As always, please let me know what you think. Also, if anyone speaks Arabic and wants to correct Google Translate, please do.     

   Her feet hit the gym floor, the soles of her shoes screeching a little. The noise was followed a moment later by the satisfying smack of the ball hitting the floor on the other side of the neck. The people on their side of the court cheered as the ref's arm extended in their direction.

"وظيفة جيدة ، طفل!"

She shot Ray, calling his encouragement in Arabic, a quick grin over her shoulder as they all went in for their usual few-second huddle, making a face at a gurgling Reagan in his lap before focusing back on the game.

They'd won two sets and lost one, so if they could keep their lead on this one, they wouldn't have to play the fifth. That meant she might be able to get away with doing a little homework in the car before going into the wrestling match, and that meant she could get a little more sleep that night.

As usual, the thought of sleep made her stomach turn a little in guilt, her mind unable to shake the fear of someone discovering the lifeline she'd come to rely on. What if Ray...

She shoved the thought away as Lily served. She had to focus. You never knew when a college scout might be sitting in on a match.

The other team met the serve with a spike back over the net, and Macy dove for the ball as Adira moved into position to set. The dig saved it from the floor, allowing her to slide under it and give it some more height with practiced ease. When she did, Sandra was there to hit it back to the other side.

However, Adira could tell by ear that it wasn't a strong hit, and it was easily met with a quick bump and another powerful hit their way. It was headed toward the line between her area and Willa's, so she took a step forward, but stopped at the other girl's claiming call, accompanied by a leap towards the net.

Adira had been closer, and Willa should have given it to her, but she wasn't surprised. She was just one of those people who did everything she could to squish an I into team, and Adira didn't have the energy to fight her on it. But the jump had been sloppy, and the block was as well. The ball made it over the net, but Willa lost her balance in the landing and hit the ground. The volley was returned straight into her area of the court, and it was clear she wasn't going to make it up in time to get it.

So, Adira dove for it instead, making the dig the second before the ball hit the ground. Lucy didn't miss a beat, jumping forward to bump it over the net. As the other team set to return and Ray yelled some more, Willa got to her feet with a growl of frustration, shoving Adira's arm hard.

"Get out of my court."

Stumbling backwards, Adira tried to focus back in on the approaching ball as the ref's whistle and warning for Willa to watch her behavior cut over the noise already present in the gym. Before she knew what was happening, it was her ball again, and a rushed bump over the net was all she could manage. They blocked it easily, and without Willa in position to pick it back up, it hit the floor with a disappointing smack.

They were still three points ahead, but the volley shouldn't have ended like that. Their coach yelled for Willa to switch out with Ella on the bench, and a fire entered the girl's eyes. She stormed in that direction, muttering a colorful name at Adira as she passed.

Apparently, she didn't say it quietly enough. The whistle sounded again, and a yellow card flashed in the ref's hand as he pointed to her infuriated teammate. Great. That was definitely going to find a way to be her fault.

She glanced back at Ray and Reagan and found her friend's encouraging smile telling her to shake it off.

"تجاهلها .أنت تفعل عظيم."

Adira pushed out a long breath and centered her focus back on the game as they got into their usual three-second huddle to welcome Ella to the game. Yeah, Willa was gonna have a fit later, but she there was no use in worrying about that until it happened. Right now, they had a match to win.

The other team served, and Sandra didn't missed a beat, bumping it straight back to them. They spiked, but Macy dug and made it, and Ella hit it back. They tried to block and missed, but picked it up from behind to bump, set, and spike. Adira returned with a bump, and they set and had it back again. But this time, Lily was waiting to block, and the ball hit the other side of the court.

They were four ahead, and one away from game point. Victory was so close. It was her turn to serve, so all she had to do was not screw it up. Serves often defined volleys, and she had to define this one as all theirs. She caught the ball tossed to her as they left another brief huddle. Everyone slid into position as she jogged to the back of the court and waited for the whistle to blow.

When it came, she didn't allow herself to overthink it, running forward and jumping to serve with a powerful spike. They had to dig to recover. That was good. Lily blocked again, they set and returned, Ella bumped it back to them. They knocked off a powerful return, but Sandra got under it without digging and bumped it Adira's way. That was her cue to run and jump once more, delivering the ball in another fast, steeply angled package.

They dove for it and missed. Game point.

A few minutes later, the ball hit the floor again, and their side erupted into cheers. That was another match towards their winning streak, and another step closer to state. It had been a good season so far.

They lined up to high five the other team under the net, then jogged to the sidelines. Adira went straight to where Ray was standing up and her brother was eagerly reaching out to her.

"Hey, there, Reag," she greeted him as she took him from Ray and transferred him to one hip. "Good job being our good luck charm."

He cooed enthusiastically in return.

"Is that right?" she laughed. "You ready for a wrestling match?"

He continued to gurgle at her, but her attention was pulled away by a woman who she'd seen sitting above her two most loyal fans.

"Those legs have been busy doing more than that high jumping, haven't they?" The words were delivered with a smile, like it was supposed to be a joke, but there was a sting behind them and total judgment in the lady's eyes.

Ray didn't miss a beat.
"تثقيف نفسك ، احمق!"
"He's her brother."

"That's about as true as you saying you belong here," the man with her snapped. "Go back to Iraq, ******* Muslim."

Her friend just laughed. "I was born here, genius," he replied easily, his accent disappearing completely. "My parents were born in Egypt. And I'm actually a Christian." He reached out and patted the guy's shoulder. "You're just racist."

He let them both sputter, turning back to Adira and reclaiming Reagan from her. "Go get changed," he directed. "Me and little bro will wait for you out in the hall."

She nodded, unable to wipe the little smirk from her face as she jogged off to catch up with the rest of the team in the locker room. He was so good at schooling those kinds of people. She wished she was as brave as him, and as good at comebacks. She always thought of the perfect thing to say twenty seconds too late.

She was greeted with scattered claps from her teammates as she entered the locker room.

"Good game tonight, Rhodes!" Ella complimented, holding up her hand for a high five as Adira passed.

"Good game is right!" Elise, who'd been out the entire game with a bad knee, agreed. "Man, those jumps were fire."

"It was a good game for all of us," Adira countered as she dug into her backpack and pulled out her cheer uniform, then kicked off her shoes and pulled her shirt over her head.

"Heck yeah, it was!" The voice of their coach, Lindsey, carried to them the moment before she appeared in the doorway. "Y'all are on fire lately. Keep going like this, and we are gonna demolish that state championship."

They all cheered before Lindsey pointed at Adira where she was sliding on her skirt. 

"Seriously, though, Rhodes, good job tonight."

Adira offered her a quick smile as she straightened her top before stooping to pull her cheer sneakers out of her backpack and onto her feet. She reached up to tighten her ponytail, then shoved all of her volleyball stuff into her bag and knocked off a sloppy salute.

"Ladies."

"Have fun with all the guys in spandex," Macy quipped, causing Adira to roll her eyes with another smile as she turned away.

They'd all heard about her distaste for the sport she'd be cheering that night.

The locker rooms were off of a long, empty hallway that stretched for a while before connecting to the one Ray would be waiting for her in, so her pace was quick as she left them behind. However, she heard footsteps behind her that matched the speed of her own, so she glanced back briefly to see who else was in such a hurry.

Willa.

She'd forgotten all about the other girl's anger with her, and she would really prefer not to revisit the subject now. She set her shoulders and kept walking, but she wasn't going to race the chick, and she was still gaining on her. They were almost to the end of hall when Adira felt a sharp yank on her arm and turned to find her face an inch away from Willa's.

"Stay out of my court next time, *****."

The punch came out of nowhere, connecting with the side of her face before she'd fully realized what was happening. She stumbled several steps backwards, too shocked to even make any noise for the pain she was in.

With one hand covering the eye that had just been socked, she looked up at Willa with a wordless question of what the heck she'd done to deserve that, still too shocked to actually ask it.

But her attacker didn't seem to be interested in explaining herself, and she was already walking away. "If anyone finds out about this," she tossed over her shoulder, "you're dead."