Merry Christmas everyone !!  I hope you had a good time with your friends and your family, and a looot of gift ! 
I was lucky to get a new graphic tablet offered by my parents, so I'll be able to draw more and more illustrations !! I'm trying to get to 2 or 3 drawings in a chapter. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment to tell me what you think of the story or of my art, it really motivates me when I get a sign of life from my readers ;)

Take care, everyone !

- Liszka

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Her smile didn't waver during the whole match. John's... well, John's smile disappeared not even two minutes after they started playing. He was now on his knees, panting and bruised. His racket was on the floor next to him and he was red with embarrassment, his face covered in a thick layer of sweat. In front of her, the girl, the small and cute girl that he teased no more than an hour before, was looking very amused.

– You shouldn't be underestimating girls, you know.

And she left, just like that, leaving him on the court. She tried to ignore the gaze of the few curious that came to watch their match. They were looking at her, and she could even hear some of them whispering. Couldn't they be more discreet, at least ?

"What a monster !"

"He didn't even win one point... what is up with that girl ?"

"Is she really a first year ?"

She shrugged it off. She was used to it. After all, she had been trained by her mom. Isla Renard, or Isla Kearney as she was called before her wedding.

Best known as the Empress of the courts.

One of the best female player out there.

The pride of the United Kingdom.

The one who, save for the injury that put a stop to her career, would have been able to be number one.

Unfortunately for her, that never happened. She started training children, and her most famous student was her daughter, Astrid Renard. The girl went on to win several tournaments on the European junior circuit before disappearing from the scene several months ago, just after she turned fourteen.

She sighted. Astrid hadn't kept up with the European tennis revues, and wondered if they knew she was now in the USA. Probably not, for her life had been kept quite private by her parents, thankfully.

Nobody knew her here, and that was for the best.

– Well, that was a long match.

The girl shivered and jumped away.

– What the FUCK Percy ! Don't appear like that from nowhere !

– I didn't. I was actually pretty loud, you're the one who wasn't paying attention to anything.

– Oh my God. What are you doing here anyway ?

– I came to watch your match. Did you even go all out ? He's not that good, I was hoping you'd win faster than this.

She looked at the teenager, trying to kill him with her icy glare. But it was of no use with him : he looked completely unimpressed.

– What do you want from me ? My patience has its limits, and you're getting quite close to crossing them.

– Nothing. You just look like you're a fairly good player.

She looked at him in disbelief and raised her eyebrow. A "fairly good player" ? Duh. She was better than that. But it was not the only thing. That guy... First he refused to call her by her name, then he looked disappointed with her performance during her match and then... he gave her a compliment ?

Strange guy.

– Percy ! Ari ! Shouted suddenly a voice from behind them.

– Moon. Please. Please, no.

– S-sorry... But it's his fault !

Mona threw the blame at Percy, pointing her with her finger.

– He replaced your name by "Ari" on the line-up sheet.

Astrid didn't say anything. What was there to say anyway ? She just looked at him with eyes that meant "Seriously ?" and shook her head. She wasn't even angry, just annoyed. He was smirking.

– I'm glad to see you beat John, said Mona in a weak attempt to change the subject. Who are you playing against next ?

– I think I'm starting with Silas. Is he any good ?

– They're all amazing. But I won't give you any indications on his capabilities, if that's what you're asking.

Astrid scowled and her friend let out a chuckle. She glanced at the boys that were chatting joyously not far from them, trying to find Silas. She remembered him as the guy with spiky black hair and rectangular glasses, but didn't see him. Was he still playing against his first opponent ?

– He's in the bathroom, he'll be back soon.

– Mona, be honest with me. Are you reading my mind ?

– No, Astrid. You're talking to yourself, that's all.

The girl became as red as her hair, and shook her head. Yeah, that was a bad habit.

– What about the other groups ?

Mona shrugged.

– The regulars from the boys' team are undefeated for now. They're that good. They're crushing the girls' team. You need to be really careful playing against Silas and Allen.

Astrid looked again at them, and especially at Adrian. He looked so adult with his oval-framed glasses, his short sand-colored hair and the absence of a smile on his face. It was no surprise that he was the captain of the team. Mona told her before that he was the best player in Nightingale and that his skills were terrifying. Silas and him were the only seniors on the team, and this year'll be their last tournament in high school. Allen was farther away, jumping and laughing with another guy with short hair.

Two other guys were there two, but Astrid did not recognize them. A dark aura was emanating from them, and they looked almost ready to kill each other.

She then turned her gaze toward Noah, who looked ever-so calm. He had a faint smile, and locks of his amber hair were falling on his face, framing his delicate features. Mona was also scared of this one. Astrid would never have guessed seeing him like this : he looked so frail and... weak.

She shook her head. The redhead knew better than judging people on their appearance. If Mona was saying that he was good, then he had to be.

– Astrid ? Astrid !

A voice woke her up, and she looked around. What... ?

– Young girl, are you sleeping ? Asked her coach with a chuckle.

– Uh... no. Sorry. What's going on ?

Since when the old woman was there ? Mona and Percy had disappeared too...

– Your matches. You're playing against Silas first, and Allen next. You'll be okay, I trust ?

She nodded and blushed. She was so lost in her train of thoughts that she didn't even listen to what was going on. Silas came to her, not really watching where he was going as he scribbled inside a blue notebook. They shook hands.

– Hello. I'm Silas. I believe we've never met.

– Astrid. You believe right.

– I'm also playing against Allen today. One freshman and the acrobat... Luck is not on my side today. However that had a fairly good chance of happening, so I'm not surprised. Let's proceed.

And he guided her to the court number four. Silas was muttering stuff under his breath and writing in his notebook, but Astrid couldn't really understand him. What was up with him ? She was very curious, and tried to sneak a peek into his notebook, but that guy was far too big for her, and she wasn't able to see anything.

Noticing her attempts, he gave her a smile that made her shiver.

– 100% chances you won't be able to reach my notebook, considering your height.

She resisted the urge to stick out her tongue to him, and ran on the court to get ready... and away from him. A match was usually played with one set, each set containing six games, each game containing four points. But considering that they each had to play three matches today, the coach decided to make them play tie-break matches : the first one to seven points win.

"Tie-Break matches are a good idea", she thought to herself. "Granted, it doesn't allow the coach to assess our endurance, but it's a good way to test our adaptation capacity as well as our aggressive playing style. In a tie-break, every point counts."

She took her racket with her right hand, threw the ball with her left, and served. She didn't have that great of a strenght, but her shots were accurate and quick.

The ball went exactly where she wanted it to go, but Silas was not surprised.

Of course. That guy was good.

He returned it on the other side of the court, but Astrid was already in front of the net, and did a soft drop shot. Silas didn't have to come back, and she won the first point. But her opponent didn't seem alarmed, and smiled at her, sending a shiver down her spine.

At this moment, she knew that it was of no use to try this strategy again. His green eyes were looking at her, and she felt analyzed.

Needless to say she did not like that very much.

She served again.

Winning was everything.

And she needed that spot in the main team.

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God I HATE DRAWING GUYS.

What went through my head when I decided to write a book with a LOT OF BOYS and then decided to DRAW THE CHARACTERS ?

What do you think of Percy's drawing ? I'm really more used to draw girls, so it's taken me quite a long time to finish his illustration...

Well, I hope you liked this chapter !!

And now for the Question of the Day...

What is the last TV show you watched ?

Take care !!

- Liszka