Holding On (49 page)

He had made his decision but was not sharing with me. It
bothered me
a
little
at
first,
but
I
figured
he
would
tell
me
when
he
was
ready.
Plus,
the
last
thing
I
wanted
was
to
fight
with
him
when
we
only
had a limited amount of time to spend together. If I knew how far away
he would
be
in
a
couple
of
months,
it
would
consume
all
my
thoughts,
and
I would probably pout the entire summer. I wanted to enjoy the next
few weeks, not dread them
ending.

Toward
the
end
of
July,
as
we
were
playing
on
the
courts
at
the
high school, I noticed that someone was watching us. The man stood off
in the
distance
for
a
while,
but
as
he
came
closer,
I
got
butterflies
in
my stomach
and
started
to
feel
like
I
was
going
to
vomit.
I
knew
who
he was. I had seen him around since the start of my tennis season. He
had come to watch a few of the home matches, and I had always
wondered
who he was keeping his eye
on.

I was so distracted at that very moment that I missed the ball
and sliced
the
air
with
my
racket.
The
look
on
my
face
must
have
told
Ethan the
whole
story
because
he
turned
to
see
that
the
man
was
now
standing
just outside the fencing of the courts. He was definitely watching
us.

As
Ethan
turned
back
around,
a
small
smile
started
to
spread
across his lips.
“You
know that I’m spoken
for,
so he must be here to see
you. That
was
a
hell
of
a
way
to
impress
a
scout.”
He
was
referring
to
my complete
miss
moments
earlier.
I
smiled
at
his
comment
as
I
felt
the pink flush my
cheeks.

I
walked
over
to
the
gate
and
let
myself
out.
Ethan
was
right
behind me as I approached the man with as much confidence as I could
muster at
the
moment.
As
he
turned
toward
me,
I
could
see
the
schools
emblem stitched over the breast pocket of his crisp white polo
shirt.

“Rebecca Blake,” I said with my hand held out to him. He shook
it and nodded his head in
acknowledgment.

“I know who you are, Miss Blake. I watched you destroy a
young lady
the
first
match
you
played
here.
I
was
impressed
then,
and
I’m impressed
now.”
He was smiling at me. He really came here to
watch
me?
That’s
un-freaking-believable
! “I’m Scott Jones. I’m the
assistant coach for the
men’s
and
women’s
tennis teams at the
U.”

“It’s
nice to meet you.
Mr.
Jones, this is my boyfriend,
Ethan Green.” I motioned to where Ethan stood behind me.

“Nice to see you again,
Mr.
Green.”

Again? Had Ethan been looking at the U as a possibility? Had
they offered him a scholarship? I turned to Ethan to ask him all these
things when I was cut
off.

“Well,
Miss
Blake,
the
reason
I’m
here
is
because
we
have
a
program that I thought you might be interested in that starts here in a couple
of weeks.
We
are starting a small
women’s
tennis competition within
the state
of
Arizona
for
high-school
senior
tennis
players.
Only
high-school senior girls with potential to play in college are being invited to
join.”

“I don’t understand. I would be playing for the
university?”

“Yes
and
no.
You
would
not
be
a
part
of
the
U’s
team,
but
you
would be
representing
the
U
in
a
way.
The
program
is
designed
to
bring
together all
the
top-performing
senior
tennis
players
in
the
state
for
scouting
purposes.
All
the
scouts
would
be
able
to
watch
you
girls
play
each other twice a month, and you would have the opportunity to
showcase
your talent with the possibility to snag an available
scholarship.”

“Wow!
It sounds like a great opportunity. What do I need to
do?”

“Well,
I
need
your
parents
to
sign
these.”
He
pulled
a
stack
of
papers out
of
his
bag.
The
stack
was
about
as
thick
as
a
DVD.
Obviously,
I would
be
reading
this
tonight.
“Then
if
they
agree
to
everything,
you would
need
to
enroll
in
one
class
at
the
U.
You
will
get
dual
credit for
this
class
with
the
high
school
and
the
U,
and
because
it
will
be classified as dual enrollment, it won’t cost you a
thing.”

I
took
the
stack
of
papers
and
stared
at
them.
I
could
feel
Ethan behind
me;
he
had
moved
a
little
closer.
He
reached
around
me
and
took the
stack
of
papers.
I
could
hear
him
flipping
through
them,
probably skimming the “fine
print.”

“When do you need an answer?” I
asked.

“As soon as you make a decision would be great. Each team
only has seven spots.
We
showcase three singles players and two
doubles teams.
I
have
filled
five
spots
so
far.
I
would
like
for
you
to
play
one singles for us and see what possibilities are out there for
you.”

One singles? Did he really just ask me to play one singles for
the U?
I
felt
my
heart
beginning
to
race,
my
legs
starting
to
tremble,
and before
I
even
realized
that
they
were
going
to
give
out,
Ethan’s
arms were around my waist, holding me
up.

“She’ll
get
back
with
you
tomorrow,”
Ethan
stated
firmly
from behind
me.

I was going to say the same thing, but the words were not coming out. Thank God Ethan was there to catch
me.

I watched
Mr.
Jones nod his head in understanding and then
walk
toward the parking lot. As soon as he was out of sight, Ethan turned
me toward
him,
I
stood
on
my
tiptoes
and
hugged
him
tightly.
I
couldn’t believe
what
just
happened.
Did
I
just
get
offered
to
represent
one
of
the best tennis programs in the state? Holy
crap!

“You
are going to be amazing. This is such a great
opportunity.” Ethan praised.

“It’s...” I stuttered but could not find my voice. I couldn’t think
of words
to
describe
how
I
felt
right
now.
My
body
was
trembling
still,
and I felt like I might faint. I wanted to scream or cry or something. I
was
completely
overwhelmed.