Chapter Text
"Maxine! Come on, we gotta go or we'll be late"
Maxine groans as she shuts of her phone and stood up from her bed. While stretching her arms, she looks around in her room. Decorated with her favorite bands and anime figures (especially Suguru Geto) her room represents her as a person perfectly; music-loving, nerdy and introverted around most people but extroverted around the right one's.
The volleyball camp she picked out on her own a few months ago was her last priority right now, since she really didn't want to go there, especially because no friend of hers goes there. She will be added into a whole new team for two weeks, people who could turn out to be the worst people ever.
Even though she went over all possible scenarios, she was still nervous about the camp. What if she wouldn't make any friends? What if everyone will hate her as soon as she stepped a foot on the court? No, she can't think about that now.
Her best friend encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone, even if it meant telling more about herself to others than she wants. But those advices sound easier when their told from a extroverted person, which her best friend definitely is. The only thing encouraging Maxine to step out of her room and house to approach the car which would drive her into her personal hell for two weeks was that her best friend was also in a camp right now, but at least she had her friends with her. Maxine on the other hand had only herself to comfort her.
As she walked through her house, she took in all the things she could sense and which she thought she'd miss while being away. Her black Labrador named Alaska, the kitchen island with the massive speaker on top of it where she would blast her favorite band "Leap" on, and especially the countless medals and trophies on the shelf.
"It's only two weeks..." She mumbled to herself, trying to get that nervous feeling to search another soul to harass. "It'll be over before anything bad can happen."
In the car with her parents, she pluggs in her headphones and slouches in the corner of the backseat. A long drive awaits her, she knows that, so she puts on her nine hour long playlist with carefully picked out songs and closes her eyes. Only nine hours from now, she will arrive in the volleyball camp, and hopefully will share her dorm with someone bearable.
Mountains, lakes and large patches of grass pass by the car window, almost too fast too catch. Her mind slows down eventually, and every muscle in her body relaxes as she falls into a deep sleep.
Eventually though, she is woken up by a huge pot hole in the street that shakes the car throughout. Maxines father, the driver, mumbles a quick apology before pressing the gas pedal even harder than before, speeding up to an unbelievable speed.
Maxine fixes her posture and turns around to look out of the side window, fixing her hair which got messy while she was asleep.
They weren't in their own country anymore, she could sense that, but where else? How long was she asleep for? She cheeks the time on her phone and her eyes widen. Six hours. On a car ride.
She had always been a sleepy head, but sleeping this long without waking up on a bumpy road with hundreds of sharp turns? That's a new record, even for her. Maxine yawned. Six hours still didn't feel like enough, especially when she stayed up all night to overthink about how everyone would perceive her.
Hopefully, so she thinks, they would accept her as a new teammate, and even if they wouldn't, she would make them by showing of her skills. She isn't new to this. Volleyball is her one and only passion since she was four, and that won't change in the next years, no matter who wanted to prove her wrong.
With these comforting thoughts in her mind, she dozed off again, feeling more satisfied than ever and leaving a warm feeling around her heart that everything could eventually work out.
"Maxine, wake up, sweetie. We arrived!" Maxine opens her eyes, blinking in the bright sunshine as she is greeted by her smiling mum basically taking in all of her vision due to how close she stands.
"Mum, back up" Maxine laughs and pushes her mum away playfully by the shoulder before stretching her arms and leaving the car, pushing the car door close with a loud thump.
Looking around, she takes in the seemingly endless amount of olive trees around the beach volleyball courts, on which some girls are already playing on them and throwing themselves in the sand trying to still get the ball.
To her left, a big white hotel towers over the trees, with balconies standing out together with an enormous pool. As she looks closer, she notices how it's mostly boys playing in the pool, only very few girls sitting on the edge, seemingly having a break from training.
Her eyebrows furrow. That would mean that the genders are trained separately, which would also mean she had enough time to find a partner for the mixed doubles at the end of the training camp.
Lost in her own thoughts, she only realizes her parents walking to the front desk of the hotel when her dad gently tugs on her sleeve. She quickly follows her parents while rolling her suitcase with her.
The lady behind the front desk greets Maxine and her parents with a soft smile, her curly dark hair falling over her shallow shoulders. "Are you here to check in?" The lady asks in a high pitched and friendly voice. "If so, I'm Mrs. Martin and here to guide y'all around."
Maxine smiles back, and answers the question before her parents have the chance to interfere.
"Almost," she replies in a just as friendly voice, "I'm the only one staying, and I'm here for the volleyball camp."
The lady's eyes light up when Maxine mentions the camp " Oh, of course sweetheart! I sensed that you play volleyball, considering how you are. Well, my six senses never disappoint me, eh?" Noticing how she broke the professional character, Mrs. Martin quickly snaps back to her higher pitched, monotone voice.
"We're happy to have you in this hotel, you can let the staff carry your suitcase in your room while I guide you to it. But of course you can also say goodbye to your parents first, since they haven't booked a room for them."
Maxine nods to reassure that she got Mrs. Martin's message: Hurry up.
After successfully getting her parents to leave without worrying about her for over ten minutes and asking stupid questions, Maxine follows Mrs. Martin to the elevator.
She sees the numbers on the screen go lower the closer the elevator is getting to their floor before a beep finally signals it being on their floor. The doors open and they step in.
Inside, an uncomfortable silence stretches out and Maxine can't help but wonder if only she doesn't like the silence. To free herself from the feeling, she turns slightly to Mrs. Martin. "So..." She starts, but can't seem to think of a question that would spark interest "are there many people for the volleyball camp already here?"
Oh god, that was the worst question ever.
Mrs. Martin seems to share that thought, she slowly turns her attention to Maxine and musters her. "There are! Some people stay over for several months just to train, some just stay for two weeks. What category are you in?" She turns the question back to her.
"Oh, I'm just here for two weeks, but I promise I'm good at volleyball and not just some poser!" Maxine turns away as her cheeks flush. Why couldn't she just answer questions normally? Her play style was surely one of Mrs. Martin's least concerns. But before Maxine could continue sinking in embarrassment, Mrs. Martin lets out a high but friendly laughter.
"Oh, I know darlin'. You don't have to prove anything-" The elevator doors open before Mrs. Martin finishes her sentenced, with the same ping as before, and the two females leave it.
"You got sorted to a dorm with a roommate, but don't worry, she'll help you when you need it and is friendly on top of that." Mrs. Martin smiles and hands over a shiny card, supposedly for Maxine's room. "You can always come to the front desk too for help or questions. I ordered your room mate to tell you the times for breakfast, lunch and dinner times. She should also have the information about your training."
With that, the woman turns back to the elevator and leaves Maxine looking around. She didn't even mention her room number or where it was located? Searching for help, she strays through the hallways, looking for staff or other volleyball players.
She's so distracted that she only notices the boy towering over her when she stumbles into his shoulders. She freezes and looks up to him fast, her head snapping up way faster than usual.
"Looking for help?" The sarcastic voice rumbles through Maxine's chest as she quickly takes a step back to make up space between them.
"Yea, sorry for being distracted- like really sorry. Also for stumbling into you, but I guess that goes with it. Or maybe not, I don't know. Sorry" she hurries, swallowing her words. Wait, she had to lock in now, she wanted to make a good new impression and she desperately needed to find her room before dinner.
"I'm a volleyball player" she brings out, her voice squeaky from embarrassment.
An amused smirk spreads on the boy's face. "Figured. What do you need? You seem to be new here."
Alright, he didn't reject her immediately. Now she only needs to form a clear, purpose fulfilling sentence without completely failing. "I- uhh- yea I'm" she exhales annoyed as the words seem to not make sense no matter what she tried. She clears her throat before continuing, focusing on every word individually.
"Yes, I'm new here. And I can't find my room because the lady behind the front desk didn't tell me the room number."
Good. Very good. She didn't stumble over her words or stop mid- sentence, an archivement to be proud of. She straightens her posture and pushes her chin higher. While doing so, she sees the boy in front of her for the first time fully. He has an athletic build, seemingly also being here for playing volleyball. His arms are crossed in front of his chest, a relatively slim waist connecting it with his long legs. Dark waves grow from his head in a messy way, and his just as dark eyes are fixated on Maxine standing in the hallway.
For a long moment, nobody cares to talk as the two of them try to judge each others character by their appearance, or so Maxine thinks, at least that's what she's doing. But before she can start moving again to search for someone who would actually help her, the boy snatches the room card loosely hanging in Maxine's hand and musters it.
Maxine's eyes narrow. "What are you doing? I'm sure you have your own card-" her voice is silenced by her hands being slowly opened by the hands of the boy, while he slips the card between her fingers, all while keeping his eyes on her gaze which is focused on the movement.
"329" the boy whispers with a mocking grin on his face, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "The room number is on the card."
With that, Maxine can only look after him, not having the chance to thank him. That was even more embarrassing than the hour she took to study every hallway for a hint. If Maxine's ever going to encounter that boy again, she will probably sink into an imaginary hole in the floor out of embarrassment.
She sighs, trying to shake of the interaction. At least now she knows her room number, right? She looks down on her card, the text reads:
"Maxine Lettfer. Room number: 332"
Maxine rolls her eyes. That mysterious boy not only knows her room number, but also her full legal name. But wait, 332 ? Didn't he say 329?
Whatever, he probably just read it wrong. Or he was confused of how stupid she was. Or how her sentences didn't make sense. Or maybe how they did make sense, just to him. Maybe how he thought she was cute.
But Maxine didn't think of that as she hurried to search for directions to her new dorm for two weeks from now.
As she finally arrives, she holds her card against the flat surface next to the door, and the little light above it immediately lights up green and buzzes. Seeing that as a good sign, she opens the door and steps inside, taking in the smell of salty seawater and feeling the breeze from the open window. There are two queen-sized beds with fresh bedsheets in different corners of the room, beside one of them already lays an already open suitcase.
She looks around some more. Her things are already besides the closet besides the un-touched bed, it seems like the staff found her room earlier than she did. Stepping closer to the window, she discovers a perfect view of the pool she already noticed when first arriving. In it, there are no more people.
Probably because it was already late or they had training. But mentioning people not being in the pool, where even is her room mate? Isn't she supposed to have one?
That's when Maxine hears a door handle turning and spins around. From what she supposes is the bathroom, a tall figure steps out, dragging a ton of steam with her. When the steam lightens, Maxine recognizes a girl with a towel slung around her body and chest. Her curly blonde hair is brushed out and hangs over her shoulder in a side part, her gleaming skin being tanned from endless hours in the sun.
Maxine can't help but admire her when the girl begins to talk with a big smile on her face, bearing her white teeth as she does so.
"Hey! You gotta be my new roommate, no? Your stuff was already brought here ten minutes ago, but you didn't arrive yet, so I jumped in the shower." The girl laughs "you were taking really long, don't tell me you did a quick volleyball session without inviting me! When I think about it, it's probably better like that – I trained the whole day, my legs feel like giving in! I can't wait to eat dinner, I'm starving... but you probably feel the same, right? No problem, we can go there in a few minutes, I just need to put some clothes on! Wait, I'm already talking too much, you probably want to arrive properly here. Oh gosh, I didn't even tell you my name!"
Maxine just freezes. The girl seems.. welcoming? Well, better than not talking to her at all. She kinda reminded her of her best friend, these two would get along right away.
The girl extends one hand while the other one is holding her towel up. Maxine shakes it and snaps out of her hypnotic state. "Don't worry, you can talk as much as you want. I'm Maxine. And yes, I'm just as hungry as you"
The girl in front of her smiles even wider. "Great, big fan of your feelings! I'm Eleadora, but most people just call me Tia"
Maxine's eyebrows furrow confused "...but that's a whole new name?"
Tia chuckles at her confusion, but the only thing Maxine picks up is how her laugh sounds heavenly "It's my middle name, I grew up with people calling me by it"
Maxine nods "o-okay Tia" she smiles "Nice to meet you"