Camy Tang - Sushi for One?

“Okay, now lift up your knees.”

Her legs burned hotter than the Arizona sun. Her lungs would burst any minute now.

“What are you training for?” Aiden asked her. He wasn’t even winded, the slime.

She gulped in air. “Wassamattayu.”

“Wow. Congratulations. Volleyball?”

“Yeah.”

“Pick up your knees more. When are tryouts?”

“Saturday.”

“Oh, just a week. Come on, don’t be lazy, pick up your knees. You want to do well, don’t you?”

Determination prodded her like a lance to her fanny all the way up the hill, down the other side, and up another one. Perversely, it pleased her when Aiden started to sweat.

They made it back to the grocery store parking lot none too soon. Lex’s entire body ached, even her skull.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t get a very hard run because of me.” If it had been her, she’d be mad and frustrated, but Aiden just shrugged.

“I had a harder training yesterday. I’ll do a little more after you leave.”

No way.

He cocked his head as he studied her. “You might want to close your mouth. There are a few bees around.”

She scrunched her face at him.

He smiled, transforming his face from nondescript to dreamy.

Why hadn’t she seen that before?

Rats, rats, rats! Of all times to be late! If not for that accident on the freeway, she would have been early instead of seven minutes late.

Lex screeched into the expansive parking lot for Wassamattayu’s complex just off Central Expressway. She grabbed her heavy gym bag and ran/waddled into the lobby.

“Lex Sakai, volleyball tryouts.”

The receptionist pointed her to the back of the sports club.

She entered the massive gym and tried not to pass out in awe. She always evaluated a new gym, and this one blew them all in the dust. Lofty ceilings, perfectly aligned lights so they weren’t glaring, set at the right brightness to more than adequately light up the courts. The soles of her sneakers crackled against the freshly waxed floor. New aluminum bleachers with wooden seats, folded up for now, lined all four walls, but even if they were pulled out, there would be ample space around the court. The highest grade nets available stretched tautly across the two courts – no sagging or bouncing from those puppies.

Nine other women stretched or warmed up on the sidelines. There were no other Asians, and they all towered over her by four inches or more. Not a good sign.

The women seemed to eye each other – no band of sisters here.

Lex recognized several from volleyball tournaments. They were all strong players.

Don’t psyche yourself out. She pulled on her shoes and started stretching. The last women stretching started warming up, throwing the ball to flex their shoulder muscles, then moving into bumping, setting, and finally peppering back and forth.

Lex stretched as fast as she could. Why had she been late again? She could have sworn she had been watching the clock. Regret and guilt pulled her shoulder muscles together, made her heartbeat quicken.

No, stop that. You can’t tighten up now.

She finally approached a threesome warming up – apparently three women who knew each other well. “Anyone want to warm up with me?”

The girls stopped laughing at each other. “We’re done.” A stick-straight blonde with ice-blue eyes grabbed the ball and motioned for her entourage to follow her off the court.

Lex’s hands started shaking as her chest cavity became a furnace.

Forget Nebuchadnezzar – she’d have fried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if she got any hotter. The other women warming up in pairs avoided looking at her.

Her vision expanded as it did whenever she got ready-to-slam-a-ball-in-somebody’s-face livid. The lights became brighter, the gym larger. She caught every movement – the miniscule swaying of the net, the dangling of the cords at each end, the tiniest shifting of weight from one woman as she prepared to pass.

Lex marched to the wall and threw the ball to warm up her shoulder. She had ceased to feel – all her energy focused on that ball. She was a raging fire, a nuclear star.

She moved to her most technically challenging bumping exercises, then shifted to setting. Lex hadn’t warmed up solo in a long time – usually she peppered with a teammate, having fun, loosening up. Now, her muscles flowed like water, each movement precise with the higher level of challenge. She ought to do this more often.

A group of men and women entered the gym, one of them blowing a whistle to get everyone’s attention. Lex joined the circle of women around them.

“I’m Darren, coach for both the coed and women’s teams here at Wassamattayu. You all are trying out for a single position that will play on both teams.” He paused to glance at his clipboard. “Was-samattayu is part of a larger network of elite sports clubs. You should have received a schedule of tournaments for both the coed and women’s teams.”

He gestured to the others with them, rattling off names. “These are members of the coed and women’s team, and Krista here is my assistant coach.”

Krista stepped forward. “Okay, let’s start with some drills.”

The drills were easy compared to the stuff Lex put her junior high school girls through. She also learned a few new ball control exercises she could add. The drills tired her but didn’t wipe her out.

She stood mopping her sweaty face while several of the other women bent double, gasping for air.

Hehehe.

She knew most of them would be better at blocking – their height alone made them more effective at the net. Lex got touches during the blocking drills, but no stuffs like some of the women. However, she performed well on the setting drills.

Lex was among the last group on the hitting line, after watching her six-foot-tall nemeses pound the balls inside the ten-foot line. She’d learned to hit smarter.

Lex sent a few good hits into the center of the court for her first two. Before she started her third hit, Darren stepped up to the other side of the net to block her. He nodded to her.

He hadn’t blocked any of the other women during their drills.

She grinned. For him, she’d need a high set. “Five, please.”

The setter sent a beautiful arcing ball that seemed to float in midair. Lex started her approach, planted, and lifted off.

Darren set up a good block, taking away the easy shot in the middle of the court. Last-minute, she torqued and sent the ball down the line. It landed squarely on the strip of white. Excellent.

Darren continued blocking for the other two girls in her hitting group. One got stuffed, the other hit it high and out.

Lex’s turn again. This time he inched in to make the line shot harder. Lex cut the shot, a sweet short angle, right under his left armpit.

He grinned at her as they both landed.

Energy zoomed through her veins like liquid caffeine. Her lungs felt twice as large, her muscles twice as fast.

For the defensive drills, they paired her with two other girls at the back of the court. Lex subtly adjusted position, further from the brunette – who was a ball hog – but closer to the blonde – who was slow. She picked up a few hard, short shots near the net and got under the other balls so she made perfect, soft passes to the setter.

And then it ended. Lex felt like she’d hardly broken a sweat. She’d had more tiring sand workouts with Kin-Mun than the four hours from today.

The other women had left by the time Lex finished changing her shoes. Darren stood near the door, waiting for her.

As she passed, he gave her a high five. Looking around quickly, he leaned in toward her. “You nailed it.”

Her insides glowed – she felt as if she were made of light.