𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞!! ʳᵃⁿᵇᵒᵒ

TEN.

SPENCER.

"no!" cassia laughed, trying to best to dodge my hand away from her car keys, "you're not driving! i appreciate the want to be a 'gentleman' but my car is my baby! you know that!"

i rolled my eyes with a laugh, "whatever."

it was only 1pm, and cassia's prom wasn't until 6, meaning we had 5 hours to do anything.

"now that we're all dressed and fancy, in what ways do we wish to destroy my dress, hair and makeup, and your pristine new suit?" cassia glanced over at me, just for a second, before returning her eyes to the road ahead.

i hummed, "food? the messiest food possible—oh and maybe the park."

cassia took a moment to think, "how about wings, 'fake' wings for me of course, and then the beach?"

she must have caught the way my eyes glimmered at the mention of the hidden paradise we frequented, because she then broke into a small laugh.

it was almost nothing changed after our little quick confessions. i found comfort in that fact. small "i love you"s and nothing more. anything else wasn't needed. we both knew what we felt towards one another, and in the moment it was all that we needed to hear.

 ' , —

our late lunch/early dinner was filling to say the least. to our surprise, neither of us had made a mess of ourselves, but that was possible to change.

the glimmering water that rest below the hill came into view, and neither cassia or i could bare the excitement.

after all, it was going to be the volleyball game to end all volleyball games.

"okay," cassia began, hiking up her long dress and tying it just above her mid-thigh, "for this, we act as a whole team on our own, basically meaning you can hit the ball 3 times in a row, as long as you move to different positions between."

i nodded wordlessly, all while rolling up my pant legs. we had already left our shoes in the car, along with my socks and cass' stockings.

when i looked up, i almost immediately cursed myself and looked back down at my bare feet resting along the sand. i don't know why it was such a shock, but seeing the clip of the garter that cassie wore just peering through below her tied up dress. i mean, of course she would wear garters, she was wearing stockings—how else would they stay in place?

still, i did my best to compose myself and desaturate my ever reddening face. thus began the match to end all volleyball matches.

 ' , —

to be completely honest, it had been quite a while since i had played against cassie, and even the last few times i'm pretty sure she was going easy on me.

this was so much different.

she was undeniably a prodigy in the sport, and as much as i wanted to watch her in awe for the entirety of the game, i unfortunately couldn't. i had a match to win.

back and fourth volleys for that seemed like forever. point after point, all neck and neck. it was the closest game i had ever played, and it was beginning to turn out like the very first match we played.