And I'll call you mine { Paige Bueckers}

Part 23

Juliet jones

Today we get on a plane and head to DC to play Gorgetown. The games not until later tonight so we don't have a super early flight. Right now it's currently 8 am our flight leaves at 10. While all the players are loading onto the bus I'm busy making my way around gample to ensure we have all our gear packed and ready to go.

"Practice jerseys, extra jerseys, extra shorts just incase." I'm talking to myself going through a mental checklist of all the things we need to take to DC. As I bent over to grab all the bags I felt a pair of hands suddenly snake around my waist.

I stood up quickly my back slamming against her chest. "Woah there." She said with a cocky tone. "You scared me." I said already knowing who it was. "Mmh. You look good." Paige said her hands still gripping onto my waist as she tucked her head in to the crook of my neck. "Well we should probably get going." I said feeling much more flustered now.

"You're no fun." She said before letting go of me and instead grabbing hold of the bags of gear that sat on the floor. Slinging them over her shoulder before we began to make our way out to the bus.

Once we were on the bus we took our seats next to each other near the back. She always lets me have the window. Because she knows it's the only way I'll ever get any sleep in a car, bus or plane. Ever since we were little she's always let me have the window seat. Plus she knows she can lean up against me and it will be much more comfortable than leaning up against the window.

So what does she do as soon as we're on the road. She leans herself up against me so I angle my body to make her comfortable. She offers me one of her AirPods and we listen to music together as I play with her ponytail that's holding her hair back.

Ive never had long hair. Not past my collar bone. Paige on the other hand has always had long hair. I used to braid it before every game. And I still do sometimes. Kayla is just much better than me at braiding. My hair is thin and Paige's is thick. Her is more brown now than before. She dyes it every once in a while but I like the blonde so I don't mind.

As we're listening to music I recognize one of the songs. It's a song I played for Paige a long time ago. A girl in red song. Paige doesn't usually listen to her music much. I played it for her for the first time when I visited for the first time after I had moved away. It was the summer of 2016 the summer before we started high school. It was late at night and we were at my grandparents house.

They had been asleep for hours when we snuck out to the back pasture. We watched the stars, talked about non-sens and then I played the song for her. She listened intently and asked if it was a girl. I said that the artist was a girl and I watched as the gears spun in her head. She was trying to figure out why a girl was singing about another girl like that.

Then she asked me. "Do you think about girls like that?" Her voice was quiet and shaky. "Sometimes." I said much more confidently than she had. "Do you think about me like that?" She said this time louder. She watched me intently. My tone never faltered as I responded.

"Sometimes." She just nodded her head. She stayed quiet for a moment. Before moving closer to me. "I think about you like that too. Sometimes." Now it was my turn to just nod my head as I was at a loss for words.

Then she kissed me. She kissed me for the first time and turned my whole small teenage world upside down.

..............

Once we arrived in DC we made our way to the arena. It wasn't long before we had warm ups. So the girls ate a quick lunch before changing and getting all ready for the game.

I was busy running around checking in with photographers, media personnel, officials , and reporters. Going over my clip board over and over again to insure I had everyone up to date. Now it was time for pregame interviews so I went to find Paige.

I walked down an empty hallway of the arena on my way to the locker room when I found her talking to Azzi. But it wasn't a normal conversation she seemed unsure and nervous.

"Hey." I said walking up to the two. "Speak of the devil." Azzi said in a cheery tone. "What?" I questioned. "Nothing. What's up." Paige responded looking down to me. "I need you for media." I said still very confused on how their pervious tense conversation pertained to me.

"Bye." Azzi said before walking off back into the locker room. "Hey is everything okay." I asked Paige before we had to leave for media. "It's fine let's just go." I just nodded my head knowing it was not in fact fine.

Something off with her but she won't tell me. Per usual.