Incubus

Twelve

Luna didn't hate school. She didn't always like having to get up in the morning but overall, she didn't hate having to go there. After all her friends were there and there were some aspects of school she found interesting.

Volleyball just wasn't one of them.

She could run the track without blacking out, maybe not as fast as everyone else but it still counted. She could climb the rope and the wall built to resemble mountains just fine (though she may not necessarily want to) but contact sports were her hard limit.

The idea of almost crashing into someone and all the aggression it brings never sat well with her. So, when it was announced that they would be covering volleyball for the next two week in gym, she wanted to suddenly develop a stomach virus so she could be excused. As luck would have it, she stood in the locker room in perfect health as she dressed next to a very excited Mavis.

"You're not excited at all about this are you?" She asked Luna as she went to her tie the shorts securely around her waist.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Your face is a special shade of green I've never seen before. I don't know if I want to offer you medicine or make a handbag out of the color..." She said her attempt at a joke.

"If you make me into a handbag then I won't have to play?" She replied as she applied a little extra deodorant.

"Eh, you'd have better odds with the medicine. I'm a girl who needs to accessorize." She said, closing her locker with a flourish.

She laughed and for a second it eased her nerves until her teacher blew harshly on the loud whistle. The woman didn't care that the noise bounced off the lockers, causing a ring in everyone's ears but hers. Her thick German accent barked out orders. "Alright ladies, hit the pine and start with warm-ups."

And just like that Luna's nerves returned.

She walked beside Mavis out to the floor to do warm-ups that didn't seem to last long enough.

Since there were twenty-three girls in the class, the teacher decided to split them into four teams of six and rotate them so that everyone went against each other. Luna envied that Mavis didn't have to go first. She watched her sit on the bleachers, watching hard as they readied to start.

She told herself that she would do what she had to do to touch the ball as little as possible. She figured that her best bet was close to the net.

"Look alive ladies." A very pumped-up Tara bounced up and down trying to loosen her shoulders and wrists. She was an incredibly competitive member of the school's volleyball team and it was obvious that she used sports as an outlet for her anger.

It was hard for her to hide her distaste for the girls that were selected as her teammates so she decided that she would just have to play for all of them.

She kept her gaze on the ball as the other side served it.

Back and forth, the leather ball went before Luna's side finally got a point.

She breathed a sigh of relief that the ball hadn't come her way but they were still four points away from her being able to sit out for a while.

The ball was served from Luna's side this time and the opposing team knocked it straight into the air. Luna felt a lump in her throat when she realized that it was coming straight for her.

She fumbled with her hands and barely managed to push it back over the net.

Behind her, Tara let out a very audible grunt of frustration.

The ball continued to toss back and forth before Luna's team scored another point with Tara doing a lot, if not most, of the work. She growled and snapped at her teammates for not being as good as she was even though she was happy to step up.

After another serve, the ball came straight for her. She tried to jump up to hit it but she felt a sharp elbow in her side. Tara came running up and shoving her out of the way. With Luna on the floor clutching her elbow, she was free to spike the ball and secure another point for them.

The coach saw it and blew her whistle hard and loud.

"One more move like that again, Matthews and you'll ride the bench for the rest of the week!" She commanded in a deep voice.

Tara rolled her eyes and took her place back information.

A few more torturous rounds and class was over for the day. Though Tara was being carefully watched by their teacher, she still managed to shove Luna out of the way if she saw the opportunity to score.

Though Luna wasn't searching for glory or anything, if the teacher didn't feel like she was trying to participate it could impact her grade in the class. But she didn't want the conflict so she stayed out of the tall girl's way as best she could for the remainder of the period.

When the horror was finally over, Luna rushed to the locker rooms to change back into her normal clothes.

"Damn it, I wanted to play," Mavis grumbled as she shoved her clothes into her locker. Her body was tall and statuesque while she changed out the baggy shorts and into the skirt and long sleeve top. "Would've loved to shove that troll to the ground."

"Who Tara?" Luna pretended not to feel the pain in her elbow from hitting the ground.

"Ugh yes! The way she pushed you was so uncalled for. She just wanted to hog the glory and feel like she was better than someone for a minute!" She whisper-yelled as she released her blue locks from its messy bun. "You should've got all in her damn face..."

"No, it's fine." With her clothes back on, she was free to fix the tight braid she kept her hair in.

"No, it's not fine. You can't let her push you around because she thinks she's some world-class volleyball nobody! If you keep letting her, do it, she's just gonna keep doing it until she gets you pissed."

She didn't reply to Mavis, she grabbed her backpack and waited for her to grab hers so they could walk to their next class together.

She knew deep down that Mavis was right, she should have said something to Tara but she had enough conflict going on at home, she didn't need it at school too. Luna would have to try her best to stay out of Tara's way until volleyball was over. She swallowed whatever she was feeling and followed her new friend to class.