Love and Basketball (Lauren/You)

Chapter 24

Honestly, I still can't believe the overwhelming support you guys still give especially after my announcement. It really does mean a lot to me and I just wanted to say thank you again from the bottom of my heart. I finally present you with an update that is probably way long overdue.

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I sat there alone in the empty locker room. The building was completely vacated from all fans and cleaning crews. I was pretty much the only person here, and I was completely fine with that. I had kept my phone locked away because I didn't want to see what was happening on social media. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I just needed to be left alone with my thoughts and now an empty feeling in my heart. With Lauren being pregnant with our baby, it made it that much more difficult for me to comprehend. I could never imagine losing a child if this is what it felt like losing someone that wasn't even my own. I rubbed my hands over my face with a loud sigh. Something in me wanted to cry but the other part of me didn't allow that. I felt empty enough as it is, and I really didn't have anyone that I could rely on to comfort me.

My girlfriend was millions of miles away when I needed her to be right here beside me. I figured I had to go home eventually, but as I was about to stand up, I heard the door to the locker room open. My confusion spiked since no one was supposed to be here, but when the figure walked through the door, my confusion was quickly replaced with anger. Camila walked through the door in all of her glory. This was a completely different person than the one I went to high school with. When she saw me sitting down, her demeanor brightened up somehow and when I saw her open her mouth to start speaking, I couldn't help but cut her off. There was no reason for her to come out here and act all happy when I just got the news that a fan of ours had died.

"Don't." I spat. Camila stopped her trek to me and waited in her spot with a confused look on her face. I couldn't believe the audacity of this woman. "A little girl died tonight, thinking that you hated her. She died thinking that someone she looked up to didn't care for her. You have no right showing up here tonight. If you have so much time to come here, you should've used it to visit her. She cried herself to sleep in my arms asking me why you hated her. And you don't have a care in the world." I stood up from my spot and made my way to my locker while it remained silent between us. I knew I had rendered her speechless but I couldn't care less anymore. I didn't even know why she was here or why she felt like it was okay for her to do so.

"I do care, Y/N. There was so much going on that you couldn't understand. I never hated her, I didn't get the chance to even know her and it sucks! It sucks Y/N because now I have to live with this. I didn't mean for this to play out the way it did. Do you think it doesn't affect me having to live with the fact that I couldn't grant this girl's last dying wish? I didn't do it on purpose." Camila scoffed which didn't help my rising anger level. I stayed facing my locker, raising my arms, and lowering my head. I was trying to keep myself calm so that I didn't do anything I would regret. I immediately pushed the smaller girl away when I felt her arms circle my waist, her hands wandering my torso.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me again?" I pointed my finger at the small Latina, taking several steps backward to create more space in between us. "Don't ever start that bullshit again. You wanna make so much time to come down here and see me, literally minutes after I found out she was dead but you couldn't do it sooner? You didn't think of that? How the fuck does your brain work, Camila, because this is the most fucked up thing I could have ever imagined you doing." I raised my voice through the silent locker room. "You are so full of shit. Fuck you, never touch me or try to contact me ever again." I grabbed my phone and my keys that were on the bench in front of the lockers before leaving the room. I know I left my locker open but there wasn't anything worth stealing, and I knew my teammates wouldn't do that to me.