Learning Curves || Rise Donnie x Reader

↪Eighteen↩

"(Y/n), I expect you to be wrapping up soon!" Coach Anderson shouted, already half-out the gym doors. You continued dribbling with one hand as you waved to him. You wanted to get some extra practice in before the game tomorrow, but as Coach had pressed at the end of practice, you needed to get a full 8 hours of sleep tonight. With your schedule already as mapped out as it was, you weren't worried about failing his expectations.

The door swung shut behind your coach and you focused on putting the ball in the hoop. It was almost therapeutic—even if you were fulfilling your dad's dream, you still loved basketball. No matter what path you decided to go down with your life, you wanted sports to still be a part of it. If you were a teacher, you could coach the kids too—at least, you remembered a couple teachers from school coaching sports teams on the side.

But you still weren't sure what you wanted to do, even though you had all but decided your parents weren't going to be proud of you no matter what. You knew how badly Donnie wanted you to just give up, but it wasn't in your nature. Until you had proof you were irredeemable in their eyes, you'd keep trying. It would've been a positive characteristic if it didn't cause so many problems in your relationship with Donnie.

Movement on the bleachers caught your attention, and you turned—expecting to see your favorite turtle. But it was someone else. The girl had a purple satin jacket with an emblem on it you couldn't see from the court, her hands in her pockets. Under her jacket was a cyan shirt that matched her lipstick, black capris led down to her black flats, and atop her lilac hair was a red beret. Her skin was a light brown, and she looked Asian. She had a welcoming smile on her face.

"Hey, you have some serious skills!" she called, finally getting to the bottom of the bleachers and walking towards you. You picked up the ball and faced her, polite curiosity on your face.

"Thanks. Do I know you?" The way she was talking to you made you think she must have some idea of who you were. Hopefully it wasn't rude that you had never seen her before in your life.

"Oh yeah, I'm a friend of Donnie- or, sorry, Othello Von Ryan's." She giggled behind her hand, winking at you in a mischievous way like she slipped up by saying his real name. Your eyes widened.

"Oh, are you April?" The only friend of Donnie's that he'd told you about was April.

"How'd you know?" She stuck out her hip and rested a hand on it.

"Donnie talks very highly of you." You walked over, sticking out a hand. She laughed and batted her hand at you.

"Oh come on, we're both in the know about our turtle friend! Bring it in!" She pulled you into a hug and you gasped, then chuckled awkwardly as you returned it quickly. April was very friendly—no wonder she'd made such an impact on Donnie. When you pulled back, she had your phone in her hand. You tried to snatch it back, but she held it out of reach. "Did Donnie give you the latest VPN so you can't be tracked? He did that for me too, but I have the updated version. Did you want me to add it to your phone?" She was already tapping away on your phone.

"Um, sure?" You rose a brow at her behavior. Something about this felt off, but then she did know Donnie—something almost nobody knew. That earned her at least a basic level of trust. You were probably just being an airhead about it, anyway—or maybe that was just the ghost of Donnie in your ear since he liked to claim you were an airheaded jock.

She made a face at the screen. "Uhhh, did you know he put a bug on your phone?" Your jaw dropped.

"He did what?" You rushed to her side and she showed it to you. You weren't really sure what you were seeing, but she explained as she pointed to spots on the screen.