Out of Bounds (On Hold)

practice.

Eleanor

Smack.

Smack.

Smack.

Every time the ball hits the ground, I instantly become more calm and comforted.

Calm. That's exactly what I need to be; more calm. I don't know why I'm worrying so much. I'll get picked. I know it, my coach knows it, for God's sake, my entire school knows it, but I'm as nervous as ever for 3 months from now, when the scout comes to my state match and decides whether or not I'm going to the University of North Carolina.

Smack.

"Alright, Ellie. That's enough for today. Great work. Pack everything up." My coach tells me after the last ball goes perfectly over the net and exactly where I aimed.

I sigh as I collect all of the balls on the court.

I really need to practice more.

I wave goodbye to my coach as I make my way over to my brother's lacrosse game to catch the last half.

~

Waiting by the boys' locker room probably hasn't been my best idea ever, considering I can't tolerate most of the guys on the team for longer than 10 seconds.

Especially Logan. Who happens to be Evan's best friend, and he is so lucky that he's my twin and I'd do anything for him, otherwise, there's no way I'd put up with Logan.

"Look who finally came off the court."

Speak of the devil.

"We go through this almost every day," I reply while rolling my brown eyes, "I spend just as much time practicing as you. Plus, everything has to be perfect. I'm not getting a scholarship by sitting around."

"I'm not gonna fight you on that one, but you need a break sometime." Logan raises an eyebrow at me.

"If this is your creepy way of trying to get me to go to Carly's party tonight, it's not working and you can stop bothering me. I'm in training. Which means no alcohol," now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow, "You obviously don't understand the terms commitment and hard work."

"And you don't know how relax and have some fun. I guess we're even."

I opened my mouth to let out a snide remark when an arm was wrapped around my shoulder. When I turned around to see who it was, I found Evan grinning down at me.

"Hey, El. Get a good practice in?" he asks me, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Barely," I mumble, disappointment clear in my voice.

Evan looks at me with concern flashing in his eyes and the grin slowly slipping off his face, signaling we'll definitely be talking about it later. He squeezed me a bit tighter and looked over at Logan, who was still casually leaning against the fence, watching the exchange.

"Hey man! Amazing score. I'm so happy we beat them," Evan tells him, the happiness that was there before flooding back into his features. My brother and his best friend did one of those bro shake things before parting ways.

I started heading back over in the direction of the tennis courts when I heard Evan's footsteps following me.

"You aren't seriously gonna go back over there and practice more, are you?"

I keep walking, not looking back as I respond. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. People like you don't have to practice because they have talent to rely on. I do not. So yes, I am going to practice more. I can't screw this up."

"I know you, Eleanor. And I know how bad you want this, but I also know that if you never do anything else, you'll miss out on so much and you will regret it later. I promise you that, El. You're stressing yourself out over nothing. Please just take a break. You need one."

I know that he always knows what's best for me and I know that I'm stressing myself out too much.

That is probably how Evan convinced me to attend my first house party that same night.

~~~

So this is my first story and I'd really apreciate it if you'd stick with it. And I swear this isn't the classic "brother's best friend" love story. Thanks so much for checking it out. This is a complete work in progress so bare with me hahahahah

For a while, this will proably have slow updates and a lot of grammatical errors and it will most likely have some pretty short chapters. So if you stick with it, kuddos, I love you and you get a cookie.
hope ya'll like it
Emily. :)