Love on the Court
Chapter 1
TRIS POV (age: 7)
"You'll do fine, Beatrice" my mother assures me, "See? There are some beginners here, too"
A woman with blonde log hair, a blue baseball cap and a blue shirt, comes over to me, "What's your name?"
"Beatrice" I say, a little unsure. She smiles at me.
"What level is she?" he woman asks my mom.
"She's taken one clinic. She can pass" my mom says, holding me close to her.
"Well, I'm Amanda" the won in the blue shirt says, "And hat other guy over there" she points to a man in blue, "is Jay. We'll be your instructors for the next week and a half"
I nod, and pull away from my mom.
Amanda takes my hand, and I wave to mother, as she leaves.
"Partner up with, err, let's see. Partner up with Tobias. He's all the way in the back by the end line" Amanda says, putting her hand on my back. She leaves to talk to another family, but I keep walking towards the boy-Tobias.
He's passing the ball to himself.
"Hi" I say, and he stops to look at me, "Um, Amanda told me to partner up with you. You're Tobias, right?"
He nods, "Yeah, and you are?"
"Uh...Beatrice" I say.
"Nice to meet you Beatrice" he puts the ball down by his feet, in the sand, and holds is hand out for me to shake. I hold my hand to his, and he shakes it.
I give him a small smile.
"Okay" he says, "Are you a beginner?"
"Kind of, I mean, I did a clinic for a few weeks, and, I think I'm okay.
I smile and nod at him. He has dark blue eyes, and a tie-dye t-shirt, in the middle, it says, "I'm trying" in yellow letters. His hair is nicely cut, and he's a cute little boy. He looks older than me though. He wears dark blue shorts, and he steps back, and tosses the ball to me.
I put my hands in their position and bump it, but it doesn't go that high, so Tobias dives for it, and sand splatters on my face, and I close my eyes, and spit sand out of my mouth.
"Ew" I say.
"Sorry" he says, rubbing some sand off his arms.
"Hustle in!" Coach Amanda yells to all of us. Tobias picks up the ball, and runs to put the ball in the basket.
"We're going to learn everybody's name, so let's make a circle under the tent" she says, beckoning us to the tent. It's not really a tent, just a tarp.
I sit in between two nine-year-olds.
"Okay, we will say our name, then our age, then…." Amanda drifts off, "our favorite song. You can say why"
I smile. I already know.
"Okay, you first" she points to the person next to her.
"I'm Hailey. I'm ten. My favorite song is 'Black Widow'" Hailey says, her brown hair, swaying as she tosses it back.
Amanda nods for the next person who is the eight-year-old next to me.
"I'm Bailey. I'm nine. Mine is Love Story. Because I love romance" she says matter-of factly.
Then it's my turn.
"My name is Beatrice. I'm seven and a half. My favorite songs are 'On Top of the World' by Imagine Dragons and 'Hall of Fame' by The Script. I like them, because they make you feel like you can do anything"
I finish with a deep breath, and coach Amanda nods at me, "Nice"
There are only eight of us, so we get finished quickly.
I can't help but draw in the sand. I have a wild imagination, so I draw myself playing for a professional volleyball team. I imagine myself hitting the balls like they do in the Olympics. The last person was Tobias. There are only two boys in the Beach Volleyball camp, but he was the oldest.
"I'm Tobias. I'm ten. I also like, 'On Top of the World' by Imagine Dragons, and I also love it, because it gives you inspiration"
I have no idea what inspiration is, but it sounds nice.
"Wait" Bailey says, a fake smile on her lips, "My favorite song is also 'On Top of the World'"
"Now, we all know how to pass, correct?"We all nod, "We'll just go over it anyways"
We review passes and do a few passes. We learn setting and spiking (which is hitting), and we just learned serving.
"Now, we're going to serve to each other, partners" Amanda says. I see a man sneak up behind her, and wrap her arms around her, and he plants a kiss on her head. Amanda quickly turns around and sees that it's just a man, not some creepy guy.
Oh, that's the Jay guy. Are they dating, or something?
Meanwhile, I saw everyone seem to scoot closer to one person, like pairs.
Except me. I look around for someone, but the girl I should be paired up with has become a triplet sort of thing.
And Amanda kissing Jay, isn't really helping.
I look around for Tobias. He's looking Bailey up and down, while she's begging, "Will you be my partner?"
He keeps shaking his head, and he walks towards me.
"I can't, she's my partner" Tobias says, pointing to me. I look up at him. Since when was I his partner? Since now.
She gives me a look and walks off.
He grabs a ball from the cart, "The nerve of some people" he says, shaking his head. He walks under the net to the other side. He holds the ball in one hand, and tosses it, hitting it directly to me. Wow. He's good.
I hold the ball up in my left and toss it, and hit it. It hits the net, so I try again. I hold it up, and hit it, and instead it goes under the net. I put my hands to my face. Come on, Beatrice, you have to try.
Then the song, "On Top of the World" comes to my mind. Tobias serves it to me, and I sing it, softly, and quietly.
If you love somebody, you better tell while they're here because
I hold the ball up.
They just might run away from you
You'll never know what went well,
Then again it just depends on
How much time is left for you?
I toss it. Not good enough. I think to myself.
I've had the highest mountains
I've had the deepest rivers
I pick up the ball.
You can have it all but life keeps moving
I hold it up.
I'll take it in but don't look down.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open them.
'Cause I'm on top of the world 'ay
I hit the ball directly in the center of my palm and hit it. It goes over the net, barley making it, but I did it! I smile and bite my lip. I look over at Coach Amanda, and she's STILL kissing Jay. Ew.
They are just kissing in public, not even taking a look at us? Wow. Smooth.
I don't look and Tobias' ball hits me in the head. I rub my head and pick it up. I reply the song and movement on my head. I just need to hit harder. I try, but it goes over the net, and it hits outside the in line.
I bite my lip.
And I know it's hard when you're falling down, and it's a long way up when you hit the ground. Get up, now, Get up, Get up now.
Right. I got to get up. Tobias serves to me from behind the line, and STILL gets it in. Wow. He's better than I thought.
By the time Amanda and Jay stop kissing, I've served from halfway from the end line.
"Now, we're going to play King of the Court" Amanda says, smiling at Jay, "So we're-"
"But I'm a Queen, not a king" Bailey says. Amanda rolls her eyes and continues. She explains the rules. We need a partner, and she doesn't care who it is. We have to throw the ball, but try not let the other two player catch it. Then they would throw it back and we have to try to it.
"Who wants to start?"
Bailey and Hailey raise their hands, and they walk up and wait for their first competitor. It's Niall (the other boy) and Genevieve. They lose. Then us.
Tobias starts with the ball. He throws it to where they aren't, and it hits the sand. We smile, and walk to the other side of the court, as Bailey and Hailey walk to our side, and they get in line.
Next two players. I catch and throw it. They catch it and throw it. Tobias catches it and throws it. They miss.
Next two players. They throw, and I catch it, barely, and I throw it where they aren't and they miss. I did it!
Next two players are Bailey and Hailey. Bailey throws it. Tobias catches it basically throws it hard and they lose it. We smile.
I look over at Amanda, and she nods at us in approval.
We end up not leaving our spot. I got twelve people out, and Tobias got- actually I lost count. They let us play in the water, but I decide not to, and Bailey and Tobias hang out, while I draw into the sand. We are alone, since Amanda and Jay decide to kiss in the water.
That leaves me walking alone to my house, sipping a water bottle. I put my water bottle back in my grey bag. I look at the ocean while I walk, and a hand startles me.
It's Tobias.
"Is your house this way?" he asks, out of breath.
"Um…yeah" I say.
"So is mine. We'll walk together" he says, stepping next to me.
We don't really say anything until Tobias speaks up, "I like 'On Top of the World' too, you know"
At this I smile. I bite my lip. I'm crazy if I do what I'm thinking. But I do.
"If you love somebody!" I yell out, "You better tell them while they're here, 'cause"
Tobias smiles and joins in, "They just might run away from you!" People stare, but if we're having fun, it doesn't matter.
"You'll never know what went well, then again it just depends on how much time is left for you?" we both yell out of key, "I've had the highest mountains, I've had the deepest rivers, you can have it all but life keeps on moving!" we yell, laughing.
"I take it in but down look down!" Tobias says
"CAUSE IM ON TOP OF THE WORLD" we both yell, "IM ON TOP OF THE WORLD, WAITING ON THIS FOR A WHILE, PAYING MY DUES TO THE DIRT, IVE BEEN WAITING TO SMILE, IVE BEEN HOLDING IN FOR A WHILE" we basically burst out laughing. He smiles, a warm smile. I return it. It's only then when I realize, we're at my house.
"Um, this is it" I say, putting my hands behind my back.
"You did well, Bea" he says. He forgot part of my name.
"My name's Beatrice" I say.
"I know, I was trying a nickname" he says, "No?"
"No. But, a nickname would be nice. How about Tris, or something?" I say.
"Tris" he says, then he nods, "Yah, I like that"
"What about you?" I ask.
"I like my name"
"I'm calling you Toby" I say, smile.
"Bye Toby!" I say, waving to him, biting my lip to contain a smile. He turns to keep walking, but I call something out to him.
"Toby? Are we friends?" I ask. I only had on friend, but she went away.
H smiles, "Are you kidding? Of course we're friends. I wouldn't burst out lyrics of my favorite song with anyone, would I?"
"No" I say. I wave to him, a smile stuck on Tobias'- no, Toby's-face.
That was 2014 words.
I hoped you like it.
I actually think this is Divergent's first volleyball fanfiction.
Anyways, review.
Isi.