Page 66 of The Heiress
“I’ll get you back,” I said, putting a spoonful into my mouth.
“I’ll be waiting,” Max said before folding his slice of pizza and shoving it in his mouth.
I grinned, happy because Max was being a jerk and that meant we were all good. Less babysitter, more friend. And that could only be a good thing.
––––––––
Iwas partnered withMya, a tiny ninth grader, barely five foot tall, who reminded me of Dora the Explorer with her short, dark bob. I knew the general concept of chess, how to set up a board and the moves each piece could make. But she made me look like a complete amateur, totally schooling me. After a swift victory, Mya told me that chess was all about anticipating and preventing your opponent’s plan. She said I was moving my pieces just to make a move, not looking ahead, and I wouldn’t do that in tennis. I needed to structure my game, use each piece with a purpose—was I attacking, protecting, sacrificing? I had to look beyond, develop a strategy. I was fascinated—it was all things I could apply to tennis.
“See you next week,” Mya waved as I left. “Make sure you practice!”
“I might call you up,” I joked.
“Well, if you need extra tutoring, I stay in Whitney Hall.” She was dead serious.
“Whitney Hall?” I choked, a flush of heat creeping up my neck. Gee, did everything have to remind me of Elisha?
Mya smiled. “Yep.”
“So Mya, how’d you get to be so good at chess?”
“My granddad first taught me to play when he used to babysit me,” she said. “And we played all the time. I just love it.”
“That’s awesome,” I said.
She gestured at my tennis gear that I’d changed into already, so I wouldn’t be too late for Taylor’s clinic. “You love tennis, don’t you?”
“Sure do,” I said.
“So, it makes it easy when you love something so much, right?” she said
“Absolutely.” I held out my hand for a fist bump and she giggled.
I drove up to the Country Club and was stopped by Mrs. O’Day as I made my way toward the indoor pavilion.
“No crutches, Phoenix?” she asked.
I was never in the mood to be nice to Addison’s mother and merely nodded. If Mrs. O’Day didn’t know how mean her daughter was, she was living under a rock.
Pushing through the door, I could see the ball cart on the court, with Taylor and a bunch of kids standing at the far end swinging rackets. Mrs. Stephens, the girls tennis coach, sat in the stands with a laptop, letting Taylor run the session.
I dropped my bag on the sideline, only then glancing up at the ten or so kids. A blond ponytail and a dark pair of eyes immediately caught my attention, as did the purple tight-fitting t-shirt and black lycra shorts. My heart raced into overdrive. Hadn’t Taylor said this was a class for beginners?
I pulled out my racket and sauntered over to Taylor, hoping my heart rate might slow down in the process.
“Oh great, you’re here,” Taylor said, overly pleased at my presence.
I fought hard to keep my eyes off of Elisha. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, I’ve got a couple of kids who can hit okay. Would you mind taking them? You can go across to that court.”
Taylor pointed, but my levels of adrenaline had soared, they’d skyrocketed, so much that I didn’t see Elisha and a small, skinny boy approach. But they were suddenly by my side and nerves made me drop my racket as I grabbed the handles of the ball basket. The boy picked it up.
“Hi,” I said in a voice that sounded like I hadn’t hit puberty yet.
Elisha’s greeting was a timid, “Hi Phoenix.”
“I haven’t seen you around?” It wasn’t supposed to come out like an accusation.
