long story short (chaennie)

godspeed

Chaennie x Filipino Volleyball AU

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National Games, Grade 11

"She can only do crosscourt hits."

"What?" Jennie turns her head to her teammate -- a Grade 12 student from one of the biggest schools in their region. Said teammate is already six-feet tall, and will head to a prestigious university soon on an athletic scholarship. Jennie will listen to anything she says.

"No. 11 of NCR?" The senior juts her chin out from across the court. "I've watched her already before. She's also Grade 11 like you. She's strong, but she only does the same hit every time. All are crosscourt. You can beat her."

Jennie nods. NCR's No. 11 is tall, and slender, but she carries herself with a confident air. Jennie watches as she lines up on the end-line along with her teammates to begin their warm-up, and lets out a low whistle when she goes for a jump serve.

"Good god, she can jump."

"And she can hit. I heard she's being recruited by La Salle," her senior says. "But I promise you, Jennie, just look. Crosscourt is the only thing she knows right now. Not yet that good in down-the-line. And she's always just hitting and hitting. She doesn't really know offspeed."

"Is there a back row already?"

"Eh, maybe?"

Twenty minutes later, Jennie braces herself for impact as NCR's No. 11 leaps for a spike. She watches the way NCR's No. 11 hits the ball, and grins -- her senior was right. It's a crosscourt hit, and Jennie knows she's in the correct position to dig it.

The ball bounces off her arms in painful fashion, and Jennie winces as she is forced to take a step back. She's one tiny step off to the left, and it's enough: her pass isn't quite correct, and the ball ricochets to the sideline.

NCR's No. 11 is smiling across the net, while Jennie groans a little. Her senior taps her head and tells her to keep her chin up. "You'll get it next time, Jennie."

She nods. As she prepares for the next rally, she realizes that NCR's No. 11 is headed to the service line.

"Serving for NCR, No. 11, Roseanne Park."

National Games, Grade 12

Jennie has grown an inch, but that's not saying much. She knows when she started in volleyball that she was never going to be a spiker, and she's made her peace with it. She's even grown to embrace her role as a libero. Scratch that -- she's proud of her role, and she's good at it. Some would even say that she's the best at it, particularly at their age group.

She's become so good at it that there are actual universities coming up to her and her mother, offering scholarships. It's a little overwhelming, and it's not helping her as she prepares for her last Nationals.

There are no seniors now to tell her to relax; instead, she's the senior, and she's the one telling the Grade 11 players to stay cool, to stay calm. They're back in the finals, and to no one's surprise, they're playing NCR again.

"We made it to five sets last year," Jennie tells a Grade 11 kid who is already 6-foot-1. She's pretty sure the kid has already been signed by a university but she doesn't want to ask which one. "So we can do it, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we can."

She looks over across the court and smiles a little when she sees a familiar sight. NCR's No. 11, Roseanne Park. She's even taller now, and there's more definition in her biceps than last year. Jennie has spent plenty of time in the past year watching her highlights -- they're readily available, thankfully. She feels more confident against her this time, even as she knows that Roseanne has no doubt improved over the past year.