Stay in Your Lane | Lonzo Ball

Chapter 35

  Izzy

"Girl, I'm just saying. You gotta wear something real cute. I'm thinking maybe a crop top and those booty shorts you always wear to the pool."

I scrolled through Instagram as I listened to my best friend go on and on. Part of me was starting to think that she was more excited about this date with Zo than I was.

"Chat, we've been on the phone for like 30 minutes and that's all you've been talking about," I said, double tapping a selfie that Jerrold had posted.

"Don't tell me that I'm more excited than you are."

"I am excited to go hang out with him, but it's not that serious to be planning out an outfit and deciding which body parts that I'm going to show off," I said, "plus my mind is on these two games coming up. Gotta get these dubs."

"That's okay. I'll take care of it and pick it out for you. I'm looking in your closet right now."

I laughed, "you're a mess. Get out of my closet man."

Zo🏀💙💛: hey, I'm gonna call you soon. Don't fall asleep on me.

I smiled when his text popped up on my screen. Sliding to the left with my finger, I replied.

Izzy: Okay, I'll try to stay up. I'm on the phone with Chat so that shouldn't be hard 😂

Zo🏀💙💛: lol what she talking bout?

Izzy: Monday. She's currently in my closet picking out my outfit lol 😂😂😂

Zo🏀💙💛: lol well make sure she picks out something that you can have fun in. We're gonna be doing a lot of moving around.

Izzy: 👀 where are you taking me?

Zo🏀💙💛: it's a surprise

"Izzy! Hello?!"

"What? Why are you screaming?"

"Because I've called your name like ten times. You must be texting Zo. That's the only time you ignore me."

"Awe, I still love you Chat. Your my number one always," I cooed.

"Better be," she huffed, followed by a sigh, "anyway, let me go girl. The girls from the softball team blowing my phone up about going to this party. I'm probably gonna go."

"Aight, have fun. I'll talk to you later."

"Later girl. Bye."

"Bye."

As soon as I hung up Jordan, my roommate for the weekend, came in from visiting our other teammates rooms down the hall.

"This is a surprise," she smiled, plopping down on her bed.

"What?"

"I was totally expecting you to be caked up on the phone with Zo," she giggled.

I grabbed a pillow and threw it at her, "Shut up."

"I'm just saying," she shrugged, "y'all are so cute together. Just make it happen. I don't know what y'all waiting on."

"I'm not rushing into things with Zo. Don't get me wrong, I like him but I want to go about things in the right way to make sure this is something we both want. I don't want to rush it by putting a title on it and I'm not clouding my judgement by hopping in his bed. We're both just chilling and letting whatever this is take it's own course."

"Wish more of these girls thought like that, Iz."

"I know right? I don't know how some of these girls do it. I know for a fact there's some girls who would've already let him hit if he was giving them half of the attention he gave me."

"Like Valarie? She was acting like such a spiteful hoe at that party. A hot mess."

"I don't get her. I broke up with Nate and basically let her trifling ass have him. He kept trying to come back to me and pissed her off. Now she's eyeing Zo like a piece of me. I give her props for owning her role as a side ho, but she's never gonna win like that?"

She shrugged, "Girl if I could whoop her ass and not have consequences for it I would."

"Same."

We continued to talk until Jordan got a phone call from her boo. I continued to scroll through my social media accounts and completely caught off guard when I received a notification on Instagram from someone I thought I had blocked.

val___xoxo commented on daina0953 's video: @issa_iz4

Why in the hell was Valarie commenting my name in anything? And who's picture was this?

I clicked on it and it brought me to the page and a video of Daina, Zo's ex girlfriend who I easily recognized. The Boomerang video showed her trying to be cute with pouted lips and combing through her hair, then quickly turning the camera to show Zo who was talking on his while phone focusing on the road as he drove. Not paying any attention.

I knew the inside of that car from anywhere. It was definitely Zo's G-Wagon. The location she tagged was the campus of UCLA. Her caption:

daina0953: when bae has a great game 😘

Lonzo

Daina followed behind me as we walked up to my room. My mind was all jumbled up with trying to figure out what I was gonna say or what she had on her mind to make her insist on us talking. I know we didn't end our last conversation on the best note, but I really didn't have much to say.

Once I opened the door, I allowed her to walk in first. My eyes caught her backside and although she looked really good, I had to shake that out of my mind and not say anything that would give her the wrong idea. She sat on the couch and waited while I excused myself to use the bathroom.

While doing so, I pulled my phone from my pocket and noticed a series on Instagram notifications that had been blowing my phone up. Clicking on it, I was taken to Daina's page where a Boomerang video played of us in a car. It was obvious that I was completely unaware that it was being recorded. Her caption irritated me, but what really got under my skin was Izzy's username being tagged underneath. Clicking on the name of who tagged her, the page of a chick named Valarie came up. I recognized the girl from the profile picture from the party. The one who Izzy didn't like for being the other girl in her last relationship and the one who was all over me that night just to spite her.

This shit was messy as hell. Daina knew exactly what she was doing, and I didn't like it.

After washing my hands, I walked back into the living room with a sense of urgency. She was looking down at her phone, grinning, with her legs crossed.

"Are you serious?"

"What?" she looked up at me and recognized how serious my face was, causing her grin to change.

"You know what I'm talking about? Why would you post that on Instagram?"

"What's the problem? There are pictures and vids of us all on social media."

"We're not together any more and you're acting like we are. Don't bring me no drama, Daina. You know I don't like that shit. Delete it. That ain't cool."

"Hmm, or is it just not cool because they're tagging that ho's name under it?" she said, "you don't think I've seen all this shit of you two being thrown up in my face. At the games, on tv and now you're doing IG live with her all in it and shit. That's not cool, Zo."

"How? We've been broken up for more than a month."

"And I've been trying to work on things with you but you are so far up her ass that you don't see it," she stood up, "I've been here with you from the beginning. Yes, I made a mistake. But you're looking at the person who was rocking with you before you got fame. That bitch and any other bitch after her wants your money that the league is gonna bring you. That's it."

I ran a hand down my face, shaking my head.

"She ain't a bitch or a ho. She got her own shit cause she going to the league too. Miss me with that shit, D."

"Oh, so you're taking up for her? Right in front of me. You were messing around with while we were still together, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't. Unlike you I was still committed to us and didn't step out. I went to her a couple of times about relationship advice and you know what she told me?  To keep working on our relationship even though I was becoming frustrated. She never wanted me like that. But I got to know her and after we broke up it started to become more. She was never the reason why we ended. You were."

She shook her head, "You really like this girl, don't you?"

"Yeah Daina. I do. Despite the way we ended, I'll always care about you and have love for you. I just can't be with you. The trust is broken and I feel like we're just at two different places in our lives."

She held her head down to hide her tears from me. I hated seeing her cry, but I had to be honest. It was only right.

"I just...I don't know how to let this go. This has been all I've known since I was nineteen."

"It's been all I've known since seventeen. It was hard for me to just quit us too despite what you did, but I just think it's best for both of us to just move on," I said, "I'm sorry that I wasn't as attentive to you as I needed to be. I'm young and I'll learn from it. I know that you'll find someone that'll be perfect for you. That someone just isn't me."

"I guess I really can't fight for this anymore can I?" she shrugged with tears continuing to stream down her face.

"Stop crying," I reached out and used the pad of my thumbs to wipe them away.

"It's just hard...cause I love you and I was being stupid and now you like someone else."

I couldn't think of anything else to say to possibly make her feel better about the situation.

Pulling her into a hug, I consoled her for a few minutes until her sobs started to subside.

"I'm truly sorry, Zo. You didn't deserve what I did. I should've just talked to you and articulated how I was feeling. I don't know why that's such as struggle for me...but I'm sorry."

"I've forgiven you. I did after that night."

She nodded, "I'll always love you and I'll be here whenever you need me. Always."

"I appreciate that. Same over this way."

She lifted her head up, her 6'6 frame towering over her 5'5 build. Looking into her eyes made me realize how we started and how it was all coming to an end two and a half years later.

"I'm gonna go downstairs and call Brittany to come get me. Bye Zo," she lifted up on her tip toes and kissed me on the lips.

Although I received it, I stopped before things could go too far with emotions running as high as they were.

"Bye Daina. Take care of yourself, Alright?"

She nodded, "You too."

I watched as she walked towards the door, letting herself out without looking back.