- 4.
No one knew, of course. I was always friendly, approachable. During tennis practice, when Lily was left without a partner, I smiled and offered to play with her. She looked surprised, grateful.
I thought about her and Ethan in the library, and
as I turned away, my smile vanished. I hoped
she’d enjoy this.
Lily didn’t manage to return a single one of my
serves. I played like I was toying with her,
sending the ball to impossible corners, forcing
her to chase it endlessly.
She kept apologizing as she scrambled after
the balls. “S–sorry, I’m really bad at this.” She
didn’t realize I was doing it on purpose. The
whispers started. “What’s gotten into Viv? I’ve
never seen her like this.” “Did the new girl do
something to her?”
I smiled, pretending not to hear. I kept serving,
harder and more each time, until Lily
<
tripped and fell, trying to reach one.
“Oops, sorry,” I said, with zero sincerity.
She clutched her knee, murmuring, “It’s… it’s
okay.”
I kept smiling. “You really are terrible. Don’t
hold me back in the doubles match, okay?”
As Lily struggled to get up, Ethan walked over. He glanced at me, took Lily’s racket, and looked at me coldly. “She’s bad, you say? I’ll play with you, then, Viv.”
He proceeded to destroy me, using his left hand, no less. He’d been a junior tennis
champion at twelve. I’d only played for a couple of years, just to have something in common with him. I was no match for him.
I lasted half an hour, barely returning any serves. At least I didn’t have to retrieve the
crush on me would fetch it.
I kept my eyes on Ethan. He showed no mercy.
The last serve grazed the net and slammed into
my knee
–
the exact same spot Lily had
injured. I gasped, nearly buckling over.
Someone caught me.
Ethan remained impassive. “Viv, with your skills,
you’d lose even without a partner holding you
back.” He turned to Lily. “Come on, let’s go.”
Lily looked at him like he was a knight in
shining armor. “Okay,” she whispered.
My friends took me to the nurse’s office. Chloe,
usually so boisterous, was subdued. “Viv, is
Ethan insane?”
He was. Utterly insane. And now, ridiculously,
he regretted it.
