Welcome to the Jungle

Casey's tennis bag bobbed against her back as she made her way towards the practice courts. She had a skip in her step and eagerness in her heart.

While she tried not to let the news of Novak practicing beside her today excite her, it still managed to.

Letting herself onto her court she noticed that she was the first one of her group or Novak's. Her light mood deflated some. Casey had it in her mind that both she and Novak would arrive early to the courts, their hitting partners and coaches mysteriously lagging behind, and they would talk and joke. Perhaps he would even compliment her performance in her first round.

Casey let out an exasperated sigh as she dropped her bag on the hard court. There was nothing to do but wait until Steve and her father showed up.

"I guess I can warm up," she muttered to herself. Once she popped in her headphones and turned up her iPod Casey began jogging around the perimeter of the court.

Around lap twenty a tennis ball nearly hit her.

She stopped and looked towards the gate of her court. No one was there. She pulled out one of her ear buds and looked around.

"Over here!"

Casey's head shot to the left, to the other court. Her eyes landed on Novak Djokovic overtly waving his hands high above his head.

"Finally!" he said. "I've been trying to get your attention for at least five minutes!"

"Sorry," Casey told him, moving closer to the chain-link fence that separated them. "My music was pretty loud."

"Clearly," Novak stated. "You'll go deaf if you keep listening to loud music. My mother yells at me for that all the time."

Casey laughed a little. "Good thing we don't need our hearing to play tennis."

"I guess so."

Then neither of them talked. Casey took the other bud out of her ear, wrapping it around her iPod while he took to tapping his racket against the ground.

"I saw some replays of your match yesterday," he said finally. He seemed excited to find something to talk about. "You were great."

"Thanks. I was hoping for more of a challenge but I'll take what I can get."

"Bite your tongue; you might be eating your words in your next match. Do you know who you play?"

"No." Casey shook her head. "That match gets played today. I'll be there scouting them out later."

Casey behind her. Her dad and hitting partner were still nowhere to be seen. She looked back--neither were Novak's.

"Do you wanna warm up?" she asked him.

"Sure," he answered eagerly. "I'll come to you."

While she watched him jog toward his bag to stuff his shorts with balls and rush over to her court she realized how much her expectations of this morning were being fulfilled. And then some.