My Volleyball Partner

For almost six months straight, I played volleyball Liberty Square every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. For almost six months straight, Nate came and met me to play. We never talked about it nor did anyone else, but we were always partners for warming up, and we always talked afterwards, no matter if we played on the same team or not. It was just an unwritten rule that I would pepper with him before we played. One Saturday morning we were peppering, and the song "Breathe," came on the speakers and Nate began to sing quietly, but loud enough for me to hear him. I'd never heard him sing before and didn't think this was the kind of song he'd like. We actually stopped peppering and talked about the song, and he admitted that he really liked it. For some reason that day stuck with me and now every time I hear the start of the song "2 AM..." I think about Nate and those fun days playing volleyball week after week.