𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚢 : ᴘᴀɪɢᴇ ʙᴜᴇᴄᴋᴇʀꜱ

3- First moves

Paige sat on the bench in the UConn locker room, towel draped over her shoulders, her thoughts miles away from the court. The burn in her muscles from practice was the good kind, the kind that reminded her she'd given it her all. Normally, she loved this feeling—the exhaustion, the satisfaction of a hard-fought practice. But today, her mind wasn't on basketball at all.

Today, her mind was on Emma.

Paige couldn't stop thinking about her—how she had stood there the other day, all shy and nervous, holding that little daisy out like it was the most precious thing in the world. Paige chuckled to herself, shaking her head. Emma had been so adorably awkward, her cheeks flushed pink and her voice barely above a whisper. The way she had stammered through her words had been... charming. Totally unexpected and kind of disarming, if Paige was being honest.

Emma had a way of getting under her skin. But not in the annoying way. No, Emma had this quiet, gentle presence that felt like a soft breeze on a summer day—something Paige hadn't realized she needed until she felt it. Paige wasn't used to people like Emma. Most of the girls she knew were loud, competitive, or larger-than-life, just like her. They were confident and fearless, whether they were on the court or at a party.

But Emma was different. She was soft-spoken and sweet, like she didn't quite fit into the loud, chaotic world Paige lived in. And maybe that was why Paige couldn't stop thinking about her.

She stood up, tossing the towel into her gym bag as she glanced around the empty locker room. Most of her teammates had already left, their laughter fading down the hall, but Paige lingered, lost in her thoughts. She'd agreed to meet up with Emma tomorrow to exchange lessons—ballet for basketball. The thought made her grin, though a small part of her wondered what she was getting herself into. Ballet? That wasn't exactly her scene. But then again, Emma wasn't exactly her usual type either, and look how that was turning out.

As Paige headed back to her dorm, she caught herself smiling, her thoughts swirling around Emma and the unexpected connection they seemed to be forming. At first Paige was just joking but then she started to get curious about ballet and Emma has also taken an interest in basketball. It was the way they clicked, like they'd found something in each other that neither of them had expected.

And Paige wasn't used to feeling this way—this strange mix of excitement and nerves that left her a little off balance, like she wasn't sure what was coming next.

♥

That night, Paige lay sprawled across her bed, tossing a basketball from hand to hand as she stared at the ceiling. The room was quiet, the sounds of campus life dimming outside her window. Her roommate, KK, was lying on her own bed, scrolling through her phone with occasional bursts of laughter.

Paige had her phone in her lap, the screen dark, but she kept glancing at it every few minutes. She wanted to text Emma since they follow each other's on instagram , but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't know why she was hesitating. It wasn't like she was nervous or anything. But maybe, just maybe, she didn't want to seem too eager.

KK looked up from her phone, raising an eyebrow when she noticed Paige staring blankly at the ceiling. "What's with you?" KK asked, her tone teasing but curious. "You've been tossing that ball around for an hour, and you've barely said a word. You're usually talking my ear off about practice."

Paige laughed, catching the ball and sitting up. "Yeah, yeah," she said accentuated her Minnesota accent, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. "I've got a lot on my mind."

KK's eyes narrowed with interest. "Oh? A lot on your mind, huh?" She leaned forward slightly, her grin widening. "Is it about a girl?"

Paige rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away. "Maybe," she admitted, tossing the ball onto the floor. "There's this girl... Emma."