We were now sitting a VIP lounge waiting for the game to begin. We already heard the USA anthem and now it was Bulgaria's turn. Their anthem was lovely. I could see Tristan's profile and he was definitely nervous. He had a very simple tell. He got completely still and I knew he was focusing all his energy into controlling his facial expression and preventing his fists from clenching. When the anthem was over he let out a breath and brushed through his dark red hair. He always had the same haircut. Short enough not to bother him while playing, but still the perfect length so he could style it in different ways.
The game began and Bulgaria had the first serve. The guy had a powerful swing and I knew how much that ball had to hurt our libero. But then our opposite got the ball and won us the first point. We had the ball but it was served into the net. What came next was an ace from Bulgaria. Tristan got the next ball and levelled the scores. I forgot what a massive swing he had. We cheered for him extremely loudly. When it was Tristan's turn, I got nervous. Serving wasn't really his biggest strength. And just as I suspected he served out.
Vanessa groaned.
Around 35 minutes later the set was over with 25-21 for the US. Tristan didn't exactly shine in this one but he didn't suck either. When they had the pause at the benches he turned toward the crowd and saw us immediately. He waved and his face brightened, but when he noticed margo, he almost had to do a double take. I could see the mischief on his face when he mockingly blew her a kiss. She rolled her eyes and gave him two fingers, which is a British equivalent of a middle finger. He laughed and for a moment I thought even Margo's mouth quirked up.
The second set began and Tristan was a lot more in his element. He served better and almost all balls he hit ended exactly where he wanted them. He had a huge grin on his face and I could see how much he was enjoying himself. Our team took the second set too with 32-30.
The third set was a different story altogether. They got sloppy. The blockers were too slow, they made one too many serving mistakes and even Tristan screwed up more times than he should have. All that cumulated in us losing a set. Tristan was annoyed and angry now. That definitely showed in the way the first minute of the fourth set when he, with a pipe attack, slammed the ball on the ground with such force I almost winced. After that, he had such a self-satisfied smirk on his face that I couldn't help but smile.
"Oh, how he loved that," said Vanessa.
I chuckled: "He sure did."
X
It was a set point. Tristan had a serve and I almost couldn't watch. But when Van saw that I closed my eyes, she nudged me and called me a coward. Tristan then breathed in and threw the ball in the air. I bit the inside of my cheek hard, while my eyes followed his movements as he pushed himself off the floor, made contact with the ball and send it, to my big relief, successfully to the other side. He looked up at us for a second and gave us the biggest smile.
The captain then got the ball and finished the deal. The whole team jumped in the air (we did too) and ran to the other players to celebrate. Tristan than motioned towards the entrance. We started moving down the stairs.
We were standing at the entrance for players and waited for Tristan to come. Van was the first to notice him. She shrieked and threw herself at him. She hugged him tightly and he returned the hug just as intensely.
"I am sweaty," he mumbled but didn't seem to have any intention of pulling away.
"I don't care. I am so proud of you."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and they broke apart.
"Thanks."
He turned to me and I pretty much did the exact same thing, minus the shrieking. He kinda stumbled but embraced me back.
"Good job, man."
"Thanks."
"Your serves still suck though."
He pushed me away, laughing.
Caleb came up to him and they gave each other a fist bump.
"You stink so I am not hugging you."
"Well, I played volleyball for two hours. What's your excuse?"
Caleb grinned: "Congrats. You were great."
That was when he noticed Margo who has yet to say anything. She met his eyes.
"Congratulations on the win. Your team deserves it."
"Thank you. I'm surprised you came."
"I came to support the national team. Where you happen to be in."
"Still. I saw you clapping. You never did that at school. Admit it, I'm growing on you."
Her jaw tensed.
"If you spent the time watching me for actually playing, maybe you would give even more points."
"Don't flatter yourself legally blond, I was watching my friends, where you happen to be sitting."
God, they can be immature.
That was when a taller man came by and patted him on the back.
"Coach wants to talk to us. Now. "
"Yeah, I'm coming, just need to finish this."
The man who, if I was not mistaken, was the captain, walked away from us without another word. Margo followed him with his eyes. And I could see why. He was a taller, buffer version of Isaac. But yeah sure, she doesn't miss him.
Tristan must have noticed too because he scoffed: "Please, he is way out of your league."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"If I am out of his league than you are so far away, you would need binoculars to even see the league, he is in."
"I am not the one interested."
"I am not interested."
"Yeah sure, all the drooling really made it subtle."
"Maybe I'm just not used to seeing volleyball players who don't look like a defected Chucky toy."
"Strong words from discount Sharpay Evans."
"Oh my god!" Caleb stopped the back and forth, who was visibly running out of patience "Either fuck already or just shut up because I'm sick of you both."
They did get quiet but were still glaring at each other fiercely.
"Are we going to dinner celebrate or what?" I asked.
"You bet your ass we are going. Just wait for me outside. It'll be half an hour at most."
He waved and jogged away. We started walking to the door. Margo's phone rang, so she excused herself.
"I don't understand how you guys managed to survive four years of their bickering without losing your damn minds."
Vanessa laughed: I guess we just got used to it. I never thought it would last this long."
"I'm honestly not surprised. They can both be unbelievably childish."
I pulled out my phone to see what time it was when I realized I had 11 missed calls from Victoria. My stomach clenched. Something must have happened. There was also a message: "Aron please call me the second you see this."
So I did.
She picked up almost immediately: "Thank god you called."
Her voice was shaking and I got more nervous.
"Victoria what is it? What happened?"
"It's Lukas."
I held the phone even tighter. My knuckles must have been completely white.
"What is it?" I had to say it slowly so she couldn't hear the panic in my voice.
"He locked himself in your office and doesn't want to open. He is freaking out and I'm afraid he might...hurt himself. I know you are the only one besides him that has the keys and that might know how to calm him down."
"I..."
I wasn't sure if that was true. My heart was beating way too fast and my breaths were shallow.
"Please...I don't know what else to do. Dad and I have been trying for two hours and nothing worked."
I could hear that she was crying.
"Ok, I'll be there in about 20 minutes. But what happened?"
There is not a lot of things that can make Lukas ˝freak out˝. If he wants to, he can be a perfect example of composed and in control. Especially in front of his sister and father.
"Our grandmother...She died in a hospital four hours ago."