DAY 3 OF TRYOUTS: FIRST AND FINAL CUTS
Walking in the gym door, Spencer felt a sudden hint of nervousness coursing through her body. The only rational reasoning for this, she thought at least, was the fact that today was the last day of tryouts. She knew this was her last chance to show the coaches, and maybe one other particular senior, what she was really made of, but she worried her introversive personality would affect the possibility of her making the team.
"Here we go again…" groaned an obviously disinterested voice behind Spencer. She turned to see Madison standing with one hand on her hip and the other examining her fingernails, "I swear to you, if I break one more nail trying to bump that stupid bally-ball, or whatever the hell you call it, I'm going to take this bobby pin out of my hair and stick it right in the damn ball! That's right, TRY AND MESS WITH THIS LATINA!"
"Madison, I know you've always been a little……extreme, but seriously we are just starting high school, couldn't you keep it on the low for now?" Spencer remarked, looking obviously entertained by the girl standing in front of her, who she assumed would probably be better off if she was in the other gym trying out for cheerleading instead.
"Shut up. And say it with me now, 'sunlight'!"
"Hey! That was totally unnecessary! How do we even go from that to my skin tone? And plus, you think I'm pale now? Wait 'til winter."
"HA yea, you always kept us from flashlight tag as children, since you'd like glow in the dark and lose every time," Madison said bursting out laughing.
"Okay, let's not let the whole world know about how my lack of pigment affected my social skills as a child."
"Maybe that's why you're such a douche bag today, you know, being as you didn't have any friends as a kid because you ruined the games," Madison still laughing about her friends' pastiness, but then realized the look of disapproval on Spencer's face, "I'm joking, I'm joking! You actually look quite tan for you at the moment!"
Spencer just rolled her eyes and started scanning the gym for competition. That's what she started scanning it for at least, until her eyes fell onto the stunning brunette she had just recently been introduced to. She watched as Ashley Davies did a certain warm up drill with her passing partner, Chelsea. Spencer's eyes moved from Ashley to the ball as Chelsea bumped it towards Ashley, then her eyes wandered back to Ashley as she set the ball into the air, and then over to Chelsea as she swung her hand back and spiked the ball down, with immense power. Spencer looked on in amazement at Ashley diving for the ball, making a perfect pass right up to Chelsea, and getting up immediately to be ready to spike the ball back again.
"Wow," Spencer whispered, not meaning for Madison to hear it, though she did.
"What's got your jaw dropping to the floor this time?" Madison asked looking over in the direction that Spencer's eyes were centered on, "Damn! That Ashley really is amazing."
"I know…"
"Yea, I wonder how long she's been playing."
"What do you mean?"
"I wonder how long she's been playing volleyball…" Madison said, lifting an eyebrow at her friend.
"Oh right, amazing at volleyball, I know… umm let's go warm up," Spencer stated quickly and started walking towards the bin to find a ball and start practicing. Madison just shrugged at her best friend's strange behavior and followed her onto the gym floor.
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The tryouts went rather quickly that day, Spencer and Madison doing fairly well, though Spencer definitely did a whole lot better, having had much more experience. The third day ended earlier than the other days so that the coaches had time to leave and examine their notes in order to choose players, and make cuts.
The seniors were the first to find out whether they made it or not, followed by the juniors, then the sophomores, and finally, the freshmen. The coaches had set up a table outside the second set of gym doors, on the opposite side of the gym where the girls had been playing. They called out the numbers one by one to give each girl her results individually. The wait was almost unbearable for the freshmen girls, seeming like an eternity.
"I'm so nervous. I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't make it! What if I cry in front of the coaches after they tell me I'm cut? How embarrassing would that be!?"
"Spencer, calm down, you're awesome! There's no way you won't make it," Madison answered trying to relax her frazzled friend.
The girls were sitting against the white wall at the side of the gym, near the entrance opposite to the side where the coaches were either making girls' dreams come true, or making their lives seem suddenly worthless.
Ashley Davies walked in the doors right beside Spencer and Madison, Chelsea following closely behind her. She approached the two girls with a smile on her face.
"You two okay? 'Cause Spence, you're looking a little white," Ashley said, chuckling a little.
"Oh no, she's just naturally pale, we had this conversation earlier," Madison said and Spencer glared at her, making Madison change her answer and turning back towards Ashley, "Actually she's just a little nervous about getting cut since she hasn't really spoken to the coaches. She's not usually this white… she's more of an off white I guess you could say."
Ashley just laughed and then looked right at Spencer. "Hey, relax kid; you've got some serious talent. Trust me; you didn't have to speak to them to really make yourself known. You've got the ability to speak through your actions on the court. They know you kick ass, so don't worry, I'm sure you're going to be fine."
Spencer looked up right into Ashley's brown eyes and smiled, causing Ashley's smile to grow just a little wider. Spencer blushed a bit and quickly looked back down at her knees, which had been at her chest.
"So I'm assuming both you and Chelsea made it," Madison chirped in.
"Um, yea we did, so we're going to actually be heading out now," Ashley said looking between the two girls, one still hanging her head down, "I'm sure we'll see you two tomorrow at our first day of conditioning though," Ashley winked then walked out the doors with Chelsea.
Madison watched as the two girls left, smiling, "She is really nice, what do you think, Spencer?"
Spencer looked up with a slight frown on her face, "She called me kid."
"So?"
"We're probably like little kids to them, you know? They probably just think of us as young and immature. Well, they don't know that we aren't actually that much younger. They were freshmen once."
"Whoa, what is your deal, Spencer, Ashley was totally complimenting you? So what if she called you 'kid', she also called you 'Spence', it probably just means she thinks you're alright."
Spencer thought about the nickname Ashley had given her for a second and felt a sudden smile emerge on her face, "Yea you're right, I'm just really nervous about making it I guess."
Just then Spencer's number was called. Madison wished her good luck and she walked over to the side of the gym where the other set of doors were. She stopped in front of them, and took a quick breath, preparing to face what, she figured, would most likely be her doom.