Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or any of these characters.

Chapter 1 of 2

Tyler leaned against a pole. He fiddled with his cellphone as scores of people passed by. He wore his school uniform. A brown blazer with a white dress shirt underneath, the top few buttons on his shirt were undone. A skinny black tie had been loosened around his neck. His pants were black slacks that were one size too small, making his white sneakers highly visible. His brown hair reached down to his cheek bones. At his feet was a large gym bag. On top of the gym bag was a tennis racket with a cover over it.

"There he is!" A familiar voice echoed from down the street. Tyler looked up to see Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Sadie, and Cody all walking together towards him. Lindsay waved her hand at Tyler. She wore the girls school uniform. A white dress shirt that was partially unbuttoned and poorly tucked into her black skirt. She had the school mandatory tall black socks for girls which looked really out of place with the white sneakers she was wearing. All of the others were in their uniforms as well. They were each carrying large gym bags just as Tyler.

Tyler pulled himself away from the pole as they reached him, glad that his teammates had finally arrived, the only problem was, "Hey, you're late."

"Yeah," Cody smiled, "Lindsay got us lost."

"Totally lost." Sadie agreed.

Figures. Tyler looked over at Lindsay who stood at the front of the group. She tried her hardest to look as innocent as possible. "How could you get lost Lindsay? It was your responsibility to lead them here?"

"Not my fault! I got turned around when we exited the train station!" Lindsay frantically tried to defend herself.

"What? We've come here dozens of times!" Tyler continued to press. Lindsay lowered her head in shame. It made Tyler chuckle a little to himself. She looked so pathetic. He was just teasing her. He reached over and patted her on the head. "You really are hopeless. Shall we get moving Miss Team Captain?"

"Yes!" Lindsay yelled out as she jolted her head up. It did not take much to cheer her up, especially on a day like today. "These are the city high school tennis championships! The most important tournament of the year! Let's go!" She raised her fist up into the air, everyone else followed suit.

They started to walk down the street and head towards a large tennis facility. Lindsay led the way at the front. Tyler stayed in the back of the group, next to Cody. Soon a large sports complex came into view down the road. "Wow, that thing is huge!" Katie observed as they approached.

"It's the premier tennis facility in the city." Beth explained. "It's got stadium seating and everything! It's a pretty big deal for the school championships to be taking place here. They had the national mens and womens finals here last year."

"Yeah, Tyler and I went to go see that!" Lindsay spoke in excitement. "It was so cool." Both Lindsay and Tyler had seen many competitions here. However, this was going to be the first time they were competing themselves. It made Tyler a little nervous.

"Most of the games will be taking place in the neighbouring practice facilities because of just how many games there's going to be. Of course all the later rounds will be at the courts with the stadium seating." Beth continued to explain. They reached right outside the facilities main doors.

"Hey guys!" Lindsay called out making everyone stop and look at her. "Can I just say a few words before we enter."

"Go ahead captain, we're listening." Tyler told her.

Lindsay nodded her head. "Even though we qualified as a school, this is an individual tournament. I don't want that to discourage any of you. I know the competition is tough, but we've come this far. So I want everyone to do their very best okay? And the most important thing is to have fun!"

"Your just making sure we're aware that when you win the girls championship and when Tyler wins the boys championship, that you alone won and we're all just spectators." Beth spoke with a smile.

"What? No not at all! We're a team and we win together!" Lindsay tried to defend herself once more. Lindsay was always too easy to tease.

"Don't worry Lindsay, we'll give it our all!" Sadie said with excitement. Everyone was all smiles, but the one Lindsay looked for was Tyler's, when she saw his big grin it could not help but make Lindsay smile too. Lindsay was captain for a number of reasons. She helped create the team. She loved tennis. She was really good. But most importantly she has such a positive personality that really gravitated people towards her. That and Tyler did not want the extra responsibility.

They entered into the large building. There was a large crowd of students all standing around. There were tables set up on one side and a huge board with an enormous tournament tree outlined on it. "I'll go register us, so that they know we're here." Beth explained before walking over to one of the tables where some organizers were sitting. Beth acted as both player and manager. It really helped make up for the fact that their captain was completely incapable of doing anything correctly.

The others walked over to the tournament tree. "Wow, there's a lot of people in this championship." Katie commented. Tyler was not worried about who he faced in the first round. He was one of the top players so he was seeded quite highly, meaning his first opponent was probably pretty weak. Of course not everyone felt the same way.

Cody crossed his fingers and began to murmur, looking down at the ground, unable to look at who he was facing. "please not a tough opponent, please not a tough opponent."

Tyler placed his arm around Cody's shoulder, "Relax, check it, you're playing a freshman from Riverside High, besides DJ they don't have any really strong players."

Cody grabbed his chest in relief. "Oh thank god." He looked up at the board. "Who are you playing?"

"No idea, some third year from a school we never faced." Tyler said pointing to his name on the board.

"Well, you're one of the highest seeded right? I mean you got fifth last year. I'm sure whoever it is will be a cakewalk." Cody said trying to return some of that reassurance. Tyler did not really need it, he was confident enough.

The two teens attention was turned to the girls. "Hey look," Sadie called out pointing at the board. "Lindsay's got a bye for the first round."

"What?" Lindsay called out looking at her name. "I don't get to play right away?" A bye was both a blessing and a curse. It meant less chance of a crazy upset but also meant the player would be a little more stiff than their opponent in the second round.

"Really?" Beth spoke as she rejoined the group. "I guess they don't have enough girls this year, or a school dropped out last minute."

Both Katie and Sadie ran right up to Lindsay. "This means you get to cheer for us right!"

"Yeah, you have to come and watch us play! Then you can give us pointers afterwards about our play!"

"Um," Lindsay muttered, "Of course!"

"Alright we need to get ready." Beth informed them. "The games are set to start within the hour, so we have to go and change! The locker rooms are at the far end of the hall here."

Everyone turned and began to head to their locker rooms. As Tyler walked he felt a tug on his blazer, he turned to see Lindsay standing there next to him. "It's okay if I go watch the others right?" She whispered. "I'd like to watch you play but there's a good chance most of the other girls will be eliminated first round."

It was rare at a tournament like this for one of them to watch the other. It's usually a continual stream of games until your eliminated. However Tyler understood that they were a team first and foremost. Tyler smiled, "Hey, don't worry about it. You're team captain right? It's your duty to cheer them on."

Lindsay smiled back. "Good luck." She then turned and headed into the girls locker room.

Still, he was a little jealous.

1 Hour Later

Lindsay stood off to the side with a couple other spectators. In front of her was Katie's match. She was losing pretty badly, still she was able to take a couple of sets. The same could not be said for Sadie, she was playing in the next court over. She had yet to even take off a single set, her opponent was very strong. Off in the distance Beth was playing as well, but Lindsay couldn't see to know how she was doing. Even though they were both losing, Lindsay could not help but feel happy and proud of both Katie and Sadie. They were playing their hearts out. It wasn't easy for them. They were both beginners. They were sophomores who just joined the team this year. Neither had played tennis before. Sadie wanted to join the team as an excuse to get some exercise and help lose weight. Katie joined to support her friend. They both genuinely seemed to really enjoy tennis, and were always in high spirits, even when losing.

"Go Katie!" Sadie called out from her court watching her BFF score a point.

"Hey! Your match isn't over yet! Keep trying! You can take a set for sure!" Katie cheered back.

Even though neither of them were particularly good. Lindsay knew that when she and the others finally graduate, she'd be leaving the team in good hands.

The tennis team at their school was new. This was only its second year. Lindsay and Tyler had been playing tennis together since they were little kids. They were apart of the same tennis club and started going to competitive tournaments during elementary school. When high school rolled around, they were among the best players in their age group in the city but their school did not have a team. They tried to get one started in their freshman year but failed. With the help of her best friend Beth, they were finally able to get one started in their sophomore year. Tyler recruited his good friend Cody to join so that they'd have enough people to make it an official school team.

Both Beth and Cody had taken some tennis lessons in their youth but that was it in terms of their experience of tennis before joining the club. Still, their team did quite well in its first year. Thanks mostly to Lindsay and Tyler's skill they were able to make it to the championships. Tyler got fifth in the boys championships. Lindsay surprised even herself by getting third in the girls championship. It was quite the feat for a new school to medal. This year would be different. The pressure would be on for her to repeat medal. There would be even more pressure on Tyler. Who, even Lindsay thought was better comparatively in their respected genders.

There was a rustle of footsteps coming towards Lindsay quickly. She looked over to see Cody running in her direction. When he finally got to her he had to pause and breath since he was so out of breath. "Cody? Your game's over already? You guys must have started earlier than us. Did you win?"

Between the puffs for air Cody was barely able to muscle out a "Yes."

"Way to go Cody!" Lindsay cheered. She pulled him in and gave him a friendly hug of congratulations.

"Lindsay... Tyler... he's... he's losing."

"What?"

Five Minutes Later

Lindsay came rushing into the main tennis courts of the complex. Cody dragged on behind her completely exhausted. There were half a dozen courts, with large bleachers on one side. Only a couple of matches were still being played. The highest concentration of people in the stands were right behind Tyler's match. As she approached the bleachers a familiar figured waved at her. "Hey!" The teen hollered.

Lindsay walked right up and sat down next to him. "Hi DJ."

"Did you win your match?" DJ asked.

"I had a bye. You?"

"Easy." DJ then stared forward at the match in progress. "Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Tyler."

They were sitting directly behind the baseline of the court in elevated seating, Tyler was facing away from them, which meant they could only see Tyler's back. "You've been watching the match?"

"Yeah, ever since my game ended. The current set is 5-4, Tyler lost the last set 6-4." DJ explained to her.

She looked up to get a good look at Tyler's opponent. He was gorgeous. Long black hair tied back in a ponytail, sun tan skin. He might have been the most attractive guy she'd ever seen playing tennis at their level. She was awestruck for a few moments before coming back to reality. "Who is that guy?"

"Honestly no idea. Never seen him before in any school competitions or regular city tournaments. According to the board his name is Alejandro, sounds European, he might be an exchange student or something. He's really good. But not as good as Tyler. However he's got the mental advantage over Tyler right now. A complete outsider versus one of the top players. Tyler wasn't prepared for this tough of an opponent so early. As tough as this guy seems, right now, for Tyler, the tougher opponent is himself."

Lindsay wished she could see Tyler's face. Have even a glimpse of how he was feeling. What he was thinking. "Tyler..."

Afterword:

I was reading some sports fiction and it really drove me to try and write a short story, this is the result. One thing I need to say is that I know very little about Tennis. When describing the game I'm only using knowledge I gained from looking up the rules while preparing for this story. I apologize in advance if anything is incorrectly labelled or plainly wrong about the sport. This story is much more about sporting competition than Tennis itself. This is chapter 1 of 2.