Chapter 27

It took them about 10 minutes to get to court that Sophia and Ashely were playing on. During that time, Dan couldn’t help but think about what Peter had told him. Even more so, he couldn’t help think about what Peter had announced to everyone watching their practice session. It just seemed unreal. This wasn’t something that happened in life. It was something right out of an anime.

This of course sent his thoughts spiraling, as he thought about everything that had happened over the past week. What had started as the beginning of a new school, a new life in a new town, had turned into something so much more. The whirlwind of events that had occurred…all because he’d mentioned to Peter he liked Sophia, felt astronomical. If he hadn’t been attracted to her, if he’d not mentioned that to Peter, would he have agreed to give tennis a try? Probably not. And if that hadn’t happened, he likely wouldn’t have had a near death experience with a truck, and he wouldn’t have gotten these new powers. And…well, life would have just been so different.

Peter had tried to start conversation with Dan as they walked to the courts, but Dan was so caught up in his own mind, that he’d not really been responsive. To the senior’s credit, he seemed to take the hint, and instead of pushing conversation on Dan, instead engaged with those around them as they made their way to the court. That, and a lot of texting. Dan didn’t know who Peter was texting, or about what, but the Senior’s phone was in his hand ever time Dan did take a moment to look at him.

“And we’re here buddy. Time to get out of your head.” Peter announced as their pace slowed. Ahead of them were two clay courts, surrounded by a chain-link fence. On one court two individuals Dan had never seen before were playing a singles match. On the other court, Sophia and Ashely were mid match against the two girls Peter had been flirting with earlier. The match had already started.

“Any idea who is winning?” Dan asked as they picked up their pace. They walked around the fence, coming to the side where the girls were playing their doubles match, finding themselves a good place to watch. There was a small crowd watching, but it didn’t seem all that massive. Granted, from what Dan had noticed about this event, most of the time the players were either watching their friends, or were engaged in matches. There wasn’t really a ‘spectator division’ at this specific tournament, save for whoever wasn’t playing in a match at any given time.

“Let’s see,” Peter looked at the court, and pointed towards a strange object that seemed to have been placed atop one of the posts the net was attached to. It looked like a large, plastic tube, green on one half, white on the other, with various slots in it. Those slots were numbered, with a 0 on both sides of the slots at the bottom of the tube, and a 7 at the top. Just above the 7, was another slot that simply said “SET”. The green side had a tennis ball shoved into the 1 slot, while the white side had a tennis ball shoved into the 0.

“I know Sophia and Ash are playing as the Home team today, which is the green side.” Peter pointed to the tube as he talked. “Which means they’ve won the first game. And we’re in the second one.” The point in front of them finished being played out during the conversation, without Dan even realizing it. “For the tournament we do a best of three sets. So far we are on the second game of the first set. Whoever wins this set, will have a marker placed into the set portion on the tube, to denote they’ve won a set.”

“Thirty all!” Dan heard come from the court, rather loudly. Ashley had glanced in their direction, her eyes seeming to linger on Dan as she’d called out the score.

“Oh yeah, she’s totally threatened by you.” Peter chuckled, even as Ashley tossed the ball up. With a smooth motion she launched a flat serve over the net, hitting the back left corner of the service box on the opponent’s side. Dan could hardly believe how much force she’d put into that. Even when she’d played against him and Peter, her serve hadn’t been that brutal. The ball skipped rapidly, and flew past the opponent, bouncing into the chain link fence and giving a reassuring clinking sound, as Ashley’s ace was secured.

Peter let out a low whistle and laughed as Ashley looked again at Dan, her eyes blazing. “They do say competition forces improvement.” Peter continued to laugh. “And I must say, you’ve lit some sort of fire under Ashley’s ass.”

Dan shook his head as he looked at her. He still had no idea why she’d come after him, or why in her head there had been some huge rivalry between them. It didn’t make much sense. Sure, they both liked Sophia, but this didn’t have to be a huge competition, did it? Then again, as Dan thought back, he realized he’d barely actually had any interaction with either of the two. Maybe if he spent some time with them, he could clear the air?

His eyes shifted from Ashley to Sophia. They both seemed in fine form, and were intensely focused on their match. Still, Dan felt like he could see a small smirk on Sophia’s face, as if she were aware of the fact Ashley had gotten fired up, and the fact Dan and Peter were watching. Or, then again, maybe that was just Dan imagining things. It really was hard to tell.

“Forty-Thirty.” Ashley called out, before she went up for a serve again. Just as before, she blasted the ball with a smooth, forceful movement. However, this time, the ball did not land in. It impacted just outside of the service box she’d been aiming for. A fact that definitely seemed to frustrate her, given the growl Dan her heard her release…and the angry look she flashed his way, as if it were his fault. Dan was quickly realizing…he did not understand women at all.

“She better get this one in.” Peter was still seeming to greatly enjoy watching this. “Otherwise I’m going to give her so much shit for double faulting.” A double fault, Peter had explained to Dan, was when you missed two serves in a row. Doing that, gave the other team a point. According to Peter, one of the most important skills to have in Tennis, was being able to get your serve in. Sure, you could be risky with your first one, but that second serve, better go in. Otherwise, you were just handing out free points.

Ashley tossed up the ball, and Dan couldn’t help but cringe. Peter had taught him to toss the ball up, and jut a little out in front of him. If it were a clock, it would be between noon and one. The ball Ashley had just tossed, seemed to almost be heading to the elven or even ten o’clock position, behind her.

Still, Ashely’s body moved as she reached back, bringing her racquet up and behind her head. The motion was still smooth, still practiced, and yet, different. He’d not seen her do a serve like this during their practice match. Dan watched intrigued as she executed the serve, and the ball flew in high, lofted arc over the net. It impacted roughly in the middle of the service box, but as it did it kicked off the ground, seeming to jump with extra force towards the baseline. The girl set to receive it moved backwards, waiting for the high arc to finish, so the ball would land in her strike zone. Had she stayed where she was, it would have bounced over her head.

“That’s a kick serve.” Peter commented as they watched the point play out. The serve hadn’t been terribly powerful, so it was no surprise the other pair had managed to return it. Now, it was up to both doubles teams to play out the point, to see who would claim the point. If Sophia and Ashley got it, Dan knew they would win the game, and that would put them one step closer to winning the set. If they lost this point, it would go to deuce.

“Kick serve?” Dan hadn’t heard Peter mention that before. He’d just seen the flat serve Peter showed him.

“Mhmm.” Peter pulled out a pack of gum, grabbing a piece and offering one to Dan as he continued. “There are technically four types of serves in tennis, though most of the time you’ll only see three. Those are the flat serve, like what I showed you, kick serves, like what Ashley just did, slice serves, and underhand serves.” Dan took a piece of gum happily. He figured it would guarantee he didn’t have pizza breath when he chatted with the girls next.

“Flat serves,” Peter continued as he put the gum away. “are powerful serves. They’re fast, and you can put a lot of force into them. They fly fast and in a straight line, and bounce up rather predictably. Their strength, is in how fast and how accurate a player can serve them. You’ll see a lot of the pro’s use them as their first serve, considering they can get them into the 120miles per hour range. Even as a second serve, they’ll get them in the 90 plus range.”

Dan…couldn’t fathom that. Was that how fast Peter’s serve was? Or was Peter holding back. Had Peter ever actually showcased his full serve? As Dan thought about it, he had to wonder if he’d ever actually seen Peter using his actual skills, considering how good he claimed to be.

“Oh, good show.” Peter commented as the point finished being played out. Dan had been so focused on the senior, he’d not been watching the exchange. Apparently Sophia and Ashley had won the point, giving them the game. Now, it was the other girls turn to serve, as Sophia and Ashely took up their positions on their side of the court. Ashley was on the right-hand side of the court, preparing to receive the first serve, while Sophia was on the left-hand side, otherwise known as ad side, according to Peter, and was standing at the service line.

“Any ways,” Peter continued, “Kick serves are done with a lot of top spin. They are seen as a safer serve, because they have a lot of arc and spin to their trajectory, meaning they won’t hit the net as often as a flat serve. The spin applied to a kick serve, makes it bounce higher and more violently, depending on the force you can put into it. Ashley’s isn’t the strongest, but I’m sure she did it just to try and showcase a skill to you that you don’t have.”

“And the other two?” Dan was trying his best to continue listening to Peter, but he was also interested in watching the match play out before them. He’d come here to watch the girls play, not get a service lesson.

“Slice serves use spin, underhand serves are…underhanded, and people don’t like them. They claim they’re not very sportsman like.” Peter laughed and ruffled Dan’s hair, his eyes going back to the court. “But I’ll save the detailed lesson and demonstration for you later. For now, let’s enjoy watching your future girlfriend play out her game.”