𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, kate martin

NINETEEN. dawgs in the gym

saturday, april 20th, 2024:

Kate stared at her phone. Her thumbs hovered over the dully lit screen.

She wasn't entirely sure on what was going on around her as they all headed back to the hotel. The bus's dim lights casted a blue-ish glow on the people in the seats near her. KK and Nika seemed to have joined a tiktok live with some of their UCONN teammates, a way to blow off steam that Kate was accustomed to from back home.

Their entire first day was packed to the brim. Kelsey Plum wanted them booked and busy, nonstop 'grinding and putting in the work' as she liked to say. It was at first an interesting adjustment for Kate.

She was the oldest one there, which was nothing new. But she was a late invitee. A last minute thing that did nothing for her confidence, if she had to be honest. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the chance and just like when it came to her getting drafted in the second round— Kate was gonna take the opportunity and run with it, giving it all she got.

So overall, it was a bit chaotic to say the least.

Kate wanted nothing more than to find the center of her storm. To talk to her. To hear her voice. To see her.

She had been trying to figure out what to text her for the past day and a half. They hadn't interacted since they nearly.. well, needless to say, Kate didn't know what to assume when it came to Tatum.

She wasn't sure how she was feeling and even more of a concern, she didn't know where they stood. Were they normal? Were they not? Did she like her back? Should she have kissed her while they were drunk instead of possibly messing their friendship up? Or would that have made it all worse?

Kate was fucking clueless.

Her eyes had practically memorized the message sent from her and ingrained it into her head:

iMessage
Yesterday 10:21AM

Tate
hey!! jada told me ab getting invited to dawg camp
and so i just wanted to say that you got this!
idk if you're nervous or anything
knowing you, probs not
but just in case, i wanted to tell u i'm proud of u
go show them your stuff money martin 🤍

Why couldn't she find it in herself to just text her back? it's not like it had to be anything special. A simple 'thank you' could even suffice.

So that's what she went with, keeping it rather safe and simple as she typed out:

Kate
Thank you Tatum!

She debated on adding more, maybe asking what her weekend plans were since she still wanted them to be normal as possible — because the last thing she wanted was to lose Tatum — when Georgia's head hovered over the top of the seat behind her. "Ooh, who you textin'?" She wiggled her brows at Kate, trying to read her screen.

Kate was quick to tuck her phone away. "Just a friend."

"You were staring at that phone of yours an awful long time for it to be 'just a friend'." Georgia put air quotes around Kate's words, raising a skeptical brow at her.

"Shiiii, does Kate got a hottie?" KK Arnold jived. She plopped herself in a seat across the aisle from the former Hawkeye as she tuned into the conversation.

"No," Kate let out an airy chuckle. "I do not have a 'hottie'."

"Pssh, girl boo, quit playin'."