this side of paradise, reneé rapp

lock broken, slur spoken: i

Eyes closed as she took a few deep breaths, Cason reveled in the moment.

Confetti in her team colors were still gliding through the air, falling ever so slowly. Her shoulders were covered in it, and there were probably some stubborn pieces stuck to her hair. Cason swatted them away from her face as she parted her eyelids, not even giving her teammates another glance as she began running away from the cameras.

Where she wanted to go, Cason didn't know.

She faintly heard them scream her name, yell at her to come back for a couple of after-game interviews, but she didn't care. Her body weaved skillfully through the sea of people in the playing zone, searching for a specific face. Cason wished she had exchanged her contacts for her glasses first, but there was nothing she could do now.

Those damned strips of paper were still falling somehow, reminding Cason that she hadn't even held the trophy. She was the reason the team had won it, and everyone knew, but she couldn't care less at the moment. Her family was probably waiting for her, too, but Cason had seen them smiling and cheering for her throughout the game.

She could simply meet with them later.

The crowd parted wherever Cason went, either because they were too shocked to see her wandering around or they were too starstruck. Cason couldn't even smile at them as she went past, being way too focused on her task. She didn't even know if she was ever going to find this person, but she wasn't about to give up like an absolute idiot.

God, maybe she wasn't lying.

Cason angrily groaned to herself and wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Everything and everyone was too fucking loud in this stadium and it definitely wasn't helping. Her senses were becoming a little too stimulated, and it made her want to lose her cool in public, in the middle of a crowd, with a bunch of press.

But Cason wasn't about to act like an emotionally immature man.

A hand tapped her shoulder.

Cason turned around and locked eyes with her teammate, Madi, who was grinning happily. A low, inaudible grumble left Cason's chest. Not this. She definitely could not deal with bubbly, happy people right now, especially because she couldn't find the one person she was searching for, and her little patience was rapidly wearing thin.

"Come on, Case. Everyone's looking for you," Madi said.

"Tell them I'll be there in a bit," was Cason's reply, fighting against the urge to roll her eyes.

"You haven't even done any interviews yet!"

"The press can go fuck themselves!" Cason practically growled. "I'm looking for someone!"

"I thought you said that she wanted a break?"

Cason released an angry yell, "But she made a promise!"

Her voice broke before she could even finish her sentence. Cason grabbed Madi's hands rushingly and allowed herself to fall onto the ground, landing forcefully on her knees. She glanced up at her older teammate and felt the familiar stinging sensation in her eyes as her vision blurred with unshed tears, before her lips parted with a choked sob.

Madi pulled her right back up, bringing her into a tight hug. Cason rested her head on Madi's shoulder and continued to cry, muffling her sobs. This was one of the perks about being the youngest on the team. She felt Madi's hands pat her back comfortingly, gently, as a few words of encouragement were whispered cautiously into her ears.

"She promised she would go no matter what," Cason managed to say.

"Fuck her, then," Madi laughed, "She'll get what she deserves."