Chapter 17

Time moved impossibly slow for the rest of the day for Dan. Partially because he really wanted to know what Rank 2 would bring for his skills, and also because he was still dreading his return to his house. After all, it meant confronting his dad. It also meant one last evening with his father, before he left Dan alone for another month. On top of that, it meant the weekend was right around the corner, and to a lesser degree of annoyance…teachers seemed to always love giving large assignments over the weekend. He was not looking forward to all that homework.

Still, thankfully, time did move, even if it felt like it dragged on. As such, eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Dan found himself once again dressed in his tennis attire, racquet in hand, making his way away from the locker room, towards the hard courts and his practice with Peter. He could already see the senior out on the hard courts, even though school hadn’t gotten out more than perhaps 10 minutes ago. Perhaps being the principal’s son allowed Peter to get away with skipping out early. Or his status as a tennis pro. Either way…Dan was slightly envious.

“Off to another of your special lessons?” A voice said as he passed by the girl’s courts. He looked up in time to see Ashley standing near the fence, her eyes keeping track of him.

Dan shrugged, not really sure how to respond. “I’ve got to get better somehow.” He said simply. “I’m terrible right now.” He tried to laugh at himself as he said it, but he knew it was the truth. Dan had no delusions that he currently sucked at tennis.

“Was what he said true?” Ashley looked back towards the court she’d been near, where Dan could see Sophia warming up with another group of girls. “About you wanting to play mixed doubles with Sophia?”

Color rushed to his face faster than he could take a breath. And before could say anything, Ashley had her answer. The girl crossed her arms, looking him up and down.

“I can’t believe it.” She chuckled. “You really think you can stand besides Sophia?” Ashley shook her head. “That bastard’s arrogance must be contagious.” She said the last part as she glanced towards where Peter was serving. Though he was all the way across the street, the sound of his serves blasting into the fence was clear as day.

“Let me give you a little warning, Danny boy.” She said the last part with what he guessed was her attempt at mimicking Peter. “Tennis isn’t something you just get good at overnight. Sophia and I have been playing together for years. Do you understand? Special lessons from the Golden Boy over there won’t change the fact that you can’t support her like I can. And I don’t need you, or anyone else, taking up her time with pointless practices.” She looked back towards Sophia and waved towards her, flashing her a quick smile. The girls were done warming up.

“Sophia is going to nationals this year with me. No one,” her eyes narrowed, “especially not a newbie like you, is going to ruin that for me.” Without another word she huffed, spun around, and headed back towards the court she was supposed to be on. Dan couldn’t hear what she said as she reached Sophia, but figured whatever it was, was probably a lie. Somehow, someway, he’d apparently gotten on Ashley’s bad side.

But that wasn’t anything to worry about right now. He had enough on his plate as is. Instead, he smiled and waved towards Sophia. When she returned his smile and wave, he couldn’t help but feel a slight rush of pleasure, sweetened by the cross expression he saw rise up on Ashley’s face at the exchange. Small victory won, he decided it was best not to keep Peter waiting, and rapidly made his way to the had court. Pausing, of course, at the street. He wasn’t going to give ‘Truck-Kun’ another chance at sending him away. After all, he had goals he wanted to accomplish here and now.

“About time you showed up.” Peter said once Dan had finished crossing the street. The senior blasted another ball onto the hard court, and Dan watched it impact with such force on the corner of the service box, that it flew upwards, over the rest of the court, and actually crashed into the fence. He wasn’t actually sure if he’d seen the flight path, or his mind was just filling in how it went from court, to fence, in under a second.

“Sorry,” Dan set his bag down by the fence and began walking towards Peter. “Ashley stopped me on my way over here.”

“Oh yeah?” Peter tossed up another ball, and landed in another devastating serve. “Figured my words would have gotten under her skin earlier.” He laughed as he executed another perfect serve. “It’s no secret she has a crush on Sophia.”

Dan’s mind broke. Was that it? “Oh.” He said as he tried to process. “She’d said she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her from going to nationals with Sophia. I thought she was worried if I played with Sophia, she couldn’t.”

He was pretty sure that was what she’d meant. Dan didn’t know much, but if Sophia was playing mixed pairs with him, she couldn’t play with Ashley, right?

“Nah, that’s just her excuse” Peter made to serve, but seemed to change his mind. Instead he tossed the ball low in front of him, and with a lazy swing, similar to chopping at something with his racquet, hit the ball. It spun in a low arc, just over the net, to land into the service box. The moment it hit, it cut sharply to right, completing an almost 90-degree turn.

“Technically, if you go to nationals, you can compete in multiple matches. There’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Sophia is good enough to make it for singles. Doubles is going to be tough, because Ashley really just isn’t as good as Sophia, and their play styles clash. But in theory, they could make it.” He pointed a racquet at Dan. “And then you could make it with Sophia as well.” He grinned. “That’s what Ashley is worried about. Because then it won’t just be the two of them, meaning Ashley can’t hog Sophia all to herself, and make a move on her.”

“Oh…how do we even get to nationals?” He knew nothing about any of this. He also hadn’t realized he would be getting thrown into so much drama during his first week of school.

“It’s simple, don’t lose.” Peter said with a smile. “At least, that’s my go to strategy, and it hasn’t failed me yet.” He laughed, “but seriously, it comes down to how we do at tournaments. If you place high enough, you earn a spot at nationals. If you don’t, well…that sucks for you.” He motioned towards the court with his racquet, signaling for Dan to take up a position on the court.

“But like I said this morning. I’ve got faith in you.” Peter walked over to his cart of balls, grabbing a handful. “If you keep improving like you have been, and push yourself, I think you’ll have no problem becoming Sophia’s mixed partner. And Ashley will have no choice but to accept that fact.” He chuckled. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll make sure to give her a good talking to.” The way Peter said the last part, made Dan regret even bringing it up to Peter. The way the senior had spoken, it almost seemed like a threat. Dan…had definitely gotten himself into some drama.

“All of that is for another day though. Today, we are going to resume your forehand practice. After all, tomorrow I’m hoping to get you started on backhands.”

“But tomorrow’s Saturday.” Dan said even as he checked to make sure he was holding the racquet with his proper grip, and bent his knees slightly, just as Peter had shown him.

“You don’t have time to take the weekends off.” Peter said with a laugh. “Besides, I want you out of the crawl stage, and into the walking stage, as soon as possible.”