[queen of the court]
~
"You had detention with Emmett Cullen?!" The cat was out of the bag. Or at least it would be if Katherine had been trying to keep her detention a secret. She wasn't, for the record, but Jessica didn't really care at that moment.
"It's not a big deal," Katherine responded absentmindedly as she walked between Angela and Jessica down the hall. Her focus was on her phone where she was texting back and forth with her dad about restarting her shifts at the family diner.
The three had just left their last period and were headed for the gym. Both Katherine and Jessica had their gym bags in hand as they walked. Angela herself wasn't on the team, preferring photography over sports in general, instead carried a small case of water that they'd grabbed from the captain's car.
"Not a big deal?" Jessica gaped, almost offended by the blondes lackadaisical reaction to the Cullens. "Did you not hear me yesterday when I said they don't talk to anyone who isn't family? Last time I checked you're not a Cullen."
"I still think they're just shy," Angela chimed in as the three entered the gym.
Katherine couldn't help but snort at the idea of Emmett Cullen being shy, not with how loud his laugh was or how blatantly he'd been flirting with her yesterday. "Trust me, Emmett's not shy."
Jessica opened her mouth to say something but was never given the chance as the devil himself stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning on and made himself known. "Not in the slightest."
It was then that Jessica Stanley short-circuited. Her jaw fell open, eyes wide as she stared at the Cullen boy in shock. One of the Cullen's had just indirectly spoken to her. She couldn't believe it.
"We'll just be over there," Angela nodded toward the bleachers, guiding their awestruck friend away with a smile.
Emmett and Katherine watched the two go in amusement.
"I think you broke her," The blonde girl snickered.
"Oops?" He responded with a small grin that only widened when Katherine laughed, shaking her head halfheartedly at him.
It was silent between them for a moment as Emmett simply watched her, observing her as though he were trying to memorise everything about her.
"So what are you doing here?" Katherine asked, snapping him from his thoughts unaware of the looks the pair were receiving from just about everyone else in the gymnasium.
"Well, my detention buddy didn't tell me she was on the volleyball team. I had to find out from Alice of all people," He gestured to the small, pixie-like girl in the bleachers who was sitting between two blondes- one looking like she'd rather be anywhere else while the other looked uncomfortable as he held Alice's hand. "And practice is open for anyone to watch so here I am."
The only time Katherine had ever been nervous for practice was when she'd first had to try out for the team but now an unexplainable pit was forming in her stomach. People watched their friends at practice all the time, case in point: Angela who was currently sitting with Eric and Mike while Jessica talked to the coach. So why did the idea of Emmett, who after yesterday could most definitely be considered somewhat of a friend, watching her seem so daunting?
Just as soon as the feeling came though, it disappeared.
"I should go get changed before coach yells at me," Katherine quickly excused herself.
~
The practice had gotten underway quickly once everyone on the team had gotten changed into their uniforms. Emmett had easily picked Katherine out from her teammates from their difference in jersey colour. While the rest of the team wore burgundy shirts with their number printed in white, Katherines was the opposite being white with a number 4 printed on both the front and back in burgundy.
When he'd first spotted her he'd made a comment about liking her uniform only to be smacked upside the head by Rosalie. His best friend had then gone on to point out that he only like the uniform because of the ridiculously short shorts the girl was wearing. She wasn't wrong but she didn't have to call him out on it.
Over the course of the practice, the coach had instructed the team in running different game scenarios with each player switching positions every now and then. Well all of them except Katherine who'd always stayed in the same position. It seemed a little unfair, whether toward the blonde or her teammates he wasn't sure, but he didn't really understand the game so who was he to say what was fair and what wasn't.
In all honesty, none of the Cullen's present understood anything about volleyball. Maybe that was why it came to no surprise to any of them when Alice had pulled out her phone and began looking up facts about it as they observed the next exercise.
"It says here that Kat has a different jersey because she's the libero of the team," The smallest of the four-spoke in a hushed tone.
"And one of those is?" Rosalie asked impatiently. She was a little bitter because she had been adamant that it would be boring but had actually found herself rather interested in how the game worked. She would never admit it but she even found Katherine's skill a little impressive but that didn't mean she liked Emmett having a human mate.
"They're a type of defensive specialist who only plays in the back row. The libero's not allowed to block or attack the ball when it is above net height," Alice explained, once again reading off of her phone. "They have a different shirt so that the referee can identify them easily."
"So what are they doing now?" Jasper spoke up for the first time since they'd sat down. He'd been silently observing from beside his mate but even he couldn't deny that it was rather interesting.
His coven mates turned their focus back to the team in time to see one of the girls chalk up her fingers before performing a three-step jump, tapping the wall as high up as she could. When the coach called out the girls score of 22 inches they weren't sure whether it was good or not. Once again Alice took to google.
"They're doing a vertical leap test I think," She hummed to herself as she scrolled through the webpage she was on. "It says that 16 inches is the women's average and anything over 24 inches is considered excellen-"
"Shut up," Rosalie butted in, ignoring the knowing look that both Emmett and Alice shot her at her growing interest. "It's Katherine's turn."
The four watched in anticipation as the blonde chalked up her own hand. The current highest was 25 inches, two inches higher than her score the last time she'd done the test. Katherine cracked her neck from side to side before doing her own three-step jump.
Her finger pads grazed the wall. Her sneakers squeaked against the linoleum as she landed.
"26 inches."
Katherine's friends cheered as Jessica spun the girl around happily. Emmett let out a loud whoop at the girl's score while Rosalie, Alice and Jasper simply clapped quietly. Even the coach was pleased, the man let out a 'that's my girl' before composing himself.
"Well," Rosalie sighed as the team began tidying up, practice now seemingly over with. "Atleast now we know she's still capable of punching you in the face if the need ever arises."
Emmett didn't appreciate that comment.
~
Emmett: ☺️💗😍💕🥰
Everyone else: 🧍🏻♀️🧍🏾♂️🧍🏼♀️🧍🏽♀️🧍🏼♂️🧍🏻
Also, the coach is definitely Finstock 2.0 from Teen Wolf and I won't be accepting criticism on that.
Peace out ✌🏻