𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

TEN

Vivianne

"You're married to the ball, Herida! Marry the ball!" Coach Wang shouted at me, getting all in my face as I focused on my teammate across the tall, white net about to fling the volleyball my way.

"Who's ball is it? Who's ball is it? I need to hear some voices out on this court!" Coach hollered.

"Mine!" I dove for the ball, my hands cupped as it shot up in the air on our side of the court. "Shit," I said, watching my other teammates scramble for it.

"Somebody get it!" Coach screamed.

"Mine!" my teammate Kynlee slapped the ball hard over the net, scoring us a quick point as my teammates on the other side fell into a pile of legs and arms.

"Stop! Stop! What the hell was that?" Coach started yelling at them as we high fived on our side of the court, breathing hard as we shared the collective appreciation that we weren't the ones having to deal with Wang's rant...at the moment, at least.

So far, the volleyball clinic for our team was going horribly and I had a feeling we'd be having more practices until our upcoming game if we didn't get our shit together. If I was being real- this team could be something if our captain didn't show up high half of the time. If I was captain...which will never happen, then I'd do something with these girls. I mean really do something.

It just sucks that I'm the worst player here.

"Sorry I'm late, Coach," someone said from behind me. Everyone turned to see who had walked through the gym doors. Everyone on the team was here as far as I had seen, and it was a Saturday, so I didn't expect anyone non-sports related to be here today.

"Glad you were late. You didn't have to witness the hot mess I just saw," Coach scoffed, walking over to...

"Con," I said lowly, even though I was too far away from the girl for her to hear me.

"You know ha?" Kynlee glanced over at me, a little grin on her face.

I blushed.

"It's not like that, Kyn," I stated.

She laughed awkwardly, her eyes surveying over the team before she spotted me, giving me a little wave, "I'm sure they weren't that bad, Coach." The permanent scowl on Wang's face softened for a moment as she turned towards all of us and threw an arm over Con's shoulder.

"This is Constance Clark. She's class of what," Coach glanced over at the stud, "It's been a minute."

"Yeah, it has," Con chuckled.

"She used to play for me about two or three years back, and I invited her to attend today's clinic to hopefully give this team some spirit and a lot at hard work and dedication," Coach Wang explained. "Constance attends West Houston University. Home of the panthers. Right up the road."

"You play volleyball for WHU?" Kynlee asked, raising her hand.

"No. But I go there for architecture. Haven't touched a ball since high school, I'm afraid," Constance admitted, cracking a smile, her dimples showing.

"How can she help us if she doesn't play on a college level?" someone else dared to ask.

"Well, Hudson," Coach shot the other girl a strong look, "I know many of you plan to pursue the sport professionally, but there's still a lot you can learn from someone who used to play. Constance was the best on my team, and I can say that now because she's all graduated," Coach threw her a wink, "She's successful with her life- I mean she's in college, right? There's still so much you can learn from her. Yes, she's here to help with volleyball, but the wisdom she possesses is so much more than just this ball."