Emerson?

Chapter 1

"Could you help me out with something?" I heard my brother ask. I shook my head and looked at him.
"What do you need?" I said.
"Never mind."
"Blaine, what do you need?"
"Remember Alex?" he mumbled.
I froze. Alex Faxon. His best friend. Of course, I remember the boy. He would always prank me and post them online. Of course I would remember him.
I nodded. "Yes. What about him?"
"Uh, he asked me something."
I stared at him.
"I never told anyone but-never mind. It's not important." He shook his head.
"Blaine!"
"Okay, calm down." he rolled his eyes and messed with a napkin.
"Well?"
He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm into guys. He asked me out and I said yes. And, like tomorrow we are going to the movies."
I froze. I saw his face get all worried. I looked down at my paper. I was okay with it. But, our mom will be furious because she doesn't like...people like that.
"That's great." I forced out.
"Really?" he mumbled.
"Yeah! To me, it is. To dad, it's good. To mom, that's-"
"I know what it is to mom." he said, angry.
"Well, we can convince her together. Like, Alex could come over and you all could talk about it." I smiled.
He frowned. "She will still not approve."
"It's great to at least try." I stopped. I heard my phone ring. It was my friend, Charlotte.
"Hold on." I said and grabbed my phone, running into my bedroom.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hey, Emerson! I got a question."
I sighed. "What is it?"
"Why aren't you here at volleyball tryouts? It starts like in 30 minutes."
I froze. I checked my calendar on my wall and I put a reminder right there. "I'll be there in 10."
I hung up quickly and gathered my stuff. I packed my gym bag with some gym clothes and I grabbed my phone and ran out to the living room.
"Blaine, can we talk about this later?"
I saw his lip tremble. "Why?"
"I forgot all about volleyball tryouts."
He smiled a little and nodded. I smiled and ran out the door. I got into my car and started backing out of the driveway. I checked the time, 25 more minutes until it starts. The school was only 5 minutes away-so I can get there in time. I drove really fast and noticed I got there in only 2 minutes. I grabbed my things and ran to the gym. I saw Charlotte getting out of the locker room. She lifted her head and saw me.
"Em! Where have you been?"
"Um, I forgot."
"Emerson Marie Daniels! You made me do this with you!"
"No, you made me do this with you." I exclaimed.
"Oh, right."
I smiled and walked into the locker room and started to change. I changed rather quickly and ran out into the gym and sat next to Charlotte on the bleachers. I saw our coach come out. I didn't recognize her at all. She had long brown hair, pale as pale can ever get, and bright blue eyes.
"Hello, ladies! I'm Coach Lees and I am your volleyball coach." she shouted. Her voice echoed the gym. "Has anyone ever played volleyball before?"
I raised my hand. I looked around and noticed I was the only one.
"Well come on down and show me what you got." she said.
I felt my face turn red while walking out to the floor. She handed me the volleyball and I noticed I was shaking. I let out a sigh and threw it up in the air. I put my wrist on top of one another and hit the ball over the net. I looked over at Coach Lees and saw a surprised expression.
"Is anything wrong?" I winced.
"No, not at all. That was a wonderful hit. What is your name?"
"Emerson Daniels."
She nodded her head and pointed at Charlotte. She came down and I handed her the volleyball. She did the same thing as me, but didn't hit the ball very hard. Charlotte and I sat on the bleachers until the other 13 girls finished their turn.
"Okay, girls. That went well. Emerson and Charlotte were the best. Valerie and West, not so great." I saw Charlotte beam and I smiled along. I looked over at Valerie and West, they didn't look so happy. I heard the coach say it was time to go home. I changed and grabbed my things. I saw West crying while walking out and I began to follow her.
"Em! Where're you going? I thought we were going to get pizza after tryouts." she screamed.
'Later!' was all I could say.
I saw that West parked beside me.
"Hey, West!" I shouted. I saw her flinch and she looked at me.
"I thought you were pretty good out there." I said.
"Really?" she mumbled.
"Yeah! That woman doesn't know what she was talking about. You did better than half of the girls there."
West smiled and waved goodbye. I waved back and got into my car and drove home.