𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑶𝑵𝑺 & 𝑳𝑨𝒀𝑼𝑷𝑺

𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑾𝑶; 𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑵𝑻 𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻

Sloane sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes glued to the screen as the game unfolded. She felt her heart racing as she could feel the tension on the court all the way on her bed in Connecticut. The tension between them was thick, a brewing storm just waiting to break. And then it happened—Paige's face twisted into anger as Nayo leaned in close, whispering something that made Paige's expression shift from annoyance to outright rage.

"What the hell..." Sloane muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, Paige was in Nayo's face, as she pushed her too the floor with all the force she could muster. The court erupted into chaos, teammates rushing in to pull the two apart, but not before Sloane saw the look  in Paige's eyes. The refs blew their whistles, calling a technical foul, and the crowd buzzed with a mix of shock and excitement.

Without thinking, Sloane quickly typed out a text to Paige: *Paige wtf*

Her heart pounded as she waited for a reply obviously getting nothing as she was watching Paige sitting on the bench on her TV screen. The seconds felt like minutes as she kept glancing at her phone. She bit her lip, trying to keep calm, but the anxiety gnawed at her.

An hour later, the game had long ended. Sloane's eyes darted to her phone again—still no response. She opened her messages to find that Paige had read her text twenty minutes ago and hadn't bothered to reply. Her face scrunched up in frustration.

She typed out another text, her fingers moving quickly across the screen: *"Why am I on read?"*

She stared at the screen, as the message was read, for a second there was the three little bubbles giving her an ounce of hope but they quickly disappeared.
Left on read. Sloane's patience was disappearing. Her frustration just grew and grew as she typed her final text: *"Ok bet."* Sloane hated more than anything, being ignored, so If Paige wanted to play this game, Sloane had a plan for when she got back to UConn the next day.

The next morning, Sloane woke up around 11 a.m., her mind already racing with what she planned to do. She quickly grabbed her phone and texted Nika: *Is Paige home?"*

Nika's reply came back almost immediately: **"Yeah, she's here. You want me to head out so y'all can talk?"**

Sloane's fingers flew over the keyboard: **"Yeah, thanks."**

Determined, Sloane jumped into the shower, the hot water doing little to calm her nerves. She scrubbed her skin harder than usual, her mind running through every possible scenario of how this conversation could go. She wasn't sure what had gotten into Paige, and why she seemed to be taking it out on Sloane but she was going to find out today.

After a quick shower, Sloane threw on a pair of jeans and a fitted black tee, her hair still damp as she made her way over to Paige's dorm. She reached the door and took a deep breath before knocking.

Paige opened the door, her expression unreadable, arms crossed over her chest.

Sloane wasted no time, her voice sharp, "Why the fuck happened yesterday and why are you taking it out on me?"

Paige crossed her arms and leaned back against the door. "What do you mean, 'what happened?'" she shot back, her voice cold. "You saw what happened."

Sloane's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I saw you almost get into a fight with Nayo on the court. I'm asking why."

Paige scoffed, turning away from Sloane. "You really don't know?"

Sloane's temper flared. "enlighten me."

Paige spun back around, eyes blazing. "Did you fuck her Sloane?" she said, her voice shaking with anger. Seeing Sloane's face change, she decided to continue. "The night you gave her your number, you guys fucked and you've been DM'ing her ever since."