Chapter 58 Way Back
Lana’s Point of View
I wiped the sweat in my palms against my jersey as I aggressively served, the ball shot through the air, heading to the net, but Xavier passed it up.
Saving me yet again from endangering the team.
“Up!” The other teams yelled at each other, their sneakers squeaking against the floor, and I ran, joining the game.
“You good?” Robert asked me, and I nodded, “Your ball.”
I jumped up to spike it, but there was barely any force in my hit, so Xavier drove forward, his arms stretching. Before the ball reached the ground, he dug it up, and Robert passed.
“Yes!” my team member yelled, and my eyes flickered towards him. He was really covering a lot for me, and it wasn’t even obvious how much he was saving my ass.
This was just a friendly competition between my team members, after our training days.
In less than ten days, we were going to have a preliminary match with Xavier’s team, and the winning team would be trained by the school, before we would participate in the international competition.
Luke Shepherd, who is both our class president and team leader, had so much faith and trust in me, and I wasn’t about to fail him.
This competition means so much to everyone, that was why I’m going to give it my all.
“Alan!” Shepherds yelled at me, and instinctively, I jumped so high, spiking the ball with all my might, and with a hope that this time around, it won’t be so weak that I’m going to need any save from Xavier or anyone else.
And for the first time since I began playing, the ball kissed the ground in the opponent's court.
My eyes widened like gold coins, and a small scream escaped my lips. That was the first point I have scored since the game started, and it was also the winning point.
While I was still celebrating my win, I felt someone’s body slam against mine, and another, and another, until I was falling to the ground with them on top of me.
“Hey, guys, you’re going to suffocate him.” I heard Shepherds' voice, and I instinctively raised my hands as if asking for help. They were hugging me too tightly; I was about to die.
“That was splendid.” Shepherds said the moment he was able to pull them off of me, his eyes darted between Xavier and me. “That was also excellent teamwork, Xavier.”
“And Robert.” He pointed towards Robert, who was still clinging to me. I tried to push him off because we smelled like sweat, but he didn’t let go of me. “Gather round, boys.”
We formed a circle with him in the middle.
“Do you notice a difference in our training now?” He asked curiously. “Even Alan is doing way better now.”
“Yeah.” They all chorused, and then they began clapping.
“Thank you.” I smiled, biting my lips.
“Wait, are you blushing?” Jeffrey asked curiously, as he leaned in to pinch my cheeks.
“Hey,” I muttered before slapping his hands off.
“He is really blushing.” I covered my face with my palms because it felt as though I was about to burst into flames.
“That’s so cute.”
“Awwn.”
“Guys, quiet.” Shepherd snapped, and everyone of us held our mouths, except for Xavier, who chuckled at our ridiculousness.
“As I have said before, the spice to winning this game is teamwork and trust.” He continued with his speech. “The other team might have more experienced players, but there is hardly any teamwork between them.”
He wasn’t wrong, though; they all played separately without any care in the world, but even so, I wasn’t very confident. We just have too many inexperienced players, though we have taken our training very seriously.
And we all have one common enemy.
Christian Blackwood.
He is quite good at the game… in fact, he is fluid on the court, he moves like he owns the place. Seeing him alone is intimidating enough.
He was taller than us, and he used his ridiculously huge body, which is also very athletic, to his advantage.
Xavier is quite good as well, and the only saving grace we have in our team, but he was not half as good as Christian.
How the hell are we supposed to win with Christian playing on the opposing team?
He doesn’t even need the scholarship benefits that are attached to the winning, so why the hell was he even participating in this scholarship?
“What are you thinking about?” Xavier nudged me as we walked along the hallways.
“Um…” My heart pounded hard in my chest. He was finally looking at me and speaking to me. I just believed we would walk back to our dorm room in quietness, since he had been dead quiet since morning.
“Thinking about how to win the competition,” I confessed. “Everyone has a reason or another to win, most people do it because they want to get to college on a fully funded scholarship—but you…”
I trailed off, my face heating up again.
“You never said anything about the reason you are playing.” I suddenly noticed, my eyebrows furrowing. “You just quietly listen while the rest of us are yapping.”
“I play because I enjoy the game.” He said with the same straight face. “It’s not boring.”
“You don’t want to go to college on a scholarship?” I asked curiously. “Didn’t you come to this school on a scholarship?”
He stiffened for a minute and then shook his head.
“No.”
My eyes widened almost immediately.
Wait! He didn’t enroll in the school on a scholarship?! Then why the hell is he staying in that dorm room with us?
“You paid the tuition in full?” I was still amazed, realizing that Noah and I didn’t know anything about Xavier.
“Em… no.” He sounded a little hesitant, like this was a sensitive topic he didn’t want to talk about. “My uncle paid for me.”
“Hey, newbie.” My eyes shifted away from the worried green gaze of Xavier and towards the boy standing just a few inches away from us.
My eyes narrowed at first in confusion, and then my eyes widened as I remembered him. He was the boy who helped me find my dorm on the first day I came here.
And he also told me about Christian Blackwood, but ever since I came here, I haven’t seen him.
I waved.
“Hi!” Excited to see the first person who helped me.
“I didn’t quite catch your name.” He muttered, and then his eyes flickered towards Xavier, and they narrowed. “I see you’re acquainted with Xavier.”
“You know Xavier?” I asked curiously, and also Xavier’s jaw tightened—the neutral expression flushed out of his face, and it was replaced by mild irritation.
“We go way back.”