Secrets To Keep (Lauren/You)

3

Just as Dinah said it would, Friday came faster than I had expected. I was already in the locker room dressing out for my game. It was the first home game for the volleyball team, and we were all nervous yet extremely excited for it.

The JV game was almost finished, so I was about to go out and play. I was shorter than the average outside hitter, but I could jump higher than average, making me great for the position. The team was built with a lot of strong players, especially this year. I had a lot of confidence in my team, and I had a gut feeling that we'd win today.

"Alright ladies," my co-captain, Christina, called for everyone's attention. We all turned to her, seeing her all dressed out and ready to go. Everyone else was also dressed for the game, so we huddled together, wrapping our arms around each other. All the girls looked at her, seeing her green eyes sparkle with determination. We all intently listened to her pep talk. "It's our first home game, and even if it's not a conference game, it matters just as much. If not more. We don't want to start out our home games on a losing record, and I most certainly do not want to give this team the satisfaction of beating us in our own house."

Some girls cheered after that, agreeing with Christina. I saw an appeased smile grow on her lips as she heard the team's reaction. She looked up at me, telling me she was done with her talk and that now it was my turn. I took a deep breath, my face starting to replicate Christina's in excitement.

"This is the best I've ever seen this team. Each and every one of us brings something vital to this team, and we need everyone to win. I've seen what y'all are capable of, and I know that we can be great. This is what we've been training for, so let's see how you all play when it's not just practice." I paused, looking at everyone in the circle for dramatic effect. I smirked, then continued, "And I think we can kick their asses."

"Yeah!" everyone cheered.

"Let's go!" Christina yelled, starting a song on her phone.

We had this tradition to dance in the locker room before every game. It's our tactic to get pumped up and get the blood and energy flowing. We all heard HUMBLE start playing, and cheers soon left our mouths as we immediately sang along. Everyone would begin with casual dancing, like bouncing and arm movements, but by the end we all did crazy and random things. The locker room would just turn into a chaotic environment by the end of the song.

When the song had ended, Christina cheered, "Let's go out there and win this thing!"

Everyone yelled, jumping towards the locker room door. We whooped all the way through the halls and into the gym, disregarding any odd looks we received. The JV game had been over for a couple minutes, so we all went to grab a volleyball from the cart and started our stretches and pre warm-ups on our side of the court.

Christina and I started bouncing the ball back and forth, stretching out our arms in the process. Music was playing over the speakers, blaring throughout the gym pretty loudly. It was pumping us up even more, and I saw some teammates dancing to the child-friendly music. Christina and I would goof off a little, throwing the volleyball too hard or bouncing it out of control. She was a great co-captain, and I'm glad she was the one to help me lead the team. Out of the both of us, Christina was the serious one who could get everyone in the zone and determined to win, while I worked on building everyone's confidence up. Together, we made one hell of a captain.

Though she was the more serious one of us, she tended to be a goof a lot of the time, too. Her personality was one of my favorite reasons I loved playing with her. We had grown close over the years, and I would consider her a good friend of mine.

Christina had hit the volleyball at me as hard as she could, resulting in it flying past me and off the court. I playfully rolled my eyes and glared at her, seeing her bent over in laughter. I shook my head at her, turning and chasing after the volleyball to the other side of the gym. Running alongside the bleachers, I saw Dinah and Normani talking to each other at the end.