Page 59 of Spin Serve

In their first match, Aspen and DJ were playing a team from South Africa. They’d gone with two tall players, both over six feet, and that was a strategy. For a few teams, it worked, whereas for others, it usually didn’t. Aspen and DJ were introduced, and they took their spots on the court. As Kendra took Aspen in from thousands of miles away, she thought about how she’d told Aspen things about herself that she hadn’t told anyone before her. Only her teammates back in school, because they’d been there when it happened, and her parents knew some of what she’d told Aspen. Her teammates didn’t know about her later surgery, though, and her parents never understood how much being seventeen and nearly dying, losing her entire life plan on top of that, had negatively impacted her.

She hadn’t shared everything with Aspen, but she’d opened up to her, and it wasn’t even all that hard to do. How had she gone from having a girlfriend for two years and not being able to tell her anything like that to telling Aspen a lot of her story over hot dogs? Kendra couldn’t put her finger on it exactly, whatever it was that Aspen had that made her want to tell her things no one else knew, but it was there. And with Aspen being on the other side of the world, she missed her.

Aspen and DJ opened the match with an easy win and went into the second set looking good. Then, Aspen jumped for her serve, trying to get them their ninth point, and she stumbled a bit on her landing. She got up and made a play when the ball came back over the net, but they didn’t get the point and took an injury timeout.

“Shit,” Kendra muttered, wishing she were there because she’d be getting information on the injury to relay to the people watching at home.

This streamer hadn’t provided any commentary, though, and she was watching a somewhat blurry screen, so she had no idea how bad the injury was. She sat there and waited, trying to watch Aspen’s face as the trainer took a look at her ankle, but it was impossible to tell. When the timeout was over, Aspen and DJ went back out onto the court, and Aspen seemed to be moving okay. The match resumed, and they served Aspen because they wanted to take advantage. She passed it up, DJ set it, and Aspen smacked it down, earning them a point.

“Yes!” Kendra cheered to no one.

She was okay. At least for now, Aspen was okay. They won the second set by three and shook the hands of the other players. Then, the screen went black again, and a message telling Kendra that the event had ended popped up. She hated being at home. She wanted to walk up to Aspen and ask her about her ankle and how it felt to get the win after going down with an injury. Instead, she reached for her phone and decided to send the woman a text, congratulating her and asking her if she was okay. Kendra knew she wouldn’t get a response right away. And it was late her time, so she should’ve gone to sleep, but she finished her wine, dropped the dishes from her late-night snack in the sink, and went to her bedroom, waiting for Aspen to message back. When her phone dinged, she was holding it and staring down at it, but she was still unprepared. She jumped a little, promptly dropping the phone, and it landed on the floor.

“Jesus!” She picked it up and pulled up the message.

Aspen Ashley: Why are you awake? It’s late there.

Kendra Bowie: Because I was watching you win. Congratulations!

Aspen Ashley: Call?

Kendra smiled and replied quickly.

“Hi,” she greeted.

“Hey,” Aspen said.

“How’s the ankle?” she asked and settled back against her pillow.

“Fine. I rolled it, so I had it massaged, and I’ve got ice on it now. We don’t play again until tomorrow, and it’s still early today, but I have time for it to relax.”

“Where’s DJ?”

“She went to get food. I came back to the hotel. I wanted to get my foot up and rest.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. It’s only ten in the morning here, and I had breakfast before we played, so I’m all right. DJ will bring me something back for lunch later. You really stayed up late to watch?”

“I did, yeah. It’s always a different experience watching on my laptop than being there in person. I couldn’t tell how hurt you were. I… got worried, Aspen.”

“I’m okay. I landed on the line and got caught, but I’m okay. One benefit to playing indoor over beach, though, is that the lines are painted on the gym floor. In beach, they’re just stuck in the sand, and I got my toe caught.”

“You’re not just saying you’re okay?”

“No, I really am okay. I got back out there, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“And we won.”

“I know. I saw. Your sets were off, though,” she teased.

“They were, were they?” Aspen laughed a little. “Do tell.”

“DJ likes them high, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, she does.”

---