the price of being ace

Chapter 19

It's been almost a whole rotation into the second set and I'm surprised that I only now see Erin,Jackson and Kate sitting with jo cheering me on as I take my position to serve at the back of the court
"Make a good serve ace" Erin's voice says cutting through the crowd and I smile
"You got this" digs says then I hold the ball up like jo said and jump serve it over the net
"Nice one ace I better watch my back or you might pass me in points made off serves" Lily says to me as they roll the ball back under the net for me to serve again
"One more" I whisper to myself and get ready to serve but this time I'm actually going to try a float serve
"Go for it" n.c yells from the sidelines like she knows what I'm going to do so I line up for the serve and hit it,it hits the top of the net but goes over just like I planned but their libero is fast and gets it up

We end up winning the second set by 4 points and we get to the locker room and burst into celebration but not loud enough anyone else can hear us
"You were awesome ace" Emily says then gives me a high five
"You too dude you made a nice point" I say and she smiles
"That move you made was really cool the one where you held the ball out before you served" n.c says and I smile
"Thank jo for giving me the idea" I say and she laughs
"Well maybe the big shot can buy us all ice-cream huh" Lily says and I laugh
"Im really not but You know what yeah whoever wants to come can come and I'll buy" I say and she looks surprised
"You sure about that ace ice cream for the lot of us gets expensive"she says and I laugh
"Well Im not broke but don't knock yourselves out or anything" I say and this earns a laugh from the whole team

We go get ice-cream and thankfully I can afford it without going into my other fund from my parents
"I've never seen you go to work and yet you have enough money to buy the 8 of us that came ice-cream" digs says licking her cone
"Is that a tattoo ace" Kate says noticing my finger after walking in the door of the shop
"No where would I get a tattoo here Its sharpie" I lie and it seems to convince her because I honestly do not even know where I would even get a tattoo and as long as I don't let her get close enough to see the clear plastic until I can take it off
"You're a somewhat not bad lier you know that" n.c whispers as I sit down in between her and digs
"Thanks" I say with a smile
"There aren't any tattoo places here that wouldn't tell her you got a tattoo even if you were 18 at least in this neighbourhood" digs says and I guess that makes at least a bit of sense
"Hey simone you came" Emily says and I look up
"Your parents may not like me but that doesn't mean I can't 'accidentally' run into you" she says putting accidentally in air quotes
"Run into me all you want" she says with a wink and I was not expecting that from Emily

I get home and take a shower,apparently Erin is staying over again too so she'll be sleeping in my room again
"Hey" she says as I walk into my room
"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you last time that the bathroom is down the hall to the right" I say and she laughs
"It's ok i know" she says as I throw my jersey and shorts into my laundry basket
"So you 2 are getting serious" I say and she smiles
"Yeah you know Jackson said you had your eye on someone earlier" she says and I shrug
"Not really I'm more of a wingman lately than anything" I say and she smiles
"Who does jo like?" She asks
"She's trying to shoot her shot with Grayson" I say and I don't know why I tell her but I do
"I grew up with Grayson he's a lot sweeter than most think he is" she says and I've already heard that from multiple people which is kinda funny
"Everyone who knows him said that" I say and she laughs
"Goodnight ace" she says and I smile
"Goodnight Erin" I say

Erin is still sleeping when I wake up so I check the clock and see that it's just before me alarm is supposed to go off so I lie here a minute until it does go off
"Ew it's time for school" Erin says and I laugh
"Yeah also I uh heard you sneak out Im assuming into Jackson's room I'm not judging" I say and she looks surprised
"Yeah I did sneak into his room but just to talk" she says and I nod
"I told you I don't judge even if I am on the asexual spectrum" I say and she laughs
"Wait ace is ace that's kinda funny" she says and I smile
"Ace also wants to be the teams ace" I say and it's the first time I've actually said it out loud while I'm here
"Maybe we should start calling you triple ace around school and not juvie" she says and I laugh
"I'm not ace yet Lilys older and still gets more points than me but technically in high school there is no ace anyway" I say and she shrugs
"That's too bad because you're definitely really good also I know what a real tattoo looks like unlike Kate" she says and I smile
"Don't be a snitch" I say before going out into the hall so she can change
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Shout out to szofflabda for all the support too up to this point thanks it means a lot,peace and stay safe and healthy everyone -Kat :)