𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝗇𝗂𝗄𝖺 𝗆𝗎𝗁𝗅

VII. mints

december 9, 2020
storrs, connecticut

"alright, were done here. go home," geno shouted, sending them off towards the locker room. you could see the relief wash over all of their faces.

he had made them run so many suicides.

the room smelt of sweat, and nobody wanted to be there for longer then they had to, so it emptied out quickly. the only person left was nika, who was sitting on a bench and staring into space.

she was nocked out of her thoughts when paige barged back into the room. "oh hey, niks. whatcha doing here still?"

"nothing. just thinkin about stuff, i guess?" she looked up at the blonde, "why are you here?"

paige pressed her lips together, and placed her hand on her hips, "i forgot to grap my bag..." nika laughed quietly, "anyways, everybody's upstairs in jaydens office and they're looking for you."

"no. im not going." she mumbled out quietly. paige grabbed her bag and sat down on the bench with her, "why not?"

"because... i just, i dunno?"

"i can tell when your lying. whats up with you?"
the brunette tensed up at the question, breaking eye contact with the girl. "if i tell you something can you promise not to tell anybody?"

"yeah of course. whats up?"

nika let out a breath and dropped her shoulders down, "thenight ofthepartyjaydenkissedme."

"woah, okay. uhm... did you..." she stopped for a second, "did you like it?"

"yes? thats the problem and, she doesn't remember it because she was drunk, but its the only thing i've been able to think about all day."

paige pulled her into a hug, talking quietly, "i didn't know you liked girls, nika."

"i didnt either."

she let go of her, "oh, nika."

nika looked at the girl, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "paige, i'm scared." the blonde grabbed her hands, a comforting look in her eyes.

she spoke again, her voice breaking, "i don't want everything in my life to change." she cried, "i don't want to be like this, i'm so scared."

"hey, its not going to change your entire life, okay? i promi-"
nika cut her off mid sentence, "yes, it does! okay?"

paige stood up and pulled her up onto her feet, "but that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"yeah, sure..."

paige laughed lightly and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "i'm serious, niks."

nika hugged her tightly, sniffling into her shoulder. "i'm still not going up. ill talk to her soon."

"yeah, i figured," paige pushed her away jokingly, "let me walk you to the door then."

she held the locker room door open and the two walked out, not saying anything.

the hallway was dim, and paige could only see the outline from of her cheeks. you could see the tear stains shining from the singular light. "you know you can text me whenever, and ill be there?"

"i know, p. ill see you later."

paige walked to the front door and hugged nika goodbye, blowing her a kiss once she left. the brunette caught it in her hand before turning away.

she walked up the stairs of the building and back into the medical unit. jaydens room was full of talking, you could hear it from the outside.

the blonde walked back into the room, smiling. jayden looked over at her, "wheres nika?"

"she had to go do something?"

"okay." she typed something on her computer, sighing, "you guys need to go. i have to do work."

"okay hold on i got you something!" paige pulled a pair of keys out of her pocket, shaking them. the brunette gasped and shot out of her chair, engulfing the girl in a hug. "thank you!"

"yeah, yeah. of course."

she pulled out of the hug, pointing at the group of girls around her, "you guys actually do need to leave, though."

a collective groan came from all of them, staring at her in betrayal. "im not leaving," evina spoke, rolling onto her stomach on the floor.

"ill give you guys mints?"

paige ran over to her desk, opening the drawer, "hey! no, get out." she swatted her hand away and grabbed the bag, tossing one to everybody.

"okay, bye! you guys can leave now."

they all started to get up and leave, staring at her sadly, "i love you guys?" they all mumbled back in response, leaving her alone.

jayden scrolled through the listings of hotels, trying to find one for the team to stay at for the next away game. and by the way, its sounds like an easy job, but there was an unrealistic budget that had to be met.

authors note
another filler but like... dont kill me xoxo