Attack Error Pt. 02: Out of System

Attack Error Pt. 2: Out of System

Kenna and Zoey reunite at State U, but Kenna finds herself faced with a difficult choice.

***Author's Notes***

This is Part Two of my Attack Error series. Part One was originally written for the 2026 Yay Team! Sex and Sports Story Challenge and I've decided to see where things go with Digger, Z, and the rest of the State U girls by trying my first true story series.

A quick thank you to Royal Author for his support and encouragement. If you like my stories, you're going to love his. I encourage you to check them out.

Thanks also to THBGato for all she's given to this community. I highly recommend you check out her catalog was well.

All disclaimers from Part One are applicable for the entire series.

Thanks for reading.

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*** Early August 2026 ***

State University -- 30

Just a little over thirty minutes to go, according to the sign I'd just passed. Thirty more minutes and then I'd finally get to see Zoey again.

When she had dropped me off at the airport last month, she'd called me her girlfriend. But while we've stayed in constant touch with each other through texts, phone calls and FaceTime, it has seemed more like a long-distance very close friendship than any kind of romantic relationship. But I'd never been in a romantic relationship before, so what did I know?

What I did know was that I was quite anxious to find out where things stood between us once we were finally back together in person. Since we would be both teammates and roommates at State U, I didn't think that would take very long to figure out. At the very least, I hoped that she had missed me as much as I had missed her.

It wasn't just excitement I was feeling though. My anxiety levels were also through the roof. State U was about seven hours from home, and my parents had insisted on coming along to help me move in. I glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw that, just as it had been for the last four hundred-some miles, their Honda Odyssey was right behind me.

I had told them that they didn't need to come with me. Everything I was bringing with me fit nicely into my trusty Honda Element. Mom and Dad had passed it onto me as a High School graduation present, and I absolutely loved how much stuff I could fit into such a seemingly small vehicle.

But they had still insisted on coming. I was sure that part of it was that they genuinely wanted to help me get settled in, and to do the cliché "see your oldest child off to college" thing. But I also couldn't help but suspect that the biggest reason they wanted to come along was to meet Zoey, and to try and make up some for how things had gone a few weeks back when I had finally worked up the courage to come out to them.

While my parents had never said anything I considered supportive of the LGBTQ community over the years, they hadn't said anything negative either. They didn't seem homophobic, or racist, or misogynist, or any of those other terrible things. But it confused me as to why they attended a church that, from my perspective, was all of those things.

There had been several times over the past year that I had considered telling them what I thought was the truth about me. But to be honest, I myself wasn't entirely certain what that was exactly. I assumed there was a difference between thinking that you were gay and knowing for sure. But the only thing I knew for certain was that there was no one I could talk to about it. So, I had decided to maintain the status quo until I left home for college, where I hoped to have the chance to figure out all the things that I was feeling.

But then I'd met Zoey during a week-long camp at the All-Elite Volleyball Academy, and everything had changed. While I was still afraid of telling my friends and family that I was a lesbian, I wasn't afraid of being one anymore.

I think Mom and Dad had sensed there was something different about me when I'd come back from AEVA, but they hadn't come right out and asked. And, for my part, I hadn't yet decided how I was going to tell them. But I had kept promising myself that I would tell them. They deserved to know the truth about their daughter, and I deserved to be able to tell it.

It had all finally come to a head two weeks ago. Mom and Dad had let me sleep in the Sunday after I'd returned from AEVA, but two Sundays ago, with no valid excuse for not going to church with them, I had finally decided to make my stand.

They both had been dressed for church and sitting at the table drinking coffee when I had walked into the kitchen still in my pajamas.

"What's up, Shortcake?" Dad had asked. "Not feeling well?"

"No," I had replied, trying to keep my voice from trembling too much. "I feel fine. Just getting myself a cup of coffee."

That had been a lie of course. My hands had been shaking far too much to even consider pouring a superheated liquid into a cup and then trying to hold on to it without scalding myself.

"How come you aren't dressed for church then?" Dad had asked.

I turned and faced my parents, and my immediate instinct had been to run. It would have been so much easier just to race back to my room, put on a dress, and go to church. But I had decided I couldn't keep lying to them anymore. I loved them too much for that. I just had to hope they loved me enough to hear the truth.

"I'm not going," I had said, my voice quiet, but resolute.

"Why not?" Dad had asked with a perplexed tone.

"Because I can no longer go someplace where the sign out front says, 'all are welcome' but the message inside makes it quite clear that people like me are most definitely not welcome," I had replied.

"What do you mean people like you?" Dad had asked with a confused look on his face. I had then looked over at Mom and noticed that her face hadn't seemed confused at all.

"Dad, I'm gay." I had replied, relieved that I had finally managed to say it out loud.

"You're what?" Dad had asked, his voice rising. I hadn't been able to tell if he was shocked or angry. Or both.

"I said I'm gay, Dad," I had repeated.

The look on his face had broken my heart. I had always been a "Daddy's Girl" and I had felt like I had somehow just betrayed him. But not telling him the truth would have betrayed myself and I just couldn't keep doing that anymore.

"For how long?" He had demanded. I had started to reply but he'd cut me off and continued. "It's that girl you've been talking to from volleyball camp, isn't it? She's the one that put all this into your head."

"Zoey has been part of my journey," I had admitted. "But I think I've always been gay. I've only just now worked up the courage to finally tell you and Mom."

Dad had gotten a pained look on his face, then he had glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up. "Let's go Carol," he'd said to my mom. "We don't want to be late." And with that he had walked out the door.

Mom on the other hand had stayed seated at the table. Tears were welling up in her eyes and with Dad having left, my defenses had finally collapsed, and I had started to cry as well. "I'm sorry Mom," was all I had been able to say in the moment.

Mom had gotten out of her chair and wrapped her arms around me. "It's okay, honey," she had said. "You shouldn't ever be sorry for being who you are."

It was then that I understood why Mom hadn't seemed surprised or confused or angry or anything at all when I had told her and Dad that I was gay. "You already knew, didn't you?" I had said to her.

"I suspected," she had replied.

"For how long?" I had asked.

"Probably well before you began to," was all she had said. Then her phone buzzed.

"I have to go," she'd said after reading the message that had come through. "But I will talk to your father. He loves you more than anything in this world and I can promise you that is never going to change."

After Mom had left, I had sat down at the kitchen table and cried. In the movies it was always the person coming out who left home. They either ran away, or, more often than not, they got kicked out. But in my case, it was my parents that had run away, and that had been hard for me to process. I hadn't even known where they were going. I had assumed church, but when I pulled up the Find My app, I saw that Dad had turned off his tracking. He'd never done that before and it had managed to make me feel even worse.

Mom's tracking had still been on, and it showed them headed in the opposite direction from church. But I had no idea where they were going. My little brother's tracking was still on as well. He had left Friday for a two-week football camp in Lincoln, and I had been thankful that he hadn't been home to witness what had just happened.

I was still sitting at the kitchen table when Mom and Dad had returned about a half an hour later. Dad had a small brown paper bag with him and as he sat down, he'd reached in and pulled out two pints of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. It was what we always ate together when we'd had serious discussions over the years, and he had wordlessly handed one to me while keeping the other for himself. Mom had given us both a spoon and then had sat down between us with a cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry, Shortcake," Dad had finally said with an apologetic sigh as he wiped at his eyes. "I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"It's okay, Dad," I'd said, but he quickly cut me off.

"No honey, it's not," he'd said. "We're your parents and we love you."

"But?" I'd asked, expecting the usual caveat that typically came when such statements were made.

"No 'buts'," Dad had replied. "We love you and we're always going to love you."

"Even if I'm a lesbian?" I had asked.

Mom had reached out and put her hand on mine. "No 'even ifs' either, Kenna," she'd said.

"Only 'no matter whats'," Dad had added. "We are always going to love you, Shortcake. No matter what."

He'd taken a bite of his ice cream and sighed, then had continued. "I won't lie and say I was happy to hear you say that you're gay," he'd said. "But I think one of the main reasons I got so worked up is because I didn't enjoy coming to the realization that I'm a hypocrite."

"Dad you're not a --" I had started to say, but he'd cut me off again.

"Yes, I am," he'd said with a rueful smile. "And we both know it."

"So where do we go from here?" I'd asked.

"How about we start over?" Dad had replied.

"Are you sure?" I had asked him.

"Yes," he had said, nodding his head.

"Mom, Dad," I'd began again as I took a deep breath. "I'm gay."

Dad had sighed, looked over at Mom and then took her hand. "I can't promise you that we're always going to get this right, Shortcake. I certainly didn't earlier this morning," he'd said. "But I promise you we're going to try."

"Where would you like to start?" I had asked, as I finished the last of my ice cream.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Mom had suggested.

And so I did. I told them about when I first thought I might like girls instead of boys. About when I finally decided that I probably was a lesbian. How much it had hurt to lie to them about it, but how the thought of telling them had terrified me to the core. Then, finally, I told them about meeting Zoey. I left out some of the details, but made it clear what had happened between us and how I felt about her. And how I hoped she felt about me.

I can't say that the last two weeks since have been all sunshine and rainbows. The first week had been considerably awkward at times. But we seemed to be in a decent place now. Certainly not yet to the point of enthusiastic approval, which wasn't likely anyway. But at least to the point of cautious acceptance. It was a start.

And now, in less than half an hour, my parents were going to meet my girlfriend.

Zoey had flown in from California earlier in the week and had already moved into our room. I had originally hoped to arrive the same day she did, but Dad had only been able to get today off from work, and it would have hurt his feelings if we hadn't all gone together. He'd been trying so hard to be the supportive father, this past week especially, so I had decided I could wait a couple more days to see Zoey.

We finally pulled into the parking lot for my dorm at State U and the first thing I did was text Zoey. I let her know that we'd arrived and that we'd be coming up to the room in a few minutes. Dad didn't want to waste a trip though, and he decided he was going to carry in my mini fridge for me. Even when we found out the elevator was out of order he insisted on carrying it up the stairs, despite the fact that my room was on the fourth floor.

We were nearly to the top of the first of several flights of stairs when Dad began to struggle. Just as he was about to give up and set the fridge down, I heard a familiar voice.

"Need a hand with that?" Zoey asked.

Instead of waiting for us to come to her, Zoey had decided to come down and meet us. She was wearing black athletic shorts and a purple and white State U Panthers T-shirt. Her dirty blond hair was up in a ponytail, but I could see that she still had the platinum highlights she'd been sporting at AEVA. As she stood there on the landing, with her hands on her hips and looking down on us from above, I couldn't help but think that she was aura farming again.

"You still look like a supervillain," I said to her with a smile. Zoey gave me a wink and a cocky looking grin in return, and it took every single ounce of willpower that I had not to run and jump into her arms.

"Let me help you with that, Mr. Williams," Zoey said with a smile as she reached down and effortlessly took the mini fridge out of Dad's hands. It was all I could do not to laugh at the look on Dad's face as he stepped up onto the landing and then looked up at Zoey.

I had not only gotten my red hair and freckles from my mom, but I had also gotten her 5-foot 3 height as well. Dad on the other hand was a respectable six feet tall. But at 6-foot 4, Zoey towered over him.

"Ummm... you must be Zoey," Dad stammered, as he continued to look up at her.

"That would be me," she replied with a smile, as she turned, mini fridge in hand, and began walking up the stairs two at a time. "Welcome to State U."

"Show-off!" I said as I sprinted up the steps after her. My parents followed behind us at their own pace.

As we entered the room, I was surprised to see that Zoey hadn't done much to it at all. I had expected her to have claimed a side by now, but her clothes were still in her suitcases, and the desks and beds were still in the middle of the room. There were also shipping boxes of various sizes stacked against one of the walls.

"I figured you'd have the place all set up by now," I said as I looked around.

"I wanted to wait for you," Zoey replied with a shrug. "So, we could set it up together."

My Mom looked at me and smiled, then extended her hand out to Zoey. "I'm Kenna's mom, Carol," she said. Then she gestured to my dad. "And this is her father, Joel."

"Nice to meet you both," Zoey said as she shook Mom's hand and then Dad's. "Digger - I mean Kenna - has told me so much about you."

"Digger?" Dad asked as he gave me a sarcastic look. "Isn't that a bit cliché for a libero?"

"Maybe," Zoey replied, immediately coming to my defense. "But she has more than earned it. Kenna's one of the best liberos I've been on the court with."

I could feel myself starting to blush, so I quickly changed the subject. "We better get started unloading the rest of the stuff," I said. Even though it was a cooler day than usual for early August it was still going to suck with the elevator being out of order.

Surprisingly, bringing the rest of my stuff up to the room only took about an hour. Zoey insisted on doing all the heavy lifting and Dad didn't argue. Being a "Volleyball Dad," he'd been around tall girls for several years now, but he seemed to be in awe of Zoey's height and strength. And I wasn't the only one who noticed how Dad was looking at her.

"I think your father might have a crush on your girlfriend," Mom whispered to me with a laugh during one of our trips back down the stairs.

"What about you, Mom?" I asked hesitantly. "Do you like her?"

Mom gave me a nod. "She seems nice," she said. "Though I don't think I'd want to be on the receiving end of one of her spikes."

I thought back to when Zoey had six-packed me at AEVA and laughed. "Trust me when I say you wouldn't," I said.

Zoey and I decided to keep the same room arrangement we'd had at AEVA. She took the side of the room furthest from the door and I took the other. Zoey and me and my parents were working together to figure out where to put the beds and desks on our respective sides when Zoey's phone pinged.

She looked down at her phone and smiled. "BRB," she said as she left the room.

I looked at my parents and shrugged as we continued moving things around on my side of the room. A few minutes later Zoey returned. She was carrying two large pizzas and a plastic bag with a couple of two-liter bottles of soda in it.

"I hope pizza is okay," she said as she set the boxes down on her desk and started to pull some napkins out of the bag that the sodas were in.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Dad said. "I was just about to ask what you girls wanted to do for dinner."

"I figured this way we could keep working," Zoey said. "Though I'm hoping you brought some glasses and maybe some plates with you," she said to me as she opened the pizza boxes.

I went over to one of the boxes I had brought with me from home and got out some plastic cups and plates and began passing them out. The four of us talked as we ate. Though I mostly listened as Mom and Dad asked Zoey all sorts of questions about where she was from, what her family was like and what else she enjoyed besides volleyball. Zoey politely answered every question my parents had and asked some general ones of her own in return. She was clearly making an effort to get to know my parents and to my surprise, they were making a similar effort to get to know her.

We did a little more work after dinner, but by 8 p. m. I could tell Mom and Dad were getting tired.

"Why don't you guys head for the hotel?" I suggested. They were going to stay the night at the nearest Holiday Inn Express and then leave for home in the morning. "Zoey and I have all day tomorrow and Sunday to finish up the room."

Dad looked at his watch and yawned. "I think that's a good idea," he said. "But we'd like to come back tomorrow and take you and Zoey out to breakfast."

"I thought you were heading home first thing?" I said. "Besides, doesn't the hotel have a free breakfast?'

"It does," Mom replied. "But your father and I would like to take you to Perkins before we leave. We're probably not going to see you again until the season starts, so we'd like to spend a little more time with you if that's okay."

"With both of you," Dad added, as he nodded towards Zoey.

I looked over at Zoey, who gave me an almost imperceptible shrug. "We'd like that," I replied.

"Great," Dad said. "We'll pick you up out front at 8 a. m."

Mom gave me a hug as she and Dad started walking towards the door. "Goodnight, honey," she said. She then turned to Zoey and extended her hand towards her. "It was nice meeting you, Zoey," she said as Zoey shook her hand in return.

Dad shook Zoey's hand as well, then turned to me and gave me a big hug. "See you tomorrow, Shortcake," he said.

Zoey tried, but failed, to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Dad asked her, clearly puzzled about what Zoey was so amused by.

"Nothing at all Mr. Williams," Zoey replied as she quickly got herself back under control.

As soon as the door closed behind Mom and Dad, I walked over to the window and looked out. I could see my parents' Odyssey in the parking lot.

"Digger, I -- " Zoey began, but I held up my index finger and she paused. I continued to hold my finger up for a couple of minutes until I saw my parents finally get into their minivan and drive away. I then turned back towards Zoey and lowered my finger.

" -- missed you," Zoey finally finished.

I ran right at her and jumped into her arms. She caught me easily.

"Hey there," I said. My green eyes stared into her dark brown ones for a few seconds and then I wrapped my legs around her and pulled myself closer into her. I gave her a deep kiss that she immediately returned.

We made out for several minutes before we finally came up for air. But she continued to hold me. For the last few weeks, I had wondered how she felt about me. I now had my answer.

"I missed your smell, Z," I said as I began nuzzling her neck and breathing in her scent.

"What do I smell like?" she asked with a curious smile.

I began sniffing her the way a puppy might its owner. "You always smell like the beach." I replied brightly.

Zoey made an exaggerated show of sniffing me in return.

"You smell..." she began as she took one last deep breath in. "Awful," she said with a laugh.

"Sorry," I said, as I slowly climbed down from my Zoey tree. "I've been in a car for nearly seven hours and then running up and down the stairs for the last two. What do you expect me to smell like?"

"Strawberry shortcake?" Zoey asked with teasing grin.

"Don't you start with that again," I said, realizing too late that she was intentionally baiting me.

"You let your dad call you that," Zoey said in mock protest. "Why not your girlfriend?"

"I'm still you girlfriend?" I asked, my tone suddenly serious, yet hopeful.

"Of course you're still my girlfriend," Zoey replied as she gave me a playful shove. "My very cute, very stinky girlfriend."

"I'll go take a shower," I said, trying not to take her teasing personally as I got my shower caddy out of my closet.

"I'll come with you," Zoey replied as she went to her closet and grabbed a towel, her robe and her caddy.

"So, who else is here?" I asked as we made our way down the empty hallway towards the bathroom. It felt a little eerie with how quiet everything seemed.

"Just us on this floor so far," Zoey replied. "The RA isn't even here yet. But there are some freshman football players on two and three. And a few soccer players on one. But we're the only volleyballers so far."

Classes didn't start for another two weeks, so that wasn't a surprise to me. "Do you know when the others are getting in?" I asked.

By others, I meant the rest of the incoming freshman volleyball players that Zoey and I had met at AEVA. We'd all been keeping up through texts and socials, but I was eager to see them in person again.

"Bean only lives a couple of hours from here," Zoey replied. "She's planning on getting in about 10 a. m. or so tomorrow."

Bean was Macie Green, a setter from Minnesota. I'd known her for several years now, having played against her in numerous club volleyball tournaments over the years, and I was looking forward to getting to know her even better as a teammate.

"Jester is flying in tomorrow afternoon," Zoey continued. "About the same time Cheese and O. J. are getting in. Bean is planning on picking them up tomorrow after she gets in and unpacks."

Jester was Jess Andrews, a defensive specialist from Ohio. She was a "little" like me, which meant that we both had the same defensive mindset when it came to volleyball. She was also one of the funniest people I knew, and we'd become fast friends at AEVA. Other than Zoey, I had missed being around her most of all.

Cheese and O. J. were Katie Bomburger and Olivia Jackson. Katie was an outside hitter from Indiana, while Olivia, who was also an outside hitter, hailed from Pennsylvania. Both seemed a little on the shy side when I'd first met them, but I'd quickly become quite fond of them.

"So, we'll spend tomorrow helping everyone move in?" I asked.

"After breakfast with your parents," Zoey reminded me as we entered the bathroom.

It wasn't all that much different from the one at AEVA. It had multiple sinks, as well as multiple toilets and shower stalls. Though the shower stalls, which had their own prep areas, seemed a little larger.

I was about to step into the second of the six empty shower stalls when Zoey put a hand in front of me and blocked my path. "You should take that one," she insisted, as she pointed towards the first stall.

"Okay," I replied as I gave her puzzled look. But there was no reason to argue with her. She smiled and stepped into the adjacent stall and closed the outer curtain.

I closed the outer curtain to my stall and opened the inner curtain between the prep area and the actual shower. I set my caddy down on the bench in the prep area and hung up my towel and robe and then turned on the water. As the steam started to build up around me, I stripped down and stepped into the shower and pulled the inner curtain closed.

As the warm water cascaded over me, I began to realize just how tired and tense I was. It had been a very long day and as I began to soap myself up, I started to relax and let my mind wander. Thinking about seeing all my friends again, meeting the rest of the team on Monday, getting my books for classes, what it was going to be like living with Zoey...

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't hear either curtain open behind me. In fact, I didn't notice that I was no longer alone in the shower until Zoey's strong hands cupped my breasts from behind. Startled, I quickly turned around and found my face inches from her breasts. Zoey was over a foot taller than me, and my current view of her was one I'd quickly gotten used to at AEVA. Though she'd usually had on a T-shirt, or at the very least a sports bra. I wasn't about to complain though. I looked up at her and smiled instead.

"Took you long enough," I said, as I felt that familiar fluttery feeling rising within me.

As she leaned down to give me a kiss, I wanted to jump into her arms. But I knew that between the water and all the soap that I'd probably be too slippery for her to hold on to.

But Zoey had come prepared. She smiled as she reached down under the bench where I'd set my shower caddy and pulled something out from underneath it before closing the curtain again. As she began to unfold it, I realized it was one of those small, plastic step stools you could find at any hardware store. It was about a foot high and even had a non-slip surface.

"Where did you get this?" I asked as I eagerly stepped up on it. We were now practically face to face.

"Amazon," Zoey said with a shrug.

"Yes, you are," I said with a smile as I began kissing her deeply.

We spent the next several minutes hungrily making out. Standing on the stool was kind of awkward at first, but I quickly got used to it and enjoyed being at her level for once.

I sighed as she finally slipped her fingers into me and I quickly reciprocated. Despite the warm water cascading over us, I could feel her slick heat as I worked my fingers deeper into her and began rubbing her clit with my thumb.

Zoey began to moan softly. With my fingers still inside her, I stepped off the stool and pushed it to the side with my foot. With my face now once again at chest level with her, I gently lifted one of her breasts to my mouth with my free hand and began biting and sucking on her rose-colored nipple.

After a few minutes, I switched the hand I was fingering her with and did the same with her other breast. And, once I felt like I'd given both of them equal attention, I slowly took a knee in front of her, then looked up at her and smiled.

I pushed her back towards the wall of the shower stall and gently tapped her inner thigh. Zoey got the message and slowly widened her stance and leaned further back against the wall, giving me full access to her pussy.

I slowly began running my tongue over and around her clit and after what seemed like only a few short minutes, Zoey's moans grew louder. I quickly glanced up at her. She was ready.

"Come for me, Z," I said as I took her clit back into my mouth and began sucking on it. She reached down and grabbed my now damp red curls with both hands and pulled me closer into her. Then with a small cry, she came.

"God, I missed you Digger," she said with a sigh as she finally let go of my hair and pulled me to my feet.

"I missed you too," I said, as I reached over and turned the water off. Zoey folded up the step stool and put it back under the bench.

We quickly toweled off, put on our robes, then dried our hair and brushed our teeth and headed back to our room. We didn't say much on the way back, but from the way Zoey was grinning at me, I knew she was up to something. As we entered the room, she went over to her closet and pulled out a large Amazon box. It was nearly as tall as she was and was quite wide as well. Though for its size, it wasn't very heavy at all.

"I have a present for you," she said as she set it down in front of me lengthwise on the desk.

I quickly opened one end and peered inside to find a rolled-up king size memory foam mattress topper along with a bed bridge wedge and some straps. It was everything one would need to turn two twin beds into one large bed.

"I thought you were joking about pushing our beds together," I said, recalling a comment Zoey had made back at AEVA.

"I can send it back if you want," Zoey said with an overdramatic sigh.

"Don't you dare," I said with a smile as we began unpacking the box. Our beds were both XL twins. Athletes were given XLs because, in most cases, their feet would stick out otherwise. But after about ten minutes or so of effort, we now had a king-sized bed that we could share.

"I wish you would have told me you were planning this," I said to Zoey. "I would have brought a fitted sheet."

"Ta-da!" Zoey said with a grin as she tossed me a package containing a king-size fitted sheet. "I'm a blanket hog though, so we should plan on using our own separate blankets."

"What now?" I asked a few minutes later, as we stood there and admired our handiwork.

"Now we christen it," Zoey said suggestively as she slowly untied my robe and pushed it off my shoulders.

I stood there naked for several minutes while Zoey wordlessly stared at me. Just as I was starting to feel a little self-conscious about it, she finally spoke.

"You're so beautiful, Digger," she said as she reached out towards me, presumably to give me a hug. I made a small squeak of surprise as she picked me up instead and easily threw me on the bed. She quickly took off her own robe, got into bed and positioned herself above me.

As she began kissing me wildly, I felt her hand reach between my thighs. I became instantly wet at her touch, and I sighed contentedly as she slowly began working her fingers into me.

We continued franticly making out as she fingered me, then just as suddenly as it had all started, Zoey stopped kissing me and began licking a seemingly random pattern across my face.

"What are you doing, Z?" I asked.

"Connecting the dots," she said with a smile as she ran her tongue in a zig-zag pattern from a spot on my cheek to a spot on my nose.

"Do you know how long that would take you?" I asked her. I wasn't completely covered in freckles like some redheads were, but I had more than my fair share of them.

"Not long enough," Zoey replied. "But I have other places to be."

She began licking her way down my neck where she started to not so gently bite and suck.

"No hickeys!" I said sternly. "Our first day of practice is Monday and that's the last thing I need."

Zoey gave me a faux pout. "But I want to mark my territory, so they know you're mine," she said.

"Find someplace else," I ordered.

"Fine. I will," she said with mock petulance as she began kissing her way down towards my breasts.

Mine were much smaller than Zoey's. Even proportionally. But I didn't care. As much as I hit the floor as a libero, anything larger than what I had would be an uncomfortable liability. I trembled slightly as Zoey teased each of my nipples to the point where they were so hard they began to ache.

She quickly kissed her way down my stomach until she reached my mound. Her fingers were still inside me and she made a show of pulling them out and slowly licking my wetness off of them.

"I forgot how amazing you taste," Zoey said as she parted my legs and not so gently pushed them back towards my shoulders. I was fully exposed to her now as she began to devour every part of me. She was sucking, licking, biting, thrusting... seemingly all at once and with a deep groan I came.

But Zoey didn't stop. She continued to lick me as if she were lapping up every last drop of juices I had to offer her. Finally, she lowered my legs and moved back up toward me until her face was inches from mine. I pulled her close and began kissing her with deliberate intent.

"You're right," I said as I finally broke the kiss. "I do taste amazing."

"You're kind of a kinky little thing, aren't you?" Zoey said with a laugh.

"Maybe," I replied. "Though this is only my second time with anyone," I reminded her with a smile. "But I'd certainly be willing to explore that possibility at some point."

I looked over at the clock on the nightstand and yawned. It was getting late.

"Little spoon," I said, as I moved to the right side of the bed and rolled onto my right side.

"What?" Zoey asked.

"I called little spoon," I said, as I looked over my shoulder at her. "That means you're the big spoon."

"Oh, I get it," Zoey said, as she snuggled in behind me and wrapped her arm around me.

I was almost asleep when she whispered into my ear. "What time did you set the alarm for?" she asked.

"My parents are picking us up out front at 8 a. m." I replied sleepily. "So, I set it for 7 a. m."

"Sounds good," she replied. "Goodnight, Digger."

"Goodnight, Z," I whispered back.

***

The alarm went off at 7 a. m. and as I sat up and began to stretch, I saw that Zoey was already up and gone. I wasn't surprised though. I knew from our time at AEVA she was an early riser, and I figured she was probably in the bathroom getting ready.

As I got up and grabbed the outfit I planned to wear to breakfast, Zoey walked back in and that deep fluttery feeling returned with a vengeance.

Up until that moment, I'd never seen Zoey wearing anything other than athletic attire of some kind. But this morning she had on a knee-length, yellow floral print sundress and a pair of simple white flats. Her hair was down and cascaded in waves past her shoulders, and while subtle, she'd also decided to put on some makeup. I'd always thought of her as one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen in my life. Now there was no doubt about her place atop that list.

"My God, Z," I whispered.

A look of concern crossed Zoey's face. "Too much?" she asked. "Too little?" When I didn't respond to either question, she held her hands out toward me. "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"You look fantastic," I finally replied. "And now I'm going to have to find something else to wear," I said with a pout, as I quickly shoved the sweatpants and T-shirt I'd been planning to wear back into my dresser.

***

"You ladies look like you're ready for church," Dad said as we got into my parents' minivan.

I tried not to noticeably wince at the comment. But I had changed into a sundress of my own, a green one with a floral pattern, and had done my hair and makeup as well. I had to admit that we both looked quite adorable in a wholesome, midwestern kind of way. As opposed to the grubby volleyball goblins we usually dressed like.

Perkins wasn't too crowded and we were able to get a table in a quiet corner. The conversation at breakfast was similar to the one we'd had over pizza the night before, and I continued to be surprised at how much my parents, Dad especially, were engaging with Zoey.

After breakfast Mom and Dad drove us back to the dorm, but instead of just dropping us off, they parked and insisted on walking up with us. They'd stopped at a grocery store on their way to the hotel last night and had picked up a case of Gatorade and enough snacks to last for weeks, which they wanted to help us carry up to the room.

I didn't think anything of it. I should have, but I was too distracted by how well things were going between Zoey and my parents. As we walked in the room and started setting stuff down, I noticed a strange look on my mom's face. It was only there for a brief moment, but she had definitely reacted to something.

It was then that I realized what that something was. When my parents had left last night there were two small beds in the room. Now there was only one big bed. And if Mom had noticed it, Dad surely must have seen it too. I glanced over at Zoey and saw the look of panic in her eyes as she realized our mistake as well.

But Dad didn't say anything at first. He set the case of Gatorade down on the nearest desk, then turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder and sighed. Then he turned to Zoey.

"Zoey, would you care to take a walk?" he asked her gently.

Zoey looked at me briefly, her eyes still wide. "Sure," she said. "I'll be happy to give you guys some time."

Dad looked up at her and gave her a half smile. "I'm afraid you misunderstand," he said. "I was asking if you would like to take a walk with me."

Zoey seemed confused at first but then quickly recovered. "Ummm.... sure?" she replied.

After they closed the door behind them, I turned to Mom with a panicked look. "What is that all about?" I asked her.

Mom looked at me and sighed. "Ever since you've been old enough to start dating, your father has been practicing his boyfriend speech," she said.

"Boyfriend speech?" I asked.

"Yes," Mom said. "You know, the stereotypical speech fathers give to their daughter's first serious boyfriend."

"Okaaaayyyy...." I replied, still not sure where all this was going.

"Even though you have a serious girlfriend instead of a serious boyfriend, he doesn't want to waste the speech," Mom continued.

"I wouldn't call us serious," I said defensively.

Mom crossed her arms and gave me a sarcastic look as she nodded her head in the direction of the bed. "Really?"

I felt the heat of embarrassment rising in my cheeks.

"I do hope you're being careful," Mom said.

I gave Mom a puzzled look.

"I don't mean physically," Mom said, rolling her eyes at me. "I mean emotionally. First loves can be rough sometimes."

"We haven't used the L -word yet," I said. Mom gave me another sarcastic look. "Well, not the big L-word anyway."

"Just be careful," Mom said again as she started unpacking the bags with the snacks and started putting them away in my closet.

A few minutes later Dad and Zoey walked back in. I couldn't really read either of their faces, but neither seemed upset.

"We need to get going, dear," Dad said to Mom as he walked over to me and gave me a hug. "We love you, Shortcake," he said as he squeezed me tightly. "You take care of yourself."

"Love you too, Dad," I said. "Text me when you get back to Nebraska."

Mom came over and gave me a hug of her own. "Good luck with the team and with classes when they start," she said. "Be sure to let us know how things are going."

"I will, Mom," I said as I hugged her back.

"It was nice meeting you, Zoey," Mom said as she left the room. As Dad followed her, he turned back towards Zoey. He looked up at her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Remember what you promised me," he said to her.

"I will, Mr. Williams," Zoey replied solemnly.

"You can just call me Joel now, I think," Dad said as he left and closed the door behind him.

I looked over at Zoey and just stared at her.

"What?" she finally asked sheepishly.

"What the hell was that all about?" I demanded.

"That's between me and your dad," Zoey replied. "He made me promise."

I thought about arguing but decided to let it go for now. I looked at my Apple watch and saw the time. It was almost 10 a. m. and Macie would be here soon.

"We better get changed then," I said as I began to take off my dress. "Bean will be here in a few minutes."

***

"Hey guys!" Macie said as she got out of her silver Subaru Forrester and gave Zoey and me each a big hug.

"Good to see you again, Bean," I said as I looked up at her and smiled. At six feet she was only about half a foot taller than me.

"How was the drive?" Zoey asked her.

"Not bad," Macie said as she gestured towards a red Subaru Ascent pulling in next to her. "Though I couldn't go more than five over without losing the parentals."

I had seen Macie's parents at quite a few regional volleyball events over the last several years. Even though we'd been playing against each other since the summer after eighth grade, I was still a little surprised that her parents seemed to remember who I was.

"Hello, Kenna," Macie's mom said to me. "Good to see you again."

She then looked up at Zoey who was standing next to me. "And you must be Zoey," she said with a smile.

"That's what people keep telling me," Zoey replied with a smile of her own.

"I'm Macie's mother, Susan," Macie's mom continued. "And this is her father, James."

"Please don't call me Jim," James said with a grin as he shook Zoey's hand. He was a little taller than my dad, but just like nearly everyone else on the planet, he still had to look up at Zoey.

"Super good of you guys to come help carry stuff in," Macie said to me and Zoey.

"And up," Zoey added grimly.

"Broken elevator," I explained with a shrug.

"The elevator is broken?" James asked with a bit of a panicked look as he glanced at the back of the Ascent where Macie's mini fridge was sitting.

"Don't worry, Mr. Green," I said with a smile. "We have a Zoey."

***

It took us about an hour to carry all of Macie's stuff up to the room she'd be sharing with Katie, who'd be arriving tomorrow. It was just three doors down from me and Zoey. In addition to all of Macie's stuff that they had brought, the Greens had also packed a large cooler filled with cold fried chicken, potato salad, fruit salad and plenty of chilled drinks to go around.

It was kind of fun having a little picnic in the middle of Macie's room with her and her parents, and after lunch we all walked downstairs together to see Macie's parents off.

"Macie is so excited about getting to play with you instead of against you," Susan said to me as she and I brought up the rear of the caravan down the stairs.

"Me too," I replied with a smile. "And it's been nice to finally get to know her better as well."

"And I really appreciate you and your girlfriend helping us move Macie in," Susan said. "These stairs would have killed James if he'd had to do all the heavy lifting on his own."

I continued to smile, but didn't say anything. I could feel myself starting to blush though.

"Macie's right. You two are cute together," Susan added with a smile of her own.

"Thank you," I finally managed.

A few minutes later, Macie, Zoey and I stood in the parking lot and waved goodbye as her parents left on their return trip home. Once they were out of sight Zoey turned and headed back towards the dorm. Macie and I followed a few steps behind.

"You told you parents that Zoey's my girlfriend?" I whispered to Macie so that Zoey couldn't hear.

"What?" Macie asked with a look of concern on her face. "Did you guys break up or something?"

"No," I said firmly.

"Thank God," Macie replied, as we entered the dorm and headed for the stairs.

"What time are you picking up Jester, Cheese and O. J.?" Zoey asked as we began the lengthy journey up the stairs to the fourth floor.

"I need to leave in about an hour," Macie replied. "I'd invite you guys to come along, but I don't think I can fit six in my car. Especially with three of you being freaking giraffes. Then there's the matter of everyone's luggage."

"I can follow you out," I said. "We'd like to see everyone and that way if luggage is an issue I've got plenty of room in my car."

"Sounds good," Macie said. "I'm going to take a quick shower, and I'll plan to meet you guys in the hall by the stairs about 1:30 p. m."

"See you then, Bean," Zoey said to Macie with a wave as she and I headed back to our room.

"I think we could use a shower as well," Zoey said as we entered the room.

"I don't smell that bad do I?" I asked with a pout.

"I didn't say you needed a shower, Digger," Zoey replied. "I said we could use one. I caught you staring at my tits several times when I was going up the stairs."

She wasn't wrong. Watching Zoey in motion was one of my favorite activities in the world.

"And I saw you staring at my ass on more than one occasion," I replied in mock accusation.

"Like I said, we could both use a shower," Zoey said suggestively.

We each grabbed our shower caddies, towels and robes and headed down the hall. We saw Macie heading back to her room from the bathroom and we all waved at each other as we passed. I then looked at Zoey and grinned. We would have the bathroom all to ourselves.

A few minutes later we were making out in the shower. I was standing on the step stool again. But unlike our last shower together, we didn't have time to be leisurely about things. Plus, we wanted to be sure we didn't get our hair wet, as we didn't have time to dry it before we had to leave for the airport.

"Quickie?" Zoey asked.

"I can do a quickie," I replied as I reached down and began to furiously stroke her clit. I started moaning loudly as she began to do the same to me. After a few minutes Zoey came with a loud moan of her own, but she didn't stop fingering me until I finally came.

With a satisfied sigh, I stepped off the stool and turned the water off. I then opened the inner curtain between the shower and the prep area and realized that, in our haste, we hadn't closed the stall's outer curtain.

As I reached for my towel, I saw Macie standing there in her robe, holding her shower caddie and towel. Her mouth was agape and she was staring at Zoey and me as we stood there wet and completely naked. We were just feet away from her, and I immediately felt myself flushing with embarrassment. I glanced over at Zoey, but she just stood there smiling as she began to nonchalantly towel herself off.

"Sorry," Macie finally said. "I was just getting ready to step into the other stall. I didn't know you were both in there."

"We thought you'd already showered," I said shyly as I quickly threw on my robe.

"I had to go back and get my shampoo," Macie said. "Then my parents called to let me know they were going to be late getting back home because Mom wanted to stop at IKEA."

"We are really sorry," I stammered as I grabbed the rest of my stuff and exited the shower stall. Zoey smiled and followed.

"It's okay," Macie said, now blushing a little bit herself. "For what it's worth, I'm really happy for you guys."

I began to blush again and quickly turned to leave the bathroom.

"Don't forget that," Macie said with a grin, pointing towards the black plastic step stool I'd left behind. "You might need it later."

I gave her a flustered grin in return as I folded up the stool, tucked it under my arm and headed for the exit.

"That was so embarrassing," I said to Zoey a few minutes later as we finished getting ready in our room.

"It's your first time getting caught," Zoey said with a shrug, as if it what had just happened wasn't that big of deal.

"You didn't seem bothered by it," I pointed out.

"Not my first time getting caught," Zoey said. "Besides, it's not like Bean doesn't know what's going on between us."

"Just how many times have you been caught?" I asked, trying not to sound too jealous.

Zoey looked at me and arched an eyebrow at me. "Enough that it doesn't bother me."

***

To her credit, Macie acted as if nothing had happened when we met her at the stairs later. Zoey rode with me in my Element as we followed Macie to the airport, parked in the short-term lot, and then went to wait in the arrivals area. We made small talk and scrolled through our socials as we waited for our teammates to arrive.

Olivia was the first to come down the escalator and after several hugs and hellos, she and Zoey went to pick up her stuff at baggage claim. They were both back with Olivia's bags on a luggage cart by the time Katie arrived. Macie went with her to get her stuff and after they returned, we all spent some time catching up until Jess finally arrived.

With the six of us reunited at last, we all went together to get Jess's bags and then headed for the parking lot. I was excited to have all of us back together in person. I'd really grown to love all five of them and, with the exception of Zoey of course, thought of them as the sisters I'd never had. Jess especially. Though it didn't take long for her to make it weird.

"I see you two picked up right where you left off," Jess said as she looked at Zoey and me and gave us both a suggestive grin.

"Jester!" Olivia hissed disapprovingly.

"Come on," Jess said. "Anyone can see that they're still glowing."

Once again, my pale complexion betrayed me, and everyone could see me immediately turning bright red with embarrassment.

Jess playfully bumped me with her shoulder. "Sorry Digger, it's just so fun to see you turn so red."

"And maybe it would be fun to see Zoey squish you like a bug," I teased her back.

"I am very squishable," Jess said with a laugh.

"Everyone put their luggage in Digger's car," Macie said as we got to the parking lot. I'd put the seats up in the Element and there was plenty of room for everyone's stuff. Zoey then got into the Element and she and I followed Macie and the others as we left the airport for the trip back to State U.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" Zoey asked as we got back on the highway.

"What?" I asked, caught off guard by her question. "Absolutely not. Why would I be?"

Zoey shrugged. "It's just that you seem to get all embarrassed whenever someone talks about us being together," she said.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It's not you. I'm just not used to people talking about me that way."

"You better get used to it," Zoey said sternly. "Practice starts Monday."

"The gang already knows about us," I said, gesturing towards the silver vehicle in front of us. "But I'm sure they're not going to say anything to the rest of the team," I continued.

"Oh, the rest of the team will know," Zoey said quickly.

"How?" I asked.

"By the way they'll see me looking at you," Zoey said. There was no sarcasm in her tone. She was being absolutely serious.

I felt myself turning red again.

"See what I mean?" Zoey said smugly as she pointed at me.

I shrugged and kept driving. But she did have a point. I wasn't some sixteen-year-old with an unrequited crush. I was nineteen. With a girlfriend who I... well, I wasn't completely certain about the rest of that.

Once we got back to school, we decided to divide up. Since Macie had already moved in, she and Zoey decided to help Katie with her stuff so they could finish setting their room up. As they did that, I helped Jess and Olivia move into theirs. As expected, Macie and Zoey got Katie settled in pretty quickly and all three of them came and helped finish setting up Jess and Olivia's room.

Having all six of us on fourth floor made the place feel less like a tomb and more like AEVA. We kept our doors open all night, going back and forth to each other's rooms, playing music, eating pizza and talking. We only had one more full day left before fall camp began, and only two weeks left before classes started. Which meant there wouldn't be much time left for goofing off after tonight.

We even went the full cliché and had a running pillow fight up and down the halls. Which was all fun and games until Zoey stopped holding back and knocked Jess and me both into next week.

After agreeing to meet the next day for breakfast at the training table, we finally started winding down around 10:30 p. m. Zoey and I went and took another shower. Separately this time, since anyone could now walk in on us with no notice whatsoever. We then turned in for the night.

"Little spoon!" I called out as I jumped into bed.

Zoey gave an overdramatic sigh and then slid over to snuggle into me from behind.

"This is nice," I said as she pulled me closer.

"I'm glad you think so," Zoey said. "Especially since it's not realistic to think that we're going to have sex every single night. There are going to be quite a few nights where we're just not feeling it, you know. "

"Fair point," I said, though I couldn't imagine ever being this close to her and not wanting her.

"For example, I'm pretty tired from all the heavy lifting yesterday and today," Zoey said.

"You have kind of been everyone's personal power loader," I admitted.

"Power loader?" Zoey asked.

"That's what Dad called you the other day," I replied. "I think it's some sort of movie reference."

As the warmth of Zoey's embrace began to make me feel drowsy, I felt her hand move from around my waist and slowly slide up under my T-shirt to cup one of my breasts.

I sighed quietly as she began to tease my nipple with her thumb, but I didn't say anything. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment.

After a few minutes, she stopped fondling my breast and slipped her hand into the waistband of my shorts. As she worked her hand slowly downward, I spread my thighs a little bit to give her better access and I made a small groan of pleasure as she slipped her fingers into me.

"Z," I whispered. "I thought you said we weren't going to have sex tonight."

"We're not," she replied as she continued to work her fingers deeper into me.

"What are you doing then" I asked.

"Shhhhh," she whispered into my ear. The ASMR-like sensation of it made me shiver a bit. "You talk too much sometimes, Digger."

Zoey then started tapping gently on my clit with her finger and I began to moan a little louder. She alternated the speed and pressure of the tapping until it was all I could do to try and hold still.

"That's new," I managed to stammer as the waves of pleasure she was generating within me started to make me squirm.

"Come for me, Digger," she whispered into my ear, and I shivered again. Longer and deeper this time, as my orgasm finally claimed me.

I lay there in her arms for a few minutes and tried to catch my breath. I then rolled over towards her and began to kiss her passionately. Until Zoey forcefully rolled me back into the little spoon position.

"Go to sleep, Digger," she said with a gentle tone.

"But you haven't - " I protested.

"Shhhh," Zoey said again as she held me even tighter. "Go to sleep."

I decided not to fight her. I wouldn't win anyway. "Thank you," I finally said.

"Goodnight, Digger," she said.

"Goodnight, Z," I replied.

***

Training table wasn't as busy as I had expected it to be. But it was Sunday and I figured a lot of the athletes had probably chosen sleep over food. Except for the football players. Their entire section was full. But as the six of us got our breakfast and headed towards the section reserved for the volleyball players, we saw there were only a couple of the upperclassmen sitting there.

Tatum Jennings was a fourth-year senior from Nevada. With her mocha coloring, dark curly ringlets, and deep brown eyes, she projected an easygoing elegance. She played opposite hitter and while she was fairly tall at 6-foot 2, she had tremendous "hops." Her standing vertical leap was impressive, but when she had a running start, you almost believed she could fly.

The other upperclassman at the table was Kelani Kealoha. She was a 6-foot 3 Junior from Hawaii and was also an opposite hitter. With her golden-brown skin and Polynesian features, she radiated an exotic beauty that made her stand out in any crowd. Her personality, both on and off the court, was as warm as her smile.

The other girls and I joined them at the table, and we all began introducing ourselves. Everyone knew each other from our roster bios, and I had even briefly met both of them last year during an official visit.

"Aren't there supposed to be six of you freshies?" Tatum asked.

I looked around and realized Jess hadn't joined us yet. She was still over at the omelet station getting talked up by one of the football players.

"Jess appears to be deep in conversation," Olivia said, rolling her eyes in Jess's direction.

"I see she's talking to Mason Crandle," Kelani said with a grin. "Looks like he wants to get deep into your friend."

"Play nice, Mo," Tatum admonished, as she turned to us to explain. "Mason is the back-up quarterback. He's a junior and a bit of a player, but he's a nice enough guy."

"Thanks," I replied. As close as I was to Jess, I wanted to be sure that someone was watching out for her best interests. Just in case she herself wasn't.

"Tater Tot here is just jealous," Kelani said, still smiling. "Mason has a thing for short girls." She then looked over at me and cocked an eyebrow.

I decided to change the subject. "Okay, so I get why you called her Tater Tot," I said to Kelani as I pointed at Tatum. "But why does she call you Mo?"

Tatum started laughing as Kelani stuck her tongue out at her. "Someone on the women's soccer team called her 'Moana' once her freshman year and believe it or not, Mo here didn't like that," Tatum began. "After a very brief altercation the other girl was yelling 'no more' while holding her broken nose in her hands. But it came out sounding like 'No Mo.' So, we started calling her Mo."

We all began laughing, Kelani included. That's when Jess finally made her way to the table. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"You, trying to act all sweet and innocent while getting hit on," Katie said.

"Oh my God, did it look like he was hitting on me?" Jess asked with a big grin and an excited tone. "Because it totally felt like he was hitting on me."

"He was definitely hitting on you," Kelani confirmed. Jess smiled as if she'd just won the lottery.

For the next half hour or so the eight of us talked practically non-stop as we finished breakfast. We gave Kelani and Tatum a little more background on ourselves, and they each gave us some details on the rest of our teammates and a brief overview of what to expect when practice started tomorrow.

"What are you crazy kids doing the rest of the day?" Tatum asked as we began to get ready to leave.

"We thought we'd do a Costco run over lunch," Macie said. "I've got a membership and the out-of-staters here want to load up on cheap snacks. We'll grab a hot dog combo while we're there and then probably spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing before practice tomorrow."

"Can we come?" Kelani asked, as she nodded towards Tatum. "Neither of us have a car."

Macie looked over at me and I nodded. "Sure," I said with a smile. "We were going to have to take two cars anyway since Macie's only fits five."

"How many seats do you have?" Tatum asked.

"I can take four," I said, as I glanced over at Zoey. "But Z rides with me. So, if you both ride with me, Macie might be able to squeeze another person in her car. Especially if they're a little."

"Soup is about her size," Tatum said to Kelani as she pointed at Jess. She then turned to Macie and me. "We might have one more."

She began tapping away on her phone, paused, then started tapping away again and both Macie's and my phone pinged with their address. We'd all exchanged numbers earlier.

"Pick us up at 11:00 a. m." Tatum said.

"See you then," Macie replied as we all said goodbye to each other. Tatum and Kelani turned to make their way back to their off-campus apartment as I and the rest of the girls headed back to our dorm.

***

Costco had been fun. "Soup" was Brinn Campbell. A senior defensive specialist from Michigan. At 5-foot 5 she was the same height as Jess and while they weren't quite twins, they looked enough alike that they could have been mistaken for sisters. Not only were they both blonde and tan, but their hairstyles were pretty similar as well. With the three of us being littles, we naturally flocked together as we ran around the store buying things we didn't really need because they were cheap and came in bulk sizes.

After dropping Kelani and Tatum off at their apartment a few hours later, Zoey and I went back to our room. We were so stuffed from all the hotdogs and free samples we'd eaten that we decided to skip dinner at the training table. We talked, listened to music, ate some of our snacks and eventually decided to go to bed early since practice started at 8 a. m. and we didn't want to be late.

"I suppose you'll be wanting little spoon?" Zoey asked as we climbed into bed.

"What?" I asked. I was getting nervous about tomorrow and was a bit distracted by all the thoughts running through my head. "Sorry," I finally said as Zoey snuggled into me from behind as usual. "Just worried about tomorrow," I said. "And wondering if I'm even good enough to be here."

"If you weren't, I'd be the first one to tell you," Zoey said as she wrapped her arm around me.

"Thanks," I replied. "I think."

"Goodnight, Digger," Zoey said as she kissed me on the shoulder.

"Goodnight, Z," I replied back.

***

I looked around THB Arena and smiled. I had been here before. Several times in fact. But those had been for official visits or to watch a match. Now I was here as a member of the team. It was one of the smaller volleyball arenas in the conference, but it was all ours. The university had refurbished it as a standalone volleyball facility after building a new arena for basketball. That meant we didn't have to share it with anyone. It also meant, with its more intimate setting, that we would always have a packed house for all of our home games.

It wasn't quite 8 a. m. yet, but it looked like the full team was already here, waiting for the coaches to arrive and get us started. We'd instinctively broken off into bigs and littles and Jess and I were playing pepper with Brinn and Carly Watson, the team's returning libero.

Carly was a junior from Minnesota and one of the undisputed leaders on the team. At 5-foot 7 she was taller than most liberos, but her skills were undeniable. She'd made Second Team All-Conference last year and was a pre-season pick to make First Team this year. With piercing blue eyes and jet-black hair, she looked as fierce as she played.

"Heads up, Watts!" Brinn shouted as the ball came off her bump set awkwardly. Carly chased it down but didn't get a good angle on it as she hit it back towards me and it went over my head.

Instead of letting it go like I should have, we were just messing around after all, I went all out to chase it down. I made a diving play to punch it back over my head, but nearly collided with a group of bigs in the process of completing my recovery roll.

"Careful there, fun size," said a voice from above me. I looked up to see an impossibly tall girl standing over me. I felt the heat in my chest rising in response to her comment about my height and immediately popped to my feet. I then remembered where I was and quickly tried to hide my anger. But it was too late. She'd already noticed.

She was Adriana Moretti. A 6-foot 4 outside hitter from Italy. She was in her fifth year, thanks to the recent passage of the NCAA "Five for Five" rule that now allowed players five years of eligibility to play five years of competition. Instead of moving on to the pros after last year as expected, she and three other seniors from last year's team had been able to come back for a fifth year. Even though it had been a very last-minute decision by them to do so.

Adriana had come to the U. S. four years ago when she'd been recruited by a school in California. A lot of schools had started bringing in players from Europe over the last five years or so, but Adriana hadn't played pro in Europe like a lot of them had. Which meant she qualified for the full five years under the new rules. Coach Sheffield, and some local NIL offers, had persuaded her to transfer to State U last year and I figured he was probably pretty pleased that he was going to get to keep his all-conference outside hitter for one more year.

At 6-foot 4 she was as tall as Zoey. But whereas Zoey was built like a fitness model, Adriana was built more like a Victoria's Secret model. She was tall and slender, yet graceful and athletic. Her olive toned skin was practically flawless and her dark hair, currently in a ponytail, was nearly as curly as mine. She wasn't just built like a model though, she carried herself like one as well. And while Carly was one of the undisputed leaders on the team, Adriana was the undisputed leader. In fact, she was the team's returning Captain.

"Oh, we don't like that name, do we?" Adriana said, with just a hint of an Italian accent.

"Not especially," I replied, trying to get my emotions under control.

"So, what do they call you then?" Adriana asked.

"My name's Kenna," I said, as I looked up at her and did my best to sound polite.

Adriana smiled at me the way a shark might smile before it decided to eat you. "I know what your name is. I asked what they call you," she said as she gestured to the other bigs gathered around her, which included Olivia and Katie. Zoey, however, was inexplicably nowhere in sight.

"Digger," I replied looking up at her somewhat defiantly.

"Well, aren't you just a tasty little snack, Digger?" Adriana said to me, still grinning like a shark. She then turned towards Tatum and pointed at me. "I want one."

Tatum looked at me and smiled. "Take it easy, Ade," she said to Adriana. "From what I hear, you can't have that one."

"Oh, really?" Adriana asked with a tone that indicated she wasn't used to being told she couldn't have something she wanted. But I couldn't tell if she really wanted me or was just teasing.

"Really," I said, deciding that I didn't care if she was teasing or not.

It was then I felt a familiar and reassuring hand on my back and turned to look up. It was Zoey.

"What's going on Digger?" Zoey asked, clearly curious as to why I seemed to be facing down the entire roster of bigs.

I couldn't help giving Adriana a big smile of my own. "Just getting to know some of our new teammates," I said.

Adriana paused for a moment as she sized Zoey up. Though they were of equal height, there was no question who would win if things ever got physical. Adriana then gave me a genuine smile and nodded her head at me.

"Carry on then, Digger," she said, giving me a wink for good measure.

Before I could do so, Coach Sheffield walked on to the court and blew his whistle. Fall camp was starting at last.

***

While practices during the season are limited by the NCAA to four hours per day, there are no limits during fall camp. We were all expecting to start "two-a-days" right out of the gate, but Coach Sheffield blew his whistle promptly at noon and surprised us by letting us know that we were done for the day.

We hadn't done all that much, really. The first hour or so had been focused on introductions. Not just for the players but for the coaching and support staff as well. Then we did some team building exercises followed by some simple drills. He explained that he wanted us to ease into things and that the "hard stuff" would start tomorrow, as would the expectation for additional afternoon workouts and evening recovery sessions.

Before we headed for the locker room though, Coach Sheffield asked me and Olivia to give him a few minutes and then come to his office. He had something he needed to visit with each of us about.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked me.

"I don't know," I said nervously.

"I'll come with you," Zoey said as she gave me a reassuring smile. "Even though I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"You don't have to," I said as the three of us slowly made our way towards the coaches' offices. But I was glad to have her with me.

Coach Sheffield asked Olivia to come in first and then he closed the door. Zoey and I sat in some chairs just outside his office and waited. It felt like I was waiting for my turn in the principal's office. We didn't say anything, but as I got more and more fidgety, Zoey quietly reached out and held my hand.

After nearly 15 minutes, the door finally opened and Olivia came out. She was trying to hide it, but it was obvious she was crying.

"O. J., what's wrong?" I asked as she passed by us. But she kept walking. "Olivia!" I called out, but she continued to ignore me and took off running towards the nearest exit.

I turned to Zoey. I was terrified that whatever it was that Coach Sheffield had said to make her cry, he was probably going to say the same thing to me next. But I was also worried about Olivia. "Go after her, Z," I said to Zoey.

"But -- " Zoey protested before I cut her off.

"I can take care of myself," I said. "Go after her."

Zoey jumped to her feet, kissed the top of my head, and took off after Olivia.

"Kenna, please, come in," Coach Sheffield said gently as he waved me into his office.

I sat down in the chair across from his desk and looked around. I was instantly both intimidated and impressed by all the trophies, plaques, pictures and certificates that were prominently on display.

Coach Alan Sheffield was a legend in the volleyball community. He'd been an assistant for the men's team that had won Gold in 1988. He had then entered the college ranks and built several successful teams -- men's and women's both -- before being asked to return as a special assistant for the men's team that took Gold in 2008.

He'd gone back to the college ranks after that, quietly building smaller women's programs, until he made the decision to retire during COVID. He'd been working as an analyst since, until State U convinced him to come out of retirement to head up their program two years ago. Apparently, he and State U both felt like he had a few more good years left in him.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to see you," he began softly. "So, I will just get right to it. When I first recruited you, the plan was to redshirt you behind Carly for a year with the idea that we would work you in some the following year and you would be ready to succeed her after she graduated."

"I remember that being our discussion," I said warily. Before Five for Five, a player had only four years to play. A "redshirt" was considered a development year, though, and didn't count towards your four years of eligibility. But Five for Five had changed all that.

"Well, with Five for Five fully passing recently, that's thrown a lot of plans in disarray, and I want to be transparent with the girls I think it will affect the most," he said. "Specifically, that's you and Olivia."

"I appreciate that," I said, trying to keep my face neutral, even though inside I felt like I was about to throw up.

"The plans for Olivia changed when all three of my outside hitters decided to come back for a fifth season," Coach Sheffield continued. "Though that wasn't really finalized until just a few days ago."

"What about me?" I asked. "Carly is just a junior."

"That's even more of a problem for you," he said with a sigh. "Five for Five means instead of Carly being here two more years, she's probably going to be here three, since she redshirted her freshman year. So, unfortunately, you're probably not going to get a lot of playing time these next three years."

A wave of disappointment washed over me. Originally, I'd come in expecting to redshirt. Which meant that while I was on the team and could still practice, I couldn't compete in matches. But after that, I'd have four years to play, and would likely be the starting libero for the last three of those years. Now Coach Sheffield was making it sound like I'd barely even see the floor until my junior year. That was a lot to ask of someone who loved volleyball as much as I did.

"What are my options?" I asked him.

"Since Olivia is at the bottom of the depth chart at outside, I told her she'd need to move to opposite if she wanted any chance at playing time," Coach Sheffield began. "But she was adamant that she wanted to stay at outside."

"I'm a libero, there's nowhere to move me," I pointed out.

"We might work you in here and there as a defensive specialist," he replied. "But you're right. Libero is your natural position."

"So, what's Olivia going to do?" I asked.

"She's going to transfer," he replied. "Which is an option for you as well."

"Isn't the transfer window closed?" I asked, trying to fight back the tears that I felt building.

"Classes haven't started yet, so if we can find you another school before then, you can petition for a waiver," he said. "And I assure you that I will make certain that you get a waiver if you choose that route."

"What do you mean if?" I asked. "I don't have any other option, do I?"

"Well, you can stay," Coach Sheffield said. "And I want to be crystal clear that would be my preference. You knew coming in you were going to sit this year. As it stands, you might get to play some this season. Probably at defensive specialist here and there. Unless a match is a blowout and then you might get some time at libero."

He paused, then continued. "But I'm going to need someone at libero when Carly leaves and while it would be asking quite a bit of you to wait that long, I would like that someone to be you."

"How much time do I have to decide?" I asked.

"Not a lot," Coach Sheffield replied. "If you're going to transfer, we need to find you a school and then work with them to get a waiver application in as quickly as possible."

"What are you doing to help Olivia?" I asked.

"I talked to Coach Royal this morning down at Ocean State. They started practice on Saturday and he's already lost two outside hitters for the season. Freak accident. Two girls collided. One tore her knee up and the other her Achilles," Coach Sheffield explained. "I'm going to work with him to help Olivia transfer there."

Art Royal was considered one of the most successful members of Coach Sheffield's coaching tree, having been a long-time assistant for him at several schools before taking over the program at Ocean State over a decade ago.

"Does he need a libero?" I asked with a hopeful shrug. The tears were coming now and I didn't care.

"Unfortunately, not," he replied. "But I've got several other coaches I know who might. I can make some calls just as soon as you've made your decision."

"Can I sleep on it?" I asked.

"Please do," he said. "Olivia made her mind up right away. She wants to play now and I don't blame her. And I won't blame you if you want to do the same. But selfishly, I hope you stay."

When something doesn't go according to plan in volleyball it's called being "out of system," and that's exactly what I felt like at that moment. Out of system.

"Is it okay if I go now, please?" I asked as politely as I could. "I have a lot to think about."

Coach nodded his head and gestured towards the door. As I closed it behind me, I pulled my phone out of my bag and saw several texts from Zoey. The first several repeatedly asked if I was okay, but the last one instructed me to come to our room as soon as I was done meeting with Coach Sheffield.

Before I left the arena, I paused for a moment and looked back at the court, just in case it was my last opportunity to do so. I then stepped out into the warm August sun and headed for my dorm.

***

I opened the door to my room and found Macie, Zoey, Jess, and Katie waiting for me. Olivia was there too, and everyone had tears in their eyes.

"You too?" Olivia asked as I walked in and gave her a hug that she quickly returned.

"Yup," I said sadly.

"I'm sure he told you I've decided to transfer," Olivia said. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet," I replied. "I'd probably go to Ocean State with you if there was a spot available for me." Zoey glanced at me sharply as I said that, then she quickly looked away.

"I've already got my flight booked for later this afternoon," Olivia said.

"You're going to leave today?" I asked. I looked around and realized everyone else already had this information and that I was just catching up.

"There was an open seat on the flight to Ft. Lauderdale, and I want to be at practice tomorrow morning," she said. "From what Coach Sheffield said, Coach Royal needs me as soon as possible."

"We'll all help you pack and I'll take you to the airport," I said. "And we'll ship the rest of what you don't take with you."

"Bean said she'd drive me," Olivia said. "You've got your own things to deal with here."

"And I'll deal with those things tomorrow," I said. "Besides, I'm guessing we all want to see you off and we'll need to take two cars to do that."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around. Except for Jess, who was quietly crying off to the side. Of everyone here, she was probably the closest to Olivia, having been her roommate at AEVA and then here as well. Even though that had only been for a couple of days. It was clear that Jess was devastated that Olivia was leaving.

After we helped Olivia pack, we loaded the things she was taking with her into my Element. The rest we'd take to UPS later this week after she got settled in at Ocean State. Olivia and Jess wanted to ride with me and Zoey, so Katie rode with Macie.

After we helped Olivia check her luggage, we walked as far as we could with her before saying our goodbyes.

"You two take care of each other," Olivia said to Zoey and me as she gave us both a big hug. "Be sure to invite me to the wedding."

I looked at Zoey, but didn't blush this time.

Olivia then gave Macie and Katie a hug before finally turning towards Jess.

"Saving the Jess for last?" Jess said, as she tried to smile through her tears.

"You just keep being you, Jester," Olivia said as she leaned down and pulled Jess in for a lengthy hug.

"I'm going to miss you, O. J.," Jess said. They continued to embrace silently for several minutes, then Olivia grabbed her carry-on bag and stepped back to give us all one last sad look.

"Panthers out, bitches," she said softly, as she turned and headed for the security line.

***

Jess rode back with Zoey and me. But none of us said anything until we got back to State U. We were too emotional about what had just happened. And what might yet be to come.

"Please don't go, Kenna." Jess said as we got ready to head to our respective rooms after getting back to the dorm. "I can't lose you too."

I didn't know what to say, but fortunately Macie did. "Why don't you drag your mattress into our room, Jess?" she said as she glanced at Katie, who nodded silently. "We don't want you to be alone tonight."

"Okay," Jess agreed quietly, as she unlocked her door. "I'll be over in a little bit."

"I'll give you a hand," Zoey offered.

Jess nodded at Zoey and then turned and gave me a quick hug. "Do what's best for you, Digger."

I gave her a thin smile as I unlocked my door and quickly stepped inside before I started crying again.

***

While Zoey helped Jess temporarily move in with Katie and Macie, I gave my parents a call to discuss the situation with them.

"You need to do what's in your best interest, Shortcake," Dad said after I had laid everything out for him and mom. "Just be sure it's what you want to do and not what other people want you to do."

"What's that mean, Dad?" I asked. My emotions were still pretty raw, and I immediately assumed who the phrase "other people" referred to. "Do you mean Zoey?" I said sharply.

"Not just Zoey," Dad said gently. "Your other friends there. Your coaches. Me and your mom. It doesn't matter what any of us want."

"Yeah Dad, it does," I said with an exasperated sigh. "You can say that it doesn't, but it does. So, I really do wish you would tell me what you and Mom want me to do."

"I'll tell you what we think," Dad said. "And you can do with that what you will."

"Okay," I replied.

"Your mom and I think you should stay," Dad began. "You weren't expecting to play at all this year anyway. Practicing under Coach Sheffield and his staff while sitting behind, and learning from, one of the top liberos in the conference wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

Dad paused and continued. "Then if you still want to transfer next year, you will have a better opportunity to go to a school you actually want to play for instead of just taking whatever you can get now."

I burst into tears.

"I'm sorry Shortcake, did I say something wrong?" Dad asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"No, Dad," I replied. "You said everything right." I paused for a moment as I tried to get my emotions under control. "I love you, Dad," I said. "You and Mom both."

"We love you too honey," Mom said. "We will support whatever choice you make."

"I'll let you know tomorrow," I said. "I promised Coach Sheffield I'd sleep on it."

"We'll talk to you tomorrow then," Mom said.

"Goodnight, Shortcake," Dad said. "We love you."

I ended the call and looked up as the door opened and Zoey walked in. She had a pizza with her and the smell of it instantly made my stomach growl.

"With everything going on, I realized you and I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast," she said, as she got some plates out and set them on the desk next to the pizza.

"I don't deserve you," I said to her, as I looked up at her and smiled sadly.

"Yes, you do," Zoey said with a half-smile, as we started eating what we both knew might be one of our last meals together.

***

Hours later I woke up and looked at the clock. It was 1:00 a. m. I had that groggy feeling one gets from waking up from a deep REM sleep. Zoey was still snuggled up behind me with her arm wrapped around my waist and she was gently snoring.

We hadn't had sex. Zoey had been afraid it might unduly influence my decision about whether to transfer or not. So instead, we had just spooned together until we had both fallen asleep.

I carefully moved her arm, got out of bed, and silently observed her as she slept. As much as I loved watching her in motion, watching her at rest had its moments too. And as I stood there taking her in, flashes of the dream I'd just awoken from came to me. They didn't form a cohesive vision though. They were more like random scenes from a movie.

Zoey and me watching NetFlix together. Zoey and me Iistening to music together. Zoey and me spooning. Zoey and me in our State U uniforms as the crowd at THB arena went crazy around us. Zoey and me kissing passionately. Zoey and me wearing white dresses and holding hands in front of our friends and family. Every image that appeared in my mind was one of Zoey and me. Together.

I reached down and gently shook Zoey awake.

"Digger?" she asked with a confused look as she finally woke up. She looked over at the clock and then turned on the light and sat up. "What's wrong?" she asked as worry replaced the look of confusion on her face.

"Nothing," I said as I reached down and took her hands in mine. "I just have something I need to tell you, and it can't wait until morning."

"What's that?" she asked, with trepidation in her voice.

I looked at her and smiled.

"I'm going to stay."

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