Two days after The Fever beat The Storm in their first preseason game, 2025.
The Fever were back in the gym for their regular practice, though Coach Sides had an announcement for them at the end.
Today, they were working on simple offensive drills, once again trying to cut down on the turnovers as well as improve passing. Nora hoped Coach Sides had seen Caitlin's attitude towards her on the court, it was pretty obvious. Even from watching the film from the game, you could tell Nora had so many opportunities to take a shot that was impossible due to not having the ball.
Caitlin ended up working on passing to Nora several times during these drills, despite the excitement surrounding the announcement at the end, Caitlin still managed to act annoyed and cold towards Nora.
As practice came to an end, everyone huddled around Coach Sides, as she debriefed her thoughts on today's practice. "Good job today ladies," She'd glance down at her clipboard for her notes on the practice while giving constructive criticism to the girls as a team, everybody waiting for this announcement she had mentioned at the beginning of the practice.
"Alright, that's all I've got." Coach Sides flipped back down the papers of her clipboard, smoothing them out.
"Wait what about the announcement?" One of the girls asked her, Nora wasn't sure who.
Coach Sides looked back at her clipboard notes, flipping through them before going "Ah, right." She repeated the action of smoothing the clipboard papers. "You all do have a couple of mandatory team bonding activities each season besides those after-win parties you all do." She looked up from her notes at NaLyssa Smith, who commonly hosted them.
Nora let out a small chuckle as did the rest of the team at the playful shade towards NaLyssa for the parties before Coach Sides continued.
"Due to our most recent game against The Storm, we've decided to double our mandatory team bonding from once a month, to twice a month." Coach Sides paused to flip to the next paper on her clipboard, folding it over the top before continuing.
"Also, when we go out of state for games and have to book hotel rooms, we will now be putting two players in one room with two queen beds to improve teammate friendships."
Nora immediately knew who she was going to be stuck with. Caitlin Clark. She tried not to make a face, she tried not to cringe. Caitlin would barely even speak to her, how are they supposed to share a hotel room?
"If you're uncomfortable by this, feel free to book and pay for your own room. I've already paired everyone with another teammate, these matches are just based on duos I think could be great with a bit of bonding.."
Coach Sides paused and looked at all the ladies before continuing,
"I can announce partners here, or send them to you all through text?" She asked everyone, "Do you want to vote?"
A majority of the team including Nora and Caitlin voted for partners to be sent online.
"Awesome, I'll send that to you guys tonight. Thanks for practice today ladies." Coach Sides put her hand in the middle of the huddle for a team cheer.
After the cheer, everybody slowly left the practice room. Most were excited about the extra team bonding while Caitlin and Nora hated the idea. The two knew they'd end up together, they were probably the reason this was happening.
...
Later that night Nora's phone lit up with a text message from Coach Sides, she knew it. She and Caitlin are partnered up. Nora responded with a thumbs up emoji before setting her phone back down, she couldn't help but wonder what Caitlin thought of this.
She was probably mad, Nora thought with a smile. She picked up her phone again and shot Caitlin a private text.
Nora
we're officially partners for the hotel thing
what do u think?
Nora smiled at the message and set her phone back down, she couldn't help but pick it up several times looking to see if there was a response, and finally, there was.
d1 bitch (caitlin)
yea I saw
I assumed we would end up being partners, I'm not surprised.
Nora smiled at the funny contact name she had chosen for Caitlin pop up on her lock screen.
Nora
we're gonna have a blast
Caitlin quickly responded this time.
d1 bitch (caitlin)
haha lots of bonding
Now please stop texting me.
Nora rolled her eyes at the message, not even bothering to respond to that. Maybe this shared hotel room thing was a good idea.. They might bond. Nora had always thought of Caitlin as this boring yet annoying person with a mean personality, but honestly she has started to really like Caitlin's personality-- At least Caitlin to everyone but Nora.
They were both frustrated at this new way to try to get them to bond, while it was a good idea and everyone could respect that... But Caitlin especially hated the thought of sharing a room with Nora.
Nora infuriated her. While Caitlin also enjoyed trying to purposefully make Nora mad, she loved Nora's reactions. She was never a bully in school and was so well-liked by everyone else. But something about the way Nora acted when she was mad drove Caitlin crazy. She loved it.
But it's not like that. Caitlin has a boyfriend, and she hates Nora.
...
end ch. 2
thank you for reading!
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Game Changer | Caitlin Clark
RomanceA Caitlin Clark fanfiction, this was a joke in my head for a while, now it's serious and I have had so much fun doing this! Nora Solace and Caitlin Clark have been rivals on the basketball court for years, since their AAU days to college. While neit...
