sweet nothing - caitlin clark

i'm alone, on my own, and that's all i know

caitlin

april 28th, 2024

my alarm goes off way too early for my liking. i roll myself out of bed and into the bathroom. i'm staying in a hotel for now until i find a permanent place to live. there wasn't much time for me to look between the end of my college season and the start of this one.  

i brush my teeth and hair before putting on my practice jersey. it's a hard adjustment coming from iowa, but i know i'll feel at home here one day. 

i have a few minutes to spare so i lay back on the bed and open up my phone. i scroll through instagram for a bit before i open my notifications to clear out the new followers notifications. when i get to the bottom something catches my eye.

elliemauldin started following you

i smile and hit the follow back button. i decide to use this as an excuse to text her. we've been talking back and forth the past few days and everytime i see her notification my stomach erupts in butterflies. i thought she was pretty the minute i stepped into the cafe and i guess luck was on my side that day since i ended up leaving with her number.

caitlin

good morning!

thanks for the insta follow :)

i know it'll be a few hours before i get a response since normal people aren't willingly up this early.

once i tie up my shoes i grab my keys and head to the practice gym. i've already been here once for a workout so i have that under my belt. i pull into the parking lot, right beside lexie. i catch her eye and wave and she waves back with a smile. we both get out of our cars and she wraps her arm around my shoulders as we walk in. 

"caitlin! are you excited?" i laugh because of how energetic she is at 8:00 am. i lean my head on her shoulder and reply.

"very! are you?" she nods and we see katie lou down the hall. lexie pulls away from me and we both hug katie lou. the three of us talk for a few minutes before it's time to go in. i walk up the stairs first and as a reach the top step there's a camera pointed straight at me. 

i smile and give a 'woohoo' and head up the next flight of stairs. i hear the rest of the girls greeting the camera as they head up as well. i open the gym door and see christie and the rest of the staff inside. they greet us all as we walk in.

"okay ladies! i'll give you about 5 minutes to stretch before we get started!" christie yells and we all make our way to have a seat on the floor. i stretch my legs out good and move to sit on my knees to stretch my wrists as well. most of the girls are talking but i keep to myself, not really knowing how to get in a conversation.

the hardest part about being here is being without my best friends. for the past 4 years i've immediately clicked with my teammates and could be myself from the start. i don't know many of these girls well yet so i don't want to annoy them. i'm a pretty loud person most of the time and all the iowa girls loved me for it but i know it comes across as overbearing to some people. 

it's just weird having make friends all over again. i really want them all to like me so i'm trying my best to make a good impression. 

soon the 5 minutes are over and christie calls us to stand in a circle. 

"today's gonna be a hard day, first day back, but you all need to give it 100 percent. you can't get day one back, you can't get it back. this sets it right here, okay?" we all nod.

"for us to build anything, anything that's sustainable, we've got to make sure that we relentlessly, everybody say that word with me, 'relentlessly,' that we're focused on the details. everything, everything. we've got to focus on the details, you can't take anything for granted."