𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝚘𝚛 𝙋𝙖𝙮 [COMPLETED]

Seventeen

its been like.. 11 days since i last published,,, im busy rn sorry but  im trying! anyway, heres a lil chapter to keep it alive. tysm for 430 reads omg its amazing! longer chapter, lots of info, read carefully! (1311 words)

Azmina's POV:

Here's the thing. When Juno holds grudges, she's very serious about them. For a long time. As soon as she spotted Juneville High, her eyes went narrow, she was angry. She'd get over the anger but not soon.

Charlie slapped the ball which stunned me out of my thoughts. He served it again, the ball floating over the net and into the other court. A boy on Juneville, number 10 got it up and my heartbeat got faster. 

If they get an attack here, they won't make it easy.

And, I was right. The set to the middle was perfect, a blocker could never keep up with the quick attack they pulled. Nobody could. Tyler looked at the ball, frozen in awe as it landed beside his foot. He looked up, mouth open. 

"What the fuck was that!?" he gasped. "We won't be able to get that up! Not in a million years."

Charlie, who'd run in after the serve was equally as shocked. He simply met Tyler's face, eyes wide and hands shaking. He looked on the verge of a panic attack.

"Hey!" I yell, not really thinking straight. Charlie's team looks at me, so does Juneville High. "Put your heads up right now! All you can do is keep going, don't you dare give up. Not yet."

Tyler nods, slapping a teammate who I didn't know on the back and whispering something in his ear. I see him grab Charlie's jersey and pull him in too, the three of them planning. Juno nudges me, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"The hell you looking at?" I say.

"Quite a speech there," she says. "Keep it up for your future husband."

My cheeks burn but I don't react. Instead I sniff and flick my hair back, trying to look composed. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I sit back down, Sunny and Phoebe snickering. I hadn't noticed Maeve but she was sitting next to them, scanning the court with weary eyes. My whole team was there.

Except for Emily of course.

As the game progressed, I found myself losing focus. The movement on court became a distant thought to me as my brain began to think about our game. I wondered what our opponents would be like. Good or bad. Fast or slow. Mean or nice. Who or whatever they were, we would beat them, no matter the cost. Even with 5 people on our team, we still hadn't been pulled up for it or even remotely looked at to be disqualified.

I'm pretty sure that in this world, disqualified meant executed. Who really knows anymore. 

Juno shifts beside me and I'm aware of my surroundings again. 

"Guys, it's 3:08, we should be getting to our court," she says. standing up and stretching gracefully. I hear her back crack as she leans forwards to her toes and stands up straight again.

"What? How is it so late, the boys aren't even in the second set yet," Phoebe says, glancing at the scores.

It was 19-21, Charlie's team was winning. I hadn't been paying attention but I did notice some freak combo attacks from Tyler and that guy he was talking to. It was working as well. Juneville High looked flustered and tired. Charlie looked calm, stone faced. Kind of scary, I was used to seeing him all smiley and happy. 

I waved, doubting anyone on the team would notice and walk off with my team. I scan the timetable displayed on the wall for the court we're on but Maeve is walking with such purpose I believe she knows the way already.

We make it to court 7, meeting no team on the other side. We were slightly early but we had good time for a proper warm up. I begin to lunge, twisting my back as well. The team joins me and in unison we stretch. I get up and after doing arm warm ups we run 3 laps and get into pairs. It's tradition for Juno and I to be together. She gets a ball and gives me a smile. I laugh and we jump into action.

It's about 3:45 when the other team arrives. All of them wear a dark grey uniform with white numbers and stripes decorating their shorts. All of them have black hair, straight, very pretty. I've seen them a few times, not many.

But I guess it's not often that you see Summit Elementary around here. They aren't a school that comes to tournaments often. I hear they are very talented but spend most of their time training rather than playing. A waste if you ask me. Training is fun and all but playing is an entirely different thing.

It strikes me how many days I've been gone. Three? Two? I've lost track of time. I think I've slept two nights here, I don't know. But the police still haven't come and I'm anxiously waiting for help. For someone to bang on a window shouting "It's okay now, you're safe!" or something like that. I'm desperate to go home.

I realise I've zoned out again and Juno stands next to me,  cooing my name. 

"God! Earth to Azmina." she taps my shoulder and I blink, stunned.

"Huh?" I say, my manners flying out of the window. "I mean- uh- what? Sorry."

"You've been spacy Stacy all day today," Juno remarks.

"Spacy Stacy?" I ask, a small smile betraying my attempt at confusion.

"Just made it up, I don't know," Juno says. "I'm just waiting to get this over with." 

A distant sound makes me turn away. Maeve comes over.

"Anyone hear that?" she asks.

And I realise every single game has stopped. Everyone is quiet. Summit Elementary whispered on the other side of the net, that was all the noise there was. And yet, the banging continued, I could hear voices. Juno walks towards the wall. Eyes all around the room follow her and my heart rate picks up. 

"Hello?" she asks, pushing herself against the wall. Her voice echoes around the room, banging answering it. I hear footsteps behind me and turn around.

"I guess.. they finally found us," Charlie says, one of his hands behind his back and the other pointed at me. It takes me a second to register what was happening. Why did he look so suspicious? Why did he look so mad?

My brain makes one thought. And that thought is oh no before Charlie pulls a gun from behind his back and points it directly at my head. Faint gasps are heard, mine included.

"I know you sent some messages, didn't you Azmina?" he says, his voice hard.

"I- uh-" I stammer, trying to find the right words. "Yeah."

"You know, out there right now are the police," Charlie says, the gun waving in his hand. "You got them here."

The police bang on the wall again, yelling "open up!" loudly.

Charlie smirks. "You've ruined my fun. I was beginning to enjoy this you know." The gun stops moving, his thumb playing with the trigger.

Everyone was frozen. Nobody was moving, including Tyler who I could see standing out of the corner of my eye, utterly slack-jawed. 

A dent in the wall began to show as the police started to break through the barrier. 

"They'll save everyone in here," Charlie says. "Except for two of us."

Blinded by fear, I try to move but he fires. The sound is loud, ripping through the silence as people begin to shout, scream and cry. I only become aware of blood and pain as I fall, slowly to the ground. Everything becomes out of focus as I stare, ahead of me is Charlie.

He turns the gun to his temple.

My voice is far away as I shriek his name.

With a bang, he's gone and so's my consciousness.