Post by audrey on Jul 30, 2011 18:15:22 GMT 3
Chapter 1
The kid was only 14 years old when he was shipped to Valencia to train. In his younger years, he showed potential in tennis but his real talent didn’t shine until much later. In fact there were girls who had been better than him and frequently beat him during practice matches.
His parents wanted a better life for him and his sister and when he showed that he could actually make a career out of his ability to play tennis, the search began to find a generous benefactor that would sponsor him to train and play competitively.
They searched for a long time and they found many but no one wanted to take a chance on the kid. Until finally one day when they were nearly lost of all hope, someone did take a chance. All expenses paid, excellent training facilities, a well respected coach. And they would be able to pay it all back when the kid achieved success. Because they saw something very special in him and they knew that sooner or later much success would come to him.
It sounded like a dream come true. The downside was that the kid would have to move to Spain. Valencia to be exact. Mother and father made all the decisions and the kid had no say. Of course if it were up to him he would remain in Moscow so he could continue to hang out with his friends and be with his family. He looked up Valencia in the atlas and it was far from home. The thought of moving alone was enough to bring tears to his eyes. But he also understood that he needed to take this step if he wanted to make a career out of tennis.
“Marat you were born to be great,” his mother told him. “Big things await you. We need to make sacrifices to be successful in life. This will be your sacrifice. It will be very hard at first but it will be worth it, I promise.”
“I’m not going to know anyone there. I don’t even know how to speak the language,” he said expressing his fears.
“You’ll learn to speak Spanish and you’ll make friends. Marat, this is going to be for your future. And you’re paving the way for Dinara as well. She looks up to you so much and you know she’s going to be following in your footsteps.”
He nodded. He was very well aware how much his sister idolized him. It was annoying sometimes but he adored her just the same.
They were a typical middle class family living in Moscow in a small but comfortable two bedroom apartment in the middle of the city. They lived a simple life and were by no means poor but Rauza and Mikhail wanted something better for their children. All their hopes rested on their first born.
His family went to Valencia with him to help make the move somewhat easier. Well they thought it would make it easier but the kid wished they’d just stayed home. Having them there when it was time to say good bye made it all the more difficult to let them go. Especially his little sister. She was only 8 and at first was excited by this big trip to Spain. She knew Marat was moving there but the fact that she and her parents were returning to Moscow without him didn’t hit her until they had to leave. She hugged him so tight not wanting to let go. Being the older brother, he had to be tough and fought back the tears in front of her.
“I’ll see you soon, Dinarochka. Don’t cry,” he said patting her gently on the head. “I’ll write to you all the time.”
Their father had to pry his sister’s little hands from around his neck. The kid had to remain tough saying good bye to him. Boys just didn’t cry around their fathers. It was only when his mother pulled him into her arms that he allowed himself to shed a few tears.
“We’ll visit you as much as we can, Maratik,” she promised as she stroked his back soothingly. “Be strong. I’m sure you’ll learn to love it here soon enough.”
At the time, the kid didn’t think that would ever be possible.
Tennis came easy to him. Like breathing. School was also something he didn’t have much trouble with. But they became difficult when instructions were suddenly given in another language. At the tennis academy, people either spoke in Spanish or English and he was good at neither. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with, he was given a tutor for both languages to help him learn faster.
They started him off with Spanish classes and he found that he was able to pick it up quite quickly. But between that and regular school, tennis was being neglected. It was therefore agreed that his tennis coach would also act as his Spanish teacher so that he could kill two birds with one stone. This arrangement worked and he could train and learn Spanish without ever leaving the tennis courts. He couldn’t however get out of English.
------------------------------------------------
Ava was a model student at her school. Popular and smart, she was at the top of her class in four subjects, participated in the school band playing the piano, was a member of the student representative council and headed the school community volunteering program.
One day she was brought into the principal’s office for an impromptu meeting. She didn’t know what it was about but the principal had an embarrassed smile on his face like he was about to tell her something he wished he didn’t have to. He did this to her often, asking for a big favour that no other student would say yes to. But Ava was different. Somehow said yes to everything and still fitted everything in to her already full schedule.
She listened to his plea while also thinking about the next class was going to be late to if he didn’t wrap it up soon. He didn’t want to impose she heard him saying. Tutoring, English, new student, tennis, twice a week, after school. The words were all muddled up in her head as she thought about the test she needed to sit for in the class she was going to be late to.
“So will you do it?” he asked worriedly. “It will only be temporary and I heard he’s a fast learner so it shouldn’t be for too long.”
Ava bit her lip. “Ummmm, sure sir, I’ll give it a go.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, you’ll start this afternoon at 3pm.”
She looked at him wearily. “Sir, I have band practice at 3,” she reminded him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you a pass,” he told her as if that was the answer to her problem. In actual fact, Ava never missed band practice. More than anything, she loved music and her piano was an extension of herself.
She didn’t have time to argue. She was already late to her class. She agreed to the tutoring assignment and meet the new student that afternoon.
----------------------------------------------
Tennis practice had been tough. The weather was too hot and nothing was going his way. His coach was a nice guy but he was losing his patience in the end and couldn’t wait to see the back of the kid’s head. Now Marat had to run from the academy to the school to attend a private tutoring session. He already knew he was going to get in trouble because he was late.
---------------------------------------------
“Hey Ava, let’s go to band practice,” her friend called out to her once the school bell rang.
They were at the library for their last class working on an art project.
“I can’t go,” she said disappointed. “I’m tutoring a new student.”
“Oh really? Who is it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, some guy who transferred from Russia.”
She took out his papers to check his credentials.
“A promising tennis player,” she read rolling her eyes. “Great. I can tell this is going to be a lot of fun.”
Her friend giggled at her sarcasm. Ava had tutored athletes in her school before and they weren’t the best pupils. She didn’t have much faith that this one was going to be any different. She got started on her homework while she waited for him to come.
He arrived at the library where he was supposed to meet the tutor. He looked around but he couldn’t see her. Maybe she got sick of waiting that she just left. He groaned. Now he was really going to get it. It wasn’t enough that he had an old man for a coach who was annoyed with him, he was going to have to answer to some old woman who he wasn’t even going to understand which would probably make her even angrier.
“Are you Marat Safin?” someone asked in Spanish.
He felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a young girl about his age glaring at him. He nodded looking confused.
“You’re late,” she snapped. “Next time you keep me waiting for half an hour I’m not going to wait around, got it?”
He nodded again silently trying not to smile.
She plonked herself at the nearest table and gestured for him to sit next to her.
“So you are the English tutor?” he asked hopeful.
“Yeah and you’re wasting my time so get a move on,” she answered shortly.
This time he didn’t try to hide his smile.
“Can I get your name first?” he inquired.
She’d been too distracted to really look at him but when she finally did, she was taken aback by his warm and friendly smile.
“I’m sorry, it’s Ava,” she replied more calmly.
He held out his hand and she shook it very quickly then let go.
Marat relaxed once he discovered his tutor was a classmate and not a grouchy old woman. He couldn’t believe he’d been so worried. These tutoring sessions were going to be a piece of cake. How much would she really be able to make him work?
He sat down casually and slouched on the chair. He opened his tennis bag and took out his racquet. He began practicing his swing while he was sitting. Who needs English anyway? He was going to speak to people through his tennis.
“Uhh what are you doing?” Ava asked putting her pen down. They hadn’t known each other 5 minutes and he was already annoying her.
“What does it look like?” he answered.
She scowled and shot up from her seat. As he was about to perform a backhand swing, she grabbed the racquet from his hand and held it tightly to her chest.
“Hey give it back!” he shouted.
“I will after we finish tutoring,” she shouted back. “You’re not going to treat this like a free period where you think you can use the time to work on skills other than the skills you’re here to improve.”
Marat glowered at Ava as she clutched on to the racquet. He felt like grabbing it from her but he was always taught never to fight with a girl…physically anyway.
“If you don’t cooperate with me, I’m going to tell the principal,” she threatened though it didn’t make much of an impact. “And the principal will tell your sponsor. From my experience, sponsors hate it when their athletes waste their time and money. So much so that they take back their sponsorship and send them packing all the way back home.”
By the frightened look on his face, Ava knew she’d gotten through to him. He put his head down and took out his books ready to start the session.
“No, I can’t go home,” he said quietly. “Please. I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Ava peered at him closely wondering if he was mocking her. But he wasn’t and he was genuinely afraid of the thought of being sent home.
"Ok good," she said cautiously.
She sat back down to begin her first tutoring session with Marat and because he was cooperating and she was fair, she returned his racquet to him even before the end of it.
The kid was only 14 years old when he was shipped to Valencia to train. In his younger years, he showed potential in tennis but his real talent didn’t shine until much later. In fact there were girls who had been better than him and frequently beat him during practice matches.
His parents wanted a better life for him and his sister and when he showed that he could actually make a career out of his ability to play tennis, the search began to find a generous benefactor that would sponsor him to train and play competitively.
They searched for a long time and they found many but no one wanted to take a chance on the kid. Until finally one day when they were nearly lost of all hope, someone did take a chance. All expenses paid, excellent training facilities, a well respected coach. And they would be able to pay it all back when the kid achieved success. Because they saw something very special in him and they knew that sooner or later much success would come to him.
It sounded like a dream come true. The downside was that the kid would have to move to Spain. Valencia to be exact. Mother and father made all the decisions and the kid had no say. Of course if it were up to him he would remain in Moscow so he could continue to hang out with his friends and be with his family. He looked up Valencia in the atlas and it was far from home. The thought of moving alone was enough to bring tears to his eyes. But he also understood that he needed to take this step if he wanted to make a career out of tennis.
“Marat you were born to be great,” his mother told him. “Big things await you. We need to make sacrifices to be successful in life. This will be your sacrifice. It will be very hard at first but it will be worth it, I promise.”
“I’m not going to know anyone there. I don’t even know how to speak the language,” he said expressing his fears.
“You’ll learn to speak Spanish and you’ll make friends. Marat, this is going to be for your future. And you’re paving the way for Dinara as well. She looks up to you so much and you know she’s going to be following in your footsteps.”
He nodded. He was very well aware how much his sister idolized him. It was annoying sometimes but he adored her just the same.
They were a typical middle class family living in Moscow in a small but comfortable two bedroom apartment in the middle of the city. They lived a simple life and were by no means poor but Rauza and Mikhail wanted something better for their children. All their hopes rested on their first born.
His family went to Valencia with him to help make the move somewhat easier. Well they thought it would make it easier but the kid wished they’d just stayed home. Having them there when it was time to say good bye made it all the more difficult to let them go. Especially his little sister. She was only 8 and at first was excited by this big trip to Spain. She knew Marat was moving there but the fact that she and her parents were returning to Moscow without him didn’t hit her until they had to leave. She hugged him so tight not wanting to let go. Being the older brother, he had to be tough and fought back the tears in front of her.
“I’ll see you soon, Dinarochka. Don’t cry,” he said patting her gently on the head. “I’ll write to you all the time.”
Their father had to pry his sister’s little hands from around his neck. The kid had to remain tough saying good bye to him. Boys just didn’t cry around their fathers. It was only when his mother pulled him into her arms that he allowed himself to shed a few tears.
“We’ll visit you as much as we can, Maratik,” she promised as she stroked his back soothingly. “Be strong. I’m sure you’ll learn to love it here soon enough.”
At the time, the kid didn’t think that would ever be possible.
Tennis came easy to him. Like breathing. School was also something he didn’t have much trouble with. But they became difficult when instructions were suddenly given in another language. At the tennis academy, people either spoke in Spanish or English and he was good at neither. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with, he was given a tutor for both languages to help him learn faster.
They started him off with Spanish classes and he found that he was able to pick it up quite quickly. But between that and regular school, tennis was being neglected. It was therefore agreed that his tennis coach would also act as his Spanish teacher so that he could kill two birds with one stone. This arrangement worked and he could train and learn Spanish without ever leaving the tennis courts. He couldn’t however get out of English.
------------------------------------------------
Ava was a model student at her school. Popular and smart, she was at the top of her class in four subjects, participated in the school band playing the piano, was a member of the student representative council and headed the school community volunteering program.
One day she was brought into the principal’s office for an impromptu meeting. She didn’t know what it was about but the principal had an embarrassed smile on his face like he was about to tell her something he wished he didn’t have to. He did this to her often, asking for a big favour that no other student would say yes to. But Ava was different. Somehow said yes to everything and still fitted everything in to her already full schedule.
She listened to his plea while also thinking about the next class was going to be late to if he didn’t wrap it up soon. He didn’t want to impose she heard him saying. Tutoring, English, new student, tennis, twice a week, after school. The words were all muddled up in her head as she thought about the test she needed to sit for in the class she was going to be late to.
“So will you do it?” he asked worriedly. “It will only be temporary and I heard he’s a fast learner so it shouldn’t be for too long.”
Ava bit her lip. “Ummmm, sure sir, I’ll give it a go.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, you’ll start this afternoon at 3pm.”
She looked at him wearily. “Sir, I have band practice at 3,” she reminded him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you a pass,” he told her as if that was the answer to her problem. In actual fact, Ava never missed band practice. More than anything, she loved music and her piano was an extension of herself.
She didn’t have time to argue. She was already late to her class. She agreed to the tutoring assignment and meet the new student that afternoon.
----------------------------------------------
Tennis practice had been tough. The weather was too hot and nothing was going his way. His coach was a nice guy but he was losing his patience in the end and couldn’t wait to see the back of the kid’s head. Now Marat had to run from the academy to the school to attend a private tutoring session. He already knew he was going to get in trouble because he was late.
---------------------------------------------
“Hey Ava, let’s go to band practice,” her friend called out to her once the school bell rang.
They were at the library for their last class working on an art project.
“I can’t go,” she said disappointed. “I’m tutoring a new student.”
“Oh really? Who is it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, some guy who transferred from Russia.”
She took out his papers to check his credentials.
“A promising tennis player,” she read rolling her eyes. “Great. I can tell this is going to be a lot of fun.”
Her friend giggled at her sarcasm. Ava had tutored athletes in her school before and they weren’t the best pupils. She didn’t have much faith that this one was going to be any different. She got started on her homework while she waited for him to come.
He arrived at the library where he was supposed to meet the tutor. He looked around but he couldn’t see her. Maybe she got sick of waiting that she just left. He groaned. Now he was really going to get it. It wasn’t enough that he had an old man for a coach who was annoyed with him, he was going to have to answer to some old woman who he wasn’t even going to understand which would probably make her even angrier.
“Are you Marat Safin?” someone asked in Spanish.
He felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a young girl about his age glaring at him. He nodded looking confused.
“You’re late,” she snapped. “Next time you keep me waiting for half an hour I’m not going to wait around, got it?”
He nodded again silently trying not to smile.
She plonked herself at the nearest table and gestured for him to sit next to her.
“So you are the English tutor?” he asked hopeful.
“Yeah and you’re wasting my time so get a move on,” she answered shortly.
This time he didn’t try to hide his smile.
“Can I get your name first?” he inquired.
She’d been too distracted to really look at him but when she finally did, she was taken aback by his warm and friendly smile.
“I’m sorry, it’s Ava,” she replied more calmly.
He held out his hand and she shook it very quickly then let go.
Marat relaxed once he discovered his tutor was a classmate and not a grouchy old woman. He couldn’t believe he’d been so worried. These tutoring sessions were going to be a piece of cake. How much would she really be able to make him work?
He sat down casually and slouched on the chair. He opened his tennis bag and took out his racquet. He began practicing his swing while he was sitting. Who needs English anyway? He was going to speak to people through his tennis.
“Uhh what are you doing?” Ava asked putting her pen down. They hadn’t known each other 5 minutes and he was already annoying her.
“What does it look like?” he answered.
She scowled and shot up from her seat. As he was about to perform a backhand swing, she grabbed the racquet from his hand and held it tightly to her chest.
“Hey give it back!” he shouted.
“I will after we finish tutoring,” she shouted back. “You’re not going to treat this like a free period where you think you can use the time to work on skills other than the skills you’re here to improve.”
Marat glowered at Ava as she clutched on to the racquet. He felt like grabbing it from her but he was always taught never to fight with a girl…physically anyway.
“If you don’t cooperate with me, I’m going to tell the principal,” she threatened though it didn’t make much of an impact. “And the principal will tell your sponsor. From my experience, sponsors hate it when their athletes waste their time and money. So much so that they take back their sponsorship and send them packing all the way back home.”
By the frightened look on his face, Ava knew she’d gotten through to him. He put his head down and took out his books ready to start the session.
“No, I can’t go home,” he said quietly. “Please. I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Ava peered at him closely wondering if he was mocking her. But he wasn’t and he was genuinely afraid of the thought of being sent home.
"Ok good," she said cautiously.
She sat back down to begin her first tutoring session with Marat and because he was cooperating and she was fair, she returned his racquet to him even before the end of it.