Play with fire-Cazzie

Chapter 32

"Casey, why don't you just rent an apartment? It would be easier to sort it out later." Paige mentioned as she helped me, bringing a heavy box.

"Oh. Miss 'NCAA Champion' doesn't have the strength to lift a lightweight box?" I teased, and she nudged me with her shoulder lightly.

"Fuck you." She answered as she lowered the box and placed it on my bed.

Paige was helping me tidy up my room. Since she returned to Minnesota a week ago, we have not been apart at any time. Especially, because I had missed her so much. Later, I found out that she had asked UCONN a few days before classes started. So she took advantage of the time available to help me.

"Are you sure you won't have problems with your classes?" I asked as I put up a photo that we had taken recently. In it, Paige, Emily, NaLyssa, Aliyah, and I were posing at a Minnesota Twins game. I smiled, looking at it and looked up to see Paige pulling out the things that were in the box.

"No." She answered without taking her eyes off the books in her hands. "You read?" She asked, and I looked at her confused. Then I noticed that she had a giggly smile, and I smiled at her joke. "Do you know how to read?"

"Do you? Because as far as I know you, the last time you read, we were in English class, and you got so nervous you almost peed yourself."

The blonde laughed, and I began to organize my clothes in the closet. I sighed as I noticed the note Izzie's grandmother had written to me on the napkin. Paige approached me, worried and smiled sadly when she saw the note.

"Well. At least I passed algebra with flying colours. If it hadn't been for Natalie's huge crush on you, you would have failed." She kept joking, and Paige and I laughed.

I was grateful that she was here with me, especially after seeing that note.

"Have you talked to Izzie?" I asked, and Paige's cheeks flushed red.

"Why do you ask?" Her question left me confused, and I shrugged.

"You told me you were talking to her. Maybe she told you something." Her silence meant a lot of things, so I sighed. "Sometimes, I'd like to talk to her. Tell her I'm sorry. That I was an idiot. But when I think of her, I remember that fateful game and my father's words. I let the whole school down thanks to my lack of concentration."

"That wasn't Izzie's fault." My friend answered, and I could hear the irritation in her voice, so I frowned. Seeing my face, her countenance calmed down. "It wasn't anyone's fault." She clarified softly, and I nodded. "It was what God wanted. Wasn't it?"

"Sure," I answered and looked at the photo again. "For an exceptional basketball player, you were very shy in class." I kept joking, and she threw me a t-shirt. I laughed and tossed her one of my athletic shorts.

"HOPE THEY ARE CLEAN, GARDNER!" She yelled, smiling, and I laughed, shrugging my shoulders.

"I don't know. You tell me." I answered, and she took off the shorts from her head, approaching me, to throw herself against my body and mess up my hair. "LEAVE ME, PAIGE!" I screamed, and she started tickling me. "I'M WARNING YOU, IDIOT."

She stopped attacking me, and I sighed.

"Or what?" She hired, confident. "What will you do, Gardner?"

Without waiting, I hugged her body tightly. And she suppressed a cry of surprise. Her hands hugged my body, and her head rested on mine.

"I missed you, Buckets." I sighed, and she laughed softly.

"Me too, dude."

"I hope that person makes you happy. Because I almost died without my best friend." I added, separating from her body. She looked at her sneakers for a few seconds before answering.