Seaglass Promises in the Midnight Sky

Volleyball

Lorraine stood in the sidelines and cheered on Belly and Taylor. She had been watching them train all year for this charity tournament. Volleyball was the only sport Belly ever stuck to, it seemed she liked falling on purpose rather than by accident.

Taylor would try any sport for fun. Lorraine had tried some of them with her but nothing would covince her to intentionally standing in the path of a baseball. She could never quite get down all the different ways to hit a volleyball to make it do what you want. Bowling was fun though. And she liked some of the stuff they learned in gymnastics.

Seeing him alone, Lorraine headed over to Jeremiah.

"Four to three, it's still anyone's game, what do you think Fisher?" She asked, donning a deeper voice and pretending she was holding a microphone.

"Well Michaels, I think the girls have a real shot to go far today. Do you see that form, imaculate." Lorraine was glad he was willing to play into the joke, a storm cloud had seemed to be following him the past couple of days and she was worried it had to do with what she had said about Belly. She really did not want to get involved in all their love lives and had no intentions of spending her summer as the group therapist.

"True true, but have you seen team Shayla? Those girls will be a formitable foe." Lorraine pointed out, having watched the other team in matches while Taylor and Belly were on breaks.

"Maybe against a B teir team but it looks to me like team Belly has brought their A game." Jeremiah grinned and finished his sentence just as Taylor scored a point and cheers erupted. Lorraine and the youngest Fisher boy did their fair share of celebrating as well before Lorraine continued their game.

"It will certainly be an interesting match up. And of course, all these teams are fighting to support their chosen charities. What is team Belly supporting here today, Fisher?"

"That would be the Salvation Army. And what about team Shayla?" Jeremiah asked. Lorraine had looked at the line-up and reconginzed a few of the more prominent chairities being represented.

"Today team Shayla is fighting for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. A truely noble cause from both teams." Lorraine answered, looking over to the current match as it got closer to the end.

"Indeed."

She hardly registered that Jeremiah spoke because her best friend jumped up to hit the ball but landed wrong, falling onto the sand in a way that didn't seem so purposeful, "Shit!"

Jeremiah looked away from her then, "What happened?"

"Taylor fell weird, I don't know, and now she's acting like somethings wrong with her ankle."

"Can you sub, please?" Taylor asked Jeremiah, limping over to the two of them. Jeremiah nodded and took the offered shirt.

"Taylor, are you okay?" Lorraine questioned, wondering if she should try to find the first aid kit or if it was just a twisted ankle.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She said waving away Lorraine's concern as she takes Jeremiah's spot and looking back at the match, "Look at them together, totally endgame."

"You didn't."

"I might have." Her smile was smug and told Lorraine all she needed to know. It was typical of the other girl but she somehow always managed to fool everyone.

"Taylor, you guys practiced for this all year." Lorraine pointed out, knowing just how much work the two put in and betting that as charming as Jeremiah might be he was not going to be as good as Taylor.

"Some things are more important than winning." Lorraine just sighed at her friend's antics and made use of the presence of her best friend.

It wasn't until later that she found herself next to Conrad. Or rather, Conrad was next to her, having headed over claiming his mom sent him to check if anyone wanted food or drinks.

It had become glaringly clear that Jeremiah was not great at volleyball. In fact, Lorraine wasn't even sure he was good at it, which seemed like a crime considering they had a volleyball net and ball at the house. It was also obvious that Belly was at the end of her rope with the boy.

Then, like a poorly timed joke, came the fateful words, "Conrad, I need you to sub in."

As Jeremiah headed towards them, Taylor and Lorraine shared a panicked look. Lorraine turned to Conrad, "If you go out there she's going to see this as a romantic gesture."

Taylor had the team shirt in her hands waiting for Conrad's answer. Lorraine had hated saying it, feeling like she was betraying Belly, but she was with Taylor in this, at some point Belly needed to move on from Conrad Fisher, like she had been trying to do all summer. And if, by some miracle, Conrad did have feelings for Belly, he would go out there and play the game and then they would have to figure out how to get the two together. But that perspective was looking grim if the others' understanding of the fourth of July was accurate.

"Go. It's your team." Conrad told Taylor, who wasted no time following his instructions. Everyone else pretended not to notice the dejected look on Belly's face