"Oh. Wait. You getting ready for the tennis streets?" Keisha said as she and Sevyn walked into Simone and Nate's room.
"Something like that. It's definitely gonna be a battle to get back out there, though."
"Girl it's been one match," Sevyn said with a laugh.
"After sitting out one match? Damn, y'all really do be acting like it's Fight Club." Keisha said causing Sevyn to laugh.
"It does." Sevyn agreed.
"Girl, feels like it, and I'm not the only one in the ring," Simone said as the three of them sat down on her bed.
"How's dance going?" Sevyn asked Keisha.
"Good, I guess. I don't know. Dr. Pace hasn't really been there, so her assistant's been teaching the class." Keisha told the two.
Slightly confused Simone asked, "What's up with that?"
"Girl, I'm minding my business. I'mma let that game come to me." She told them as Simone looked at her call log Keena has been calling the two since Damon left for Chicago.
"Is he still thinking about coming back early?" Keisha asked the two.
"Last we heard, but no one's been able to reach him," Sevyn said.
"Well, where ever he is, whenever he gets here, we'll be ready for him."
Sevyn, Keisha, Gabby, JR, and Simone sat at the table while Cam and coach Marcus sat on the couch as they waited for Damon to arrive this mother texted Simone and Sevyn letting them know that it would be better for Damon to come back to school and he would be arriving tonight.
As the elevator dings and the door opens everyone quickly stands up as they see Damon step out of the elevator.
"Hey, bro. Man, I'm sorry for your loss." JR said as the two hugged.
"If there's anything we can do..." Sevyn started as she pulled Damon into a hug while rubbing his back before letting him go.
Keisha pulled him into a hug before saying, "No. Seriously, we're here for you."
"Yeah, bro. We got you." Cam told him.
"That includes me, too," Gabby added with a smile.
"So they drսg you to this welcoming committee, Coach?" Damon asked as he saw that coach Marcus was there.
"I had to lay eyes on you myself. Look, if you need anything, even if it's company in silence, man, we're all here for you, OK?"
"Look. I-- I appreciate it, but I'm straight. You know, my dad, he's had Alzheimer's, so I kind of lost him a long time ago, so any grief or whatever, that's in the rearview." Damon told them and of course, they didn't believe that.
Standing next to Damon JR started, "Look, bro, you don't really have to explain."
While grabbing his shoulder Damon began, "Now, look, what I want you to do is, I want you to celebrate, all right? Between your anniversary and Cape Cod, you should be living it up."
"Yeah," JR said with a smile.
"All right," Damon said before walking away from the group.
"Should we be worried?" JR asked as they watched him walk away.
"I think so," Sevyn said.
"Oh, hell yeah."
"Definitely."
"Simone go talk to him," Sevyn whispered to her.
For practice Sevyn found that she and another player will be playing doubles with Simone and Thea, not wanting to say it out would Sevyn knew it would be an easy win because the last time the two played doubles together they last and not too mention they were like fire and ice right now playing separate and not together.
Sevyn served the ball over the net and Thea hit it right back over toward Sevyn, quickly hitting the ball back over Thea yelled, "Switch!"
Simone obviously didn't hear her cause when Thea hit the ball back it ended up hitting her in her back, and coach Hinds blew her whistle, "Ow! Seriously?"
"I said, Switch."
"When did we talk about switching positions, Thea?"
"It's obvious..."
"It's obvious?" Simone repeated as coach Hinds blew her whistle again.
"This is an example of the problem we've had all year-- lack of communication. Our next match is this afternoon. I don't care what you do, but do something together that shows you can work together as a team." Coach Hinds said before walking away and Tootie and Sevyn walked over to the two.
"I mean, she's right. We're better than this." Simone said to Thea.
"Well, duh, but what exactly, does she expect us to do?"
" I'll text y'all both an address. Be there in an hour." Tootie said to the two.
"Uh-uh, and where are you taking us?"
"You'll see. Trust, Simone." Tootie said with a laugh and walked away.
"Sev where is she taking us?" Simone asked.
"Uh, I can't say," Sevyn said with a smirk and walked off to finish practice.
An hour later the whole tennis team walked into the escape room that Tootie had planned.
"My dad owns 5 escape rooms in the Greater Atlanta area. This one opens at night, so we have the whole place to ourselves." Tootie said as they all walked in looking around.
"So let me get this straight. Your big idea for bonding is to lock us up in this crazy-ass room for an hour to decipher clues on how to get out." Simone said as she picked up a sword.
"We just need to pick a room. We have a room that's set in space." Tootie started.
"Let's do the space-themed room. That should be fun." Thea said.
Pointing the sword at Thea, Simone started, "Uh, you're not captain anymore, so you don't get to choose."
"And you do?"
"No. I think we should vote." Simone said while putting the sword down as the team looked at each other and nodded before leaving Tootie, Sevyn, Simone, and Thea alone.
"That's just it. The team has voted." Sevyn said the two.
"We're tired of your drama," Tootie added.
"Our drama? Tootie, you've been the center of this mess all season." Simone said in disbelief.
"OK. True, but I'm willing to put that aside if it means we all win. You two aren't giving that, at least not yet, so..." Tootie said as she and Sevyn backed out of the room and closed the door leaving the two in there.
"Um..."
"What are you doing?" Thea asked.
"Open the door."
"Bye," Tootie said as she closed the opening to talk through.
"You think this will work?" Sevyn asked as the two walked toward their team they could hear Simone and Thea telling them to open the door before it got quiet.
"I hope so," Tootie said.
Sevyn won her match against her opponent and she was now watching Simone and Thea play together in doubles so far the two were losing.
Watching the two step back on the court Thea and Simone were working together and were winning.
"That's it Thea!" Sevyn yelled as Thea scored a point. The team cheered as Thea and Simone won their match.
"You two showed me something. This is the kind of leadership that has earned you both a spot in the top 6." Coach Hinds said to the two.
"Wait. What?" Simone said in disbelief as she looked over to Sevyn who had a smile on her face.
"Seriously?"
"Well, Coach Loni and I were already talking about making a change. Enjoy your victory, ladies." Coach Hinds said before walking away.
"What!"
"I was not expecting that."
"Definitely not top 6..."
"Right..."
"But us thriving under high-stakes situations, it's what we do, but we can't seem to be cool on a regular-ass day. Girl, why is that?" Simone said.
"Maybe for now, we'll just take the win that we're learning to be teammates, and maybe that's enough." Thea offered.
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Congrats," Simone said while holding her fist up.
"You, too," Thea said as she fist-bumped her back before walking off.
"I'm so happy for you," Sevyn said excitedly as she hugged Simone.
A/N: y'all I'm not ready for the next chapter and that will be up in the next hour or so hopefully.😭😭
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