strawberry blond ᡣ𐭩 challengers.

one.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.˚

[ 2006 ]

phoebe stood before her coach, visibly uninterested in anything that he said as she finished stretching before her match. her coach had been speaking since tashi duncan stepped onto the court, causing the crowd to cheer. her name had yet to be called as she waited for the announcer to be able to be heard over the applause for her rival. unlike most competitors their age, phoebe was not intimidated by tashi or her skills. she did not care to win or lose against tashi, yet she respected her dedication to the sport.

once the announcer called her name, her coach took her by the shoulders. "remember what i said."

"i know, i know. we're just here to have some fun," phoebe said, before walking onto the court with her bag on her shoulder, basking in the cheers of spectators. she gave a large grin and a few waves before her eyes landed on patrick and art, both still gawking at tashi duncan. phoebe sighed and dropped her bag next to the chair on her side of the net. she pulled on her sweatbands before gripping her racket and standing, instantly locking eyes with tashi.

tashi and phoebe were friends, sort of. they were both admirable competitors, putting on the best matches as two of the top players in their division. their parents were friends, all attending the same university for undergraduate. they had known each other their whole lives, yet they were not best friends as they never made that effort to be associated with each other outside of tennis and family events. there wasn't any ill-spirited competition between them, at least as far as phoebe was involved. she wouldn't accuse tashi of secretly disliking her, but phoebe knew how conniving she could be when something got in her way.

the match between the two started and phoebe zeroed in on tashi's racket and the ball as she watched the other girl serve. she tuned out the chatter of the crowd, focusing on the sound of the racket connecting with the ball. all of her attention was on the match as she shifted to hit the ball. she countered each of tashi's moves, almost as if she knew what the other girl was thinking. phoebe grew bored of the back and forth as she swiftly smacked the ball tashi sent her way, sending it to the corner of the court that tashi did not occupy and earning her points. she locked eyes with tashi, sending her a cheery smile and getting a pleased smirk in return. phoebe got back into her position as tashi prepared to serve again.

in the end, tashi won the match, letting out a battle cry as she got the win. phoebe wasn't disheartened by the result, her easygoing smile never wavering as she shook tashi's hand at the end of the match. phoebe had her fun and that was enough for her. phoebe put away her racket, thanked the official and began to walk off of the court as people sang their praises to tashi.

"hey, phoebe," tashi stopped the girl by grabbing her wrist. phoebe shot her a curious smile. "you'll be at the celebration later, right?"

"uh," phoebe started. she turned her attention to the two boys who were now observing the interaction between the girls. "i thought it was just for today's winners."

"second place stills calls for a celebration. and, it would be good for my parents to see you. they've been asking about you since your parents flew out for their vacation," tashi insisted, surprising phoebe but she appreciated it nonetheless.

"then, i'll be there," phoebe accepted. she sent one final smile tashi's way before walking completely off of the court.

"you sucked today. what happened?" were the first words out of patrick zweig's mouth as he and art joined her at the bottom of the stands. he wrapped an arm around her waist, sneaking in a peck on her cheek before she pulled away after registering his words.

"i didn't think you'd have time to assess my skill level with all the gawking you two were doing at tashi. you got a little drool there, art," phoebe responded, tapping art's shoulder as she walked passed the two, leaving them to follow her.