nostalgia | paige bueckers

ghosts of your past

ISABELLA DIAZ

SOMETIMES Isa sat in her room and let her thoughts consume her. It only took a few hours for her to calm down afterward, and it worked better than crying. Sometimes. Occasionally. Not really.

Today was one of those days. She'd loved hanging out with Paige, she really had. But it reminded her of too much, and it got her thinking of the moments she constantly tried to forget.

So, instead of grabbing herself dinner, or unpacking even further, Isa just sat on the edge of her bed, thinking, for hours, until she finally crawled into bed and managed to fall asleep. And all she dreamed about was the future she never had.

Isa woke up the next morning to a bang on her door as she rolled out of bed. She hit the floor hard, rubbing her head as she struggled to open her eyes.

"Shit," she muttered, "I really need to stop falling off my bed."

"Isa! Open up!" she struggled to identify the voice, searching her groggy morning brain as she finally recognized the person speaking. Paige. 

"What is it, Bueckers? I was asleep!" Isa groaned as she got up, combing through her hair with her fingers. She walked towards the door and turned the handle, doing a double take at the sight before her.

The entire UCONN women's basketball team was right in front of her, staring at her in her pajamas. Isa looked at Paige judgmentally but the blonde just shrugged, giving her a cheeky smile.

"We're here to help you unpack. And besides, its noon."

Isa sighed, smiling bashfully as she shook her head. "I'll meet you guys downstairs."

Paige, of course, took this as an invite to enter Isa's room as the rest of the girls headed back. Isa ignored the girl, instead going into her bathroom and starting her skincare routine. As she washed her face she felt Paige's gaze on her.

"Thank you," Isa called out as she dried her skin with a towel. "This was really sweet of you." she rushed through the rest of her steps, stepping into her half-full closet and grabbing the first things she saw.

Paige shrugged once she could see Isa again. "No problem, Diaz. Gotta welcome the new team members." Isa laughed, her smile brightening.

"You realize I'm not actually a player, right?"  she asked Paige, her voice echoing out of the bathroom where she was changing.

"Still a part of the team." Isa smiled to herself, pulling on her t-shirt and combing through her hair before joining Paige again. She didn't know what it was about this girl, but she had her wanting to jump up and down and squeal. That wasn't in character, but Isa didn't really care.

Paige grinned as Isa walked out, getting off the bed and walking towards the door. "C'mon, pretty girl. We left the others waiting."

Isa collapsed on the couch as she watched Aaliyah and Nika bring in the last box from her car. There was chaos all around her, Paige being the conductor. She had assigned everyone jobs and was making sure they completed them. Isa thought it was endearing, actually.

As she continued to stare at Paige, mesmerized by the blonde, she was startled when Paige looked back at her. Isa held the eye contact, looking into Paige's beautiful blue eyes as she smirked at her. Isa smiled back, getting up and walking towards Paige.

She took a plate out of Paige's hands, stretching her body on her tip toes as she aimed to put the plate away with the rest of them. Paige watched her amused, and Isa tried to ignore the growing warmth she felt at Paige's eyes on her.

Suddenly Isa was picked up and whisked away, giggling as she turned her head to see Aaliyah. "Girl, you're way too short to be taking that plate and tryna put it away." she teased, "Let the tall girls do your work."

Isa gasped playfully, rolling her eyes as Aaliyah put her down. "Not my fault I look short next to you basketball players." She felt Paige come up behind her, putting an elbow on Isa's shoulder and leaning on her. Isa tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

"Girl, you're short whether you're next to us or not." Nika joined the group laughing, deciding to help them tourment Isa. What had she ever done? She wasn't that short, they were just tall.

"Oh sure, bully the girl who's 5'8." Isa huffed, walking away and joining Aubrey and Amari as the girls continued to giggle. Isa let a small smile slip without their notice. 

Aubrey waved her over, holding a box in her hands. "Hey, Isa! This says pictures, you wanna open it up?" Isa walked over and looked over the box, trying to remember what pictures she'd put inside.

"Sure, why not." She shrugged. There couldn't be any harm in it, could there?

Aubrey started first, picking at the tape and trying to open the box. Amari joined her soon after, picking at the same piece of tape. The two started arguing, flicking at each other and yelling out different ways to open the box.

"You have to-"

"NO!"

"Its like-"

"You're wron-"

"I got it!" Paige announced, nudging Isa's shoulder as she walked by with scissors. Isa smiled fondly at her, watching as Paige's face lit up when she sliced open the box. The three girls each took out one picture each, starting off simple.

Aubrey held up the picture of Isa and her old roommate, Bella. "I know you'll shine like a star at UCONN." she pronounced each word on the picture frame meaningfully, adding emphasis. Isa felt a nostalgic pang hit her chest. She should text Bells. Shouldn't she? It had been a while.

Isa remembered adding a date, names, and quote from each day to her pictures. So the next one Amari pulled out was with her dad.

Her dad. Her biggest role model and yet, her least favorite person. Isa's chest filled with remorse as she looked over at the picture. It had been move-in day at Northwestern, and her parents had come to help. Just like every other day, her parents had ended up fighting.

"Try not to get injured so you can break all those records." Amari read out softly, looking over at Isa after she realized what she'd said. Isa shrugged, remembering every second of that day. She felt someone touch her hand and looked to see Paige's hand holding hers.

Isa squeezed her hand and Paige did the same, blue eyes meeting hers. 

Isa suddenly noticed the picture in Paige's hand. She couldn't see the front. "What about that one, Paige?" she gestured, and the blonde brought it up into her vision.

"Hope you shine wherever you go, Melissa." the color left Paige's face as she read the words aloud, her eyes hollow. Isa remembered the picture Paige was holding instantly.

It was her with Geno, the day she toured UCONN.

author's note

a bit of a cliffhanger but thats ok

shi going downnn

hope u liked it :)