It All Began With A Song [Editing]

Chapter 19: Gee, Gracias Amigo

Much to my dismay, it's not a dream because the moment Katelyn flings the tennis ball to us -- or should I say, me -- in an hurriedly alarmingly turbulent speed, I begin to realize that two things are about to happen if I just stand there and do nothing.

One: I will get punched by a tennis ball.

Two: I will become a dead meat, literally.

I have just mere seconds before the ball will fly over me and head towards Chase (if I turn my head), so I waste no time. However, when I raise my racket to prepare myself for the hit, I'm already too late. It sails across from me, on its way to Chase. And during all this time, Katelyn has a small smile emerging on the corner of her lips, as if she already knows what's going to happen next.

She did that on purpose, I realize.

Like what I have expected, Chase has successfully delivered the ball crosswise to the court to the tall jet black haired boy instead, who almost misses it. The boy, already predicting that I am the worst of the two of us, in turn swings his racket diagonally so that the ball will fly towards me, which also means that if I miss it, Katelyn's team will score a point since the ball will land out of its boundary line. I run towards it, prepared to start running backwards in case I happen to be too close to it and cling tightly onto my racket so that it won't slip out of my hand if I really do hit the ball.

It's now or never.

Ready or not, here I come.

Using all the force I can, I transfer the ball diagonally back to the boy, but that is only after I feel the slight sting of pain on my right heel. It must have been the fact that I've used too much force on my heel when I've jumped.

No, no, no...this can't be happening!

To my surprise, the boy misses the ball, and we score a fifteen whilst I resist the urge to start jumping up and down and yell, "Hallelujah!" Then it occurs to me that this is the first time that I have actually swing a good ball ever since I've taken off my cast.

Oh yes.

Before they begin to serve, I turn back around and find Chase holding a thumbs-up sign just as he grins proudly at me. In turn, I smile at him and mouth "good luck" before I turn back around, ready for their next hit. This time, it's Katelyn who's serving.

Uh oh.

+ + +

We are currently in the lead with winning three games whilst Katelyn's team have won two games. However, if they win this game, which just so happens to be the last one, we will need to have a tiebreaker -- definitely the last thing I desire, for the possibility of us winning are very slim. At least, the possibility of me hitting the ball due to the fact of my now aching right heel.

Maybe I shouldn't have jumped so hard that time.

Nonetheless, I ignore the pain and continue to strike the ball toward the boy, mostly because I know Katelyn's hit is too hard for me to catch. Occasionally (okay, most of the time), I will miss, and Chase will save us on time.

As I wipe the droplets of sweat from my forehead and nose to avoid it from dripping down any further, there's only one thought that keeps repeating itself over and over in my mind that kept me from collapsing from pain and exhaustion:

We have to win.

So that's what I've been doing. Running -- actually, "skipping" -- here and there depending on where the lime green sphere is headed to, which is a very difficult task. And let me tell you, they're not the only difficult ones. The rest are: