Game Changer | Caitlin Clark

vs the storm : ch 1

                                                                                 
First Indiana Fever's preseason game at home vs The Seattle Storm. 2025.

Nora tied and retied the laces of her Sabrina 2s, her signature shoe. She's never felt so nervous before a game, her hands fumbled with the laces quickly double-knotting them as she looked up from the bench, watching everyone else on her team shoot before the opposing team arrived. She quickly stood up, pouring a bit of chalk on her sweaty hands before moving toward the rest of her team.

Nora began shooting her usual warmup shots, some quick layups, moving onto two-pointers, then a couple of free-throw shots, and finally several three-pointer shots. This had been her routine throughout her basketball career. Now the pressure was on, Nora as the team's starting shooting guard, and Caitlin as the starting point guard, Nora felt the need to not only impress her coach but also show Caitlin how much she had improved since college.

Soon, the Storm joined them for a 20-minute warmup period. As Nora noticed the other team fill the court, she immediately tried to find Nika Muhl. One of her favorite competitors from college.

"Nika!" Nora ran up to Nika, excited to see her.

Nika was surprised by the sudden yell, her face of shock turning to joy quickly after she realized who had yelled. "Nora!" Nika swiftly wrapped her arms around Nora in a hug, "I haven't seen you in so long..." Nika said into the hug. The two were good friends off the court.

"It's been forever.. I'm so excited to play against you today.." Nora said, swaying Nika gently in the hug before the two separated to talk face-to-face. 

Nika nodded quickly, agreeing. "I'm excited too.." Nika paused before saying quietly, "Hopefully my coach will actually play me.." Her words heavy with sarcasm.

Nora laughed at Nika's joke, knowing there definitely was some truth to it. "I was seriously surprised at your minutes last season! You're an insanely underrated player and a great defender!"

"Oh stop the glazing, I'm not 'insanely' underrated and I'm just average in the defense category." Nika said with a bit of a laugh though she couldn't hold back the smile hearing those words gave her. 

"Whatever you say!" Nora laughed with a smile before noticing Nika looking behind her. "What's going on?" Nora didn't turn her head to look.

"Is she always like this?" Nika asked before her gaze flicked back to Nora.

"Who?"

"Caitlin." Nika said with almost a scoff. "Don't get me wrong, she's very sweet. But I hope she isn't evil towards you."

"Oh, was she staring or something?" Nora looked behind, seeing Caitlin quietly warming up, no longer looking at the two.

"Yea, but whatever.." Nika looked at Caitlin as well before looking back to Nora.

Nora took a few steps back, leaving Nika to warm up. "Well, I'll hopefully see you in the game?" There was a bit of question in her tone.

Nika just smiled and shrugged. "We'll see what kind of mood my coach is in today.." 

Warm-ups quickly came to an end, even though it was a preseason game, the National Anthem was still played before the game began.

Throughout the first half, the game was slow on Nora's end. This was her first time competing against WNBA veterans, despite that. She quickly found her footing and ended the first half with 10 points and three assists. Six out of the 10 points being from three-pointers. 

During the second half, Nora grew frustrated. It was extremely obvious that Caitlin was passing everyone the ball but Nora. She tried to ignore it, even trying to pass the ball to Caitlin instead of shooting it herself, but nothing seemed to work. Nora ended up finishing her first WNBA preseason game with 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists. While Indiana had barely beaten the Storm, Nora was displeased by how Caitlin acted on the court. Not speaking to her, and not passing the ball to her when she had wide-open opportunities to shoot.

After the game, Nika congratulated Nora on the win and the two took a photo together, promising to facetime soon and catch up. Then, Nora was whisked away to a post-game interview, sitting beside Aliyah Boston. One seat away from Caitlin. There weren't many questions towards Nora, mostly just the usual 'How are you adjusting?' and the common 'Have you learned anything new during practices?'

After the press conference, Nora ended up at an 'After Win Party' an 'AWP' as Aliyah called it, at NaLyssa's Indiana home. As the party just started to get good, Nora started clinging to the couch in the living room with Caitlin as her other teammates played various drinking games. 

Caitlin was on her phone, texting. Paying no attention to Nora's presence. Nora was determined to start a conversation, she glanced over at Caitlin then tried to sound as casual as possible as she spoke. "Good game today.. I forgot how good of a player you are." Nora tried to joke.

Caitlin glanced at Nora, looking her up and down with a fake smile before saying. "Thanks," Caitlin looked and sounded like she didn't even want to be in the same room as Nora.

Nora's annoyance grew "Is there anything I can do to make you want to pass me the ball during the game?" She spoke with a slightly snarky tone now.

"Maybe learn how to play better and I will." Caitlin quickly snapped back, now looking Nora straight in the eyes.

"Funny how you're saying that when I beat you fair-and-square for that natty." Nora matched Caitlin's energy with the quick insults, slightly sitting up on the couch.

Caitlin was speechless for a moment, losing that game hurt her; that insult was like the wound was re-opened all over again and Nora had just rubbed lemon on it. "Whatever." Caitlin sat back on her phone. Nora had ruined her attempt at trying to build a better friendship.

"Great." Nora spoke with heavy sarcasm before leaning back into the couch, rubbing her eyes with her hands as she sat back up. "Caitlin.. I'm sorry I said th-"

Caitlin quickly interrupted her. "It's fine, just stop talking to me." The eyeroll was so obvious in her voice.

Nora sat back with a bit of an 'umf'. Nora's eyes still on Caitlin, watching her text. Nora checked her own phone, it was about 10:30 PM now but she wanted to say something to Caitlin before she left, Nora racked her brain trying to think of something that'll get Caitlin to respond..

Still blinded by her annoyance, Nora stood up and bent down, her face level with Caitlin's "Honestly, you're not as good as everyone says you are." 

Caitlin looked up at Nora, her eyes narrowing as she sat up. "You say that like you're better than me?" 

"I might not be better stats-wise; but despite our fights and differences, I was passing you the ball and being your teammate today." Nora pointed her index finger at Caitlin. "So yea, I do say that like I'm better than you." 

Caitlin pushed Nora's hand away, her eyes still on Nora's. Silent.

Nora just smiled and sat up, leaving the party. Feeling great. 

...

end ch. 1

 AUTHORS NOTE !

this is my first fanfic ever, please be nice! I'm going to try to update every 2-3 days before school starts back up again.. if you have any suggestions, grammar corrections, corrections in general, and thoughts comment them here or feel free to email me! pluie1petite@gmail.com

thank you so much for reading chapter 1!