home: 17                Guest: 16

We were winning!

Krysy threw the ball at Ariana, who subsequently tossed it to me right at the second a group of girls from the other team started surrounding me, but I swiftly reached for it before it could end up in any of their hands.

"Yes! Heather!" Krysy cheered, "That's how you do it!"

I felt my lips stretching into a grin at that comment. It would, hopefully, be only a matter of time before we won this match as well.