Swished Hearts

Lost in Translation

When Sofia entered her room again, Paige was up boiling some water for tea.

"Morning" Sofia greeted with a smile.

"Morning, slept well ?" Paige asked as she poured the hot water into two cups.

"Great thanks" replied Sofia. "Did you pack your luggage already ?"

"I'll do it like 5 minutes before check-out time. I'll just fold everything in the suitcase, it's dirty laundry anyway" Paige said with a shrug.

Sofia began packing her things in her suitcase while Paige stood still, unsure how to approach the topic weighing heavily on her mind.

"Sof. I'm sorry to bring this up first thing in the morning." Paige hesitated, fiddling with her hands. "But I overheard about the investigation on the phone yesterday and I can't ignore it."

Sofia paused mid-action, her hands hovering in the air as she processed Paige's words. 

"Okay," she sighed, breaking the tension. She moved again to take her clothes off the hangers, the sound of clinking metal echoing in the room.

"At the press conference... you know which one" Sofia trailed off. "A NCAA official approached me afterwards and warned me about an investigation."

Paige listened closely, her brow furrowed with concern.

"They were worried about player safety and health," Sofia continued, frustration evident in her voice. "They thought I might be involved in some sort of malpractice or something. Three days later, I was called to the Dean's office. Geno was there. He had asked me to keep quiet and avoid any scandal. They interrogated me." Sofia went on, clenching her fists tightly.

"I thought I was going to get kicked out of the program or lose my scholarship. But it doesn't matter now. I proved that Lynn made the final decision, not me. I was cleared." She zipped up her suitcase, trying to push down the overwhelming emotions.

"End of story," Sofia stated firmly, finally meeting Paige's gaze. She could see Paige grappling with her thoughts, trying to find the right words to say. The silence hung thickly in the room, stretching out uncomfortably.

"First, thank you for telling me. I had no clue. You didn't deserve any of this." A heavy weight seemed to settle on Paige's shoulders as she continued, "I'm so sorry it started with me not knowing when to shut up".

Sofia let out a small laugh, but there was no humor in it. "Looking back, I should have seen it coming, you do have anger issues on the court". Her expression softened slightly as she added, "And let's be clear, Paige. I've forgiven you for this. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what would happen." Paige gave her a small smile, happy to hear Sofia genuinely believed her.

"However, the week after was easily the worst since I landed in the US. I know we weren't dating dating, but it still felt incredibly unfair for our relationship to be the punishment for a medical decision I was right to make". Sofia took a deep breath and continued, her voice firm and resolute now. "Obviously, it's harder than expected for us to keep things separate. So I'm not signing up for this again. I'm sorry."

****

Paige felt like a goldfish.

She'd been standing there for what seemed like hours. It was probably 15 minutes, but still. She couldn't speak, move or form a coherent sentence. All she could do was stare at the scene before her, mouth agape, eyes wide. Very goldfishy of her, really.