Chapter 15
Wins: Serious team bonding
Losses: Whatever’s up with Tania’s vibes
Digger: One who “digs” a hit from the other team, or gets the ball up in the air and in control for the setter. (Or, in life, one who digs a hole.)
After dinner, they piled back onto the sidewalk, joining the crowds enjoying a gorgeous summer night in downtown Vancouver.
“So…” Lee threw her arms around Vivienne and Chrissy. “Where are we going now?”
“Going?” Tania asked.
“I dunno, like dancing or something fun,” Lee said, wiggling her hips.
Tania shook her head. “Not me. I’m ready for bed.”
The rest of them looked at Jess.
“Uh…” She ignored Tania’s sour expression and thought about where they could go. “There’s a club nearby on Granville that’s usually a good time.”
“Done.” Vivienne decided for all of them, which Jess was grateful for. There was nothing worse than the endless loops of indecision when traveling with a group.
“Do we get a cab or can we walk?” Chrissy wondered.
“Probably just as easy to walk—” Jess started to say until Tania interrupted her.
“I thought you said you were so tired?”
“Um…”
Vivienne steered Lee and Chrissy away. “Er, let’s go make a wish on that fountain.” She hauled them a few steps down the sidewalk so Jess and Tania could talk.
Jess turned to face her partner. “I was tired.” Irritation prickled in her chest. She already had one uptight mother, and that was enough. “I’m not now.”
Tania narrowed her eyes, then spun on her heel.
“All right, fine. Night, you guys,” she called to the others, marching off down the sidewalk.
The hotel was visible from there, just a couple blocks away, and the sidewalk was full of people, so Jess wasn’t worried about Tania walking by herself …
but she was a little worried about the abrupt departure and the angry set of Tania’s shoulders.
Vivienne bounced over, holding on to Chrissy’s hand. She grabbed Jess’s hand too, and whooped, “Let’s go!”
Chrissy laughed and twirled under Vivienne’s arm.
Vivienne squeezed Jess’s hand.
Jess squeezed it back and lifted her gaze. There were no stars visible, but the city lights twinkled all the same.
Tania didn’t slip quietly out of bed on Sunday like she had the day before. Sunday, she flicked on a lamp and fumbled with the coffee maker, then clattered around in the bathroom with the door open.
Jess groaned. Not enough sleep. They had returned from the bar at one—not too late … but not exactly early either. And now it was only seven. The shuttle didn’t leave until eight—plenty of time for a bit more shut-eye. She rolled over and buried her head under her pillow.
The pillow didn’t help. Just when she was wondering how much noise Tania could possibly make putting her hair in a ponytail, Tania’s phone rang. “Hola, mamá. ?Qué pasa?… Sí … Sí.” She started chattering away in Spanish.
Jess pushed her pillow aside and sat up with a sigh.
Guess she was getting up now, too. She collected her clothes from her suitcase and was about to snark something in Tania’s direction about the noise—the classic Need a hammer?
came to mind—but before she could say anything, the door to the room opened and thumped closed.
“Hmph.” Jess’s reflection in the bathroom mirror frowned back at her.
She looked pretty rough, hair tangled and frizzy, dark circles under her eyes—from smeared mascara or lack of sleep or both, it was hard to say.
She had a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Tania was nowhere to be seen, but Lee and Shay were there, plus Vivienne, who was wearing large sunglasses in the dining room.
Jess joined them with her oatmeal and coffee.
“Morning,” Jess said. “How’s everyone?”
She was met with unenthusiastic mumbles from Lee and Vivienne.
Shay snorted. “Couldn’t get Chrissy out of bed.” They checked the time on their phone. “She told me she only needs five minutes. I’m supposed to grab her a banana.”
Jess grinned at Vivienne. “Nice sunglasses.”
Vivienne took a dainty sip of her coffee. “Not sure why the lights are cranked up so high in here. It’s breakfast, not open-heart surgery.”
After they ate, they went back to their rooms to collect their luggage—Tania had already cleared out her stuff—then headed out to meet the shuttle. Jess found Tania sitting in their usual spot.
She dropped into the seat next to Tania. “Morning.”
Tania, headphones on and scrolling her phone, didn’t reply.
“Hey,” Jess said again, tapping her arm. “Morning.”
Tania glanced at her. “Morning.”
“What’s up? You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.” Tania sat up straighter and gave her a perfunctory smile. “How are you? Ready to go?”
“Yup.” Jess held up her coffee. “Thought a bit of extra caffeine wouldn’t hurt, though.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Tania went back to her phone.
Jess tipped her head back and closed her eyes against the bright sun, willing her growing headache away and hoping Tania would be less cranky once their match started.
Sunday was forecast to be even hotter than the day before, and the sand heated quickly under their feet during warm-up. But Jess barely noticed because her head was now fully pounding.
“One sec,” she said to Tania, trotting over to her bag to dig for ibuprofen.
Tania put her hands on her hips. “Warm-up’s almost over.”
“I know.” Jess swallowed a pill with a mouthful of water. “I’m ready.”
Butterflies tickled Jess’s stomach when the ref blew her whistle to start the match.
Maybe it was the Sunside crew watching her …
maybe it was the extra round of shooters last night before they left the bar.
… Either way, she took a deep breath and shook out her limbs, doing her best to ignore her stomach and focus on the task at hand.
Fortunately, the other team seemed a little sleepy too, so if Jess was half a step slower, or jumped an inch or two lower, she got away with it. They won the match in two sets that shouldn’t have been so close, but at least they walked away with a win.
Billi and Raya played next. Tania was still quiet while they watched, but Jess was happy to sit in silence nursing her hangover until it was time for their quarterfinal.
This opponent didn’t look sleepy.
Jess thought her first hit was going to score a point, but somehow the digger moved with superhuman speed and got the ball up.
Tania dug the next hit, then the other team dug hers.
The rally went on and on, until finally the other team sent over a weak roll shot that neither Jess nor Tania could get to.
Jess rested her hands on her knees, out of breath after the first point.
Fuck. If every rally was even half that long, she was in massive trouble.
“Okay.” Tania slapped her hand. “We’ve got the next one.”
They did, but barely, after another long rally that ended when an off-balance attack from Jess hit the tape and just trickled over. It was one of those games. They managed to eke out a 21–19 win, but at the expense of Jess’s legs. She just couldn’t keep up in the second, and they lost 15–21.
Jess sat down to rest before the third set, stretching out her hamstrings and chugging some more Gatorade.
“I really don’t want to lose in the quarterfinal,” Tania said.
“Let’s win then,” Jess said, swallowing a groan from the dull ache in her quads.
The battle continued. Tania missed two serves, but the other team started slow, and a couple lucky balls helped Jess and Tania tie the third set at thirteen.
Jess went back to serve, willing her heart rate to slow down. She took a deep breath and smacked the logo. Just get it in.
And her serve made it, but they passed it no problem and sent a vicious attack back over the net.
Tania dove and got a knuckle on the ball, enough to give it a little bit more height, but it carried on out the back of the court.
Jess took two steps after it until she realized there was no chasing that one down. She was out of gas. 13–14.
Jess slapped Tania’s hand and got ready for the next serve.
“We need one good pass,” Tania muttered, her voice flat.
They served to Tania, who put the ball up for Jess nice and high, although a little too far back.
Jess gave Tania a decent set—not the best ever, but still very hittable.
Tania stayed on her feet and bumped the ball short just over the net.
The blocker had peeled off when she saw Tania wasn’t swinging and barely had to move to lob the ball up to her partner, who went ahead and crushed it back at them.
Jess jumped, but it wasn’t enough. The ball grazed the tip of her middle finger and continued on its way to the back line, where it landed for the final point.
The other team let out cries of victory and jumped around while Jess and Tania could do nothing but watch them and swallow the loss.
“Fuck.” Jess sighed and went to shake hands and congratulate the winners, then plopped on the sand and took a swig of water. “Phew. That was a tough match.”
“Yeah.” Tania wiped her face with a towel, muffling her next words. “Maybe if you hadn’t gone partying again last night you wouldn’t have missed that last one.”
Jess was sure she had to have heard her wrong. “Sorry?”
Tania dropped the towel onto her bag and sighed. “It’s pretty hard to go out two nights in a row and still play your best.”
Jess’s brain stalled. Tania had never been so blatantly critical of her before. Then again, at Tía Diana’s … “I didn’t think I played that terrible.”
“I didn’t say you were terrible.”
“Pretty sure you just blamed the loss on me.”
Tania shrugged. “Some points anyway.”
“How many points did we lose ’cause of your shoulder, you think?” Jess regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth, except Tania didn’t look hurt, just pissed.
“My shoulder is fine.”
“Tania. It’s obviously bothering you.”
“The only thing bothering me right now is you.” Tania scooped up her bag and stormed off toward the bathrooms.