Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Maki
At the end of practice, we always do serving drills. Our coach likes to tell us that ‘repetition is the mother of success’ and I’m inclined to agree. If you practice something enough, it becomes second nature which means it is replicable during a game.
As everyone wanders over to one side of the court, their bin of balls rolled behind them, Kent walks to the opposite side of the court with me.
He takes the right side and I take the left.
As a libero, I specialize in the defense of our volleyball team.
I can’t spike or serve, so my individual practice starts now.
Liberos have special rules to follow and tend to be the shortest person on the team, since it’s a position where you can’t go up front and battle at the net.
Despite that, I’ve always been drawn to the position.
I’m more than capable of sky battles, but there’s nothing more satisfying than receiving a good dig, to diving for a ball, or making a great save.
As the tallest person on the team, I have the longest arm span which only serves to help me receive even more balls.
“Heard you got into a bit of trouble this morning,” Kent says, receiving a serve and sending it up to our assistant coach who’s standing at the net where our setter would normally be. He catches the ball and drops it into the bin.
“Apparently I met a famous person.”
“Of course Oli was excited about that,” Kent says with an amused snort. “He loves social media almost as much as he loves volleyball.”
I take a step forward as Sullivan does a jump serve.
He’s known for his floaters which take on a strange, wobbly pattern as they fly over the net.
My practice is really paying off. If I can manage to receive Sullivan’s floaters, than I can get other teams’ as well.
His are some of the hardest to hit in the entire nation.
I just barely get my finger tips on the ball above my head, sending it up to coach instead of letting it fly behind me. Floaters, in general, can be really tricky to receive, Sullivan’s especially.
“Even if the person was famous, I still feel strange about the interaction.”
“Understandable,” Kent says, sending another ball up to coach, wincing at how hard that serve hit. Amour has a wicked jump serve that feels like a brick is being thrown at you instead of a volleyball. “Maybe we should do a little research.”
“What do you mean?”
“Me and some of the guys could come over and we could watch this Blue person, get a feel for if he’s an asshole or if it was a one off.”
“I don’t know why that even matters,” I tell him seriously. “I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”
Kent shrugs before getting back into his stance. He might be two feet shorter than me but he’s fast which makes him an excellent libero. He’s my backup, coming in if I’m ever hurt or need a break during a game.
“It could be fun just to hang out.”
I finally nod my head. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
Kent lets out a cheer, calling out to some of the other guys and telling them the plan. The rest of practice finishes quickly. We all shower in the locker room and get changed before heading out of the gym and towards the apartment complex the majority of us live in.
It’s part of my contract, living here and I’m sure it’s the same for the others. Being neighbors with my teammates has its perks but it’s also annoying sometimes when I just want to be left alone. Oli is especially determined to force me into having a social life.
There are boxes of pizzas waiting on my doorstep when we arrive. I look back at my teammates with confusion.
“That was me,” Oli says, raising his hand. “I ordered them as soon as I heard we were having a party.”
“This is not a party,” I tell him, opening my door and letting everyone inside. “This is research.”
Daniel pats my shoulder. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. Don’t you worry.”
Resigning myself to the chaos, I simply sigh and step further into my apartment, dropping my gym bag near the front door but tucked out of the way. Oli makes himself at home, digging through my cupboards for plates.
The last time they were here, Oli had left some beer in my fridge so I dig it out, handing it over to everyone who’d like one. Pizza and beer are not on my diet program but I indulge in one slice of the veggie pizza before pulling a salad out of the fridge I’d made myself before practice.
Oli is already in my living room, turning my tv on. I watch as he pulls up the apps and downloads a streaming platform.
“I’m going to assume you don’t have an account. Right, Maki?” I shake my head. “Okay, no worries. Let me just,” he murmurs, scanning the code on the tv and then setting me up with an account using his phone.
“Makieplaysvolleyball will be your username, hope that’s okay.”
“That seems perfect because I do, in fact, play volleyball.”
Daniel snorts, shoving half a piece of pizza in his mouth.
Sullivan steps over to him, bumping their shoulders together.
Ivan is trying to take Oli’s phone, the two of them fighting over something while Bo and Kent are chatting on the couch.
Amour is standing in the kitchen, talking with Kurstin, both of them with a beer in their hands.
My apartment isn’t big enough to accommodate all of these people.
I feel a little bit too crowded which is frustrating because this is my home.
Even so, I can’t find it in myself to regret this decision that brought us all together.
I like my team. I like them a lot. I might even be inclined to call them my family.
“Boom,” Oli says, switching back to the television. “Here we go! He’s live right now! Perfect timing!”
Everyone comes into the living room, standing around my television. I stand the closest, trying to take it all in and understand what’s happening. Blue, the man I met earlier today is sitting at a desk, his face taking up most of the screen. To the left of him is a window showing words.
“What’s this?”
“That’s chat. People are allowed to type in chat and interact with the streamers.
” Oli points some things out for me. “People with vip by their name are Blue’s VIPs.
They’re usually loyal fans or maybe even real life friends.
The VIP status means their messages are bigger and that makes it easier for Blue to see.
If they have that little icon in front of their name, it means they subscribe to the channel and can use special emojis.
If they have ‘mod’ after their names, those are Blue’s moderators.
They keep an eye on chat, can delete messages, and even ban people.
They also help out with the behind the scenes things for Blue. ”
“Interesting,” I say slowly, taking it all in. This is a world I know absolutely nothing about. Turning back towards Oli, I ask, “how can I talk in chat?”
Oli takes my phone and downloads the streaming app, entering the information he used to make my account. I turn back towards the stream, a frown on my face.
Sure, it’s really nice to hear him call me attractive. It leaves my limbs all tingly and my heart swooping, but after that, it all goes downhill. One moment, he’s waxing poetic about my face and then he’s making it sound like I was following him around inside the grocery store.
“He’s making this sound awful,” I tell my friends, crossing my arms over my chest. “I was not stalking him through the store. We happened to run into each other.”
Daniel pats my shoulder. “I know, but sometimes these streamers like to exaggerate so the story is more juicy.”
“But that’s not what happened!”
“This is bullshit,” Ivan says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Wow, this guy is such an ass!” Kent says, pointing at the screen.
All around me, my teammates start to get restless, all of them furious on my behalf. I’m still trying to process the fact that Blue is talking about me on his stream. Not only am I the main topic, but he’s telling this story like I’m some sort of stalker when I am the furthest thing from that!
“I can’t believe he’s talking about you like this,” Bo says, his voice trailing off.
Kurstin pats my shoulder. “We all know the truth. Gods, I can’t believe this guy is such a jackass! How could he not see that you were checking him out and not, whatever the hell this tale is?”
Even Amour is nodding along, giving me a sympathetic look.
The screen changes as the words ‘You’re the Asshole’ appear below Blue’s face. Then there are sparkles and devil horns added to his face. I tilt my head to the side in confusion.
“His mods like adding stuff to the stream to bully Blue,” Oli says before pulling out his phone, quickly typing. Then he pats me on the shoulder. “Watch this. This is in your honor, Maki.”
I tilt my head to the side as a new message is read out loud. Roses are red, Violets are blue. You’re so full of yourself, you smell like poo.
The team all starts giggling. Bo slaps Oli’s back while Ivan just grumbles under his breath.
“Apparently we’re stirring the pot tonight?” Amour asks from beside Kurstin.
“Apparently so,” Kurstin says back with a smirk.
I take my phone from Oli. “How do I get the machine to read out my message like that?”
Oli looks absolutely delighted by this while Daniel and Ivan both try to stop me.
“Stop encouraging him,” Ivan says to Oli.
“Are you sure you wanna do this, Maki? It’s not usually your style to jump into drama,” Daniel murmurs.
“I don’t like how he’s getting to paint the whole story,” I say, entering my credit card information to donate ten dollars.
I look up at the screen, waiting. It takes a few minutes but eventually, the voice reads out my message.
That is not what happened.
I watch as Blue’s eyes widen almost comically wide. I didn’t know eyes could actually bug out like that. He turns towards the camera and it makes me feel like he’s looking straight into my eyes.