Chapter 6

Here goes nothing. He said mentally to himself as he prepared to step out of the locker room. This was it. It was finally time for him to get out there, and start learning tennis. More importantly, it was time for him to see Sophia. He’d been looking for her all day in the hallways at school, but for some reason, hadn’t been able to see her. Which had bummed Dan out…because if he’d been able to talk with her, he was certain he would have been able to gather some information on her with his relation monitor skill.

Still, even though he’d been unable to see her all day, he had learned something neat, as the day went on. By attending class, and paying attention, at least somewhat, to the lectures, he was gaining experience in some of his skills. His Mental Traits had experience progress in Intelligence, and by the end of the day, he was nearly at his first level of Intelligence. Additionally, aptitude seemed to have been gaining experience as well, albeit a little slower. Over time, Dan had a feeling he would discover what was needed to gain experience in those traits, much like he’d figured out the best ways to grind skills in the Elder Scrolls games. He shuddered for a moment as he thought about all those daggers he’d crafted…

Without another moment of hesitation, considering he’d already changed into his workout clothes, loose fitting basketball shorts and a t-shirt, he stepped out of the locker room. The rest of the tennis players on the boys team had already changed and headed out, but he’d been lingering behind. After all, unlike them, he didn’t have to race to the courts just yet. He wasn’t officially a part of the team. For now, he was just training under Peter. Speaking of…he hadn’t seen Peter much the rest of the day, and the Senior had definitely not been in the locker room when he’d arrived.

Dan stepped outside, glancing around as he tried to catch sight of Sophia. He looked past the guys clay courts, where the boys tennis team members had already begun setting up for their practice. As before, he’d noticed the younger players being sent off in groups to practice their swinging techniques, or to assist in other tasks on the courts. Meanwhile, others were pairing up in groups of two, hitting the balls over the net to rival groups, seeming to warm up as they did. Even more players he noticed were jogging around the tennis courts, while others were stretching. Honestly, he’d forgotten just how chaotic, and impressive, the tennis team at St. Arthurs was.

“Bout time you showed up.” Peter said. Dan had managed maybe half a dozen steps away from the locker room, before the Senior appeared. If he had to guess, Peter had been hanging out at the side of the building, waiting for Dan to emerge. In his hand, the telltale bag full of the racquets he’d ‘acquired.’

“Sorry for making you wait.” Dan said apologetically. The Senior shrugged and smiled.

“No worries. Not like I’ve got much else to be doing right now.” Peter nodded towards the courts where Dan had previously seen Sophia and the girls team. They were a lot emptier than they had been the first day Dan had been at the school. Judging by the players there, Dan guessed they were all Freshman like himself.

“Girls had a match today. Most of the girls are competing. Only the freshmen were left behind. So, not really much fun to watch them, and no one to really chat with.”

“What about the others on the boys team?” That explained why Sophia wasn’t around. She was off competing somewhere.

“Not worth my time.” Peter said nonchalantly. “You’ll soon learn Dan, that I’m kind of a big deal when it comes to tennis.” The Senior was walking backwards as he spoke, leading Dan past the court. He didn’t even seem to care to keep his voice down.

“Like I told you before, a lot of these guys have been playing for a long time. Even still, I’d say the best ones on the varsity, maybe, just maybe, have an NTRP of 4.5.” He laughed. “I’m easily at a 6.0.”

Dan was pretty sure Peter was boasting. And it sounded impressive. And given what Syn had said, Peter was really good. However…Dan had no idea what Peter was talking about.

“Uh, NTRP?”

The Senior smirked and pointed at a two players who were facing off against each other on the Tennis court. “NTRP stands for National Tennis Rating Program. It’s a way to measure players and their skills. The scale starts at a 1.0, which is a newbie, like you. It peaks at a 7.0, which is world class players. Your rating goes up incrementally by .5” They paused so Dan could watch the two players for a moment. They were moving fluidly about the court, and he could hardly believe how hard they were hitting the balls.

“Those two are the second and third best players on the team, under me. Both sit at about a 4.5, maybe a 5.0 if they are having a really, really, good day.” Peter pointed from them, to their coach. A grizzled looking man who Dan had noticed the first day. He’d seen the man order about a few other younger adults, as well as some of the more senior looking players. “Coach over there, peaked at a 6.5 back in the day, but he suffered a bad knee injury that put him out of commission.”

Clapping pulled Dan’s attention back to the duo who had been playing against each other. Their names hovered above their heads, but he didn’t pay too much mind to them for now. Mainly because, Peter had started moving again. Whatever had happened on the court, didn’t seem to impress him.

“In high school, we play in local and state tournaments with other schools, and are usually separated more by a Varsity, Junior Varsity, and so on ranking. It’s a joke though. St. Arthurs has some of the top players in the region. Personally, I rarely even get to play in those events, because our guys beat all their players out too quickly. But that’s aside the point. I spend most of my time at actual competitions, playing against people more my own level. Which is why you don’t see me practicing with these guys right now.”

“Oh.” Dan continued following after Peter. As before, the players seemed to either be scared of Peter, or simply give him small nods of recognition. It was extremely evident he was top dog on the tennis courts there. And if what he was saying was true about his ratings, then he had all the reason to be proud. Dan could only imagine how much work Peter must have put into his practice. “So, how long till I’m good enough to play with the team?” That was really his main goal. He needed to prove himself capable enough of playing with them. Peter had mentioned the chance of playing in mixed matches alongside members of the girls team. And if that happened, maybe he could team up with Sophia. Speaking of…how good was she?

“That all depends on you Danny. I can teach you, but how quickly you learn, and how athletic you are…well those are things I can’t teach. But, I can already tell you’ve got a bit of an athletic spark, and I know you’ve got a goal in mind,” Peter winked at Dan at that. “Which means, I’m sure you’ll do fine. If we can get you up to a 3.0 level by the winter, you’ll be doing well. That should get you on the JV at least. From there… up to you.” Peter turned forward as they neared the street. The Senior had been walking backwards casually the entire time. “Though, Sophia may be a junior, but she is one of the top 8 of the girls team. I’d put her at a solid 4.0, or maybe low 4.5 player. Which means you’ll really need to bust your ass, if you want to play with her.”

He stopped as they stepped onto the sidewalk, just before the asphalt of the road. Peter looked at Dan, eying him up and down, as a grin crossed his face. “First though, let’s get you safely to the hard court, and then we will put an actual racquet in your hand.” He laughed, and instead of running across the street, turned up the sidewalk, heading towards a crosswalk. “After all, you’ve got to prove you can crawl and walk, before I let you run with a racquet ever again.”

Dan hurried after him, even as he felt his embarrassment rushing through him. At the same time, another emotion was flowing through him as well.

Self Esteem x2 (+0) (55), Ambition +1 (48)