Exhibition

Tori

"What do you mean?" I stated as I walked to Jade's exhibition match with Petra.

"I don't know; all that the girl said was that she thought she was dating Beck now," Andre said, shrugging his shoulders.

I sighed. There was no way now. I couldn't believe that. "No, she left him at the party last night."

"Did you see the Times this morning?" Andre asked, lifting the aforementioned paper. I snatched the paper from him and stared at the cover of the sports section. The headline read Will Lover's Spat Affect Wild Wild West's Game? Praticova poised to win exhibition match. "They were having an argument. So she left to get Cat so that she could go home because she had a match this morning," he finished his point.

I wanted to cry. I literally—cry—I was destroyed inside. "Andre," I whined as I sat in Jade's box with my head on his shoulder. "Why are they always just out of my reach?"

He sighed and patted my head. "I don't know baby…" he stated and trailed off. He poked my side and pointed out Beck with a large bouquet of flowers and a stupid "I'm sorry" grin on his face.

Jade looked up from her gym bag and took a double take. She looked around at everyone, embarrassed, as she walked to him. He whispered something in her ear and she smiled and took the flowers and hugged him. Then he kissed her. My gut twisted and I turned my head from it.

Petra caught my eye and smiled in my direction. My hand went up to my neck, where I could still feel the sting from the scratches she'd left there the night before. Petra's smile turned seductive as I waved in acknowledgement. I was miserable.

That girl was a lot of fun, but I was fixated on the unattainable. I wanted Jade and I knew that nothing I did to forget her would work. I'm such a romantic dork.

I sat back, and watched as Petra and Jade began to do their practice volleys. It was so professional. They stretched and warmed up their shoulders and elbows. Then they rallied. After they practiced, they walked toward the net with a third person. Oh my god, that's Martina Hingis! I sat forward in my seat. "Holy chizz!"

"She famous?" Andre asked.

"Uh… Yeah," I said as I watched Martina toss a coin. Petra would be serving first.

Jade's boyfriend sat next to me as the match began. I bristled as he smiled in greeting; but I gritted my teeth and grinned back and gave him a curt nod. Andre elbowed me and whispered, "He didn't take her from you."

"I know," I whined softly. I was being such a baby about this. "Switch seats with me," I ordered with yet another whisper.

"What?" Andre protested. "Tor, come on! I was just about to talk to that girl right there."

I looked at him. "What girl?" He signaled silently to a girl just behind us; she was pretty, kind of like Naya Rivera. Yes, she could be quite a distraction. "That girl?" He nodded and I kept looking, kind of calling her with my eyes. I knew I was wrong, just being a total jerk about it. I could so go back to Petra if I needed a distraction. But I knew that being with Petra made Jade mad and I just wasn't going to go there again.

The Naya look-alike caught a glimpse of me and kind of blinked and looked me over. She smiled and blushed, then drew her plump Latina lower lip in between her pearly whites. I winked at her and she waved shyly. I jerked my head and she nodded. "What are you doing?" Andre asked.

"Bro, that girl is not interested," I stated, reaching for my phone.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me again," he muttered, a little ticked.

"Please, if she were straight, she wouldn't even have given me a second look, but I swear if I even suspect she might be into you, I'll send her your way," I answered.

"I don't need your leftovers," he said indignantly.

I rolled my eyes. "Switch seats with me."

He sighed and complied with my request. I handed her my phone as I sat in his seat. When she leaned forward, placing my phone down my cleavage, she whispered, "I saw you play the other day. You have good potential."

"You want to play sometime?" I asked.

"I'm only a spectator," she stated.

"I'll be your own personal pro," I murmured in her ear. She blushed again, her caramel skin becoming even darker with the flush. This girl almost made me forget where I was. She was no Jade, but maybe…There was applause from the audience, which snapped me out of my reverie.

"Game, Miss West," the umpire stated. I turned my head at the mention of Jade's name. Jade looked tired as hell. That must have been a hell of a game.

"Call me and we can set that up," the girl said and I picked up the phone. Aliza was her name. I hit the text button and asked her to meet me by the pool after the match.

I turned back to the game; it was intense. Petra seemed energized… Maybe Jade needed to get laid like Petra so that she can be energized. I sighed because I knew those thoughts were coming from my loins. And the only one to get to do the laying would be Beck. Damn him.

I took a glance at pretty boy and he had a little concern on his face as he looked out to his girl. Then down at his phone as he texted someone. He was in an intense conversation because he seemed upset.

I looked back down at the object of my desire and sighed. Petra was running her all over the court. She kept Jade back at the baseline, but I saw her shift. "SOFT!" I screamed as Petra sliced the ball to just beyond the net. I covered my mouth as I saw Jade react and run forward. As she ran, her left ankle rolled under and she fell, just as she sent the ball sailing over the net. "ACE!" I screamed and cheered with the rest of the crowd.

Jade did not get up though. Sikowitz jumped the box and was out on the court when it was obvious that Jade wasn't going to get up. Before I knew it, my body was in motion.

Jade

Oh god, I'll never get out of the Juniors now. My head was spinning, and the pain was so intense. "Thirty Love," I heard the umpire state as I tried to get up. But then I got a cramp on my hamstring and there was no way I was going to get up.

I shut my eyes tightly and rolled on the ground in pain. "Jade, are you okay?" I heard Sikowitz question above my head.

"Are you gonna default?" Tori asked him quietly. I had been wondering whose hands were stroking my hair. It didn't feel like Sikowitz. And since Tori had never touched me before, I couldn't recognize the gentle stroking.

I sat up as best I could. "It's a cramp. I'm fine," I said.

"Oh, your rolled ankle looks a little sore," Sikowitz stated, looking at my left foot. I pouted and then looked at them both indignantly. I was grateful to Tori for shouting out that Petra was going to hit at the net. Her cry just before I rolled my ankle spurred me forward. I was not going to waste such a fabulous point by defaulting.

"I'm FINE!" I yelled as Tori had her arm wrapped around me to help me up. I sighed and looked up at my box. My mom and dad looked all worried. Beck sat beside them and Andre, concentrating on some text messages and it's as if he hadn't realized I had fallen. Some fake boyfriend he is.

I tried to put pressure on my ankle but I nearly fell again. Tori kept me from falling and Sikowitz tightened his grip on me. "Nonsense." He lifted me up bridal style and turned to the umpire. "Default."

"What?!" I shouted.

"You can't even stand on your foot…we'll rest it and then you can come back and play the tournaments."

Petra walked up to Tori and wrapped her arm around her. "Oh…You are defaulting? Isn't that what you call…losing?" she taunted.

Tori looked at her and pushed her off and walked off the court with us. "Babe! Oh my god! Are you okay?" I heard to my left and another set of hands held on to me. I was easily transferred into Beck's arms and I really didn't want to have to fake anything right now. He kissed me on the forehead as I nodded.

"I'll be fine," I stated

Then he kissed me softly on the lips and when we were done, I looked around and we were alone. "I'm sorry I was arguing with my girlfriend. I didn't see you fall or I would have rushed to you."

"Whatever, Beck," I hissed as I tried to work the rolled ankle. "Why does this hurt so much?" I whined a little and cringed because that's just not me.

Just then the doctor walked in, followed by Tori and Sikowitz. I grimaced at them and waited for the doctor to take a look at it.

Well, it's official. I won't have enough points at the end of the tournament to go to Wimbledon in the pro circuit. I'll have to do it in juniors. This game would have put me over the top. But I am benched for the next two weeks at least.

I headed down to the court to watch Tori work out. I figured that if I couldn't do it myself, I may as well torment her while I am at it. I struggled with my crutches toward the courts. It hurt under my armpit, and I swore I was getting some serious blisters there.

When I finally got there, Tori was with a girl. She was a little taller than she was; a little darker than she was. Her raven hair was tied back in a high ponytail, exposing a beautiful swanlike neck.

Tori was teaching her how to serve, her arms wrapped around her. I swear I saw her kiss the girl's neck.

I watched for a couple of minutes as this flirtation carried on before I made my presence known. "You know, Turtle, you ought to be working on your footwork, instead of working on getting in her pants."

Tori turned to me and smiled. Then she walked over to me as if what I said didn't faze her at all. "Jade! How's the ankle?"

I shrugged. "It hurts."

She reached around me and hugged me. "Poor baby…Hey, Jade this is Aliza."

I looked at the girlfriend and nodded. Aliza looked me over and smiled as well. "She doesn't need to work on getting in my pants," Aliza stated in a matter of fact. "She's put in the work and gotten a good review."

Gross innuendo; I nearly gagged. I rolled my eyes and turned to leave. I struggled with the damn crutches again and nearly fell backward. But Tori was there to catch me. "Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," she said, not mentioning the fact that I almost fell on my ass.

I looked at her and waited for what she wanted to say. I was kind of happy to stay in her arms though. I felt safe, and at home and then I remembered her girlfriend so I stood up straight. "Well, what is it?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with my footwork?" she asked, letting me go. Was that reluctance on her features? No…It couldn't be.

"Forget it," I said, starting to move away, perturbed about her supermodel girlfriend behind her. Why did I care? I had a hot boyfriend of my own…at least she thought I did.

"Jade, you keep pointing the problem out. Just, come on! I don't want to make Sikowitz look bad!" she exclaimed. "I'll make it worth your while."

I snorted. "How?"

"I'll do anything you want me to do…I'll teach you how to be a normal teenager," she said.

I scoffed. "I don't want to be ordinary."

"Don't you ever wish you could just go to a party with people your age and just let loose?" she asked.

I really did. I mean, I always went to these stuffy affairs at the country clubs. I looked down at my bandaged ankle and then back up at Tori. "Okay, we'll start tomorrow." I turned to go back out. I had to find Beck and make a stupid appearance. "Have a fun date."

Tori smiled widely and ran up to me and kissed my cheek before she went back to her girlfriend. I think my heart decided that it needed to come out and meet her because it pounded at my chest as if it were trying to break out of jail. I let out a deep sigh and headed to the court where I knew Beck would be.