Falling Down

Chapter 1

"Could you hand me my knee-pads?" I asked Laura, as I grabbed my blue-black volleyball shoes. I sat on the floor, struggling to slip my yellow-painted toes into my socks.

"Sure!" Laura replied, throwing the knee-pads so they hit me in the face.

"Laura!" I exclaimed, finishing putting on my socks. I glared at her playfully before grabbing the knee-pads off the floor.

"You know, without these I wouldn't be able to wear shorts because of the black-and-blue bruises I'll have," I grumbled, slipping the knee-pads onto my legs. I pulled my volleyball shorts down, unsatisfied with the length of them.

"That might be an improvement," Laura retorted, staring at my already-bruised legs.

"Shut up! Volleyball is harder than it looks! I'm probably going to serve it and fall on my face," I said as I slipped on my shoes, tying the laces in a double knot.

"I bet you a buck that you will," Laura snipped, tucking a piece of her straight red hair behind her ear.

I rolled my eyes at her. Standing up, I said, "Because I'm just about to work my butt off, you're driving."

"Am not!" Laura exclaimed, racing out the door.

"Laura!!!" I called after her, running out of the living room of my house and into the fresh outside air.

It was a beautiful day outside, and the wind hit my cheeks with a force that knocked some of my brown locks from my two braids. The air smelled of fresh lilies.

I was hot on Laura's tail, grabbing her shoulder so I could grab the handle to the shotgun side of the car. I laughed triumphantly and hopped onto the seat, placing my drawstring bag on the ground. She groaned and trudged to the other side in defeat.

"So how long is this tryout thing?" Laura asked as she started the car. I cringed at the roar of the engine. Her small red car had seen better days.

"I don't know! I'm just a freshman that's new to all this stuff," I replied, buckling my seatbelt quickly as the car suddenly lurched forward. I regretted having Laura drive.

Both of us had our temporary licenses, but we were supposed to have an adult drive with us. We rarely did.

"Well, so is everyone else," Laura pointed out, placing sunglasses over her sharp green eyes.

Our charter school used to be small until more and more kids showed up. Eventually, they had to build a whole new building with a whole different curriculum, running from 7th grade to 12th. This was the first year at the new school.

"Don't worry, Turtle," Laura assured me, using my old nickname. She had called me that after she beat me in the last cross country race by 3 seconds. "The worst that can happen is that they put you with the middle school kids."

I shuddered at the thought, although I was grateful for my best friend's support. "Do you think that Tanner and Jeremy will come?"

"They better," Laura said threateningly.

Tanner and Jeremy have been our friends since middle school. Our little gang was known for our craziness and we had never been popular. We preferred it to stay that way.

I knew the boys weren't all that interested in volleyball, (or Laura, for that matter), so I was surprised to step out of the car to be welcomed with a smile and wave from Tanner on the curb of the school's sidewalk.

"Tanner, I didn't expect you to come and support me!" I smiled.

"Support you? I just came for the free snacks," he replied.

Tanner's smile was known to bring others' smiles out as well. He was always one to make people feel better, almost as if there was the sunlight in his heart.

I had had a crush on him since 7th grade, but I had never had the heart to tell him because I knew his feelings weren't the same.

"So where's Germs? Afraid he would get a volleyball spiked down his throat?" Laura said, closing the car door shut as we walked onto the sidewalk beside Tanner.

Laura had nicknames for all of us- I was Turtle because I'm not fast, Jeremy was Germs, because he gets sick almost every other week, and Tanner was Sweet Tooth, because of his love for chocolate and a great smile.

"Yep, once he heard there was spiking involved he hid under his bed," Tanner explained jokingly. "Naw, he went out on a date with this girl from his chem class."

"Oooooooh," Laura and I giggled at the same time.

Jeremy was definitely the most flirtatious one of the group. He had never asked Laura or me out though because he knew it would be too weird. That was another reason I was against telling Tanner the truth: best friends shouldn't date.

"Alright, let's head on in there," Tanner said.

"Do we have to?" I grumbled, butterflies tickling my stomach with anxiety.

"Come on, Izzy, you'll do great," he smiled at me, brushing a piece of brown hair out of my eyes. A wave of a tingly feeling washed over me and I tried not to shiver. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest and I prayed that my cheeks weren't red.

The school building was smaller than most other high schools, even though our school contained extra grades. The bright navy blue paint gleamed on the new building and the metal doors welcomed us inside.

"Now get in there so we can finish this and go get fro-yo," Laura complained, pulling me into the school building.

The smell of sweaty feet welcomed me into the hot gym of our charter school. It was packed with athletic, tall girls that could serve a ball a mile long. My fears punched my stomach over and over as blood pounded in my ears.

"Good luck," my friends pushed me toward the sign-up table and left to find a place to sit. I glared at them before slowing walking to my doom.

***

"Isabel Smith, let's see your serve," a blonde lady with a clipboard called, her eagle eyes landing on me. Her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and her high cheekbones made her look intimidating. I swallowed some of my spit as I grabbed a ball off the ground.

Taking my position behind the in-boundaries of the court, I exhaled slowly. I tossed the ball into the air before letting it hit my palm. I winced as I watched the ball fly into the net.

"Please, I-"

"Here, try again," Eagle Lady said, handing me another ball. Her sharp blue eyes were more fierce than ever, but I recognized kindness in them as well.

Taking the ball and redoing my pre-serve warm-up. My palm hit the ball at full force, allowing it to zoom past the net and into the middle-back position. I was unable to keep a proud smile from falling onto my face.

"Not bad," Eagle Lady admitted. "Next, Nicole Feathers."

"It's Nikki," she replied, almost unaware to Eagle Lady's fierce stare. She had brown curls that were tied back into two dutch braids. Her dark olive skin and pulsing green eyes showed her strength. Taking a ball in her hands, she served it into the back corner. My jaw dropped at her serve, a floater, the hardest serve to master in the book.

She smirked at me as Eagle Lady gave her an approving nod. Curling my hands into a ball of anger, I was determined to prove myself to be better than that girl.

"Next, we will practice serve receives," Eagle Lady declared.

I took my position at left-back as Nikki took her place as the setter. As the ball flew over the net, I dove to prevent it from hitting the ground. Nikki attempted to set the low ball but was forced to have to bump it over. I smirked at her as her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"Two can play it that game," she mumbled under her breath and it was on.