Chapter 9. Show Me Who You Are

AN: Welcome back everyone! So, to get things started up again, we are going to pick up where we left off and go from there. This one is just a deeper one with the girls getting to know deeper things about each other and then we get to preparing for the tryouts. Stay tuned!

Also, I am toying with the idea of keeping it just a general POV or keeping with a mix of all three. I'd love to know what you guys prefer or like to read from and I will try my best!

Arizona POV

Callie and I have a good while before we head over to practice. I made a few calls this morning to ask the Ferryboat Complex if we could practice there for the next two weeks. I don't think it would be an issue, the place is huge, and we have a valid reason for needing to practice and train. We should find out an answer soon though.

I am sitting in her living room watching TV while she is fixing brunch. God, what a life it would be to spend it with her. She cooks, she's athletic, she's hot and best of all, she's all mine. I think about it a lot and sometimes it's scary because I feel like I don't know all that much about her. Hell, I haven't even met her family, and I don't even know if they know about me. I don't want to pry so I haven't asked yet, but it just gets me wondering of all the possibilities that lay ahead for us. All my curiosities get the best of me I guess because the next thing I blurt out is, "Hey Cal, can you tell me about your family more?"

This gets her attention and she looks at me nervously for a second without saying anything. I wait, not wanting to push, she looks like she's thinking hard about what she wants to say.

"Hm, well. Obviously, you know I'm from San Diego. Mom is a therapist, Dad owns a bunch of hotels, and Aria is finishing Law School at San Diego State. What else do you want to know love?" She says while simultaneously going back to cooking. I don't want to think too much into it or pry if she's not ready, but whatever she will tell me I want to know. There is no harm in asking, right?

"What about you and me, or you are liking girls...do they know about that?", I ask in a nice and patient tone.

"No, not exactly. The truth is, and I hope this doesn't make me sound dumb, but I haven't brought anyone home for them to meet. Ever. I haven't found the right person for them to meet because that's important to me. Not that I'm saying you're not the right person for me, but I also haven't gone home in the time that we've been together." She pauses, "Anyways, I'm not quite sure how they would react to me being gay. I don't think Aria, or my mom would care, but with my dad, you just never know. I'm not afraid of telling him, he has supported me through everything I've ever done, and we also live in San Diego where the cultures and times are seen everywhere, so I'm sure they would understand and accept me." She says this, and I can tell it is from somewhere deep, she gets lost and starts rambling a little more about how society has changed in California which makes me think she has never really thought about it before which is okay.

Not wanting to make her anymore nervous I say as I walk up behind her and put my arms around her, "Well Calliope, I think they will love you just as much as I do, either way, and I would love to meet them one day if you would like for me to.". I don't see the way her eyes widen and the smile that comes across her face as I accidentally just told her that I'm in love with her because I don't even notice it.

I hop up onto the counter next to her as she finishes making our grilled cheeses. My girl makes a damn good grilled cheese. We sit down on the couch and as we are about to turn on Netflix my phone rings. It's a Seattle number I don't recognize, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Arizona Robbins?", the man says from the other side of the phone.

"Yes, it is." I say back to him. Callie looks at me, I give her a nod that it's okay.

"Hi, this is Jackson Avery, I am the owner of the Ferryboat Indoor/Outdoor Sports complex and I was calling you in regard to your voicemail about using our facility for the next two weeks. I wanted to call you personally and tell you that you and your friends are more than welcome to call this place home for the next two weeks while you train!", He says in a very professional and respectful manner.

I try to keep my cool and match his professionalism, "Well thank you so much sir! I appreciate you returning my call so quickly!".

"Of course, Ms. Robbins. I will leave you a set of keys for the doors, the locker room, the gym and the closet for the nets in the gym at the front desk. It's yours for the next two weeks, and I wish you all the best of luck before your Olympic tryouts.", He says. Okay wow I was not expecting to be treated like ROYALTY, man we really lucked out.

"Thank you so much Mr. Avery, you don't know how much this means to the four of us! I promise we will leave it just as we found it once we are finished! Thank you again sir." Wow this is amazing.

"You're very welcome, have a good day ma'am." And with that Mr. Avery hangs up the phone. I turn to Callie and tell her everything he said, and she looks at me like I'm joking. It's incredible, I don't know what we did to deserve that, but we are going to use this place like it's never been used before. Callie sends a text to Teddy telling her where we are practicing.

We lay around for the next few hours before we go pick Teddy and Addison up for practice. My nerves start going when we arrive at the complex, and I am beyond excited to get to experience playing with Callie and Addison for the first time. I have a whole front line to set to and I couldn't be more excited. Olympic team here we come, together.

General POV

The girls spend the next two weeks training like no tomorrow. They get up and condition and lift from 9-11 kicking their asses along the way but everyone gives support. Addison and Callie were able to get their strength and conditioning coach from college to give them workouts that would get them in the best shape possible. From deadlifts to speed and agility they were going hard and you could feel the passion throughout the four girls.

On the court, they practiced everything they could. Playing doubles helped a lot because it was a lot more ground to cover and footwork to cover that much ground. It was good for transitioning to set up for a set of get in line and off the net for a hit. Recovering after defending a block as front row hitters was very important too, getting a dig off of a tipped block and then getting set up in a played set was key, especially against professionals. There is no such thing as a routine set to an outside, middle, or back side hitter against professionals. It is a game of deception, which is where Arizona's tips were the sneakiest of all. They practiced serving, jumps and floats, hitting positions, finding the back corner, the whole works.

It took a while to get adjusted to playing with a new setter for Addison and Callie, but nothing that didn't look flawless from the outside looking in. Teddy and Arizona hadn't missed a beat since their last time playing together. Arizona quickly got a feel for where to set up Callie and Addie, and before you know it you would have never guessed that they hadn't played together before. The interesting thing though was how the girls played together like teammates even though they were girlfriends. They were hard on each other and pushed each other on the court, not giving one a second thought as to being involved with each other. But once 5 o'clock hit every day, you saw caring and love, with a little lust swirling around in there, that the girls had for each other.

Callie still hadn't forgotten that Arizona basically said that she loved her, but she stuck that moment in her back pocket until after tryouts as well as the Lauren Boswell thing, but she figured after they hopefully made the team, that would be the last of her worries. Arizona on the other hand could not stop looking at Callie while they trained. She was strong, and fast for her size, and she wore spandex like no one had ever seen before. She never noticed it too much before, but damn, people are lucky to watch her play in those, while she is the luckiest because she gets to peel them off of her every night.

They prepared, they practiced, and they worked damn hard. Even though the four girls never played on the same teams together, it almost looked as if they hadn't skipped a beat and had been doing it together for years. From defensive coverages, to knowing when Arizona would tip, to having ease and power behind the variety of hits they practiced. They pushed themselves to the limit but enjoyed every second of it. They loved the struggle of grinding through just for another chance at playing the sport they love. They knew they were going to be in for a challenge two days from now when tryouts started. Little did they know they were more than prepared.