Learning Curves || Rise Donnie x Reader

⇇One⇉

This is what happens when I read a hilarious comment saying Donnie reads Atomic Lass x Reader fanfics and I talk to a Donnie character.ai bot that confesses he writes that shit too. As always, none of the art belongs to me, and I hope you enjoy~

You raced down the court, dribbling the basketball with smooth flicks of your wrist. The defender guarding you almost looked nervous as you approached, but she kept her hands up and her stance low to prevent you from getting around her. Well, at least she tried. You faked going left to get the girl to shuffle that direction, then passed the ball between your legs and darted right. The poor defender couldn't correct her mistake before you were at the net with a layup. The ball went through the net and you faced the defender with a proud smirk.

"That's 50 for me and 0 for you." You put your hands on your hips, looking as cocky as you felt. The defender—Layla—put her hands on her knees, panting. She was a 5' tall point guard that was light on her feet and always optimistic, but she could never seem to keep up with you. She had bleached blonde hair with the start of her natural brown roots showing, brown eyes, and sun-tanned skin, and she was more scrawny than she was bulky.

She shook her head. "Do you have to rub the score in every time?" she chuckled, watching you dance around. She swore you never got winded.

"I'm just letting you know the gap is widening like any good friend would." You sounded arrogant to anyone watching you two on the basketball court, but Layla knew you better than that. She could see the light dancing in your (eye/color) eyes as a playful grin played on your pink lips—you didn't seriously mean a word of it. You were the basketball Team Captain, given a full-ride scholarship at Eastlaird University to play for them. It was clear you deserved it—anyone watching could tell the (skin/color), (hair/color)-haired girl was unstoppable on the court.

"Yeah yeah." Layla glanced over at the clock on the wall as she finally sat up, her breath regained. "I think we've been practicing long enough." She started heading towards the bleachers, where she'd thrown her stuff earlier. You played with the basketball idly as you watched your friend leave.

"You're just tired of getting your butt kicked." You stuck your tongue out, laughing lightly afterwards so she knew you were only teasing, then shot the ball at the hoop from your spot behind the 3-point line. Swish.

Layla laughed with you. "You're Team Captain for a reason." She shrugged, throwing on her pink hoodie and taking her hair out of a ponytail. You jogged over to the basketball to put it away, then ran back to Layla.

"I should probably get some reps in at the campus workout room. You think it's still open right now?" You checked your watch, frowning at the current time. It was Friday, so the weekend—your time of leisure and catching up on assignments for your classes—was upon you, but you weren't sure you could relax just yet. You needed to make sure you were in tip-top shape for the playoff games coming up.

Layla looked over at you, the waterbottle she had started to lift to her mouth pausing. "You didn't get enough of a workout already?"

"I've still got some energy." That was energy you should be putting into becoming stronger.

She sighed and gently set her hand on your shoulder. "You know it's ok to relax, right? You don't need to spend every waking moment improving yourself." She laughed lightly afterwards, but you just sighed. This elicited a frown. "You know that, right?"

"Well yeah, I force myself to take it easy over the weekend." You shrugged, unable to meet her dark brown eyes that were pooling with worry. You knew you had to have recovery days or your muscles would never get stronger, but every day you weren't working towards being the best was another day of wasting time. Or at least that's what your parents taught you. And your dad really wanted to see you win the basketball playoffs so you could win the championship at state for your college—like he never could.