Grow As We Go

The New Normal

Passed out sleep on her bed, Azzi lay sprawled out on the bed as soft snores escaped her. Between school, basketball, and being with Paige during her recovery process; Azzi was exhausted with all that entailed in her daily routine. Hearing the vibration of her phone on her night stand, Azzi was slow to wake as the sound became evident in the darkness of her dorm room. Lifting herself up, Azzi reached over to grab her phone to see that Paige was calling. Rubbing her eyes as she sat up in the bed, Azzi looked on to see that any attempt of studying for her summer classes had been rendered useless by the drool that was on the page of the book.

"Are you okay?" Azzi asked groggily.

"Do you know where we packed my PS5 controller charging cable?" Paige quickly asked.

"Are you being serious right now?" Azzi asked.

"Yes, I'm trying to play FIFA and my controller just suddenly died on me. So now I'm trying to look through my suitcase to find the charging cable" Paige told her. "Were you asleep?" she then asked.

"Yes, I tend to do that at 2 in the morning" Azzi replied. "Is it pressing to find it right now?" she then asked.

"I just bought the FIFA game, its very necessary or else it was a waste to get the game" Paige told her. "I thought you were on gaming packing? I mean I know I wouldn't have trusted my parents to pack up my system" she said.

"Paige, you put me on all packing duties. Mind you, you and organization are not friends. Half the crap in your room and dorm room is scattered all around" Azzi quickly replied.

"I'm organized, just not to your standards" Paige quickly replied.

"Since you have all this energy to call me over a stupid charging cable, did rehab go well today? I was hoping to get pictures from your mom" Azzi asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure that was the whole reason you advocated to send me to Montana for rehab, so you two could share pictures in your group chat with each other" Paige muttered.

"I didn't send you off to Montana, I just thought it'd be cool for you to hang with your mom and escape all things basketball that would've been in your face in Virginia and Storrs" Azzi reasoned. "Besides, I'm sure your mom is excited to have you there during the recovery process" she then reasoned.

"Yes, she's ecstatic. I get hourly check ins. Disgusting oatmeal that she swears is good for me. Then my personal favorite, the awkward girl talks she tries to initiate like I'm some twelve year old" Paige replied appearing annoyed with the excessive attention she was getting from her mom.

"I mean, that sounds like fun to me. I happen to like oatmeal and your mom does make a great omelette...." Azzi began to say as she wanted to show some love to Amy.

"Then you eat it. I hate oatmeal and I can pass on excessive eggs, you know this" Paige replied dryly, once again showing that she was in her grouch mode.

"So you didn't go to rehab? Do you not realize how important..." Azzi began to say as she broke the silence between them.

"Before you get on my case, my leg was swollen, any bit of pressure I put on it would've felt like an explosion. I wasn't ready for rehab" Paige quickly replied with her excuse.

"Are you propping your leg up like you're supposed to? That'll help with the inflammation" Azzi replied.

"The pillow my mom got is so itchy and hard. I just use the pillows on the bed, but they go flat after twenty minutes" Paige replied once again with an excuse.

"Because your pillows on your bed is not what you're supposed to be using" Azzi quickly reasoned. "Are you doing any of the stuff that you're doctors are telling you to do??? Are you even looking over the videos I've sent you these past three weeks???" she questioned.