Chapter 12

“This is a terrible idea.” Dan shook his head as he stepped on to the clay court. When he’d heard clay court, he’d been expecting…something different. Instead of hard, compact clay like he’d experienced before, this court seemed to be covered in an almost thick, compact sand like substance. It had a little give to it, and he could see his footprints being left behind in the clay as he and Peter made their way to Court 1. “You know I’ve no idea what I’m doing. Why did you challenge them?”

Peter chuckled, walking with a strong confidence, every ounce of him seeming to ooze excitement. Dan may have been panicked, and worried, and stressed, and just a whole mess…but Peter was 100 percent ready for what was about to happen. Which made sense…consider his High rating in Self-Esteem and Ambition.

“Honestly Dan, this is going to be good practice for you.” Peter stopped once they reached Court 1 and turned to face him, flashing him a smile. And there was that High rating in Charisma. “I can handle the both of them by myself. But this gives you the chance to see what a doubles match is like, as well as to see how different people hit tennis balls. I don’t expect you to suddenly become a pro. But I want you to take this a chance to observe, and put into practice what I showed you yesterday. I saw great potential in you yesterday, take this a chance to just continue moving forward.”

+1 Happiness (58) +1 Ambition (54) +1 Self-Esteem (55)

Temporary Buff Gained- Inspired

Duration- 30minutes

+15% experience gain towards skills

Temporary small boost to Tennis Traits

Temporary boost to Physical and Mental Traits.

Dan’s eyes raced over the messages flowing across his vision, while he tried his best to continue listening to Peter. He couldn’t believe it. Somehow, he’d just gained a buff from Peter’s words. The only parallel his mind came with, was receiving a buff from a high charisma character in a video game. Was Peter a bard type? No, Dan figured he would be more of a Paladin styled persona, considering his high stats across his attributes. Of course, in reality, he was just a very charismatic athlete, considering they were not in a fantasy world or a video game. But still, Dan couldn’t believe what had happened.

“And there’s that unfocused look in your eyes again.” Peter chucked a tennis ball at Dan’s head. Dan hadn’t even realized the senior had pulled out a container of balls. Still, he managed to react in time to catch the tennis ball, albeit awkwardly. “Nice reflexes though.”

Dan did a quick check of his stats, just to see the change. He felt lighter, he felt faster and stronger. And according to his stat sheet, his physical and mental traits had all gained a +5 bonus to them. Which meant he could probably expect the same for his tennis traits. Granted, he figured he didn’t have the time to check on those, so he mentally closed the window and resumed giving Peter his full attention.

“Sorry. I, there’s a lot on my mind. Got some bad news this morning.” That was the truth. Even if Dan wasn’t saying it all. He still was internalizing a lot of what had happened this morning, and wasn’t even sure he’d be able to, or wanted to, discuss his problems with Peter.

“No worries man, shit happens.” Peter had a second tennis ball, and was bouncing it off the frame of his racquet, perfectly hitting it just right to send it upwards in a perfect, fluid motion, to ensure it came back down and he could repeat the act. It was like an extremely advanced version of paddle-ball. “Trust me, I know how shitty life can be.” He twirled his wrist, flipping the racquet 180 degrees and still managing to hit the ball back up with ease. “But, at least this game should help with that. Because like I said, I want you to watch and focus on learning. I’ll be testing you after school on everything that happens this morning.” He smiled and winked at Dan, catching the ball with his racquet and flicking it into his other hand, deftly catching the ball and pocketing it in a simple motion.

“Before the girls get here and start our joint warmup,” Peter pointed towards the duo, who were just now making their way towards them, “I suppose I should cover a few things with you. After all, you’re going to have to serve in a doubles match.”

Dan remembered the example of a serve Peter had showed him. There was definitely no way he could recreate that.

“Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to ace them.” Apparently, Dan’s thoughts had been clear across his face. “All you need to do, is get the ball in the right service box for now. We will focus on power and technique a little later.” Peter took him to the tic on the baseline that depicted the half of the tennis court. He stood to the left of it, turning his shoulders so his left one was pointing towards the service box to their right.

“Normally, in a singles match I would serve from here, and aim for the back corner, like so.“ As he spoke he pulled the tennis ball back from his pocket, and with a fluid motion tossed it upwards, just in front of him and slightly the right. He brought his racquet, which he’d lowered in front of him, upwards and behind him, in a motion similar to preparing to throw a ball. Then with a slow, deliberate motion he brought it downwards, connecting with the ball at the top of its arc. Even though he’d put no effort into it, the ball moved with rapid speed over the net, and directly into the back right corner of the service box adjacent to him, on the opponent’s side.

“But in a doubles match,” he pulled another ball from his pocket, and walked away from the middle marker, heading towards the far left hand corner of the court on their side. “You can be more angled, because you’ve got a buddy to back you up when they return it. So you’re going to stand here, and still, aim for that back right corner.” Again, the ball went up, and again it flew masterfully over the net, to strike nearly the exact same spot that he’d hit with the first one.

“For your serves,” Peter commented, motioning as he spoke for Dan to come towards him, “I’m not expecting any of this. What I want you to do, is stand like so.” He grabbed Dan, practically manhandling him to stand with an open foot stance, his left shoulder pointing to the middle of the service box diagonal to him. “And hold your racquet like this.” He adjusted Dan’s grip, changing it form the semi-western he’d been using for his forehand, to the continental Peter had briefly showed him.

“Then, it’s a simple matter of starting here,” Peter lifted Dan’s arm, so his upper arm was parallel to the ground, while his forearm was back slightly, and his racquet head was just behind the back of his head. In fact, Peter actually pushed it forward just slightly for a moment, to tap the back of Dan’s skull. “To help remember the position.” Peter said as he did so, chuckling. Dan felt like he was a quarterback, preparing to throw a football. But instead of a football, he was holding a tennis racquet.

“Now, just toss the ball up, and bring your racquet forward like so.” Peter put himself in the same stance he’d placed Dan, and tossed a ball up. It was a slow, lazy toss with his left hand, and as it began its descent, he completed the previous motion he’d done with his first two serves, though much slower. The ball flew over the net, with much less force, and bounced softly in the service box, bouncing gently on the clay.

“You make it look easy.” Dan said with a slight laugh. He felt silly, but he’d seen what Peter could do, and he knew from yesterday, these things actually worked. Otherwise, he doubted he’d be gaining the experience he was from doing them.

“That’s called practice and natural talent.” Peter said with a chuckle. “But I believe in you. Slow and steady Danny boy.” He tossed a ball towards Dan. “Now, use the next five minutes to practice those serves, while I go speak to the ladies. I’ll teach you the rest of what goes on in doubles, when we start.”

Dan nodded, feeling not the least bit confident about the whole situation, and tried to do what Peter had done. He tossed the ball up with his left hand, though it went a lot higher, and not in the direction he wanted it to. Still, as it came back down, he went through the motion, and to his surprise, made contact with the ball. Unfortunately, it was a the lower end of his racquet, the throat Peter had called it, and the ball landed far short of where he’d wanted it to. As in…it hadn’t even reached the service box on his side of the court. Which was definitely not ‘just getting it in’ as Peter had said.

Still, as he grumbled to himself about that failure of a serve, and rushed after the tennis balls laying around on the clay court…considering Peter hadn’t left him with all that many to practice with, one thing crossed his vision that made him smile, and gave him a little comfort in this endeavor.

Tennis Trait Unlocked

Basic Serve (Tennis)