There was no one loitering around. Of course, that was normal. All of the kids had probably already gone home and Samuel had left with them. I meant, who would want to stay a minute longer at school?
A feeling of depression, something that I had never felt before, pierced my heart.
"Eleanor?" Marisol asked quietly, gently setting a hand on my arm.
I sighed and shrugged off her hand. "I'm fine. Let's go home."
I gripped the bottom of my backpack straps tightly and was about to start to walk to get home as soon as possible when a voice made me stop, "Eleanor?"
I whipped my head around and saw someone stand up from the benches placed on the side of the stairs. It was someone with familiar floppy brown hair and milky brown eyes, features that were practically burned into my mind.
It was Samuel. My eyes widened and a little part within me almost jumped out of my body at how happy I was to see him.
"What- I thought that you left... what are you doing here at a time like this? School was over a long time ago. It's chilly right now and you didn't bring a jacket," I knew I was rambling a little and not making sense, but I was just glad to see him. Still, I was mystified that he was standing there.
"I was waiting for you," Samuel answered.
I was surprised. Samuel was waiting for me? I didn't know why, but that simple sentence made me feel warm inside. A light blush crept into my cheeks and it wasn't because of the cool Spring air chilling me.
Marisol gave me a little push to bring me back to reality.
"Well, I'll be going now," she said cheerfully, giving me a wink. "See y'all!" She gave us a wave and walked away, leaving us in an awkward silence.
Samuel cleared his throat and asked, "Um, I thought that we could, you know, take a break from tutoring today. Do you want to go to get coffee or something?"
My blush deepened. "Uh, s-sure!" I stuttered. I felt the butterflies in my stomach threatening to break free of their barriers and start fluttering around. I tried to push them down, but failed. In a second, I felt them start to fly around in me.
Samuel smiled and grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulders.
"Let's go then!"
I thought my heart skipped a beat again like last time except this time, it felt more natural before, like it was part of me.
The most unbelievable part was that Samuel Rose had waited for me even though he could have gone home. I smiled back.
"Yeah, let's go."
~*~
"I'll take a Double Fudge Frappuccino," I told Samuel.
Because Samuel worked at Starbucks, he decided to take me there for the coffee.
"You got it," he said and immediately got to work. His hands weaved back and forth as he got the ingredients from the shelves and dumped them into the blender. He turn on the machine and I watched as the blender whirled around. There was a Ding! and the Frappuccino was ready.
Samuel poured it into a cup and drizzled hot fudge over it. He squeezed a twirl of whip cream on top, popped on a lid, and handed it to me.
"Thanks," I said, taking it from him. I set my cup down and dug around my purse, trying to find my wallet in the never ending sea of lip gloss and eye shadow, to pay.
"There's no need," Samuel said, shaking his head. "You can just take it."
I frowned at this. "Is your boss okay with this?"
Samuel shrugged. "He doesn't care. This is a really small Starbucks and barely anyone come by so it's alright."
To prove his point, I noticed how silent the shop was. I looked behind me and saw a few people sat at the booths. Two girls sat at the back, near a window, and were talking in hushed whispers. A woman, maybe in her early twenties, sat at a table with papers and a laptop laid out before her. She typed furiously into her laptop and wrote every once in a while onto her paper.
"Oh, okay." I zipped up my handbag again and picked up my Frappuccino. I took a sip and savored the taste of hot fudge mixed with coffee. It tasted unbelievable. Samuel was probably the best Double Fudge Frappuccino maker that I know of.
"Do you like it?" Samuel gestured to the Frappuccino as he sat down on the stool inside the work spot across from me. I nodded.
"It's great," I told him.
Samuel smiled. "I'm glad."
"How long have you been working here?" I asked as I sipped my drink.
"About two years?" Samuel guessed. Two years. I hadn't even started to find my own part time job yet and Samuel had already been working here for two years?
"Do you like it here?" I asked. The little shop wasn’t that bad. The quietness was actually quite calming.
"Yes," Samuel answered. "It's close to school and fun to make coffee each day."
"Oh..." It turned quiet after that as I silently gulped down my coffee. When I finished, I set my cup down and cleared my throat.
"Um, thank you for tutoring me," I said, surprising myself. Where did that come from? Something wasn't right here. Why was I thanking this boy for tutoring me?
Samuel nodded and smiled. "Anytime."
Surprising myself even more, I smiled along with him. I noticed something. I was starting to feel comfortable being around Samuel now. It didn't feel like he was a stranger to me anymore.
"Oh yeah," Samuel said, suddenly remembering something. "About the volleyball game tomorrow..."
A sense of fear and dread dropped to the pit of my stomach. I had known it. He was going to say he couldn't go any moment now. I braced myself for his answer, my fists tightening around my cup and my heart beating faster.
"I might come a little late," he finally said and looked down. "My work time doesn't end until four and then I need to go back to take care of my siblings. I'm really sorry, but I promise to show up."
A little ray of hope lifted inside of me.
"You promise?" I asked, hopefully. Samuel needed to come. He needed to watch me play. He needed to... wait, what was happening to me?
"Yeah," Samuel nodded. "I promise."
I extended out my hand and held out my pinky to him. "Pinky promise with me," I demanded. "Pinky promise that you'll come no matter what."
Samuel reached out without hesitation and gripped my pinky in his, entwining our fingers to make it look like one. He smiled warmly and agreed, "Pinky promise."
My stomach, once again, filled with fluttering butterflies. Except this time, I welcomed those butterflies.
CHAPTER 9: Better Late Than Never
Marisol came to pick me up the next day to take me to the volleyball game. What she didn't tell me until I got into the car and almost had a heart attack was that Chloe was going to carpool or, and I quoted, 'tag along' with us.
"Hello, Eleanor," Chloe greeted and I jumped. I whipped my head around to look into the back seats and saw her waving and smiling at me.
"Uh..."
"Oh yeah. Chloe coming with us, too," Marisol twirled her key chain in the air before plunging it into the keyhole and starting the engine.
"That's great," I said and turned back around in my seat and slouched down in my seat. "Absolutely fantastic."
I didn't talk again for the rest of the ride. Marisol and Chloe blabbed away about random things like where Chloe got her hair dyed. I wasn't practically interested in changing the color of my hair whereas Marisol had dreamed of having red hair ever since she fell in love with her role model. I stared at the window and made an attempt to entertain myself by watching cars driving past us.
As I watched the cars driving by, I found myself blocking out their voices and it became just me and my thoughts which were fine with me. I needed some time to myself to reflect over my life anyway.
My mind drifted back to reflect over the week. All the way back to when I first met Samuel Rose.
Back then, I had hated his guts. He had spilled coffee on me and ruined my outfit so of course I would be mad at him. Then my world flipped upside down when he became my tutor. And now... What was going on? It felt almost as if it were a second ago that I couldn't even bring myself to sta
nd next to him. How could I be no longer mad at Samuel?
And on top of that, why did I feel uneasy next to him all the time? Not the negative uneasy way but the positive uneasy way. That was worse. The butterflies that suddenly broke out of their cage without warning also frustrated me. Why in the world was I feeling this way?
This was way too confusing. Why couldn't relationships be easier to handle?
My thoughts were interrupted when Marisol gently shook my shoulder and announced, "We're here."
I snapped out of my day dream and got out of the car. The building that the volleyball game was being held at was entirely made out of metal. I almost didn't see the door since it too was carved from a large metal piece. The only thing to add color to the dull gray was the few flower bushes that were planted around the outskirts of the building.
"Wow, it's big," Chloe observed in awe.
She was right. Other than the boring colors, the building itself was huge. The other places we played at before were way smaller. In fact, the gyms were so tiny, we felt packed together. Coach Wayne kept screaming at us to move our feet but if you asked me, just stepping a meter to my left meant knocking down the person standing next to me was unreasonable.
"I really hope the gym is bigger this time," I said wishfully as I grabbed my drawstring bag and my sports bag and began to head inside the building.
"And have a vending machine," Marisol added sourly. "I really hope that they have a vending machine."
Oh yeah. I almost forgot.
Each time we finished a game, Marisol and I made do on a pack of M&Ms and a can of coke until we reached home and pigged out of other junk food to gather our strengths again.
Except, at our last game, the place we played at sucked so much that their girls restroom was out of order. We asked for where the vending machines were located and the person at the front desk answered, "Sorry, but we don't have any of those. Do you want a 100% Grain Bar though?"
We had to hold in our hunger until we passed by the nearest McDonalds and, even though I hated greasy stuff, my stomach deceived me and I forced down a whole meal.
"They better," I grumbled as we walked up to the front office and checked in like we always did. "Because if they don't, I'll flip."
And then to the girl who was on duty, I jutted my hip out, set one of my hands on my hip and cleared my throat, "Ah-hem."
The girl, who was texting on her phone, jumped and looked up in surprise. "Oh, uh, hi! How may I help you?"
"We're players of the volleyball game today," I told her.
"All three of you?" she asked, eyeing Chloe curiously. Marisol and I were already dressed in our uniforms. With the bright orange words that say 'Harken High Volleyball', we were easily identified. As for Chloe, she was wearing black hoodie with ripped jeans. Nothing on her represented Harken High, never mind 'Harken High Volleyball'.
"No, just the two of us," Marisol answered, pointing to me and herself.
"Got it. Names please?" the girl asked.
"Eleanor Fyer."
"Marisol Kennedy."
The girl typed something into her computer and pressed 'Enter'.
"Alright, you guys are checked in," she said and handed a badge with our names to us. "Good luck."
Marisol clipped hers to the side of her bag and I stuffed mine into a side pocket of my sports bag.
"So far so good," Marisol whispered to me and Chloe. "I saw a vending machine standing in the corner in the lobby."
"And let's hope that the restrooms are open," I whispered back.
"Yup, let's hope so."
"You can go ahead and find a seat in the crowd," I told Chloe as we neared the gym. "We'll go to drop off our stuff at the locker room and get ready for the game."
"Alright," Chloe nodded and broke away from us and swung open the door. "Good luck! I'll be cheering you both on!"
The door swung shut behind her and she was gone.
"You’re ready for this today?" Marisol asked as she tossed her bag onto one of the benches placed next to the locker room door and placed her backpack next to it.
"I dunno," I admitted. I was actually looking forward to the game today which was something new. Maybe it had something to do with... hoping to see Samuel in the crowd?
"Well, I am as long as Coach doesn't scream all of our eardrums out of our body," Marisol grinned.
I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "I knew it. I should have brought my iPod and earphones with me today."
Marisol laughed and draped an arm around my shoulder just as another girl, one of the other team’s members, rushed in, out of breath, still dressed in her normal clothes. She frantically flung her bag onto the ground and threw on her uniform and slipped on her knee pads.
"Come on," Marisol said as she steered us out the locker room and through a door that led to the gym. Our team was already standing at the side of the gym and warming up. Without even straining, I could hear Coach Wayne's voice boom across the gym.
We quickly jogged up and joined the team just as we all got into a push up position.
"Don't you wimps dare lose!" Coach Wayne hollered.
"Yes sir!"
"I can't hear you! 5 more push-ups! Say it louder or else I'll give you way more!"
"YES SIR!"
Our voices chorused together, the sound bouncing off the walls. The people in the bleachers cheered.
I pushed myself up and down, my arms and hands beginning to ache even though I barely started. From beside me, Marisol did her push-ups easily. Like I said before, I was not made for these things and she was.
We all jumped up after finishing our push-ups and waited for our next order. While I dusted off my hands, my eyes scanned the sea of people yelling and screaming from the bleachers. Samuel was nowhere in sight. A little part of me became disappointed, but that feeling didn't last very long when a whistled blew, signaling for us to start the game.
"Go and win, you pipsqueaks!" Coach Wayne yelled as we all hurriedly jogged onto the field and made two lines on one side of the court. The other team did the same.
A woman with a high ponytail walked up to the net and paused.
"We will now do the pledges!" she announced and held up a piece of paper in front of her. "I pledge before God!"
"I pledge before God!" we repeated her words.
"That I will play fairly."
"That I will play fairly."
"And respect the officials."
"And respect the officials."
My eyes darted through the crowd again, but there was still no sign of Samuel.
"I will give it my best and show excellent sportsmanship!"
"I will give it my best and show excellent sportsmanship!"
The woman lowered the paper and announced, "Alright! Let the game begin!"
The crowd roared. Through all the yelling, I held a voice stick out and scream, "Go Eleanor and Marisol!"
Unconsciously, I smiled as I got into my position as a setter. The rests of the team that were not on the court took a seat at the sideline and waited to switch in.
A whistle blew and a ball was tossed to the other team. A girl caught it and passed it to the person who was going to serve it.
I slightly bent my knees and my teammates around me did the same. We kept our eyes on the ball and waited for it to come soaring to our side.
The server on the other side tossed the ball into the air once before swinging her arm forward with as much force as possible and whacked the ball.
"Deep!" was all what I heard before someone behind me went to dive for the ball and managed to hit it into the air on the last second. Others quickly closed in and helped her hit the ball to the other side.
Back and forth this went. Sometimes we scored, and sometimes the other team outthought us and won a point.
We kept playing to the point I almost forgot what point we were on. It wasn't until the whistle blew again and someone spoke through the mikes that I knew how much we had, "The game is now tied 24-24. The te
am to win the next round will be the winner of the Volleyball Game."
I planted my feet firmly into the ground, drowning out all the background noises and focused exclusively on the server and opponent in front of me. What happened next was all in slow motion.
My eyes followed as the server ached back a bit and threw the ball into the air. On the way down, she flung her arm forward and hit the ball, making it fly while spinning rapidly towards us. In that moment, I knew that it was a short ball, meaning it was up to the front row to hit the ball back.
I watched as the ball drew closer and closer. My mind whirled into action and I knew no one could just hit it back up. It was too low. So, that left me with only one option.
Just as the ball was passing the net, I jumped up into the air and brought my hand down on the ball, making it hurtle towards the ground. The other team didn't even have enough time to react when the ball hit the ground and the whistle blew. I landed back on the ground and time returned to normal speed.