Yeah, not so tiny, really.
My volleyball scholarship was still hanging by a thread, even though I'd finally made the starting lineup. I knew the university was looking to cut costs, and if anyone found out anything about what was going on between Wade and me, I'd be dropped faster than third-period French class.
And with Mom's medical bills an issue now, if anything happened to my scholarship, there would be no way I could stay in school. I'd have to get a job – although what I could do with no experience and no college degree certainly limited my options. It was a scary thought that was hard not to worry about.
Somehow, I managed to get my head back in the game. I was focused, my perfo
rmance was pretty well on par, and although my fitness level had deteriorated a bit, I was satisfied with my ability to keep up.
We finished up practice by winning the fourth game and not having to drag it out to a fifth.
“Well done, ladies!” Wade called as he strode out onto the court. I couldn't keep my eyes off him; I watched his muscles shift beneath his golf shirt and pictured how they looked underneath. What that led to was me picturing other parts of his body, as well. Other hard, large parts.
“Are you paying attention, Eryn?” he snapped angrily. “Looks like your damn head is in the clouds or something – and that's the sort of stuff that makes us lose games!”
I knew it was an act, and that his anger was simply put on and not real, so I reacted appropriately, putting on an act of shame. “I'm sorry, Coach Vinson,” I replied sheepishly. “Don't worry, I'm paying attention now.”
“You better be.” He looked over all of us as we stood in front of him.
“All right, ladies, as you all know, this weekend's game is against Rollins College. I'm sure you are all aware of their reputation. This isn't gonna be a cakewalk like our game against Miami. Rollins has some of the best players in the division, and from what I've heard, they've been working very hard on upping their game.
“Make no mistake, ladies, this is going to be one hell of a hard game. As such, we need absolute focus and absolute dedication. I'm not even talking about 110 percent. I'm talking 200 percent! Can you do that?!”
“Yes, Coach!” we all replied in unison.
“I didn't hear you. I said, CAN YOU DO THAT?!”
“YES, COACH!” we roared in response. The team was pretty fired up, that was for sure.
“All right, good. I'll send out the starting lineup list tomorrow, so check your emails and prepare accordingly. That's all for now, ladies. Go hit those showers!”
The hot shower felt amazing after practice. I considered lingering a bit to try to talk with Wade for a few minutes, but decided against it. As I left the locker room, my phone rang so I fished it out of my bag. It was Anne.
“Hey, sis,” I said as I answered the call. “What's going on?”
“I've bought a plane ticket,” she said. “I'll be coming out on Friday and staying until Wednesday.”
“Oh my God, that's wonderful news! I can't wait to see you! And, I know Mom will be super excited, too!”
“That makes three of us then! I can't wait to see you guys. And I'll be able to watch your game this weekend in person! It is a home game, right?”
“Yeah, it's here! Oh, man, I'm so excited! Seriously! It's gonna be great having you here,” I repeated.
“I can't wait, either. All right, I'll chat with you on Thursday to finalize all the arrangements and stuff.”
“Yeah. I'll get the spare room at Mom's ready for you.”
“Awesome. Well, I should get back to work. Just wanted to let you know. I’ll chat with ya soon, though. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Annie. Bye!”
I put my phone back in my bag with a smile on my face. It had only been a few months since I'd last seen my sister, but honestly, it felt longer than that. It was going to be great to have her here in person to support me in the game against Rollins.
I walked out to the parking lot on cloud nine. For once, everything seemed to be going right.
Part of me couldn't help but wonder if that meant something was about to go horribly wrong. I tried to push such thoughts out of my head. That was no way to be thinking.
I caught sight of Wade walking out of the building and heading toward his car. My first impulse was to rush over to him and throw my arms around him, but just as our eyes met, a group of girls from the team walked out of the building. Disappointed, I just waved at him; he waved back, and we got into our separate cars and drove off.