Saying Hello to Goodbye

Date With a Net

S A Y I N G  H E L L O  T O  G O O D B Y E  /  D A T E  W I T H  A  N E T

*****

       The rest of the day after lunch was pretty quiet since most people avoided me; After all, I smelled like cafeteria meat and warm tomatoes. Ari was nice enough to lend me a pair of baggy sweatpants and Dylan gave me an old Beatles T-shirt that was stuffed in the back of his gym locker. Neighbor Boy never showed up to class even though he was supposed to, especially on the first day.

       Now it was after school and time for volleyball practice which was my favorite time of the day, second to sleeping. I was addicted to the rush of adrenaline I received when I slammed the ball down on the other side of the net, landing the perfect Kill.

       Usually the cheerleaders were in the locker room at this time for football practice, but it was just me luckily. I stripped and changed into an extra sports bra and slipped into different spandex to match the Beatles shirt. Lacing up my black and white Nike's over my Adidas socks, I sighed with content at the sounds of whistles blowing in the gym.

       I quickly pulled my hair into a messy ponytail and skipped to a new song on my phone, playing a small game of Shuffle Roulette. Every time a song that Charlie downloaded is selected, we would work on skills and scrimmage. Every time a song I downloaded comes on, the team would work on strength and conditioning along with harsh drills.

       "Honey don't jump the gun. There's a life worth living on. And when the world comes crashing down....." I began to mumble, Charlie's song showing up on my phone screen. With a small smile, I lightly set my phone within my locker and headed out to the gym where the girls had begun working on warmups.

       I knew for a fact that they had all ran their quick five laps around the gym by the redness in their cheeks and the heavy breathing that echoed in the gym. With a grin, I walked up to the volleyball coach who texted on his outdated Nokia flip phone.

       "Hey coach!" I piped up. He quickly flipped his phone closed and shot me a gracious smile.

       "Why if it isn't Captain Foster? How are you, Sweetheart?"

       "Tired but pumped for practice."

       "Good because the wifey and I have to go on a special date. You mind being in charge today?" He asked, his smile faltering a bit.

        I shook my head and grinned. "Have fun Coach." He smiled and hurried away to see the coach of the dance team for their date.

       I pulled my spare whistle from the strap of my bra and blew it causing the ladies to jog over. "Alright team! Coach has a date with his special lady so I'm in charge! We will start off with five minutes of Pepper Volleyball to practice and then we will do some drills involving a game between the twelve of us!"

       Arianna grinned and rubbed her hands together since she knew she would get to show off her effortless serving skills to the girls on the other side of the net. Scrimmage usually consisted of two equal teams mixed with strong and weak players, typically played to fifteen so we had time.

       The Labaro, Emma, tossed me a ball and I squeezed it to make sure their was air. Giving her a thumbs up, I walked over to the middle of the gym where Ari and I usually practiced together. Near us, my enemy Ali slammed down a ball to her friend Quinn, her beady eyes sending me a glare. I immediately stuck my tongue out to her, her eyes rolling.

       "C'mon Foster!" Ari yelled.

       With a sigh, I bent my knees and tossed the ball up before landing a set high in the air. It soared right over to Ari, her arms swinging out to bump it back to me. I proceeded to set it again, but instead of sending it to my partner, I allowed it to swing towards Ali. I watched as her face contorted as she slung her arm and slammed the ball back my way.

       After five minutes of drilling, I blew my whistle once more and pointed out to the stands. Cheers echoed around me as the ladies rushed to their bottles for a quick break. Ali scowled and walked over to me, flipping her french braid over her shoulder.

       "Damn. I was kinda hoping our little incident would force you home in tears."

       With a grin, I cocked my head to the side. "You're not getting my position, A-Loser."

       She wrinkled her nose before backing away to her side of the net. "Just wait, Foster Child."

       I blew her a kiss in response before stepping forward and blowing the whistle once more. "Get to your positions of power!"

       Ari nodded and high fived me, her muscular legs carrying her to her home base. As soon as my friend pursued joining the team last year, everyone had been amazed when she aced tryouts and ended up on varsity with me. Her fierce attitude, amount of piercings, and the small tattoos that clearly showed under her jersey had been enough to convince everyone how anything was possible.

       Her scarlet curls shook as she tossed me the ball, eyes bright but also holding a sense of competition. My callused hands easily caught it before rolling it to Julia who was our team's main server. She grinned and twirled the ball within her hands, backing up as she did so. Julia tossed the ball perfectly into the air before leaping up and slamming it with the rim of her palm.

       The ball flew over the net at what seemed to be light speed, it barely hitting the outstretched arms of the player in back middle. Ali, our setter, stepped forward and sprung it into the air with the tips of her fingers. One of the hitters, Kisha, grinned before jumping high and lightly tipped it over the net.

       Anticipating her movement, I had already sprung my legs with my arms raised. The ball harmlessly bounced of my outstretched arms and bounced across the line that outlined the courts. The server on the other side gasped as she slid forward, the ball bouncing of her forearms with a high impact.

       Ali then maliciously grinned before hitting the ball hard with the perfect aim.....slamming me in the head so I fell back onto the floor.

       Practice ended an hour ago when the volleyball had rammed into my head at high speeds. Only seconds later I had woken up with fuzzy vision, but due to the throbbing pain of the collision, I was forced to wait in the nurse's office for an hour. As soon as I had convinced her that I was okay, I hurried outside to wait under the metal roof. It had immediately begun downpouring, my eyes staring at my phone waiting for my mom to pick me up as it poured. My clothes were already soaking wet and I was now shivering and sniffling.

       Finally she texted me only to let me be disappointed.

From Mom:

So sorry sweetie but the neighbor and I have to stay at the hospital for a three day long shift. For the next couple nights stay with her son and daughter until your brothers are back home. Love you!

       Of course she forgot. I let out a frustrated sigh and stood up from the sidewalk before stretching and sneezing. My head began throbbing once more as I began the three mile trek home. The sun definitely wouldn't shine now considering the rain was only getting heavier. Not to mention, some moron stole Charlie's skateboard so I couldn't walk faster than I already was.

       So what if I'm crazy to walk home in the rain. All the best people are.

       I sniffled and staggered as I walked considering I was freezing cold. My cheeks felt like snowballs and my nose felt like it was going to fall off because hail was starting to pelt down on me. Even through the rain I could taste my salty tears as I thought about how awful today has been. Not to mention I have to stay with Neighbor Boy of all people.

       I barely even knew of the idiot who was my new neighbor and already I've seen him three different times today. Of course mom was too laid back to even think about me staying in a house alone with a teenage boy my age that I already hated.

       I suddenly heard car sounds and saw lights, but I ignored them and kept slowly walking until a loud horn sounded causing me to wince through my migraine. I turned around when the person honked again and saw the one and only Alex Ryder smirking at me through the window of his black mustang.

       "Get in Pasta Girl."