Chương 26: Act 1, Chapter 26: No nets between friends

Day in the story: 2nd October (Thursday) I cracked my knuckles. Across the net, Peter answered with a roll of his neck, his vertebrae snapping into place. His jaw was tight, clenched like he was holding back a storm, but his eyes weren't angry anymore. There was heat in them, but it did not make my chest lock up in fury. That small shift, barely perceptible to anyone else, eased something in me. Still, I hadn't come here for peace. I came to make sure Peter remembered who he was dealing with.

To remind him I wouldn't be belittled or brushed aside, not in front of friends, not in front of anyone. Not ever again. Jason, naturally, chose that moment to begin his usual pregame ritual: exaggerated wrist stretches so theatrical it looked like he was warming up for a circus act, not a volleyball match. Zoe, positioned just behind me, rolling her eyes. This time beside Peter, Ty and Evan, Jason had brought in two new guys, Mark and Ricky.

I didn't know them, though I noticed Sophie giving Ricky a once-over more than once. Elena, as always, was living in a Shakespearean fever dream.

"Let's make 'em bleed," she muttered to me as she twisted her hair into a high ponytail.

"Peaches, you good?" Sophie called from the backline as she adjusted her knee pads. Sophie's eyes flicked briefly toward the boys, then back to us. Peaches gave a casual thumbs-up in response. Her face was hidden behind her orange-tinted sports goggles making it totally unreadable. She didn't look like someone you'd expect to dominate a court, but I had a gut feeling she'd surprise everyone.

The match began not with a whistle, but with the sharp smack of a palm on leather as Evan tossed the ball to Ricky for the first serve. Ricky wound up and snapped his arm forward like a trebuchet. The ball shot across the net, skimming it with barely an inch of clearance. A jump serve with authority and zero forgiveness. I threw myself left, arms low, catching the ball just before it kissed the floor. Pain bloomed across my forearms.

The ball popped clean into the air, as my magical enchantment held—a subtle pulse of energy absorbing the sting.

"Elena, go!" I shouted, scrambling back to my feet. Elena was already airborne, eyes wide with ambition. The intent was there, but her execution lagged behind it. The spike was aggressive but misaligned. Tyler sprang like a coil and blocked it effortlessly. The ball dropped dead into our court.

"Friendly" or not, they had drawn first blood. The next serve came for Sophie. She lunged a bit awkwardly but determined and got it up with a shaky bump. Zoe moved in like clockwork and she popped it gently. I was already on the move.

"Mine!" I shouted and with the braces painted on my ankles I launched myself skyward. I felt like I hung in the air, just a fraction longer than humanly possible. My right arm came down like a guillotine. The ball cracked off my wrist and whistled through the air. It slammed into Jason's chest with a satisfying thump. He managed to keep it alive, popping it back to Peter with a grunt.

"Damn it, Lex, are you trying to kill me?" he yelled, but there was laughter in it, hidden behind the breathlessness. Volleys snapped back and forth. The pace quickened, our sneakers screeching across wood, breath coming in gasps. Zoe tricked them next, a featherlight tip over the net. The boys lunged, but too late. The match tilted into chaos. Jason attempted a sneaky dump over the net. Sophie flung herself across the floor, burning her elbow on the hardwood to save it.

Elena cursed in three languages when Tyler stuffed her spike so hard it rebounded past the middle line. Peaches, somehow, returned a nasty serve with a no-look, behind-the-back dig that even Peter stopped to blink at. It continued like that for quite some time. Then when the score was nine to nine, came the rally. We hadn't spoken about it aloud, but everyone on the court knew this was no longer just a friendly match. This was a score waiting to be settled.

And the next point might be the one that broke the dam open. They served. Hannah took it clean, arms firm, form sharp. A textbook receive. Zoe flowed into motion, setting high, fast and absolutely perfect. I rose and spiked, but hit a block. Zoe dove in response, sliding across the floor and saving it inches above the ground. Sophie scrambled, bumping it high. Elena launched for the kill. But she too was blocked. Back and forth it went. Attack, defense, reset, strike.

My thighs screamed, my arms burned, but my breath was steady. Peter sent a deep shot, sharp and spinning. We almost let it go, too long, maybe out. But at the last second, Peaches dove like a predator, her arm snapping out and catching it clean. There was no time to think so I jumped and spiked sending that ball with high speed. It flew right at Ty, and bounced off his arm, straight into Peter's face. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Laughter burst from Jason first, than me and then the rest of us. One by one, like a broken dam. Even Peter was grinning, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head.

"You okay?" I called over the net. He gave a thumbs-up, smirking.

"I'll get you for that." He replied with a grin. But despite the boys' best efforts after few more minutes we finally secured the win thanks to Peaches's incredible serve, which sent the ball straight into the far corner of the court.

"I'm sorry, Lex. Can we talk?" Peter asked as I sat down to rest after it was all over. He extended his hand and I took it.

"Of course, you moron." He helped pull me to my feet. Zoe's ice-blue eyes tracked us the whole time. Peaches stood nearby with her arms folded. She was watching too. They weren't pretending not to notice, they were invested and it hit me then how much they actually cared.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, even though I already knew. I needed him to say it first.

"I won't apologize for not liking the guy," he said immediately.

"But I will for how I handled it. I shouldn't have brought it up in front of everyone. I got carried away." I tilted my head.

"That's it?" His brows furrowed slightly.

"Should there be more?" God. He was so oblivious sometimes. We drifted toward the edge of the gym where the echoes of our voices wouldn't bounce quite so far. Still, I felt Zoe's gaze burning into the side of my neck. Peaches hadn't moved either. I appreciated the backup, but this part, I had to handle alone.

"Look," I said, keeping my voice even.

"You don't have to apologize for not liking Thomas. You're allowed to like or dislike whoever the hell you want. You know I would never force someone on you. I thought I made that clear, years ago."

"You did," he muttered through his teeth.

"Then what the hell was the point of all that? You don't trust my decisions?"

"Should I?" he snapped back. His tone wasn't cruel, just exhausted, like he'd carried this for too long.

"You know damn well your line of work has you making decisions that are messy," he said.

"I don't always trust that you'll make the right ones, no. But I've always been there for you. Haven't I?" I stayed quiet, not ready to give him that win out loud.

"And I think," he continued, "that I've earned the right to call you out when I think you're heading down the wrong path. I don't know magic, or thieving, or all your other cloak-and-dagger nonsense." He whispered.

"But I do know people. Especially guys. That's something I can help with, if you'd ever let me." My chest felt tight. I could already feel the adrenaline from the game whispering to escalate this. To bite back. To turn this into the fight it had been building toward all morning, but I'd learned over the years to shut that voice off. Working in high-stress situations taught me when to push and when to just listen.

"You're right," I said, finally.

"Partially. I got defensive when I should've heard you for what you were actually trying to say—that you were afraid of what his presence might bring." He nodded, then shook his head.

"Wait—partially?"

"Yes, you idiot. You call him a bully with a hero complex—and what was that you did? You slut-shamed me. More than once. That's not bullying?"

"I—" he started, his face twisting into a grimace of confusion.

"I know that's what you apologized for. But it's not the only thing you did wrong. Not by a long shot."

"What is it, then?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I may make choices you don't understand when it comes to the challenges I set for myself, but I don't think I've ever given you a reason to doubt my judgment about men, have I?" I pressed.

"No, you haven't. Not until this time," he replied. I let out a small sigh.

"I understand why you wouldn't trust all my decisions," I said, brushing past his answer for now.

"You've been there for me, even when I was spiraling. I never thanked you enough for that. So—thank you." Peter blinked. He hadn't expected that.

"But in this case," I added, "you were right in how wrong you were about this." He tilted his head.

"What?"

"I shouldn't have slept with Thomas." His eyes widened, his jaw slackening slightly.

"I don't follow…"

"I didn't sleep with him," I clarified.

"Yesterday I used my room as an anchor point for a teleportation. Thomas came with me. It got misread—Sophie assumed things, and I let it slide. Easier than explaining magic to someone who doesn't deal with it." I exhaled.

"Turns out it wasn't that easy after all."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, more surprised than angry now.

"I was mad that you didn't trust me enough to see it couldn't possibly be that kind of mistake." The words came slower now. He was listening. Really listening.

"I'm sorry, Lex. You're right. So obviously right. I was an asshole for no reason."

"I just assumed you should see the world the way I do," I said, meeting his eyes.

"That you—my brother—knew me better."

"Fuck," he muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"I treated you like a child, didn't I?"

"You did."

"I won't do that anymore, okay?"

"I know you won't," I replied as the tension finally drained from my body.

"And I won't let unnecessary lies create unwanted drama," I added, my voice dropping to a near whisper as Jason approached from across the court. Zoe and Peaches were right behind him.

"You two good?" Jason asked, giving us a side-glance.

"Looked like you were having some intense post-match sibling drama." Peter gave a half-shrug, glancing at me.

"We had a disagreement earlier. Sorted it now—right?" Everyone's eyes turned to me.

"Yes," I said, the smile on my lips this time was real.

"We did. I was wrong in my assumptions." Jason gasped like a cartoon character.

"Did I hear that right?" he asked, hand to his chest like I'd stabbed him with honesty.

"You two argued—and you, Alexa, you publicly admitted you were wrong?"

"Yes, I did." I said it again, with zero shame.

"I was wrong as well," Peter added. It earned him a flicker of something softer on Zoe's face. Not a smile exactly, but not the icy glare she'd been carrying all day either.

"—Shut up Peter," Jason cut in.

"You don't matter here." Then he dropped dramatically to one knee in front of me.

"Alexandra May," he intoned, loud and proud, "will you marry me?" I groaned and covered my face with both hands.

"What is his deal?" Peaches asked.

"Why do you want me to marry you, Jason sweetheart?" I asked, putting on a sarcastic lilt just to match his theatrics.

"I have never met a woman willing to publicly admit she was wrong," he said, voice trembling with fake emotion.

"You're the one, Lex. I need you." There was a dull thud as a volleyball nailed him in the back of the head. He flopped forward onto the court and Sophie pumped a fist.

"Knew I'd hit him."

"That was unnecessary," Jason grumbled into the floor.

"Sorry, darling," I said, helping him up, "but I'm not exactly in the market for a husband right now." He rubbed his head and flashed that crooked grin.

"I figured. But it was worth a shot."

"My thoughts exactly!" Sophie shouted. Everyone broke into laughter. Jason was ridiculous and obnoxious. But he was also the glue sometimes. The fool that lightened the dark. And right now, after everything that had gone down, I didn't mind having him around.