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“Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “Our first match is on Tuesday afternoon.”
“Hey, it’s been a big week for you, moving here, starting a new school,” he said. “And getting me out of bed at the crack of dawn to coach!”
“That’s because of this silly team bonding thing,” I said. “I promise I won’t make it so early next week.”
“It’s okay,” Clay said with a chuckle. “But I don’t want you to burn out.”
“I’m fine,” I said, remembering Mom’s words:When you’re not training, someone else will be.That was the incentive to keep going, to keep pushing. You didn’t get to be the best version of yourself by sitting on the couch or shopping at the mall.
“Just remember that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” Clay said.
“Well, just as well I’m not Jack,” I said with a pout. That’s what I liked about Clay, we’d clicked so easily and I could have a joke with him. “And this team bonding surely counts as play. Mrs. Stephens says we might get wet.” The team note required us to bring a towel.
“Hope you’ve got your bathing suit then,” Clay said with a wink.
I didn’t, and I wondered if I should dash home to get it. But after I helped collect the balls, there was no time.
I raced into the ladies restroom for a shower and to change out of my tennis gear. The restroom was a bit like a hotel, tiled floors, big mirrors, vases of fresh flowers, gold faucets and a rack of fluffy towels. There was luxury soap and hand lotion, and bottles of perfume, too. Truly, the Country Club membership was the best thing about the tennis scholarship!
I put on a pair of denim shorts, a sporty t-shirt and sneakers, hoping it matched the ‘casual attire’ that Mrs. Stephens recommended we wear. And because my hair was damp, I pulled it into a ponytail and put on a cap.
A panic washed over me as I drove into the school parking lot, a crowd of girls and boys milling around the passenger van. With my backpack over my shoulder, I sidled up to Grace, relieved when she greeted me with a smile. I had one ally at least.
“Who are the boys?” I whispered to her as two boys hopped into the van.
“Tennis team,” Grace replied. I don’t know why, but my heart jumped.
“We’re just waiting for one more,” Mrs. Stephens said with a glance at her clipboard. “You girls have your towels?”
Grace and I nodded, and she ushered us into the van. There was a narrow aisle leading to four seats in the back, with a configuration of three more rows of three seats. Bianca and Addison were in the back row next to Thomas, but there was no sign of Max. There were two girls in our team who couldn’t make it, and it was obvious not all the boys could either. To my dismay, Addison beckoned Grace to join them. She cast a triumphant glance in my direction as Grace tentatively shuffled to the back, and a quick scan showed the only empty seats were in the front row.
Yes, it meant I was going to be sitting on my own.
Pretending I was unfazed by this, I unhitched my backpack and put it down on the window seat, and buckled myself into the middle one. Grateful to be wearing my cap, perhaps I would lookless aloneby sitting in the middle, but deep down I was quietly seething—obviously team bonding didn’t start until we got to our location. I pulled my water bottle out of my bag as if hydrating was urgent.
Tilting back my head, I took a drink, only for the van to shudder as someone thundered aboard.
“Sorry, I’m late!”
My sipper jolted from my mouth, water droplets spilling onto my lap as Max appeared, wearing a blue cap, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. He was immediately followed by Mrs. Stephens, doing a head count.
“Take a seat, Max,” she said impatiently.
A boy down the back called out to him, and he retuned a wave, but he flung his backpack down and eased himself into the seat next to me.
“Hi,” he said, immersing me in a cloud of what I called boy deodorant, a smell I was accustomed to from the gym this week. It was sweet and woody and had my heart racing at a million miles an hour.
But there was no chance for me to reply as Mrs. Stephens told us to buckle in for the twenty five minute drive, then firmly closed the door.
Max clicked up his seat belt, and turned to me with a wide grin. And, I don’t know what it was—his intoxicating fragrance, cute smile, or his arm brushing against mine—but I had a feeling I was about to embark on a roller coaster ride.
