Naomi's Corner

Chapter 1: High School

Chapter 1: The Beginning of High School and Young Adulthood

Dribble, dribble, dribble, swoosh, was the sound of Naomi dribbling a basketball, and making it inside the hoop on her very first try when she was just four years old. Now, and fourteen going into her freshman year of high school, she planned on trying out for girls varsity basketball. It was the only thing she ever loved doing, and she was always outside playing ball with her friends. She had drive, passion, and she worked hard every single day. Tryouts for varsity basketball were tomorrow, and even though Naomi would probably be the youngest girl trying out for varsity, she was confident that she would make it. She silently prayed to herself before she went to bed that night, "Dear Lord, I'm very thankful for everything that you've given me thus far, and I never take anything you've ever given me for granted. Please allow me to ask one favor of you; please let me make the girls varsity basketball team. Basketball is my life, and it would mean everything to me, and my girl if I made. Thank you, amen." Naomi's girlfriend Gina, has been her biggest supporter, ever since she moved to Blockwood in the eighth grade. When they first met each other, they had an instant connection, and started dating a couple weeks after they met each other. Their relationship is about to cross the one year, and Naomi still hasn't told her mom about it. She had to keep it a secret from her, because she knew her mother wouldn't approve of her having a girlfriend. Her mom was very religious, and while Naomi also followed the christian religion, she didn't believe everything her mother did. Naomi always felt that there was something wrong with her as a child for being attracted to girls, because of what her mother told her the bible said, but as she got older, she started to do her research, and came to the conclusion that god loves all his children, no matter what sexuality, and that she is still accepted by the lord. She just knows she wouldn't be accepted by her mother, and wouldn't want to disappoint her. Naomi always felt loved and supported by her mother, and she didn't want to mess that up now, just because of the way she felt about girls. Naomi went to sleep that night, thinking about Gina, her mom, and basketball, just like she always did, praying in her sleep that she didn't mess up with any of them.

The next morning, Naomi woke up to her alarm clock at nine in the morning. She didn't hear it at first, until her mother barged into her room screaming at her, and hitting her with a pillow, telling her to wake up, and turn off the alarm, so that she could go back to sleep. "I'm not playing with you little girl, get up, and turn off that alarm. I'm trying to sleep!" Her mother said, beating her with a pillow. "I'm sorry mom," Naomi said, rolling over to the other side of her bed to turn off the alarm. "Thank you, finally, lord jesus," Naomi's mother shook her head, and walked out of the room to sleep soundly for another hour. Meanwhile, Naomi was getting ready for her basketball tryouts. Whenever Naomi left the house, she liked to look and feel pretty. It always made her more confident in herself, and her abilities in whatever she wanted to do. Today, she spent extra time shaving her legs and armpits in the shower, and putting on more makeup than usual. She flat ironed her naturally curly hair, and put it up in a pony tail. Lastly, she put on her favorite workout shorts, that made her but pop out, a tight tank top, and her Nike's sneakers. She felt pretty, confident, and ready to slay at tryouts. "Naomi, are you ready yet," her mother called, sounding annoyed. "Yes mom, coming," Naomi said, running up the stairs, to meet her mom. "Awee, you look so cute," her mother told her, hugging her. "Thanks, mom," Naomi said, blushing, and hugging her back. (She always blushes when she gets compliments.) "You're going to do amazing at tryouts," her mom said, encouragingly. "Thank you, I hope so too," Naomi said, and began silently praying again. The two women, walked out the door, and into Naomi's mother's car, and turned on the radio. The station was doing throwback jams today, and decided to play Beyonce and Nicki Minaj's hit song Flawless. It was perfect timing, to give Naomi the confidence she needed. It was going to be her time to shine, and she was going to kill it.