𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙃 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙏| 𝙋𝘼𝙄𝙂𝙀 𝘽𝙐𝙀𝘾𝙆𝙀𝙍𝙎

𝙊𝙉𝙀

PAIGE BUECKERS

Breathes struggled to leave my chest, held against my throat with every bench press. Mouth agape as exasperated sighs left my dampened lips. I rise slowly, sitting up from my original spot. Elbows to my knees that spread widely apart from one another. I felt the aircon hit the nape of my neck, with relief a small smile finds itself onto my face.

It was nice to workout alone. In utter silence, it was peaceful in a way. To listen to the constant and hard thumping of my own heart in my ears, the exhilarating feeling of your veins coursing your arms with rapid flow as it rushes to your whole body in unexpected shock.

My hand is quick to reach for my drink bottle placed to the floor beside me, though a slow and loud clatter from the main entrance tears my attention away from the beverage. And there she was. I could see her at the main lockers through the glass doors.

Kaia Jacobs. Her hair was down, lightly ruffled as she ran smooth hands across her scalp moving the loose strands from the frame of her face. In one swift movement she lifted her grey hoodie from her torso, tossing it into her duffle bag before pulling out her phone from the side pocket. Her hands go up to the waistband of her gym shorts, they were black, hugged her in the places she wanted to be shown as she pulled them high up her waist. Adjusting the straps of her sports bra as she turned to enter the gym.

My eyes steered away from her direction. Turning my focus back onto the bench press. Her mannerisms stiffened as I watched her walk by with her eyebrows slightly crunched. My gaze follows her as she warms up at the side, with light cardio. It was intriguing to watch, something so oddly satisfying in the way she carried herself no matter how annoying she was.

Too far in I find my neck craning at the sight of her lowering herself into a squat. Before I catch myself she does. My head turns back towards the wall facing me, aimlessly staring at anything else but her.

She didn't see that, did she? She definitely would've said something if she did. She wouldn't give up any chance to taunt me about it. There's no denying that I was checking her out. She can be a bitch but that never meant she wasn't pretty. She's always been pretty.

An hour and a half of awkward silence. Yet it didn't feel right to say anything either. It was better left alone. I didn't mind the silence, for once we weren't at each other heads or making some stupid snide remark when we're on the field or the court. But silence was something unknown when we were in the same room.

Before I could leave with a light heart, Kaia walks from behind me gently pushing past my shoulder as she turns to face me with her hand on the door.

"See something you like Bueckers?" With that knowing grin on her lips, she turns away before I could even utter a response. Quick to gather her belongings without a word.

It was definitely just the gym shorts.

______________________________

"She said 'see something you like Bueckers?' and then she just left like it was nothing." I'm sprawled across the couch with a pillow crossed over my chest. Eyes quick to wander the room where Azzi and Kk stood just as dumbfounded as me.

"I would've started stuttering and shit." Kk admits shamelessly, twisting the cap of her bottle back and forth as she sways between the heel of her feet to her toes.

"Ok but were you checking her out? Or just looking in the wrong direction at the wrong time?" Azzi asked taking a seat at the end of the couch, turning to face me incredulously.

"I don't know, like I was just innocently watching her do like her cardio warm up, next thing I know i'm watching her ass like it's a tv screen." I bury myself into the pillow, blocking any images of Azzi laughing or Kk staring me down with that certain look she gives me every time I interact with any female outside our basketball team.

"Oh shit. So do we like Jacobs now or nah?" Kk asks. But the small encounter doesn't change the many unpleasant ones. There was just something so insatiable with the way she was staring up at me with those wide eyes and condescending grin. 100% it was her acting like a smartass like always. But there was something so intense in the morning air that made this one feel different.

"Nah, not until she stops acting like i'm the mortal enemy of the universe." I knew she hated me. Hate at this point was an understatement she made it known. We used to be good friends, best friends. I had messed it up, but overall we both drifted, mostly me. That was 2 years ago, and yet here we are still at each other's throats.

The thought of Kaia tormenting me every day was killing every last fibre within me. She couldn't have this one thing, I won't let her have this one thing.

"What if I just try get her to check me out so then we'd both have something to use against one another." My head held in my hands as I look between Kk and Azzi awaiting for their conformation. They shrugged, nodding their heads in unison with a slight smirk upturning itself onto Kk's lips.

"We both know you just wanna find an excuse to show off your abs to Kaia." Kk snickers, nudging me as she takes a seat beside me.

"Yeah, shut up now." I say pushing the freshman over playfully.

As we started walking down to the courts something about the air thickened. It tightened my muscles into a certain surface of tension that felt seemingly unbreakable. Short intakes of breath left the small crevice left open between my lips as we greeted the rest of our team. My fingers clenched at my sides as I took a stand beside Aaliyah who didn't seem to take any notice at the odd behaviour I was projecting. Just as we started the warm up, the soccer team walked in with hoodies held tight to their chests and hands dug deep in their pockets.

There stood Kaia Jacobs, conversing with her friends nonchalantly as if the encounter this morning was a normal Monday morning for her. She took a seat at the side of the court, leaning back into the seat with legs crossed over one another. She doesn't meet my gaze, and half of me is glad she doesn't. The other half is begging her to look this way.

"Alright, let's get moving." Coach Auriemma claps his hands together, moving us along.

"Let's work up a sweat."