SIENA
•••
The sound of quick feet in sneakers and balls dribbling across the hardwood floor of the gym was one of the most therapeutic sounds for me. Even the permanent scent of sweat masked with freshly waxed floors didn't bother me anymore. I could see why my dad loved it so much.
A loud blow from Coach Anderson's whistle snapped me out out my thoughts.
"Arms up! Move your feet!" She yelled to one of my team mates, but that didn't stop me from raising my arms higher and moving my feet quicker.
"Show off." Nicole Sanchez mumbled, bumping me discreetly as she passed me with the ball. It was no secret that she was the star of the team and made sure everyone knew it. "Let me help you out suga. Don't work so hard. The bench doesn't require all of this energy."
The snickers that escaped through the mouths of a few of the other players forced the corners of her mouth up into a smirk. I was a freshman so of course I wouldn't be starting over night, but no one could take away the fact that I was good.
"You threatened, sis?" I wondered, slapping the ball out of her hands just as she went to shoot. "If you stop running your mouth maybe I'll help you." I promised before the whistle was blown again.
I used my practice jersey to wipe the sweat from my face as I followed the crowd to the locker room. It was only a little after seven in the morning and I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to function in my nine o'clock Sociology class.
I only had time to go back to my room, shower and make it across campus to Starbucks before class. It had been three weeks of the same routine, but I wasn't sure how I would do it the entire semester.
Too engrossed in my text conversation with Malik, I hadn't felt the burning gaze on me until I looked up to remove my sweaty shirt.
"Can I help you?" I wondered, letting my eyes dance around the three women who stood in front of me staring like their eyes were stuck.
Two walked away, but as expected, Nicole, who seemed to love attention stepped forward, eyeing me causing me to sigh.
"Listen ma," I began, placing my shirt on the bench near my bag to give her my full attention before she could even speak. "I would advise you to play with someone safer. I could beat your ass and get kicked off this team and not care. My main goal here is to graduate. You however seem to need this. So act like it and get the fuck out of my face."
Not giving her time to respond, I grabbed my bag and followed the crowd out. I was way too tired to care what came out of my mouth. It was something I had gotten honestly from my father. He and I were one in the same it was almost hard to believe that it wasn't his blood flowing through my veins.
I paused the argument with my boyfriend about why he wasn't coming to see me this weekend. We had promised that every weekend would be devoted to one another, but for three weeks he had come up with excuses.
Me: Whatever Malik. Have fun ✌🏽
I was all argued out. I hadn't even realized that I dialed my dad's number and placed my earphones in until his tired voice reminded me.
"It must be nice to make your own schedule and not work on Fridays." I greeted and could hear my dad shuffling before laughing.
"So you called to wake me up, hater?"
"Yup." I chuckled. "I miss you, daddy."
"What's wrong, Si?"
I wasn't even sure what was wrong. It seemed like everything.
