Clingford High

Chapter 9

My volleyball shoes squeaked against the polished hardwood floor. I put down the hood of my raincoat, shaking my head to let my hair run free. I saw a couple of girls gathered at one side of the gym and a smaller group gathered around another, so I walked over towards the latter group.

They were giggling amongst themselves as I neared them and I would have tapped the girl in the middle if someone had not stepped in front of me.

"Hey, Rae! You made it!" Angelica said enthusiastically with a wide grin on her face. I returned the smile.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Angelica threw her head back in a laugh. "This is the spirit we need on this team. Really hope that you can make the team, even though I decide who gets on the team," she cocked her head to the side. "Well, it's not only me, but there's also the co-captain Stephie and coach. The three of us always work together to sustain this team. Coach comes up with plays and sometimes Stephie would suggest some position switheroos and I would have some team and player analysis. We are like a well-oiled machine, girl." She ended with her weight shifted onto one leg and her hands on her hips. I gave her a tight-lipped smile, looking around at the people in the gymnasium. They all seem to be either in small group conversations or staring at the ground or the ceiling. I spotted a girl wearing her headphones and lying on her back on the bleachers. There was a guy throwing food into the ait before catching it in his mouth. It was too far for me to see but I was guessing that it was Skittles or M&Ms. Angelica must have seen me looking as she gave me a light shove.

"Go chill on the bleachers for a while. Tryouts are starting any time soon. And by anytime I mean whenever Derick, the captain for the boy's team, shows up. He's always late, and I straight up have no idea how he became team captain. But that boy's a dang good player, I'll say," she smiled at me. "Good luck. You go girl!" She laughed and turned around, leaving me standing alone. The other girls must have left. 

I walked towards the bleachers and climbed up to the fourth row, a quiet distance from everyone else, who have hoarded the first two rows. The girl with the headphones sat up as I sat down and took off her headphones and placing it into her bag. I stood up, wanting to head over to talk with her but sat down just as quickly. She will probably think I'm weird. I scratched the back of my neck and sighed.

I might as well start stretching before people question me.

I propped my left leg onto the bench and pushed my body towards it, praying that no one was watching me. It was lucky that I had experience on the volleyball team so I know what I am doing. I would talk to the girl with the headphones -- she seems pretty approachable -- but she might just think that I'm showing off if I mention how I used to play volleyball in middle school and I was made captain -- which is not possible as I was a libero. I just wanted to know if someone has a similar background as I do.

I stole a glance at the headphones girl started to gear up -- she slipped on her knee pads, tied her hair and held it in place with a headband, and she was starting to wear her long socks with her volleyball shoes. I switched to stretching my right leg and started to observe the other potential players. There seemed to be two distinct groups of people during tryouts: those who are overconfident and not doing anything to prepare, and those who are warming up and preparing. Even those who seemed nervous were up on their feet, jumping around trying to shake off their nerves. There was a small group of students chattering, and next to them was a guy running up and down the stairs one step at a time. No one would make eye contact with me, which is great, but it also shows that everyone was really nervous. That was when a clapping sound caught all of our attention.

"All right settle down," a deep male voice announced as everyone started to head back to their original seat. I saw a tanned boy with slick black hair standing next to Angelica, who was about half a head taller than her. Her arms were crossed across her chest and had a soft smile plastered on her face. To her other side was a blond girl, about the same height as Angelica. She had both hands in her pocket and was surveying the crowd. To the other side of the tanned boy was an Asian-looking boy (maybe he's mixed?).

"Hello and welcome," the tanned boy said. "I am Derek Calico, the captain of the boy's volleyball team here with Derek Calico, co-captain."

"And I am Angelica Lowly, captain of the girl's volleyball team with Stephanie Marquez as my co-captain."

"You can call me Stephie if you want, I don't mind," Stephie said with a smile plastered on her face. I like her. She's chill.

Derek turned his face away from Stephie and faced us. "Alright! We will be starting our tryouts. You can look for any four of us individually if you have any questions."

Angelica nodded. "Now, all the girls to the left side of the court and the boys to the right. We will be starting with receiving. Let's go!"

And with that everyone placed their belongings on the bleachers and hopped down to their respective sides of the court. Me being at the top naturally placed me at the back of the crowd. The girls started to file into two lines, and in the midst of the mayhem, I picked the right line. I started to hear the slaps of the volleyballs as the line shuffled forward. The girls around me sure did look more confident than when they were back on the bleachers.

Slowly but surely, it was almost my turn to receive. Some of the balls from the boy's side of the court were flying over to our side, with the boys who hit them running after their stray balls.

"That's me chasing after my crush," someone muttered behind me. I whipped my head to see an Asian girl with a very defined nose eyeballing the rogue volleyball. Chuckling, I opened my mouth to comment on her joke when I realised that I was next in line. Angelica tossed the volleyball into the air and spiked it down at the girl in front of me. The ball came down fast and the girl reacted a millisecond too late and the ball made contact with her knee before her arms. I winced. Not a very good first impression for tryouts.

It was my turn next. I stepped forward and spread my legs apart as Angelica grabbed a ball from the very empty basket. People need to return these stray balls quicker, honestly. Tryouts just started -- no one could be tired already. Angelica saw me and I swear I could see the slightest raise in the corner of her mouth before she threw the volleyball in the air. I gripped my hands together, my eyes tracking the ball while slightly squatting. Angelica would be raising her hand next to her ear as I prepared for the millisecond burst of energy. She spiked the ball downwards and slightly to my right. In that fraction of a second, I shifted my weight to my right leg while extending my arm to create a platform with my forearms in preparation for contact. The ball spun down at me and I adjusted my arms to hit the ball back to Angelica. She did a little hop to catch the ball that I returned and she gave me a little nod, her lips pursed. I returned to the back of the line and caught myself smiling. First impression secured.

Hey y'all! I'm backkkk. Summer vacation has started and with COVID-19 and the whole world being shut down, I will have more time to edit my photos, videos, and update Wattpad! I'm going to be starting a new book that I wanted to for a while so that's going to be exciting. Yay me. This book won't be very long because I want to put more focus on my other book. Give this a vote :)