Castle High

13. Gravity - II

"You think she stands a chance?"

Jamie's concentration from the side-lines was divided. He was standing right next to Mr. Quinto, with the rest of the tennis team behind them - watching the game from one of the best views in the house.

The access was only open to Castle athletes.

Jamie continued, with his hands dipped into his side-pockets. "This Skye has quite the story. The odds her in her favor and besides, Tennis is one of those games where playing at home doesn't really count as an advantage."

A smile crept in on the coach's face, whose arms were folded. "Everyone has their own story, Jamie. Everyone has their own past, the present is what matters."

"True," Jamie agreed. "Alice has what it takes to bring this home."

"This is so unlike you," The coach pointed out, spinning to lock Jamie's gaze with his. "Normally, your level of intuitiveness would have told you what direction this game would go. But instead, you're doubtful. It's like you're just trying to make small talk to evade something."

Uh-oh.

"No, I'm fine." Jamie shrugged, his gaze still transfixed on the field. "Just having a rough day."

Quinto frowned. "A bad day. Oh please, today is kick-off. Classes were cancelled, meaning your day started not so long ago. So how come it's rough already?"

Jamie wasn't surprised at the man's intuitiveness. The man had been doing this job for more than a decade; surely he has had all sorts of athletes in similar positions.

He let his arms fall to his sides and sighed. "Fine. I had a fight with Alex. Now it's not like I'm being mopy and all because we fought, I mean it's Alex. If that were the case I'd be sad all through my life, but it's what she did after the fight that pissed me off."

He could sense the all-knowing, omniscient smirk forming on the Coach's face as he returned his attention back to the ongoing game. "Oh, Alex. What did she do this time?"

"Sir, you know how I've been secretly chasing a music career-" Jamie began.

"Yeah, even though I advised strongly against it." Quinto cut in, his facial expression changing to an admonishing one. "Especially given the type of wrath you would incur if your folks found out."

"And I remember telling you, that I could take care of myself." Jamie erupted with a defensive tone. "Anyway, I told her to accompany me to a music studio to record a track and she declined vociferously."

"Wow," Quinto exclaimed, bemused at his statement. "I gotta say I was expecting more. I mean, she declined your offer? In Alex case, isn't that the nicest thing she could have done?"

"No, that wasn't all," He continued, a tad bit amused at the coach's jab. "After making it clear that it was only crazy people who chased their dreams, she went ahead and informed my mom about my plans."

"Whoa!" Quinto's lower jaw dropped open, and he tilted his head to gaze upon Jamie. "And your dad didn't find out?"

"I think that question answers itself," Jamie stated rhetorically. "Doesn't my standing here alive prove that he hasn't found out yet?"

Quinto chuckled softly. "But I'm guessing your mom wasn't all that lenient either."

"Depends on your definition of lenient," Jamie replied. "She canceled my appointment there and threatened to close the studio down if they made contact with me later on in the future. On a normal day, I would have been so convinced my mom wasn't capable of such lethal action but to prevent my dad from finding out - I think that's not too far-fetched. And then when I thought It was all over - she called me to her room, sat me down and gave me a long speech about the big difference that exists between dreams and reality."