Chapter 73

“And I think that about wraps it up.” Maddie said, wiping a small amount of sweat from her brows as the final ball flew past Dan. He’d failed to reach it in time. Something that normally, would never happen. However, this wasn’t normal. And Maddie, was a sadist.

“Are you sure?” Dan asked between gasps for air. His stamina was down to a quarter. His breathing was rough, and he was drenched in sweat. The serving had been fine. It was slow, and while monotonous, had been easy. But from there, the groundstroke testing, she’d indeed run him around. To a point that should have been classified as child abuse.

“Pretty sure.” Maddie laughed as she walked over towards him. “Besides, you don’t look like you can keep going. And doing anything in such an exhaustive state is plain old reckless.” She glanced at Peter. “It’s how idiots get themselves hurt.”

“Hey.” Peter said aloud. “That was one time. And it worked out just fine.”

“Lucking out in that you’re able to play with both your hands, isn’t working out just fine.” Maddie said. “It’s dumb luck and a gamble. And it was stupid.”

“I still won.” Peter said quietly.

Maddie shook her head. “Try not to let him make you do anything too stupid.”

Dan was just trying to keep his focus. The world was fuzzy. Having his stamina drop this low, came with some painful consequences. His stats were all taking penalties, and he felt sick to his stomach. He needed to sit down and get a short rest bonus, quickly.

“Besides,” Peter continued, noticing how slowly Dan was moving over towards the bench on the court. “You’re the one that just worked him damn near to the bone.”

“I,” Maddie glanced from Peter, to Dan, and back to Peter. “Alright. You got me there. But I wanted to see just how much he could handle. This all plays a factor in choosing the proper racquet for him, anyways.”

“Lies.” Peter responded with a laugh. “You just wanted to test him yourself, to see why I’ve taken such a liking to him.”

Maddie was quiet, so Peter continued. “And I’m not wrong. So, what do you think?”

It was all Dan could do to listen to the two of them, as he sat on the bench, scrambling with numb fingers to open his water bottle so he could take a drink. It had taken probably two hours with Maddie, at least, to test all five racquets. And he’d be more excited about the amount of experience he’d gained across all his groundstrokes and techniques through the whole process, if he didn’t feel like he’d been hit by another truck.

“Physically, he’s more than impressive.” Maddie said. “His speed and endurance are higher than any Freshman I’ve ever seen. As it stands, he’d probably got the ability to stand on equal footing, fitness wise, with Juniors and Seniors.” She looked over him appraisingly.

“I wouldn’t believe he was 14 if you hadn’t told me. Hell, I still don’t really believe it.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really think he’s a once in a lifetime find.”

Peter clapped a hand onto Dan’s back. “You hear that buddy. You’re a prodigy.”

Dan coughed on his water at the sudden force, wincing as some of it went into his lungs. “Thanks.” He said with a gasp.

“Skill wise,” Maddie continued, “his technique isn’t all that impressive. He has a strong foundation, but I’d say he’s hovering around a 3.0 range.” She turned her focus to Peter. “Nothing I saw today would imply he had the ability to serve like you told me.”

“Oh, trust me.” Peter said. Dan could practically hear Peter’s smirk. “The serve was the real deal. And when he’s playing a match, he’s like a completely different player. You were just making him run around a lot today and he was trying to get used to a racquet. Next time, he’s going to surprise you.”

“I’m looking forward to playing an actual Set with him.” Maddie said. “Especially once we’ve got him his proper racquet, and his shoulder is good to go. Till then, I’ll try to keep my expectations at a believable level.”

Peter laughed at that. “You don’t have a believable level when it comes to expectations. You either expect greatness, or failure. There’s no in between with you.”

“And” Maddie retorted. “I’m never wrong either way.”

“Fair,” Peter looked at the court, and grabbed the Wilson off the bench. “Want to play a little, before I take Dan back? Maybe we can show him what he’ll be doing soon enough.”

“You really believe in him that much?” Maddie responded. She looked at Dan, and he did his best to offer her a smile, without showing his exhaustion. His hair was drenched in sweat, and it felt like he was wearing clothes made of water.

“I did tell you, he just started playing tennis roughly two months ago, right?” Peter said as he fingered through the basket of balls, testing a few. They were all brand new, and yet, he seemed to be searching for the very best of them.

“If that were true, I’d be even more impressed.” Maddie said. “But there’s no way someone picks up the game that quickly.”

“It’s true.” Peter said simply. “Trust me, Dan’s not the lying type. Besides, you can’t fake how bad he was at first. I’m telling you he was born to play this sport.”

“I remember saying the same thing about you, when I first began teaching you to play.” Maddie said with a chuckle.

“And you weren’t wrong.” Peter tossed her a few balls, his smile wide on his face, his eyes filled with excitement. “So, why can’t you trust my judgement on this?”

Maddie caught the balls easily on her racquet, stopping their motion perfectly, and pocketed two of them. She bounced the third a few times, as she stood across the net from Peter. “Because this is one of those few times, where I’m scared about getting my hopes up.” Her voice dropped lower, likely to keep Dan from hearing. It wasn’t low enough though.

“I really think, if he keeps at it, he’ll be the greatest tennis player of our time. And that, is a hope I don’t want to grow. And that’s a pressure, I don’t want to put on a 14-year-old.”

Peter looked at her, his voice low as well, as a pained expression crossed his face. “Because the last…”

“Was your brother.” Maddie said with a nod, before she turned and headed towards the baseline.