To France With Love

"Hey Emelie." Said Ty. "Let's let Maria and Yuri practice, while you and I go talk inside." That was confusing. I thought Yuri and Tyler were talking about good things. This didn't sound that good, but I followed Ty back into the pro shop.

When we got inside Tyler turned around to face me. He had a huge smile on his face. It made even more confused, but I smiled too. If he was smiling, it meant something good and his smile was infectious. His smile was huge and he was very cute, way too old for me, but still very cute. He had big green eyes and messy blonde hair, not to mention his smile that could literally light up a room.

"Why are you just standing there and grinning?" I asked.

"Maria and Yuri really like the way you play." He said. "And they want you and I to come to the French Open with them." Oh my goodness! What? Going to the French Open was a huge deal! "You can practice with Maria and watch her match and any of the other matches. They basically want you to come get a feel for the world of pro tennis, and maybe get noticed on the practice courts. I'll be there with you."

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. I didn't care if I wasn't competing, even just going to a grand slam tournament was a huge freaking deal.

"I know. This is going to be an amazing experience. We're going have access to everything. You will be able to meet all the players!" He said.

"Okay! I'm already freaking out." I said while jumping up and down with excitement.

"We're leaving in a week." He said.

"Wow. Okay. I need to go call my mom and tell my brothers and pack and find my passport and oh my gosh! I need to thank Maria! I've got to go, but I'll call if I need help convincing my parents to let me go! I'll see you tomorrow, Tyler!" And with that I grabbed my bag and ran out of the pro shop. As I ran Tyler said something sarcastic about how he was glad I was excited, but I didn't really hear it. I stopped running at the court Maria and Yuri were on.

They saw me coming and stopped playing. Yuri started laughing when he saw my face. "Thank you so much for inviting me!" I said, clearly out of breath.

"Glad you excited to come." Said Yuri. We chatted for a minute, then I let Maria get back to her practice.
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I threw open the door to my brothers' apartment. I had four of them, but only three lived here, Mat, Jimmy and Ryan. All of them were older than me. Jimmy and Ryan, the identical twins, were both at Georgetown University now and Mat was out of college and worked as a sports writer at a newspaper. "Guys guess what!" I shouted as I ran into kitchen where they were all standing.

"Jeez. What's got you all excited?" Asked Ryan.

"Did one of the tennis player you like win a match?" Said Jimmy. The both laughed. They liked teasing me about how I liked to talk about tennis matches that they didn't care about all the time.

"No." I said rolling my eyes. "I got invited to go to the French Open with Maria Kirilenko and her coach. Ty is coming too."

"No way." Said Mat.

"Yeah way." I said in a voice to mock his. He rolled his eyes at me.

"How'd you get invited?" Asked Jimmy.

"You know how I played with Maria the other day?" I said. Jimmy nodded. "Well, she thought I was really good and she told her coach about me and he watched me today and talked to Ty and asked if I would want to come."

"Well then." Said Jimmy, smiling. "That's awesome!"

I exited the kitchen and went to shower and change. I walked into the bathroom. I pulled my hair out of the french braid that it was in. I stopped for a second to look at myself in the mirror. My messy brown hair that went all the way down to the middle of my back. My blue eyes were wide open with excitement mixed with worry. Excitement for the fact that my playing had been noticed by a professional player, and worry that my parents wouldn't want me go to France alone. I pushed that thought out of my mind as I broke away from the mirror and got in the shower.
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I changed into real clothes and immediately called my parents to tell them about the French Open. I dialed. The phone rang twice then my mother answered.

"Hello?" She said.

"Mom!" I shouted. "Tyler and I got invited to go to the French Open with Maria Kirilenko and her coach, Yuri!"

"Really honey." She said. Then I heard her try to muffle her voice while she call my father. "Lawrence! Emelie wants to go to France with Tyler and some Russian tennis player." I rolled my eyes. My mom put the phone on speaker.

"That's great, hon, but aren't you a little young to go to France by yourself?" Asked my dad.

"No." I said. "Legally, I am an adult and I won't be alone, I'll have Ty. This is a huge opportunity to meet people in the sport." I walked into the kitchen and put my phone on my shoulder so my parents couldn't hear me. I looked at my brothers. "Help." I put the phone down on the kitchen counter and put it on speaker.

"Mom, Dad," said Jimmy, "You can't stop Em from going. Its absolutely insane to want her to go, and I don't even know why she is asking you because in a week she's going to be nineteen. She doesn't need your permission. She just wants you to be happy for her and say she should go. This is exactly the reason she skipped out on college this year, to do things like this!" There was a pause on the other side.

"Jim, you're right." Said my mother. "Em, we love. Go to France!" The entire kitchen let out a sigh of relief. Jimmy gave me a huge hug. He always stood up for me. We were the closest of all of my brothers.

"Thanks mom and dad!" I said. "I love you!" Then I hung up. I screamed and jumped up and down.

"I'm going to the French Open!"