Playing volleyball was fun.
I had never played the sports so it took me a while to get used to the rules and the format, but since I had played basketball and handball most of my life, my hand coordination was great and my reflexes were fast enough.
Bella was on my team and I felt bad for the girl. It was concerning how clumsy and uncoordinated she was, to the point where I thought that it might be an underlying health condition. Maybe she had some sort of muscle weakness or a balance problem.
Lauren was also on my team and I could tell she was growing frustrated with Bella, which was understandable. Lauren was the captain of the volleyball team and she was playing against most of her team so for her, the stakes were high. I ended up helping her, making hard the ball never came near Bella.
She was trying to prove she could play against most of her team, which she was doing pretty well. She was also a great teammate to play with and we quickly worked together well.
All in all, a really great way to end the day.
"Great game Amani, that was impressive for a first timer," One of the team members complimented.
"Thanks Gwen," I smiled, finishing getting dressed in my normal clothes.
"Yeah Amani, you should think about joining the team," Another piped up.
"I'll think about it," I promised.
I was about to leave the changing room when someone stepped in my way. I looked up at the person, realising it was Lauren, who had her arms crossed over her chest and her blue eyes narrowed.
"What was that on the court?" I blanched at her question, not sure as to what she was referring to.
"What?" I asked.
"You can run, and play volleyball," She stated accusingly.
"Yeah," I nodded, wondering if that was it. Was she threatened by me?
She stepped closer, pushing something into my chest. I looked down and realised it was a paper. I took a second to read it.
It was a date for the volleyball team tryouts.
"I better see you there Ephram," She hissed. She stared at me for a while longer before stepping around me and I stood there for a moment longer, a little unsure as to what had just happened.
"Oh my god!" Jessica squealed, coming up to me and snatching the paper from my hands.
"What? What is it?" I asked as we began walking out of the school together.
"This is great! We haven't had a new person join our team in like years!" She continued. Jessica was also in the volleyball team, and although the shorter girl hated running, she had quite an impressive arm with some powerful shots.
"You're basically on the volleyball team!" I frowned as we walked outside.
"But I haven't even tried out, never mind accepted the position," I argued.
"There's no need to try out, everyone saw your impressive skills and if it was enough to impress Lauren then you're good to go," She explained as if it was that obvious.
"But what if I don't want to join the team," I asked. She gasped loudly, stopping and pulling my arm, making me stop.
"You don't just say no to Lauren like that! This is an honour, it will define your high school reputation," She hissed lowly, looking around as if someone was listening into our conversation.
We were in the middle of the car park now and I doubted anyone would care for our conversation.
"I care not for such fickle things," I scoffed, waving off her words. She gave me a weird look and I huffed. "I don't know if I can make the commitments to it. I'm not interested in playing professional sports," I explained.
"We only play a handful of matches every year and the most serious we've played is going to a district match in Seattle. Training is only twice a week too, hardly any time at all," I sighed.
"Fine then, I'll join if I get the offer," She squealed, clapping her hands.
"Great, we're gonna be best friends now,"
We continued walking and made it over to the group where Mike was waiting.
"Hey Superstar, I saw you kick ass in volleyball," Mike held out his hand and I smacked it in a high five. He threw an arm over my shoulder and squeezed me in a side hug.
"Good looks, athletic ability, these genes of ours are way too powerful," I laughed at Mike, watching as he flexed his other arm and gave a fake smouldering look. Everyone chuckled.
"Mike, you're white, about as pale as they come, you two don't share genes," Eric snorted.
"Hey, I get a little tan during summer," Mike protested. We continued talking for a while longer, and after learning the weather was going to be dry this weekend, we all agreed to go to La Push beach.
We all parted ways, and Mike and I got into his car. As he was pulling out, I spotted Alice standing by Edward's car, about to get in but she had her eyes glued onto me.
She looked distraught and lost and an uncomfortable feeling settled into my gut, as I wondered what had the psychic so worried.
Eventually, she disappeared from my view and I settled back into my seat, suddenly dreading tomorrow.
