>>2199293I was very glad to have Erika there, and wanted to discuss more of what was going on with her, but my Time Out was just over. Everyone was on their seat, and people were jeering for the thing to start.
“Who serves?” the girl who handed me the racket looked undecided who to hand the ball to.
“Her,” Jill signaled at me. “She’s the one who challenged me. Let her throw the first ball. I hope she has learned to serve, because that middle-field thing she was doing with her friend isn’t going to cut it here.”
The ball was thrown at me, I caught it. It is true that my arm strength didn’t feel all that different even back then, but I had a good idea on how to serve. It was easy.
The problem was that when you served with a downwards swing, the ball went down; all you needed was more altitude. I tossed the ball higher than probably any serious tennis player would ever consider, and when I thought it was a good distance, I took a huge jump upward; at least my own height. I hit that sucker with all I had.
“Point… point to Aria!” Melanie announced, impressed.
I had just taken Jill by surprise by serving just after the ball had been handed to me, in a way no one would think someone would serve. It had been an Ace.
Jill readily threw her visor in a random direction. The crowd wasn’t even cheering. It had been too unexpected. Jill looked much more serious now
Maybe I could win this, after all.
a) Aria remembers her match with Carmen and assumes a two-handed stance.
b) Aria assumes a one handed stance, but with one hand on the ground.
c) Aria crouches down.
