Veiled Echoes

C H A P T E R 16

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AIDEN

The blaring noise of the scoreboard echoed in the stadium, and I cringed at the noise. Panting, I grabbed my towel off the bench and wiped the sweat rolling down the nape of my neck.

"Fucking hell." Caleb came to stand beside me, chugging water down his throat before heaving a deep breath. "I think I'm going to pass out."

I nodded, leaning back against the wall, letting the cold bricks bite into my spine. After the match with Nottingham, we'd all been bracing for this from Coach Aarnav.

Yet we had been given a grace period—well, a week of excessive drills with his endless notes on his new plan—before he returned back. And now here we were, on the verge of collapse after a drill that felt more like a punishment than practice.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry like sandpaper. The lines of the court were blurring a little under the lights. My shirt clung to me, cold now that the sweat was drying. My legs still shook from the last sprint.

"Anyone else seeing stars, or is it just me ascending?" Terry, our middle blocker, coughed, wiping his sweat from his forehead.

Caleb groaned, bracing his hand on his knees. "My lungs tapped out somewhere during suicides."

I slapped his shoulders as I passed. "Still breathing. You'll live."

"I'm putting in a transfer request." Jayden, our second libero, stumped over from the court, his shirt clinging. "Tennis looks sexy right now. At least people actually clap politely when you mess up."

He wasn't so wrong. But I didn't join in on their little rant.

I never did.

Not because I didn't feel it, but because I'd seen what happened when a captain did. The team would spiral. And they needed something steady to lean on, and if I cracked, they'd break right after.

I learnt from watching our previous captain. He never backed the coach blindly, but he never let the team feel like no one had their back.

Like I had looked at my captain before, the entire team looked up to me, especially the first-years.

A sharp whistle cut through the stadium. Everyone flinched again, some groaning and some blankly stared at the wall.

The chatter stopped, everyone's attention on Coach Aarnav, who stepped onto the court, clipboard in one hand. Caleb straightened like he hadn't just threatened to pass out. Even Terry, who had been half-seated on the bench, shot up like he had been caught stealing.

"I was gone for a week, and you have turned this team into a book club," he said, his voice echoing off the walls. "Now, let's double it."

Groans erupted like thunder.

"I'm going to fucking shoot myself," Caleb muttered under his breath, sparing me a glance before lining up behind the boys.

I didn't say anything, knowing we had to brace ourselves for much more.

➳➳➳

Walking out of the Dome, I was ready to head home and crash at my apartment. Everywhere, from my body to my mind, I was exhausted. Despite the hot shower I had taken at the lockers, my shoulders were still tense and ached for my mother's tough massages.