𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎

Chapter 10 ~ Volleyball

Mayella

"Anytime now." I sigh as I sit. I'm so hungry and Max is not back with the food yet and it's been over an hour. I wonder where he can be? It's uncomfortable sitting here with Bree and Reece. Reece is laying on his stomach resting on his arms resting while Bree is playing volleyball with some older boys in front of us.

Me and Amara have been coming up with some chat while trying to not die of hunger. It's not like Max went far. He just went across the road from the beach. Maybe he is trying to figure out what we all like.

"May?" I hear my name and see Bree standing in front of me. My book is pulled out of my hands as I cross my arms at her. "Yes?" I ask in a snarky tone hoping she will just go away. "The guys I'm playing with think you're cute, they want you to play." She sounds excited almost.

I know for a fact those words are code for 'I'm setting you up with older men so that you can stop gushing over my boyfriend.' It's unsettling, I know that.

"Are you tricking me?" I ask and she immediately shakes her head, "Not at all! I told them it was your birthday and they thought you were cute and they wanted you to play with us!" Her squeaky voice rings in my ears.

I look at Amara who is dead asleep with drool coming out of her mouth. I then look to Reece who also looks passed out. I roll my eyes and take my book from Bree's hold, shoving it in my bag and standing up.

I gesture for her to move as we head over to the older group of guys. I smile and wave to them, they tell me to pick a side so I pick the side that is farthest away from where we are set up.

I won't lie, I played a bit of volleyball in middle school and I was pretty darn good at it. I hope my skills did not leave. One of the guys came up to me. He was shirtless but nevertheless, breathtaking. He put his sunglasses on his head and headed towards me with the ball.

"Can you serve?" He asks and I nod, not looking away from him. He gives me one more smile before taking his hand out. "Justin." I shake his hand and tell him my name. "Beautiful name, does it mean anything?"

"Not that I know of, I think my name was picked based on my aunt. Her name is Fayette." He nods and goes back to his position. I get in position to serve as I hit the ball to the other side. Other guy hits it and our teams go back and forth for a bit.

My team managed to gain more points than them and win. I make sure to high-five my teammates who I will never see again. Justin comes to me and high-fives me last. "Great job May." I nod.

"Happy birthday." He mouths and leaves with his group of friends. Just in time, Max comes back onto the beach with our food. "Finally!" I yell as I run to grab the food. Max gets startled as I take my food and eat it.

Amara and Reece have been awake for a while, they have been watching our game. A little chit chat here and there.

We don't really talk, except for when I ask where Max was and why he was taking so long. He said that the line was long and that he got caught up in conversation with some locals. Bree and Reece also don't speak.

We all just eat in silence until Amara speaks up. "That was a good game, that guy that was watching you, he was hot." She winks at me. I playfully nudged her. "You were so blushing."

"She was, wasn't she! It was so cute." Bree starts laughing which makes Amara shut up quickly. "You played?" Max asks me and I nod. "Just a game." He nods back to me and goes back to his sandwich.

After eating, Max goes to the water and swims with Amara for a bit while I read some more. Bree is lost somewhere and Reece looks like he fell back to sleep. I don't bother making up conversation. Although I could be all bratty and start asking why he was really here.

I'm almost finished with my book when I sense a shadow hanging over me. I look up to see Justin from the game. I smile at him and he smiles back, taking a seat on the sand next to me. "Whatcha reading?" He asks and I show him the cover.

He nods and stares at the book for a while. "Sorry, I was just impressed with your volleyball skills and couldn't really pass up the opportunity to ask you out." He nudges me, I let out a light chuckle.

"Using me for my volleyball skills, I thought so highly of you Justin." He then lets out a deep laugh that makes my stomach turn. "Well if it makes you feel better, you are also very pretty." I give him a small nod and close my book.

"How old are you?" I ask just wanting some clarity before I make some plans with an older guy. "Twenty two." I nod because the age gap really isn't that bad. He can tell that's what I'm thinking because he smiles.

"A date?" I bit my lip and then shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure yet, I'm still confused on where me and someone else stand. But I would hate to let an opportunity like this slide, as you said, so I can take your number?" I ask. Wow, since when did I ask for guys' numbers?

He then shows me a grin. He has a chin dimple. He then hands me his phone as I put my number in. He does the same with mine and walks away.

I can't help but smile as I think about it. He was cute. And it wasn't a lie when I told him I wasn't sure about where I stand with someone. I don't know what Max is to me and what he wants from me.

"Must be nice to say yes to a lot of dates huh?" A voice from beside me says and I let out a scoff. "In fact, yes it feels very nice to be able to explore my options." I tell Reece.

How did we go from not talking, to hugging and making promises, to making snarky remarks at each other?

He doesn't say anything almost like he didn't mean to say anything in the first place. He goes back to napping on his chair as I open my book back up. What an amazing birthday.

Note my sarcasm.