a/n: so…new idea that came while zoning out at volleyball practice, resulting in the fact that I got hit in the face three times with the ball...oh well... Enjoy!

LOVE ON THE VOLLEYBALL COURT

CHAPTER ONE: TRY OUTS

I smiled brightly as my bestie, Caitlyn, ran up to me. "Are you ready to try out for volleyball?"

"Heck yeah! I'm gonna wow them."

She patted my back. "No doubt you are gonna make the team, Mitchie. You are the most aggressive player I've ever seen, and may I remind you that I live in a house full of boys?"

I laughed and pulled my bag out of my locker, then slammed it shut. "Let's go."

Caitlyn squealed and fifteen minutes later, we were standing in the gym watching my competition. Not much, really. Most of the girls kept getting hit in the head with the ball because they didn't want to ruin their nails. And don't even get me started on how bad their serves were.

A whistle blew and a big, tall man walked out. "Afternoon, ladies. I'm Coach Gray. Today I'll judge you on serving, passing, and mostly effort. Please state your names and then we'll get started."

After the first two girls, Nicole and Macy, Coach called me. I took a ball, then took my time to serve. Every time I serve a ball, it seems like the world stops, everything is suddenly quiet, and I like that feeling, so I make sure to take my time. Whack. Perfect serve, right over the net, into the middle. It would've been an ace in a game. I looked over at the coach and he was grinning. "Wow, Mitchie. I hope you have the same skills for passing."

After the rest of the hopeless-excuse me-girls served, we got onto the court and he managed to get Cait to help him throw balls over the net at us. The first ball came over and everyone but me just stood there and watched it. I screamed, "MINE!" and slid for it, sure I missed it, but at least I tried.

I heard Coach sigh and then he directed Caitlyn to throw a ball. She threw a look at me, and I knew exactly what she was going to do. Time to show him how well I can spike. She threw it short, so I ran up to the net and smacked it down and looked at a very bewildered Coach Gray. "Um…Mitchie, you're doing wonderful, so wonderful, that maybe I should see if these girls are capable playing without such great effort, so why don't you sit out for a minute?"

I nodded and headed over to the bench. Also a good thing, never complain to the coach.

"Caitlyn, fill in for her."

Caitlyn just stood there. "Me? I'm not even dressed to play and I don't have knee pads…"

"So? Don't dive then, just spike and so forth. Go."

Caitlyn grumbled something then went into my position. Coach threw the ball and guess who passed it perfectly? Caitlyn. The others just looked at each other and got into position quickly. They must've realized that they were being creamed by freshmen.

"What'd I miss?"

I jumped a little, then relaxed as I realized it was Nate who had asked the question. I answered, "Not much, Caity just passed a good one."

He looked over, just noticing that I was on the bench, not Caitlyn. "Uh, Mitchie, why is Caitlyn playing instead of you?"

"I was doing so well, he needed to replace me with someone with less skills. He isn't having much luck with Caitlyn, though. She's just as good as I am."

"Well, I guess there will only be two people on the team this year, then."

I punched him lightly. "Yeah, Nate. Go buy yourself a rule book."

We turned our attention back to the 'game'. Some of the other girls had stepped up and were playing with Caitlyn now. The coach blew his whistle. "Well, it wasn't so hard to choose this year. Our team is Katy, Caitlyn, Robin, Taylor, Abby, Olivia, Mary, and Mitchie. Thank you to Nicole and Macy, you…tried."

I ran over to Caitlyn and hugged her. "How about that, Caitlyn, you didn't even want to try out but you're on the team!"

She smiled. "Awesome!" She noticed Nate, who came over and hugged her tenderly.

"Congrats, Caity. Looks like you lucked out this time."

She stuck her tongue out at him for a reply. I laughed. "All right, you two, you know my rules about fighting. Are you both still coming over for dinner?"

They nodded and we headed to the bike hold. We geared up and biked to my house, laughing the whole way.

My mom smiled as we came in. "Hola! So, how'd you do?"

"Well, Caitlyn and I both made the team. And Caitlyn wasn't even meant to try out!"

She smiled and hugged us both. "That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you both. Oh, hello Nate."

"Hi, Mrs. Torres." He walked over and hugged my mom, who ruffled his hair. "So, in celebration, I'm going to make some burgers. You can go work on your homework in Mitchie's room until I'm ready for help. But, Nate, Caitlyn, I want you to call your parents first to tell them that you're okay."

"Yes, Mrs. Torres."

As soon as they called their parents, we headed up to my room and sat in a circle on the floor. We finished all our homework in a world record.

"So…"

Caitlyn glared at Nate. "So…"

I groaned. "You two are so frustrating!"

They both looked at me. "What?" Another glare in Nate's direction.

"You fight all the time, then you end up laughing or hugging!"

"You know I can't help it! Everyone in my family loves to hug! You've met Jason!"

I laughed at Nate's alibi. "Yes, Jason does like hugging…and birds."

We all shuddered. For a nineteen year old, Jason sure loved birds. I felt so sorry for Nate, having to live with a bird obsessed older brother.

"DINNER!"

We all hopped up and raced downstairs. My dad came in and smiled at us. "Hi Caitlyn, Nate. And Mitchie, I hear you made the team!"

"Yep!"

I ran over to him and we hugged for a minute. I had a close relationship with my parents. They were lucky that they had me, I obeyed every rule, got straight A's, and never argued.

We had a great time at dinner, with events such as Nate getting ketchup all over his lap. Maybe that happened because Caitlyn kept poking him the whole time. She just loves to annoy him.

"Bye, Nate. See you tomorrow!"

"Ditto!" He waved as he headed down to his bike.

"Bye, Caitlyn. Don't forget to borrow one of your many brothers' knee pads for practice tomorrow!"

"Yep! See, ya, Mitchie!" She ran down to her bike and I watched as they biked side by side, laughing.

After closing the door, I yawned and decided to get ready for bed. Mom and Dad said goodnight and I got under the covers.

At the moment, I felt like life couldn't get any better. I guess I was wrong.

a/n: okay, so I got the idea for Caitlyn being on the team when I saw the you tube video of Demi Lovato and Alyson Stoner playing volleyball at the Disney channel games. Hope you enjoyed!