Word Count: 1153
September was uneventful for me, but stressful for the rest. All I had to do this month was catch up on school work and prepare for my tour at Itachiyama in early October. Meanwhile, my Karasuno friends were training their asses off for the Interhigh Qualifier. I came by to watch whenever I was free, mostly to see my friends Ennoshita, Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Hinata, and Kageyama. The nerves were getting to them, for sure. One day, Daichi approached me, smiling. "Hey Abby!" He greeted. I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. He wanted something. I urged him to continue, so he followed through, "The girls' team, AKA mostly Michimiya, really wanted to ask you to practice with them one day. You might know some of them already." I thought about it for a moment, then sighed, "So they didn't have the courage to ask me themselves? Tell them I say fine, I guess." Daichi looked confused but allowed me to walk away to the other side of court.
That Thursday, I went to where the girls practiced, waving silently. I didn't say much around these strangers, but one brunette girl was obviously very excited I was there. I warmed up with them a bit, and we began our practice game. My god, they were horrible. They were so dainty and played up the sports stereotype of girls being weak, it was obnoxious. I always hated when certain girls made my gender identity look weak. It took me over a decade to prove to my male peers that I wasn't who they thought I was, but the stereotype still repeatedly gets enforced by horrible men and annoying women. I yawned, waving nonchalantly as I walked away, hearing their excited "Bye's" behind me. Time to go back to math homework.
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I had been incredibly bored in the last week, so I sat on my bad thinking of something I could do. An invisible lightbulb flashed in my head as I ripped my phone out of it's charger, texting a three-person group chat. I read the contacts of Iwa and Shittykawa above the chat as I texted, Hey! I know you guys are practicing a lot but do you guys wanna go get coffee this weekend? Now I had to wait for their response. I closed my eyes on top of my pillow, but before a few minutes passed, my phone buzzed. The boys had responded, well actually Oikawa sent the tongue-sticking-out emoji and Iwaizumi said, Sure, Saturday 2 pm. I danced around my bedroom, happy to have something to look forward too.
Saturday came quickly, and I rushed out of my apartment, dressed in a black spaghetti-strapped dress layered over a white T-shirt. It took a while to get to the address, running in flats and a dress was not easy. I put my hands on my knees bending over, gasping for breath before I turned the corner, spotting the brunettes. I waved and sped-walked over to their table. Iwaizumi nodded at me, "We ordered already, sorry." "No problem!" I chirped, walking into the café. I decided to order an Americano (get it?). I walked back over to our table, smiling. "Hi guys!" I started, "How's practice going? Those serves still hitting pretty girls, Tooru?" Iwa laughed maniacally and Oikawa rolled his eyes behind his glasses, "It happened one time!" he exclaimed. Iwaizumi scooted towards me, whispering, "He's hit more people than that." I giggled, hearing our names being called from the building. We all stood up to go retrieve our orders, and I suddenly felt tiny. The boys towered over me. "Awww, why do you guys have to be so goddamn tall?" I whined. They chuckled as Iwaizumi reached down, ruffling my hair, "Hey! Knock it off!" We grabbed our orders and headed back outside. I looked downwards, noticing their orders. I smirked before I started talking in a deep voice, "Tooru Oikawa's favorite food is milk bread! His personal motto is 'If you're gonna hit it,'" I snorted, Iwaizumi helping me finish, "-then hit it till it breaks!" The spiker and I chortled together, me winking at him, remembering the corny quote. "Will you guys ever leave me alone?!" Oikawa sobbed. He laughed a bit too as we started chugging down our orders, Oikawa daintily nibbling on his milk bread (bottom).
We stayed at the café for hours, laughing our asses off half the time. Iwaizumi and I really got along well, and we both had a teasing sense of humor. Oikawa was fun to hang around with too. Despite his play-boy volleyball dickhead exterior, he was actually really observant and passionate about his hobbies. The boys walked in front of me, walking me home as I tried to catch up with their large steps. "So," I panted, "You guys ready for the tournament?" They looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at me, determined. I burst out laughing, "Hahaha! You're so in sync, it's hilarious!" They started snickering too, helping me get back to the apartment.
"Bye guys!" I waved, "Good luck in October!" I shut the door, heading over to the bathroom to wash my face. After rubbing the cold water over my face, I realized my phone was buzzing. I took my phone out of my pocket, the contact reading "Mom". My face dropped and I gulped, slowly holding the phone up to my ear, "Abby! Why haven't you called me yet?" a harsh voice demanded. I stiffened, "S-sorry Mom. I've been really busy." I whimpered. "You have not!" She barked, "You only have school, volleyball isn't for a while. Friends don't matter, either, you have more important things to be doing. Don't think this trip is for you to be reckless." I was reminded of how my home life was, tending to five rambunctious little boys, and having to completely clean the house every Sunday just so Mom would leave her room. "Don't forget, Abby, you should be thankful to your father for letting you sneak away. I still think what you're doing is incredibly selfish. Now your poor mother is left to cleaning the house everyday while taking care of YOUR little brothers." "They're YOUR kids," I grumbled.
"What did you say?" Mom seethed. I blew up, "This is why I left! I can't stand our family! It was always me, me, me doing everything around the house! I couldn't get help because Dad's always working and you're too demanding, calling everything 'dirty'! If anything, you're the selfish one for giving your one daughter no childhood! I wish I could have had some fucking fun growing up!" I hung up before that bitch could respond, blocking her number. I screamed into my pillow, hot tears seeping into the fabric. I needed some way to let loose. I thought for a sec before I pulled my phone out, making a reckless decision.
YOU ARE READING
A New Adventure (Sakusa Kiyoomi )
Teen FictionMeet Abby Horikawa! Growing up in an American household of her clean-freak mother, her volleyball-obsessed father, and her five brothers was really fucking hard, so when her parents allow her to study abroad in Japan until she finishes high school...
