Biology||Josh Richards

1.8

//Savannah//

Josh had said he would come with me straight after school so that's exactly what he did. We went to the library and got called out by the librarian a few times, almost getting us kicked out, telling us to be quiet. By the time it was 5:35 PM we had left and I was in the passenger seat of Josh's car.

"Directions please," he demands and I type the address in his large phone.

"Here," I hand it to him as he puts it on his thigh and listening to the automatic voice telling him which way to go.

When we arrived I stepped out of the car and left my school bag inside, bringing my volleyball bag with me. Josh follows me through the doors and I sign in with my name and what team I play for then sign Josh in as a guest.

"Just sit over there," I point to wooden bleachers on the outside of the actual playing area. "I have to go change."  As I walk away, with my bag in hand, I see a girl from my team go up to him with her phone facing him, was I jealous? No, they're probably just chatting.

I take off my shoes, socks, leggings, shirt, and bra. I put on a sports bra, Nike pros, and slip on my knee pads before taking off my necklace and putting it in a secure pocket before putting the rest of my clothes on. When I slip on my last shoe, I start taking out my earrings and putting them in the same pocket as before. I put my hair in a mid-high ponytail before walking out of the beige stall.

I leave my bag in the locker room, just as everyone else, and go into the gym to stretch. I see four girls talking to Josh as he glances over at me and I ignore it while I do my usual stretches.

When I'm done stretching out my back, our couch, Tammy, walks out. "Okay ladies, if you haven't stretched yet... you will take the next five minutes to do so. if you have, you may start bumping with a partner.

I stand awkwardly as I see the only other girl who has stretched and make eye contact before smiling and walking over.

Me and Bella were never friends, more of acquaintances. We walk over to the ball cart together and grab one. They were all the same, black, gray, and white, with the TACHIKARA logo imprinted on it.

We bump back and forth for a few minutes before Miss. Tammy calls us in a circle. "Okay, so as usual, we will do drills for an hour then games for the last hour. Got it?" Everybody I circled around her nods, including me, "okay hands in." She explains and everyone places their hands on top of one another's then we do our little chant that we do at the beginning and end of every practice and competition.

We do many types of drills, including some new ones, before we split into four groups "okay! Hadley's group go to the left going against Brielle's group! Tessa and Savannah's group go to left against each other!" We do as said and go to our sides and in our assigned spots. I was a Libero due to the fact that I was the shortest on the team standing at 5-foot-3 while everyone else was above that. Since I was the only one, people had to fill in as one, even if they were tall.

The current score was 13-14 meaning if my team gets one more point, we win this round. The server from the other team does her overly aggressive overhand serve, scaring the absolute s.hit out of me, as I square down in case it comes to me so I could dive. As my teammates scramble around each other hitting it over the net without hitting the ground. No one is in front of me as they are running to the other side of our court, thinking that the ball was going that way,  when in reality the person who had just spiked it, Aimed it towards me, causing me to dive from my knees to my stomach, scraping the side of my hand in the process, and to hit the ball as it becomes inches from the ground. Surprisingly enough, I had been the one to keep it in the air as my teammate steps in and spikes it back over to them with them not hitting it before it touches the ground inbounds.

I look behind me to see Josh, mouth agape, as he looks at me but not in their eyes, but at lower ranges. He soon notices that my head was turned towards him and makes oblivious eye contact as if he wasn't just looking at my a.ss.

I laugh it off while my team sprints over to me and Does a major group hug before one of them, Ashley, starts talking to me. "That was amazing!" She cheers hugging me separately. "You are going to do so well during comp season!"

Another girl interjects in our congratulating conversation. "Um, Savannah your hand is bleeding." She informs me as I look at my knuckles on my right hand to see that they in-fact were bleeding.

"Oh, it's, um, fine." I laugh out loud, "I didn't even notice." Tammy comes over to our huddle and tells us a good job before re-shuffling the teams and telling me to go to the bathroom and clean up.

I oblige and walk out of the gym, scrubbing off the almost dry blood in the sink, watching the orangish blood disappear down the open drain. My knuckles were skimmed, but nothing I can't handle. I walk back out and Tammy wraps half my palm and knuckles with athletic tape. I thank her and go back to my re-mixed up team and play in my usual position, getting the ball more than usual, just not with as many epic dives as last time.

By the end of the night, I'm exhausted. I walk over to Josh and he embraces me quickly before smiling at me. "That was a sick dive Sav," he announces.

"Thank you, let us go." I tug at his large and as I quickly run to the locker rooms and grab my bag with him waiting outside of the building for me.

"You're not gonna change?" He questions, looking me up and down before meeting back with my eyes.

"Nah, it's fine." I smile and walk to his car. "Do you want to stop by Wendy's and get dinner?"

"Sure. How far away is it?"

"Down the street,"

"Okay let's go." He opens his door as I do the same. I pull down the sun visor and sliding open the plastic around the mirror. I open the pocket of my bag, putting in my earrings and putting my necklace on.

"God, Sav, you smell horrid." He jokes and I slap his muscular arm.

"Please, you know I don't. You're paranoid."

"Oh sure I am," he lays his eyes on me for a brief moment before looking at the Wendy's ahead of us. "Or maybe you're the paranoid." He smirks, clearly happy about his comeback. But soon, his comeback is shut down.

"Well I wasn't the one looking at my a.ss" I roll my eyes as his widen.

"Oh please," he scoffs before continuing, "you'd be lying if you told me you haven't looked at your own a.ss before."

"Well for your information, I have not." I cross my arms over my chest.

"Whatever..." he trails off clearly frustrated with his lack of roasting me. We go through the drive-thru and I order a plain double-stack and lemonade. I honestly don't pay attention to what he orders as I scroll through my texts.

a/n

Okay so.... Josh do be getting a good look at some cake🥴

Word count: 1345

Thanks for 440 reads🥺

Stay safe!
-E