Chapter 15 #2
Jess sat there, stunned, the conflict churning her stomach. She and Tania had never really fought before.
“You okay, Jess?” Chrissy stood in front of her, sweaty and disheveled after her match, face a picture of concern.
“Um … I guess. I … Tania just stormed off.…” Jess gestured helplessly.
“Ooh.” Chrissy cringed. “Yeah, she seemed kind of pissed when you wanted to go out again last night.”
“Do you think I should go after her?”
“You know Tania better than me, but … she might just need time to cool off.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She sure hoped so, anyway.
Chrissy offered Jess her hand. “Here, come watch my semifinal. We’re playing that team from Berkeley. We’ll need all the support we can get.”
Chrissy wasn’t wrong. The team from Berkeley was pretty scary.
They were currently sitting at the top of the Northern California league, and even their names—Athena and Faith—instilled fear.
Chrissy and Shay put up a valiant fight, but lost in two.
There was no denying it—Athena and Faith were bigger, faster, and stronger.
And now Vivienne and Lee had to play them in the tournament final.
They executed their usual flawless warm-up while the crowd grew rowdier around them.
Athena and Faith were stiff competition and the battle was heated.
Vivienne and Lee managed to just edge them out the first set 21–19, with lots of smart shots and fast feet, chasing down just about any ball they needed to.
But Athena and Faith came out swinging even harder in the second, determined to overpower Vivienne and Lee at the net, and won the second set 21–17.
The Sunside group hooted and hollered as the third set started, along with all the other fans Vivienne and Lee had picked up over the weekend.
Somehow, they seemed to shift into an even higher gear, serving tougher to try and force weaker passes.
But it wasn’t quite enough, and they lost a heartbreaker 14–16 when Athena ripped a final jump serve that just caught the outside of the line.
Jess let out the breath she had been holding and mirrored the scowl on Vivienne’s face.
After the match and medal ceremony, Jess went up to a still-cranky Vivienne. The red-and-white ribbon nestled between her breasts.
Jess tried not to stare. “Nice medal.”
Vivienne lifted it off her chest and looked at it. “Silver sucks.”
“It’ll suck less tomorrow. You guys played great.”
Vivienne shrugged. “We could have played better.”
“They’re a big team.”
Vivienne put her hand on her hip and squinted up at Jess, lips in a playful quirk. “Are you calling me short?”
“I would never.” Jess resisted the urge to pat her head. “I’m just calling them tall.”
Vivienne stepped closer and tipped her head back. “You’re taller.” Vivienne’s lips were tilted toward her, so close and plump.…
Jess tried to swallow with a dry throat and remember what they were talking about. “Yes, well … not tall is also … good.”
Chrissy appeared and threw her arms around Vivienne. “Good job, Viv! You guys played so well.”
“Thanks, Chrissy.” Vivienne hugged her back. “We tried.”
“Hey, second place is awesome! You should be proud.” She held up her phone. “I just heard from our driver. He wants to head to the airport pretty quick. You guys ready to go?”
For some reason Jess looked at Vivienne … who was looking back.
“Ready,” they said at the same time.
Tania had slipped into the back of the crowd and watched the final match from a distance, then she sat way at the rear of the shuttle, so Jess let her be.
And Tania was clearly ignoring her through the whole process of check-in, security, and finding their gate at the airport.
She had her headphones on and didn’t look Jess’s way once.
Tania was even up for the challenge of ignoring Jess when she was sitting right next to her on the plane. All through the safety demonstration, taxiing, and takeoff, her trusty headphones remained in place and, for good measure, now her nose was in a book. The silence ate away at Jess’s sanity.
When the seat-belt sign turned off, she couldn’t take it anymore.
She tapped Tania’s arm and waited for her to remove her headphones. “Can we talk?”
Tania gave her a go-ahead gesture. “Talk.”
Jess sighed. “Yeah, okay, I wasn’t at my best today.”
Tania raised an eyebrow. “Mm-hmm.”
“But look … we were never going to win this whole tournament anyway. What’s wrong with having fun?”
Tania shut her book. “We might have won it.”
Jess made a disbelieving noise. “Against Vivienne and Lee or Athena and Faith? You’ve seen them play, right?”
“That’s just your problem, Jess,” Tania said, shaking her head.
Jess’s defenses prickled. “What’s my problem?”
“Your lack of self-confidence!” Tania spat. “You’re just as good as anyone in our league, if not better. But you have this dumb—”
“Dumb?”
“—this dumb perception that you’re lesser, for some reason, and I need you to snap the fuck out of it.”
Jess reeled back in her seat like Tania had smacked her. “I don’t—”
“You do. And look…” Tania paused and smoothed her book cover while she searched for words. “You had fun going out with the girls. That’s great. That’s because you fit in with them. They like you. We all do.”
Jess opened her mouth, ready to argue about how much she did or did not fit in, but Tania held up her hand.
“Not to mention Skye, the gas-station cashier, and, apparently, a French lady at the social on Friday.…”
Jess closed her mouth, losing track of what her argument actually was.
“So let’s recap,” Tania continued, getting louder as her momentum built.
“You’re an incredibly talented volleyball player, and people like you.
You have no reason not to be so confident it oozes out of your pores.
You should be fucking insufferable on the court.
Other teams should hate you for it. But you act like you don’t belong here and it’s starting to really piss me off. ”
Jess was frozen, a little terrified that Tania was listing reasons she didn’t want to play with her anymore.
Tania met Jess’s gaze head-on. She wasn’t done yet. “So when we get back to Sunside, it would be nice if you could put all those fucking pieces together and play like the hot shit you are.”
Jess sat in it for a minute, relieved that Tania had said “we” and flattered at all the compliments … but a little simmer of hurt still slipped out, because Tania clearly felt like Jess was letting her down. Jess raised her eyebrow. “Yeah? Speaking of pieces, how’s your shoulder?”
Tania looked down at her book for a second. Her mouth twitched. When she looked up, she was full-on grinning. “That’s the exact kind of attitude I want out of you, actually. And I told you … my shoulder is fine.”
“Are you sure? You’d tell me the truth if it was serious, right?”
“Of course I would. You’re my partner.”
Jess had to grin back, eyes prickling as multiple emotions washed over her. “Tania.”
“What?”
“I love you.” Jess slid her arms around her and hugged her tight.
“I love you too, dummy.” Tania hugged back. “I just wish you’d believe in yourself as much as I do.”
Jess sniffled into her shoulder. “I’m sorry I partied too much.”
Tania rubbed her back. “It’s okay. Just … find the balance. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Jess pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. I hear you. Thank you.”
“Great.” Tania smiled and patted her hand. “Let’s get a drink.”
“Ugh, not me. I’m still hungover.”
Tania stared at her for a second, then a laugh burst out of her. “Fuck you. I’m getting a drink.”