Better Than You

Chapter 17

^^this house!

*Hunter*
Oh shit....LaVar hates us. We're screwed. I looked at my sisters. Ione had a look of terror on her face and I saw Melo rub his hand on her thigh for reassurance and Zo was doing the same to Ari but because she looked like she was finna throw hands. I just stared at their father in shock not knowing how to word the reason we were gathered at this table tonight. "Y'all ain't no hoes right? Because my sons dated hoes and I'm not going through it again." "LAVAR! DON'T TALK TO THEM LIKE THAT! Hello girls. I'm Tina and I'm pleasured to meet you. Sorry for my husband's rashness." All of us relaxed because of the woman's soft tone and words. I decided to speak first. "Very nice to meet you Mrs.Ball, my name is Hunter, but everybody calls me J or JJ," as I reached out to shake her hand, but she stood up and hugged me instead and i hugged back. "You are part of the family now. I don't give family handshakes. Why do they call you JJ, if you don't mind my asking?" "Because my middle name is Journey, and there's no real nickname for Hunter. Ione started it when she was 3." I pointed to my sister who sat next to Melo. Tina smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hello ma'am. My name is Ione, but my friends call me Oni." "Beautiful name Ione," Tina said causing Oni to blush," oh and girls please call me Tina.... Mrs. Ball is my mother in law." We all laughed. She turned to look at Ari. "You must be the older and the leader like Zo over here. What's your name honey?" Ari straightened herself and looked at Tina. "Arizona, Arizona Allen." Tina nodded her head and smiled, knowing what Ari's goal was in saying that. Hearing the name Arizona Allen, LaVar's interest was sparked. "Allen? Is your father Zayvion Allen?? Like Zayvion Allen that played for the Lakers and coached for UCLA and UW?" We all looked at each other and Oni smirked at him and nodded her head," Yes sir....that's the one." "So you're Ari Allen, UCLA freshman star pg/sg?" Ari nodded. "You're Oni Allen, Chino sophomore, ankle bully ceo?" Oni smiled and held up a peace sign. He looked at me "and your #1 ranked Hunter 'JJ' Allen, sharpshootung senior.....Boys do you know who these girls are?!" The boys looked at each other. "They are literally female yous! I'm so sorry for accusations earlier. I hope you can forgive me. Some old wounds haven't healed yet." We all nodded understanding. "We completely understand Mr Ball." "PLEASE! You guys are family now, call me LaVar." From that moment on, the dinner was great. Tina and LaVar love us, especially LaVar because 'the boys finally found compatible women'. We laughed and talked about our interests, school, basketball, college, and plans for after college. "I plan to get a teaching degree and then go to play in the WNBA. The LA Sparks are really checking me out right now. It'd be great to play for LA so I can stay home with Lonzo, and watch JJ play at UCLA, Stanford, or USC, wherever she signs, and same for Oni, but for the rest of her high school as well," Ari smiled at Tina," I'm very dedicated to my family and friends." Tina nodded and showed a genuine smile, telling Zo that she definitely approves. She turned to Oni," What about you? What are your plans?" "Well I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I also have had a love of music and wanted to get a degree in music and teaching as a backup, but I also plan to go to the WNBA. I'm currently ranked 3rd in the nation, so I gotta live up to expectation from everyone and myself," she said," I don't put a bunch of hard work and success to waste." Tina winked at Melo. ...she approves. Now the finally test. "Hunter....how about you?" I looked at Gelo, who gave me a nod of reassurance and a light squeeze on my thigh. "I plan to go to the WNBA. I'm going one and done, but I will do online chemistry classes, pre-med classes, and anatomy classes to get a master's and if basketball doesn't work, I'm going to get my doctorate and be an athletic trainer. I have small job offers from the Phoenix Suns, Lakers, 76ers, and Blazers." "Very accomplished young lady." Oh yeah...she definitely  approves.  "So do you girls play anything other than basketball?" LaVar asked. "All 3 of us run track, Arizona plays softball, Hunter plays volleyball, and I play soccer," Oni said. "Oh so you know Denise Garcia," Tina said rolling her eyes. "Yea she's the JV coach and assistant coach of varsity. She's kind of a kiss up but she's nice." "NICE!," LaVar guffaws,"more like spawn of satan." "She's a hoe," Tina says," the absolute image of hoe. So is Izzy Morris, except she has her moments where she's nice." My head snapped up at this. "Izzy as in Isabella Morris? Her and I go way back, mostly not in a positive way." Tina and LaVar looked at me. "We lived here back in the day when my dad still played for the Lakers and I was on a club volleyball team with Izzy and we used to be best friends, but as we got older, she starting irking me and started to become a hoe and she almost cost us a game one time and broke 2 of my fingers and sprained my wrist in the process. Have had bad blood ever since." "You should have seen her almost fight Izzy at school," Gelo said smuggly, causing me to step on his foot under the table and I blushed. "Don't be embarrassed honey. I'm glad we're on the same page about these girls," she smiled and nodded. We all smiled back. We enjoyed the rest of our dinner and then we all headed back to my place. The boys were going to spend the night, so we had to clear Tay, Hay, and O out of the house. "So how what it? What happened?! Do they like you?" Hayley badgered with Taylor rolling her eyes at her younger sister. "Tell you what Hay.....since tomorrow is a Saturday, I'll go pick up Michaela, Jayleigh, and Adaliah and Hunter will get Makayla, you, and Tay and Azaria, Destiny, and Taliah can come too. We'll all meet at a restaurant or you all can come over here and we can tell," Ari said. Hayley nodded her head quickly, her midnight black hair bobbing up and down in its ponytail form. "BYE ZONA! BYE J! BYE ONI!" Hayley yelled skipping out. "Bye hoes," Tay said and O said," Bye Mrs.Ball x3," and they left. The boys came downstairs from changing. We watched some TV and then went to bed. As I laid down, Gelo cuddled into me. "I think they liked you guys," he said softly. I sighed, "I certainly hope so."..
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Sorry it took so long. Lowkey had a writer's block and boy issues but we cool now.