And here is the 3rd chapter of TennisGirl ! I'm actually getting quicker translating the chapters (I'm already done with chapter 6 eheh) but I'm posting only once a week because I really want to incorporate at least one illustration into each of my chapters, and it takes me a lot of time to draw them...

Please, don't hesitate to comment and tell me what you think of the story, and to point out any english mistakes !!

Enjoy :D

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– Uuuurhgrh.

That was all Astrid managed to utter when her alarm rang. She was definitely not liking having to wake up. She'd pay like a million dollars to be able to stay in her bed all day, but she also knew that being late on the first day of class was not a good idea if she wanted to make a good impression.

Not that she cared, but her parents agreed to send her away only on the condition that she'd do well academically. So no, she was not skipping school – even though she'd love to. She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to make sense of what she was seeing under all of that red-orange hair. She definitely had dark circles under her eyes, and she had a hunch that no amount of make up would be able to hide that.

Well, whatever. Not that she really cared, anyway.

She took out of her wardrobe the uniform of Nightingale High School. She wasn't used to wearing a uniform, for it wasn't compulsory in France, but it looked like the rules were quite different in an American private school. She kinda liked it : at least she wouldn't spend two hours choosing her outfit each day.

But she also had to say that the uniform was... well, ridiculous. Especially that navy pleated skirt. No one looks good in a pleated skirt. Pleated skirts were the invention of the devil. The rest of it was not bad : a cute white blouse adorned with a cherry red neck-tie, black thights and a jacket the same color as the skirt.

Her mom would die for a picture, so Astrid decided to indulge her... just this once. She soon received her mama's answer.

"My daughter is the cutest of them all ! Go get'em !"

Yeah. Embarrassing, as always. Ignoring the text, Astrid took her backpack and her sports bag and dashed outside, determined not to be late. Miraculously she had no problem finding the way to her high school – maybe because her apartment was litteraly fives minutes away and because the streets were full of students in the same uniforms as her.

She had a bad sense of direction, not a bad case of stupidity, so she followed them along the way.

Mona was waiting for her at the entrance, and guided her to their classroom.

The day was quite long, thanks to the numerous introduction speeches she had to listen to. It was hard to understand everything, because even though Astrid's mom was british and she was bilingual, the accent made it hard. She was more used to a posh accent than to the... weird way her teachers were speaking.

At least she could use Mona as a walking dictionnary.

At the end of the day, they hurried back to the gym in order to start playing a little bit of tennis. If only Mona wasn't so clumsy...

The girl tripped on a bag and fell on the poor guy in front of her, who turned around, a little bit surprised.

– Ouch ! She grunted.

– Mona, you okay ?

Astrid gave her a helping hand, getting her friend back on her feet. The guy said nothing, his honey eye fixated on them. Astrid felt her back stiffened, and took a step to position herself right next to Mona. She glared at the guy, daring him to come closer to her friend.

– Sorry ! I'm so sorry ! She uttered, blushing. Did I hurt you ?

– ... No, I'm good.

His eyes were going back and forth between Mona - who was still red as a beet - and Astrid - who looked like she was ready to kill him.

– I'm so, so sorry ! I wasn't looking and...Oh. Wait. Do you play tennis ?

– Yep.

That guy was really not talkative.

– Oh um... We... We're going to the tennis courts. D-do you... maybe want to c-come along ?

The red-headed girl looked at her friend with quite a bit of interest. Since when did that girl had a stutter ? Granted, she only met her two days ago, but she didn't seem to have any speech impairment.

But then she saw the way Mona was looking at him, and a lightbulb switched on in her head. Wait... Oh my god, she had a crush on that guy. Astrid glanced at him. He was cute indeed, with his not-so-short black hair and his peircing eyes. He had a thin face, but he wasn't smiling and looking at them like he wasn't interested.

– Mona... Mona. MOON. Are you sleeping ?

She hadn't say anything for a minute that felt like an hour, and Astrid was convinced that if she did not get out of her trance, there'd soon be a trail of drool on her chin.

– Yes... Yes, sorry ! Sorry.

– Are you coming, Moon ? I want to go play.

– Yes ! So... A-are you coming with u-us ?

– I guess so, answered the guy.

– Cool ! My name's Mona. Y-you can call me Moon. T-this is Astrid.

– Moon and Astrid. I'm Percy. Astrid. That's quite the difficult name.

Astrid stopped, and looked at him in disbelief. How was her name difficult ? And coming from a guy whose name was Percy... what a joke !

– Hey, hey. My name is not that difficult.

– It is.

And he left, without looking twice at the girl he left there, mouth wide open.

– What the... Who the f... Who the fuck does he think he is ? My name is not hard !

Mona couldn't help but chuckle, seeing that her friend was so annoyed. She loved her name, noted. When the two girls arrived near the tennis court, the crowd was bigger than the day before, and the girls were screaming even louder. Was that even possible ? Apparently, yes.

They barely managed to get to the changing room without getting crushed by the horde of fangirls. A dozen of other girls were already there, chatting with each other.

– Why is the team now gender-mixed ?! That makes no sense... The guys are way better than us, we're never gonna get a spot on the main team.

– Yeah, I agree. After all they have a national level... We've never made it past the regionals.

– Don't worry, girls, said a voice coming from the entrance of the room.

All the teenagers turned around, surprised by the sudden appearance of their coach.

– Coach ! What do you mean ?

– We'll still have two teams. One main team, and one secondary. I'm gonna explain it in details in five minutes, so get changed and meet us outside !

The enthousiasm was back in the room, and the girls were soon out on the courts, ready to listen to their coach's announcement.

– Silence ! She screamed from the top of her lungs.

Even the fangirls stopped their squealing, surprisingly. That woman... was one of a kind.

– Hello, everyone ! My name is Selena Anderson, and I'm your tennis coach for the year to come. I'll be responsible for the training of the main team. Let me introduce to you Andy. The secondary team will be in his care.

First round of applause.

– Thank you, thank you. As I hope you all know, we have a new set of rules, starting right now : we won't have a girl's team and a boy's team anymore.

This time, the crowd booed.

– Yeah, I know, that sucks. But don't worry. There'll still be two tournaments, so each high school is gonna form two teams. That means twice the possibility to get selected. We'll be starting the ranking tournament for the main team and the secondary team as soon as today. You'll be sorted depending on your precision, your brute force and your stamina. Does that sound good to you ?

The crowd roared. Apparently, that was fine by them.

– But this year, we have a hundred students in the club ! And while I'm very happy to see that we have so many new people... We can't allow all of you to participate in the ranking tournament. It'd take forever to sort all of you ! That's why we decided to give you a little challenge. On this court, you'll find a soda can. You need to hit it three times, and with no more than ten tries. If you can do that, we'll allow to participate in the ranking tournament for the main team. If you can't... well, you'll try out for the secondary team.

Astrid heard whispers around her. It wasn't hard to see that the players were gauging themselves and the others to try and determine who would be able to do as instructed. Last year's regulars from the boys' and the girls' team were the first to try, and all of them managed to hit the can three times, with only three tries.

Impressive.

Apart from them, not many players did it. It was quite the exercise, to hit such a small target with a tennis ball.

A smile crept up on Astrid's face when she saw Percy come up to the challenge. Oh, she was eager to see if the bastard was good. She was kinda hoping he wasn't. After all, she already found him annoying, and it'd be a shame if the had to play with him in tournaments.

– Oh look, a middle schooler, sneered a voice behind her. Doesn't he know that the primary school isn't here ?

Astrid felt the urge to turn around and punch the impudent, but managed to contain herself... barely. Of course, she didn't really like Percy. But she hated people judging him on his appearance even more.

He was small, maybe no more than five feet four, and he had a slender figure. But still. One shouldn't judge someone on his appearance alone. And she was right, because he passed the challenge easily. She let out a small laugh. He was the only one that managed to do with only three tries, apart from the regulars. Nice job, kiddo.

Astrid stood up. It was her turn to show them what she could do.

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So, what do you think ? Will Astrid be able to knock the can three times ? Will she get a spot on the main team ? Stay tuned for the - not so - surprising answers to these questions !

I'd like to introduce also... The question of the day !

QotD : What do you think of Mona ? Isn't she cute ??

Have a nice week-end <3

- Liszka