Across the Net

Practice?

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain. -Vivian Greene

~~~~

The ball flew in a great arc, and my eyes followed its path, latching my hope with it...

Wham! The ball fell into the net, caving it in. I groaned inwardly. Crap. I had just missed the tenth ball of the day. I must've reached a record or something.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Lana was in one of her fits again, and her pretty face was livid.

I winced at the volume of her tone and glared at the ball defiantly.

"Alex, if you don't do better, you'll have to back out or be substitute," Celia sqwaked as she swung the ball across with apparent ease.

That hurt.

"She's right," Georgina caught the ball with her big hands and flung it back to Lana. Awww thanks.

Ouch.

I eyed the supposedly empty stands, feeling my spirits sink lower than an anchor. Jacob was sitting there, twiddling his thumbs. Lana's doing no doubt. A little farther from him was a figure I would rather refrain from contaminating my eyes with.

"Sofia," I hissed under my breath.

"What was that?" Lana said, still pissed off, flicking her hair backward.

"Nothing," I said immediately.

I glanced at Sofia again. She was watching me smugly, her hair tied into a bun as I had did mine. Infuriated, I let down my hair with a pull of my hand. Sofia did the same. I chucked the hair tie at the stands, hoping against hope that it would hit her right in the face.

The rest of the day, instead of being powered by anger, I was a deflated balloon, missing balls all the time.

I left the stadium at quarter to six, and found William waiting for me at the entrance. I turned to look at the stadium. Sofia was gone.

"Hey," I said awkwardly.

William grinned broadly.

"Let's go."

I took his lead and started walking. I knew he lived near my place. In fact, my parents and his were friends. Not best friends, but at least they knew each other. I used to tag along when my parents go visit.

As I walked along with William, encased in a far from easy silence, my thoughts wandered to places I'd rather eat my own nose than go to.

~*~

I first got popular in the start of middle school. No. I didn't get popular because I was nice. Let's face it, it was never that simple.

It all started with the school fashion show. I was never considered pretty, with my big glasses and long hair, but somehow, I got entered as one of the models. From that point on, the popular people started locking their eyes onto me. The day I took off my glasses was the day my fate was sealed.

It was dress rehearsal right after lunch so I didn't bring my glasses with me to the cafeteria.

"Your name's Alex right?"

I looked up from my lunch to see a girl with barbie blonde hair, her eyes so large I could practically stick my hand in it, staring at me, a big smile hanging off of her face.

"Yes?" I asked, pushing non-existent glasses up my nose. I immediately stuck my sweaty palm into my jeans pocket.

"Wanna come over to have lunch with us?" she asked, throwing a disapproving look at the figure opposite me, who was hiding behind a book. I latched my eyes onto the same person, considered for a moment, and said,

"Yeah, I'll come."

~*~

"Hey."

I looked up. We had arrived. The small three-story house greeted me cheerfully as William opened the door.

"C'mon in," he said, beckoning.

I stepped into the house, unsmiling, and caught a whiff of cookies.

"Hey Will," a plump-looking woman stepped out of the kitchen, her eyes, so like her son's, looking me over. "And ah, Alex, dear? Come in, come in."

"Is that 'orrible girlfriend 'o yours coming over?" she said, shaking her head disapprovingly. "That Soria or something?"

"Sofia," said William exasperatedly, shaking his head. That argument seemed to have been on-going.

"Alex is tons better," she said, her heavy accent coloring her words. I blushed, and felt strangely elated at her words.

I hadn't been to the Reynolds' for a long time, but the place had not changed a bit. The same framed posters were out around the house, giving me a small jerk of familiarity.

There was a big one down the hall towards the stairs.

"'Follow your own true heart'?" I laughed. "It's still there? All those years..."

"Ah," William smiled absently. "Yes... yeah. It's been there since forever."

He started up the stairs and I followed suit, feeling the immediate impact the posters had on me.

We reached the second floor, where William's room was situated, right beside the topmost step. I went in, uninvited, and smiled. Nothing's changed here either. I plopped myself onto the bed automatically, and jumped up almost immediately, feeling awkward.

"Sorry," I said quickly, avoiding William's eyes.

He didn't say anything.

After a moment, I looked up to see the edges of his eyes crinkled.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"Nothing," William said, still smiling. I placed myself, this time very carefully, down onto the small couch at the end of his bed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What movie do you want to watch?" he asked after a pause.

"Anything would be okay," I shrugged.

"You like Marvel right?"

I pushed up my shoulders and supported my body with both palms.

"I guess."

"Then Mavel it is," he said, slipping the Avengers into the DVD player. To my slight disappointment and relief, he sat, not on the small couch beside me, where touching would be inevitable, but on his bed, swinging his legs down onto the backrest. I smiled as the movie started, and the familiar logo came into view.

~*~

In the middle of the movie, I was suddenly conscious of a pair on eyes glued to my back. I looked up as slowly and naturally as I could, and found William staring wistfully at me, even though Iron Man was throwing in a perfectly sarcastic joke.

I turned away immediately, and was aware that William did the same.

The movie trickled by, and instead of enjoying it, I felt uncomfortable. And somehow, I knew why.

When the movie ended, William stretched, giving me a small smile.

"Did you like the movie?"

I knew perfectly well that he knew the answer. He had asked me the same question years ago, when I was sitting in this very same couch.

"Yeah, 'course," I puffed up my cheeks until blowfish was the least of my resemblance.

__________________________________________________________________

Hello again dudes and dudettes, I don't know when I'm able to upload the next chapter cuz exams are coming up. But I'll try my best. Rmb to vote and comment!