The Love Score || Zhuo Zhi

45: Friend, My A--

"Yu Qing!"

"FOR THE WIN!"

Jia Le turned around, grinning at the crowd for a short second before concentrating back on the match. Whatever strategy Jia Le had discussed with Da Chi seemed to be turning the scores in their favour now. I laughed to myself as I noticed after a while that Jia Le had been signalling to Da Chi with the most subtle movements. Maybe a dig with his heel into the ground, or with a tap of his finger on his racket handle. Da Chi obeyed these signals with the appropriate defences. But there was one strategy that made me gape in amazement.

I furrowed my eyebrows as Da Chi and Jia Le both stood in the middle of the court, in a vertical line. The formation looked familiar. Where have I seen it before?

"What formation is that?" I mused curiously.

Huang Jing spun around, hearing me. "It's the Australian Formation. Pretty cool, right?" He folded his arms across his chest. "Only our Yu Qing's Golden Partners can perform it so well."

"The Australian Formation!" I gasped in surprise. The formation was difficult to execute because it required a lot of teamwork and taciturnity between the players, and very few people I've seen can manage to do it perfectly. At my old tennis club, only one pair out of all the other doubles players could achieve this formation.

Da Chi threw the ball into the air and served it over. Almost immediately, the boys moved in opposite directions to cover their court. I watched as Jia Le made a signal to Da Chi. Da Chi returned the ball, then ran over to the other end of the court while Jia Le stayed. The ball came back to the front of the net, and Jia Le took advantage of it by jumping into the air and performing his Acrobatics Tennis move. Needless to say, the boys ended the competition narrowly with a 4-6, Yu Qing winning.

We all screamed in ecstasy, our hopes turning up for the rest of the competition. I watched as the main players thumped Jia Le and Da Chi on their backs in congratulations. Even Si Yang stood up from his bench to compliment them. Lu Xia was the only one who remained on the bench, his arms crossed over his chest while he kept a cross expression on his face. He looked unhappy.

Jia Le crossed over to Lu Xia, sitting down on the bench next to him and swinging an arm over his shoulder while looking to be talking in high-spirits. Lu Xia said something to Jia Le, which was probably a comment on his match earlier because Jia Le grinned even wider. Lu Xia glared at Jia Le for a short second before his eyes averted back to the court before him.

"Why's Lu Xia in such a sulky mood today?" I questioned Qi Ying. After all, she should understand Lu Xia better than all of us.

Qi Ying giggled lightly. "He didn't do too well for his termly exams, so Captain Si Yang refused to let him play for the match. He's being a substitute today, so he's unhappy about it."

"Oh," I said, nodding my head. "Si Yang is playing first singles, right? So who is playing second and third singles?"

Qi Ying didn't know, so Xiu Wen spun around to answer, "Ah, I overheard the other day that Senior Yan Zhi Ming would play second while Qiao Chen is playing third. Bai Yang lost to Zhi Ming the other day, so he's placed as the substitute too."

True to Xiu Wen's words, I spotted Bai Yang leaning against the wired gate separating our court and the next, looking grumpy that he wouldn't play today. I laughed at that sight.

A tall, skinny girl with chin-length short brown hair and large eyes came down the steps and took a seat beside Peng Xiang. She was young and pretty and wore a yellow shirt with sleeves down to her elbows, paired with a white skirt. "Hey everyone."

"Xing Zi!" Qi Ying exclaimed joyfully. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"It's great of you to come to support Yu Qing today, Xing Zi," Peng Xiang beamed.