Chapter I
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Tuesday: 9:51 A.M.
5th day of the 28-day cycle.
That day we were playing volleyball. The gym was divided into two halves by a giant net and every minute you could hear the sounds of passing and serving the ball. Volleyball is not among my favorite sports, but at the very least I'm not bad at it.
In this very moment we are super tied. Both teams have two sets each. We are currently in the last one. 25-24 them. In order to win they one more score.
We rotate. Now I'm in the attack line, on the left. The serving is ours. The whistle is blown. Pabloยดs ball throw is rather mediocre. It barely goes above the net.
We are on a good start (note the sarcasm).
The other team sends the ball back to our court in only two contacts.
"Itยดs mine!" I shout.
I jump and block. The ball goes beyond the net but, as soon as I land, I feel the worst pain imaginable. Its like if I had been kicked in the nuts. My knees buckle. My eyes fill with tears.
"Andi, is your move!"
Its hard breath, even more so to notice the pass is coming from. The ball rattles in the floor on my left. The whistle is blown again. Their score.
"Yeah! Suckers!" the other team cheers. My teammates groan, mostly about my performance. As they could play like professionals.
"It was perfect pass," Pablo.
"You just froze there!" Luca.
"Andi, can you come over?" the coach calls.
The pain is already gone. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and walk out of the court.
"Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bad landing."
"Are you sure? Because it looked like you..."
"Yes, I'm sure."
The coach lifts his hands as if giving up and lets me go back to my friends. He blows his whistle again.
"Alright, guys. Good game but we are running late. Now go take a shower!"
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The locker room stinks of sweat and moisture. Enough to make you nose wrinkle until you get used to the hot steam of the microenvironment.
Pablo is already in his underwear. In general, it is a gift for the eyes. He is both tall and athletic. But today he won't stop complaining about my volleyball skills.
"I'm just saying it was a perfect pass. There was no way that you couldn't see it coming."
I take off my gym shorts.
"Such is life, Pablito. Also, the fact that you served without touching the net for the first time in your life does not give you the right to complain all morning."
He blushes. He opens his mouth to answer something clever, but he stops. He just stares at me.
"What is it, Pablito? A mice got your tongue?"
Silence. I look at my other friends who seem to be staring the same thing. I rise an eyebrow.
"Well," Nico says, "don't freak out but your butt is huge."
The comment takes me by surprise.
"What? I mean, yeah. I hear that often."
It is them who often tell me so. Like this was the first time we've seen each other naked.
"No, I mean more than usual."
Odd. I check my rear. Well, yes. I have a rather fat ass but, more than usual?
"Shut up, Pablo, before the whole class notices it," Luca points out. "Come on, let's get into the showers."
The three of them escort me inside and we get into a corner where we can have a relative privacy. We turned on the hot water and began to soap up.
First thing I do is touch my buttocks. They have always been one of my strong points, matching my fibrous abs and arms. I get under the shower and let the water wash away the perspiration.
"I know what you all think this is, but you are totally wrong," I blurt out.
"Andi, this is completely natural," Luca ensures while handing me the soap. "We will all get though it eventually. Some of our classmates already have.
"Yes, I know we will. But we can't be certain this is..."
"When you missed the pass, you seemed paralyzed," Pablo observes, water dripping down his pectorals. "What happened?"
I lather my chest. How should I answer that?
"Well... it was a poor landing. I hit my balls. The pain stunned me."
The three exchange a complicit glance. It is more than evident they are all chuckling.
"And is that something that happens to you often?"
"Ehm, no..."
"...that hypersensitivity is characteristic of crescent heat, Andi."
"It was a bad landing..."