The Night Tournaments

7 - Arielle

~ One Day Ago ~

"Yvonne, pass!" I called, getting into position. All of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders that were already on the girls' volleyball team were practicing in the gymnasium after school, and I was playing with three of my friends.

Just then, I heard the sound of excited chatter coming from the hallway leading to the gym, and we looked up to see a bunch of 8th graders arriving, along with a few students in older grades.

"Oh, right. The volleyball tryouts are today," Yvonne remembered, placing her hands on her hips. "Yay, we're going to have a bunch of newbies on our team!"

"May I remind you that you were a newbie last year, too, Yvonne," I pointed out, rolling my eyes and picking up the ball. But before she could come up with an adamant response, I spotted Skipper Campbell standing among the 8th grade girls with a nervous but determined look on her face.

"Arielle?" she said when I approached her, breaking into a smile. "Oh, yeah. Bree mentioned that you were on the volleyball team."

"You're here for the tryouts, right? Good luck!" I told her, giving her an encouraging thumbs-up. "Trust me, you'll do amazing."

I got back to practicing as Ms. Kline, the volleyball team coach, gathered up the new candidates and prepared them for the first assessment. 

Even though I should have been focusing on my friends' passes, I couldn't help but watch intently as Skipper and a few other girls stepped onto the court for the practice drill. When her turn arrived, she confidently served the ball over the net, and I felt my heart swelling with pride. Her form was strong, and I could see the resolution in her dark blue eyes as she executed a perfect forearm bump. She reminded me so much of her sister: calm, self-reliant, and crazy-good at whatever she did.

Around an hour passed by, and when Ms. Kline finally blew her whistle to signal the end of the tryouts, I caught Skipper's eye and gave her a huge grin. Her face lit up with relief and joy, and I felt so glad that she had really given it her all.

"Wow, Arielle. I saw you practicing with your friends during my tryouts, and I've come to the conclusion that you are very, very cool," Skipper complimented, walking up to me with her water bottle in her hand. "You're totally my new volleyball role model!"

I laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "I should be congratulating you, Skipper, not the other way around. You absolutely killed it out there! I could see the approval on Ms. Kline and the other girls' faces."

"The tryout results are coming out next Wednesday," Skipper informed me, sighing. "I have gymnastics tryouts tomorrow, too. High school's off to a pretty chaotic start, huh?"

"Wow, gymnastics sounds interesting," I commented, nodding. "But don't worry too much, Skipper - even if you don't end up getting the results that you want, there's always another chance. Besides, if you're anything like your sister, which I already suspect that you are . . . everything will work out for you eventually."

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~ One Day Later ~

"Everyone, thank you very much for coming," the cheerleading team coach, Ms. Chandler, told us after school the next day. All of the girls that were trying out were lined up against a wall in the gymnasium. "As you know, Seaside Heights' cheerleading team is a very important unit, so please expect me and my colleagues to take this round of tryouts seriously. There are also many candidates but very few spots, which means that you girls should not be disappointed by the fierce competition."