"I am what I am cause you trained me... so who's afraid of me?"
IN WHICH, Paige Bueckers makes some distasteful comments on an instagram live...
and Kyla Kovlova responds, igniting an intense rivalry that eventually becomes something more.
(PAIGE B...
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27th January, Storrs Connecticut
@k2timez_ started a live video
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KK Arnold set her camera up and began dancing, the lively music matching her energy as comments and viewers flooded in. Ice Brady and Paige Bueckers sat in the back, amused by their teammate's antics, sharing laughs and inside jokes.
KK made her way to her phone, scrolling through the comments. "How y'all feeling about the loss today?" she read aloud, then approached Ice and Paige, placing her phone against the wall. "How we feeling about the loss?"
Ice chuckled humbly acknowledging the defeat, "Look... we didn't play our best basketball. Notre Dame were just too good for us today. We'll come back strong though."
Paige's frustration was clear, her expression still clouded with disappointment from her underwhelming performance. KK continued to read through the comments. "How does Paige feel about being owned by Kovlova..." KK trailed off, instantly regretting her choice to vocalize it.
Paige looked up sharply. "KK, seriously, stop reading them out loud," she rolled her eyes, her annoyance evident as she glanced at the screen filled with viewers discussing the game.
KK lets out a laugh as she continues reading, this time in her head to the pleasure of both Paige and Ice, "P Boogers you gotta' admit that girl had you covered." Paige scoffs.
"I ain't even know who she was until today, I still ain't know who she is." Paige retorted. "Besides, she barely guarded me, I just couldn't find my shot."
Ice intervened, attempting to defuse the tension. "Kyla's a junior... it's probably the first time you've played against her since you were out so much the last two years, P."
Paige looks back at her phone. "I don't know her cause she averages like 2 points a game and bench warms. Its an insult Ivey put her on me."
Ice and KK share a knowing look that perhaps going live while Paige was in one of her moods wasn't the best of ideas.
"Alright, girly pops!" KK exclaimed, abruptly ending the live stream with a kiss to the camera.
"P, that was out of line," Ice reprimanded, frowning at her teammate. They knew Paige was tough on herself, but putting down Kyla online with thousands of viewers to see just wasn't the way to deal with her frustration.
"Damn, that's gonna cause some shit," Paige muttered to herself as a few minutes passed, reflecting and regretting her previous words.
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27th January, Storrs Connecticut
THE FIGHTING Irish made it back to their hotel in Storrs later that night, exhaustion weighing heavily on Kyla as she collapsed onto her bed in the room she shared with her teammate Natalija Marshall.
"Ky... you seen this?" Nat shows the brunette her phone unpausing the video, where Kyla watched as the UConn girls began talking about the game.
As the clips rolled, Kyla's heart sank, tears welling up in her eyes. She watched as Paige Bueckers made insolent remarks about her, and though she tried to brush it off, the sting of the words lingered. Maybe it was the truth in Paige's words that hurt the most. Kyla had spent countless hours working on her game in the offseason, determined to prove herself after barely seeing the court in her Freshman and Sophomore seasons. Or maybe it was that Paige Bueckers was going out of her way to tear her down. Paige was, after all, the NCAA's 'golden girl'.
Nat noticed her friend's distress and pulled her into a comforting hug. "Babes, you're incredible. Don't let them talk about you like that," she reassured Kyla, her voice filled with empathy and support.
Kyla wiped her tears away internally screaming at herself for being so dramatic, Paige was just mad she got outplayed. "I just... she's right y'know besides this year I've barely been playing and with Sonia, Hannah and Maddy... nobody even knows who I am!"
Nat scoffed at the notion, "Oh please. After tonight everybody knows who you are, as they should! And Ky I play about 20 minutes each game as a senior. I know how you feel..."
Kyla couldn't help but laugh, finding solace in Nat's words. "I can always tweet about it," she mused, a hint of mischief in her voice as she and Nat dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"Please don't start more Twitter wars." Nat begs as Kyla pulls out her phone.
Kyla winks at her teammate, "I can't help it!" she shrugs.
—> KK Arnold @KamoreaArnold wtf is this p boogers 😔
TASH's CORNER Can't lie I was so scared to post this. Look it'll get better... hopefully?? 🤞🏻 I've pre-written like 8 chapters so I'll try and release them in the coming weeks xx
