‘Don’t give up. Keep going!’

  The six girls jumped in unison, propelling themselves half a metre into the air before falling back towards the earth. They landed on the wooden floor, legs straining as they sank once again into their squat poses.

  ‘That’s it,’ Sara shouted, clapping as she ran down the row of six sweaty bodies. The smell of varnished wood filled the air as their trainers squeaked on the floor. ‘Almost there, push through!’

  Sara clapped harder, her voice rising over the sound of shoes hitting wood. She loved this part of training, the brief smiles on her teammates faces making the aches of practice worthwhile. It reminded her of last year, when life had been simpler. Fun, even. Sometimes it felt like the only place Sara could act like her normal self was on the court, away from the disgruntled looks of her classmates. And there would be a lot more training in the coming weeks. Connolley Collegiate College was one of the top-performing volleyball schools in the area, and the new season was nearly upon them. Sara’s last before university.

  ‘Three. Two. One. Finished!’ Sara yelled as the girls came out of their final jumping squat, red-faced and sighing in relief.

  ‘Nice work,’ Sara said, walking up and slapping the closest girl on the back.

  ‘Thanks,’ she replied with a grin. The smile dropped as her eyes trailed off to a spot behind Sara’s shoulder. Sara turned to follow the gaze. Amanda was crossing the court from the basketball boys’ side of the gym, her usual bouncy stride matched by the swing of her golden braid. She wore her gold and blue volleyball kit like the rest of the team.

  Sara felt a prickle of guilt before quickly telling herself off. Amanda had been late to practice. Someone had to lead the team while she was away. Besides, the only reason Amanda was captain and not Sara was because she’d had to step down last year. Sara’s grades had been falling, and her parents had insisted she step back from leading the volleyball team to help improve her scores. Of course, that hadn’t worked.

  ‘Captain,’ Sara called, jogging over to Amanda. ‘We were just getting warmed up.’

  Amanda glanced around at the team. She was in a different class from Sara but was always easy to pick out due to her subtle, cutesy features that leant her a pixie-like look. Amanda finished her scan of the court and flashed Sara a beaming smile.

  ‘Thanks Sara. Okay everyone,’ she shouted to the rest of the group. ‘Grab a partner for some shuffle passes. Sara, you’re with me.’

  They paired up next to the nets and were soon into the groove of things. One girl passed the volleyball while their partner shuffled between two cones, hitting the ball back with their hands pressed together. Sara’s legs soon became tired with the constant movement, her pony tail swinging behind her head with every sidewards shimmy.

  ‘Great stamina,’ Amanda commented between passes of the ball. Sara had to hide her embarrassed reaction. It was a bit ridiculous, being congratulated by Amanda who was so much better than her. She had more power behind her shots and was way nimbler on her feet, not that Sara had ever told Amanda that. One-to-one compliments didn’t come naturally to Sara and she’d always felt like an overly nice imposter whenever she attempted giving them.

  Sara hopped back to the left cone, striking her hands forward again only to meet empty air. She glanced up at Amanda who was holding the volleyball up to hide the lower half of her face.

  ‘Sara,’ she whispered urgently, the lines around her eyes crinkling. ‘We’re being watched.’

  Sara turned and saw a tall boy standing near their court, having come from the other side of the hall where the boys’ basketball team continued to practice. Sara recognised the sandy hair and broad shoulders instantly. Kyle, easily the best-looking boy in their year.

  ‘He’s looking right at us,’ Amanda said bouncing up and down, still using the ball to shield her face.

  ‘He must want to talk to you,’ Sara replied, standing up from her crouch. Kyle was in her class, but that didn’t mean Sara spent much time with him. She tended to avoid most of her classmates if given the choice.

  ‘No Sara, I think he wants to talk with you.’

  ‘Me? Why would he talk to me?’

  ‘Why not? You’re so pretty.’

  Sara cringed a little at that. She didn’t know what was worse, being stuck with Kyle’s staring or Amanda’s compliments. The other girls had noticed the commotion, some giggling as they gathered around Sara and Amanda.

  ‘He’s fit. Who is that?’

  ‘Are you blind? That’s Kyle.’

  ‘Ohh, I heard he’s dating Tracy.’

  ‘Nah, apparently she’s not interested.’

  ‘Her loss. Then who’s he looking at?’

  ‘Sara,’ Amanda exclaimed, grabbing Sara by the shoulders and shaking her. ‘Go on, go talk to him.’

  ‘No, he’s not looking at me,’ Sara said, grabbing Amanda in turn and struggling to hide behind her small frame. ‘It’s you he’s interested in.’

  ‘Oi!’ Amanda shouted across the court. ‘Who are you after?’

  Sara peeked around Amanda’s shoulder. Kyle gave them a lazy smirk as he casually lifted his hand. Pointed straight at Sara. He titled his finger and curled it inwards in a come here motion. Sara’s stomach flipped as the boy’s smirk widened. What was he doing? No way was he pointing at her.

  ‘But I-’

  One of the girls shoved Sara and she stumbled forward before suddenly finding herself walking towards Kyle. His stare was too intense, and Sara tilted her head downwards, conscious of how straight her arms were by her side. What on earth did Kyle want with her? True, she had a bit of crush on him - what girl in her year didn’t? - but Kyle had always acted so aloof that it was hard to tell who he liked.

  ‘Hey Sara,’ Kyle said as she reached his side of the hall. ‘How’s it going? Think you’ve got enough energy left to talk to me after all that training?’

  ‘Oh, sure,’ Sara tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, hoping he hadn’t noticed her hot cheeks or sweaty armpits from the shuffle passes. ‘How about you?’

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  ‘Oh, you know,’ Kyle said with a small nod towards the basketball court. ‘Teaching the lads not to drop the ball every two seconds. So, I have quite a hard job.’

  Sara laughed. ‘Yeah…I bet.’ Why couldn’t she be wearing something other than her volleyball shorts and t-shirt?

  ‘So, I was thinking,’ Kyle said, raising his arms and placing his hands behind his head. He was wearing a tank top, and Sara noticed the scent of his fresh sweat. It wasn’t a bad smell at all. ‘How many years have we been in the same class? Two?’

  Three. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

  ‘Thought so, but I feel like I barely know you. It’d be nice to spend some time together before graduation.’

  ‘Ah, true,’ Sara replied lamely. She was trying to think of something to say, but her mind went blank every time she looked up at Kyle’s piercing blue eyes.

  ‘Great. Want to meet at the shopping centre tomorrow?’

  Tomorrow? What was happening? It was all moving too fast and yet Sara couldn’t whip up an excuse of why not to meet. Didn’t try particularly hard either.

  Kyle was waiting patiently, as if he’d done this sort of thing a hundred times before.

  ‘Um…’ Sara murmured, the tips of her ears burning. ‘Sure.’

  Kyle frowned. ‘You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.’

  ‘No, I do. I’d lo- I’d like to go.’

  ‘Great,’ Kyle said, eyes flicking back to his basketball team. ‘I’ll send you a message later.’

  ‘But, what about Tracy?’

  ‘Tracy?’ Kyle asked, looking back at Sara with a smirk. ‘Don’t worry about her. Tomorrow’s just about me and you.’

  ***

  Sara stretched back on the sofa, squeezing her eyes shut and enjoying the small pop in her spine. She opened her eyes again and looked around the small, featureless room. Where was the career counsellor? If Sara had known he was going to be late she would have grabbed a shower after practice. She straightened the pleats on her skirt. Hopefully she didn’t smell too much. She had worked up quite a sweat during the rest of her volleyball session, using up the burst of energy she’d gotten after talking to Kyle. Even now, she kept playing that last line of his, over and over in her head. Tomorrow’s just about me and you. Tomorrow was going to be a date, it just had to be after a line like that.

  Sara grabbed a loose thread on the sofa’s arm, jerking it back and forth as she mused. She’d never been on a date. Had never been in a relationship either. There’d been a few flings at house parties but every time a boy properly asked her out, Sara panicked, becoming uncomfortable with the idea of growing too close to someone.

  For a while now she had started to think of herself as too strange for other people. Maybe it was her misplaced energy levels compared to others, or the anxiety that had started to crop up around her classmates. Old friends had been withdrawing from her, and she from them. If anyone did date her, then Sara didn’t want to go through the pain of them clocking onto what was wrong with her. Being dumped before she tainted them too. Sara had begun to tell herself relationships weren’t for her, or a painful chore best saved for the future. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? Kyle had known her for years and yet he still wanted to go out. There could be something there…

  Sara smiled as she thought of Kyle’s eyes, the lazy grin he’d given her, and the way he was always so confident. It could be quite nice, spending time with him and giving this thing between them a go. Maybe, just maybe, it could work out.

  The door swung open and Mr. Graham burst in, his sweat-slicked hair glinting under the harsh lights. The school was too small, and too poor, for an extra full-time staff member, which was why Sara’s lacklustre maths teacher also acted as her mediocre career counsellor.

  ‘Sorry for the tardiness,’ Graham said as he ran a finger along his wispy, sweaty moustache. ‘I had to fight off a journalist who was trying to interview me for the “Best Teacher of the Year,” award.’

  He smiled at her as if he’d said something funny, but Sara just stared at him, confused. ‘Really? Did she mix you up with someone else?’

  Graham’s smile settled into its usual, disappointed line.

  ‘Never mind,’ he said, sitting on the sofa opposite from her. ‘So, what’s the matter Sara?’

  ‘Um, I told you about the problem.’

  Graham screwed up his face. ‘Uh, no you didn’t.’

  ‘I did. It was in my email.’

  Mr Graham chuckled with a condescending smirk. ‘Well, Sara, we don’t all have as much free time as you teens. Running around, drinking underage, and tampering with public infrastructure. Some of us have jobs, and crushing amounts of tax to pay.’

  ‘But sir, you replied and said, “No worries. Problem sorted.”’

  Graham stared at her in bafflement. He took out his phone, holding it one hand while scrolling through it with the other like an old man.

  ‘You must be imagining things because I see…oh, yep. You’re correct, it’s right there. It must have been my auto-reply. I really ought to change that. Now then,’ he said, scrolling back to the top of the screen. ‘Let’s have a look. You want to…’

  His eyes flicked back and forth along Sara’s message before widening in shock. ‘You want to withdraw your university application?’

  ‘Yes,’ Sara said meekly.

  ‘For heaven’s sake, why? Everyone goes to university.’

  ‘But I’m not sure it’s a good deal.’

  ‘Of course it’s a good deal. Well, twenty years ago anyway.’

  ‘What about all the debt I’ll have after?’

  ‘Oh, that’s fine,’ Graham said, dismissively waving his phone about. ‘We’re all in debt nowadays. I’ve got four loans myself, and I’m positively thriving, wouldn’t you agree?’

  Fortunately, Sara didn’t have to answer that as Graham went back to looking through his phone. ‘Besides, I have your predicted grades right here. With these you could get into a great…’ Graham trailed off as he found Sara’s scores. ‘You could get into a university.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Sara said, twisting the fabric of her skirt between her thumbs as she thought of the choices that lay ahead. She’d only picked geography as a university degree because it was her best scoring subject, but she didn’t harbour any passion for it. Couldn’t conjure up excitement for any of the subjects out there. No matter her job or future, it all seemed pointless at best and downright scary most of the time.

  ‘What do you think?’ Sara asked. ‘What would be a good field for me to go into?’

  Graham shrugged. ‘How should I know?’

  ‘Aren’t you a careers counsellor?’

  ‘Hey, that’s not a bad idea. See if you can do that.’

  ‘Sir!’

  ‘Alright, alright. Look Sara, to be honest, I don’t know what the best path ahead is. Heck, I’m 25 and I still don’t know what I want to do. Probably never will, but that’s okay. You just have to remember one thing,’ Graham said, dragging his pinched forefingers and thumbs through the air. ‘Don’t stress it.’

  Sara frowned at him. ‘Like, just relax?’

  He gave her a pair of thumbs up. ‘Atta girl.’

  That was it? What kind of advice was that? As if all problems in life could be whisked away by the flick of a switch in one’s head.

  ‘Promise me one thing Sara. Don’t withdraw the uni application. If the summer rolls around and you really don’t want to go then we can discuss options again. There’s no point in prematurely taking out your application. You might be lucky and not even get an offer. Problem solved.’

  Oh great. Sara hadn’t even thought of that possibility.

  ‘By the way, there’s something I wanted to discuss.’ Mr Graham looked awkward as he rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I’ve noticed you’ve grown a little quiet in class. Not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but, well, is everything okay?’

  Okay? Of course. Things weren’t good obviously, but Sara had stopped expecting that a long time ago. Best to just get on with it and not bother anyone else.

  Sara smiled weakly at her teacher. ‘Everything’s fine.’

  Mr Graham sat back with a look of relief. ‘Thank goodness. I was worried there.’

  He’d been convinced by that? Must have been all it took to convince a busy teacher not to look too deeply into something.

  ‘Sir?’ Sara’s voice wavered as she stared at her lap, fingers digging into her legs. ‘I have one more question.’

  ‘Shoot.’

  ‘Does it…does it ever get any better?’ Sara asked, glancing up at her teacher.

  ‘My counselling?’ Graham asked with a grimace.

  ‘No. Life. Does it ever get any easier?’

  ‘Oh, that old thing.’ He shrugged with a wry smile. ‘I sure hope so.’