The Struggles of Being a Cat

Chapter 2

"Tweet!"
"Hustle in Cobra's! Now, because of the terrible effort you put in last game, we are going to do some sprints," Coach West said, "Until the slowest girl can catch up with the fastest girl, we will not stop. And for all you slackers who think you can just sit this one out, you can be sure your butts will be on the bench the next game!"
Cat jumped up and sprang into motion. She had been working hard for the last few practices, and she knew she deserved her spot on the court. It was unfair of Coach to make them run, though. They only lost by two points, and it had been their best game all season.
After twenty minutes or so, Cat started to fall behind everyone else. She had been in first for a while. With sweat pouring down her face, she just got a glimpse of Molly (mind you, she was very unfit) passing her up on her right. Coach finally got bored watching them run, so he decided to call them in.
"Ok... Molly! You'll get some more playing time for beating most of these players. Now for the rest of you, I need more commitment. If we don't win the next game, I'll make you run twice as long," growled Coach West.
"We will also have a new girl joining us today. Her name is Katie."
"Hey guys! You might recognize me from the Panthers. We played you last week," Katie said confidently with her hand on her hips. She had jet-black hair pulled up into a perfect ponytail. Also, she had all of the newest gear for volleyball in this season. Even the special gel knee-pads that were super expensive. She seemed nice, but something told Cat she was not to be trusted.
Cat got in line for warm-ups. "Hey, what's your name? I'm Katie!" said a voice from behind Cat's back.
"Oh, I'm Cat. Nice to meet you."
"Coach seems very nice, doesn't he?"
She was too happy and perky for Cat's taste. Who would be happy to be here?
"Sometimes he can be nice. He just made us run for thirty minutes because we lost by two points. Lucky you weren't here!" Cat said.
"Are you kidding me? That's nothing! I once had to run for am hour just because I forgot to bring my knee pads to practice! Looks like you're going-"
A ball just bounced of Cat's head because she wasn't paying attention.
"Cat! Go run a laps until I say stop! You have to focus in line!" said Coach West. He blew his annoyingly high-pitched whistle to let her know to get started.
"How is this fair?" Cat thought to herself as she jogged along, "I was trying to be nice to the new girl, and he punishes me for it! She is such a snob anyway. 'I once ran for an hour'! Uggh. Not another one of those I-already-did-that-and-I-did-better-than-you girls!"
Cat, drenched in sweat, trudged over to the bench to see next game's line-up. As Coach wrote on the whiteboard, he said, "Molly, you're left hitter. Umm... Katie! You are are starting setter! And Sydney..."
Cat couldn't hear what he said next. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears. She had not started before, but not like this. When Coach said someone was in a "starting position" it ment it was permanent. Cat wad their best setter! How could this happen to her!
She barely heard Coach West say they were dismissed as she ran out of the door with tears streaming down her face. She jumped into her mom's car.
This has been one of the hardest practices yet.
"I have never felt as if i were a part of this team!" Cat thought as she flopped into the back seat.
"Sweetie? Lets go get a smoothie, ok?"
Her mother always knew when it was a bad practice
"Thanks mom," Cat said through small sniffles.