Volleyball

Chapter Three

   “Rise and shine, Gladiators!” I exclaimed, opening the curtains beside the bed and light comes through the window. I smiled widely when Kim woke up and sat up straight, rubbing her eyes. “Morning, Kimberly.”

   She flashed me her big smile. “Good morning.”

   I sat at the edge of her bed and said, “So I saw your agenda you have a day off today.” I grinned cheekily.

   She looked taken aback and hit me in the arm. “You looked through my agenda? You didn’t ask for my permission!”

   I grinned widely again at her. “To my defense, it peeked from your school bag.” I chuckled.

   Clicking her tongue, she said, “You’re forgiven, Ben.” I smiled cheekily at her.

   “All right, then,” I stood up, stretching my arms. “Now, I’m forgiven, let’s go for a morning jog. What do you say?”

   “Great. Let’s go.”

   I was a morning person, I always am. I had taken our suitcases our of the car and put them in Kim’s room. I only had time to clean the bathroom this morning but seemed it wasn’t really too dirty anyway. So, Kim got up to wash herself up. She looked through her suitcase while I changed into my sweatpants. All set and we were good to go jogging around the neighborhood. Good to greet new people, as we would be their newest and, probably, youngest, neighbor.

   The sky was clear, the air was fresh and the sun was shining brightly. It was a typical September day in Boston and it was a perfect day. The neighborhood was still quiet as it was still six in the morning, so we couldn’t meet anyone new. But there was an old woman standing in front of her house. She looked at us and I smiled to her, so she smiled back to us.

   “What time is the game, Ben?” asked Kim as she jogged next to me.

   “Twelve o’clock but I expect you to come earlier, okay?” I said between breathing and jogging. “My school is apparently only ten minutes away, so if you want, you can walk there at eleven.”

   “Okay,” she responded.

   “No,” I said again after a moment of silence. “I have a better idea,” I stopped jogging and she did, too. “Why don’t you come with me to school now? You can stay in the library, you know. On Wednesdays, people are allowed. So, what do you think?”

   “Whatever you want, Ben,” she said, teasing me and began running again, leaving me behind.

   I chuckled and ran towards her. “I’ll race you to that tree,” I said, pointing at the palm tree a few meters away. And we started running competitively, faster than the wind. Kim was a fast runner and I admired her for that.

   “I won!” she exclaimed when we’d reached the palm tree. We stopped under the palm tree and she punched the air with her small fist.

   I chuckled between my breath. “Yeah, I gave that up for you,” I said, smiling.

   “No, you didn’t.”

   “Yes, I did.”

   “My brother never gives up.”

   A smile appeared on my face. So wide and big, too big for my face. “And who your brother would be?”

   “His name is Benjamin Miller.”

   Hearing her words made me hug the hell out of her. She giggled and hugged me back. “And he’s hugging me now,” she said, giggling.

   “He’s not letting you go, you know,” I said, still having my too-big smile on my face. “And he’s so freaking handsome.”